Ask 'Hitchhiker's Guide' Exec. Producer Robbie Stamp 490
After nearly three years of waiting, the movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is almost upon us. I've been impressed with the casting, and with the trailers I've seen of the film -- enough that I'm taking the rather unhappy early review posted the other day with a large grain of salt. Now's your chance to ask whatever you'd like of Robbie Stamp, the film's executive producer; we'll pass on to Robbie some of the best questions and publish his answers as soon as he gets them back to us. (As usual, please -- confine yourself to one question per post.)
One question (Score:4, Interesting)
Why? (Score:2, Interesting)
Do you realize how many people will miss "Beware of the Leopard?" Almost all the dialogue in that skit is gone, so it's not even a joke anymore.
HHGG (Score:5, Interesting)
Which character was the hardest to Cast? (Score:5, Interesting)
Question (Score:5, Interesting)
Universal appeal to book readers/non book-readers? (Score:5, Interesting)
HHG2G Question (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What is the answer? (Score:1, Interesting)
http://www.google.com/search?q=answer+to+life%2C+
Wide audience (Score:5, Interesting)
Book to Film (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm curious as to what decisions you made regarding editing, changing, or even adding things to the plot to bring the story to film?
Marvin's look? (Score:5, Interesting)
If.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What is the answer? (Score:3, Interesting)
"W-H-A...T" What!
"D-O-Y-O"? Doy-oh, "u-G", Do you Get!
*snip*
"...n,u,s-O-n-E!" Plus or minus one!
"What do you get if you multiply six by eight, for values of eight moderated up or down by +/-1?"
(I always thought there was something fundamentally wrong with Slashdot moderation anyways.)
The only question that really matters: Whether he'd have approved or not, would DNA have laughed while watching your "re-imagination" of his work?
Process question: (Score:5, Interesting)
What do you feel is the single compromise made in the name of satisfying studio demands that the fans of the originals will be least likely to accept?
Where is your towel? (Score:5, Interesting)
What took so long? (Score:5, Interesting)
Given the considerable success of his books and their large following, why wasn't a film adaptation released earlier? What hurdles had to be overcome?
Re:Marvin's look? (Score:5, Interesting)
Stylistic conflict between filmmakers & Disney (Score:5, Interesting)
It seemed that a lot of the reason that Hammer and Tongs was chosen to do this film was their unique style, and in a lot of ways, it works with Douglas Adams' creative vision. However, it's being distributed by Touchstone Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Corporation, and the quirky nature of Hammer and Tongs doesn't seem like it'd mesh with the culture at Disney. Additionally, I'd imagine the "suits" would have a lot of problems with a faithful treatment of Adams' work.
My question: how was the working relationship between the filmmakers and Disney (Touchstone)? Were there elements of the movie that were cut by Disney because they "just didn't get it," or were they pretty supportive of the decisions made by the filmmakers?
On casting (Score:5, Interesting)
What would Douglas think... (Score:3, Interesting)
"Us vs Them", a LotR Redux (Score:5, Interesting)
Goals for the Film (Score:5, Interesting)
How much was added/changed after DNA'a death ? (Score:5, Interesting)
While DNA started this one, he was taken from us before its completion.
SO, my question is : Which "divergences" in this version were done (by/under the guidance of) Douglas Adams and which (if any) were done by other folks after his passing.
FWIW, I plan to ignore the critics and go see this film with a child-at-Christmas expectation. It should be great Eye Candy if nothing else.
Question (Score:5, Interesting)
How to choose a source... (Score:5, Interesting)
In the end, how did you choose, from this range of sources, what sort of Hitch Hiker's Guide you actually wanted to make?
The essence (Score:5, Interesting)
How did Martin Freeman become Arthur Dent? (Score:5, Interesting)
At the time (having no head for celebrity news), I didn't realize he'd been cast already as Arthur, and figured some other, well-meaning but inferior actor had been cast in that role. "It's too bad that they're already shooting 'Hitchhikers,'" I said, "because that guy *is* Arthur! Anyone else will pale in comparison to the flesh-and-blood Arthur who is playing Tim in this bizarre English-type sit-com!" My better-informed co-worker let me in on the good news, and my casting prowess was confirmed (to me, anyhow).
However, I'm curious how he came to the attention of the film's makers -- or was it vice versa? Was it because of his role in The Office, or was it his idea, or what? Was he already an Adams fan, or was this just happenstance?
timothy
Who takes the glory or the fall? (Score:3, Interesting)
United States audiences (Score:3, Interesting)
Motivation (Score:5, Interesting)
... the TV show and the Movie ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks,
The Spirit of Douglas Adams (Score:3, Interesting)
Without Adams to serve as a reality check and oracle for all things Hitchhiker, how did you divine what he would have enjoyed, recommended, etc., without forfeiting or neglecting your own ideas?
Two questons (Score:5, Interesting)
2. Do you believe the movie would be noticeably different if Adams had survived and had more of a hand in its making? If so, in what ways?
Still a comedy? (Score:3, Interesting)
Adams' contribution (Score:2, Interesting)
What I wonder is how much he got the chance to be involved, and what (if any) of his contributions to the movie script that were cut (and that you miss)? Were there new stuff, or was it a question of selecting from the preexisting versions?
(I realize answering this question might require the protection of an asbestos suit, but you are welcome to borrow mine.)
Re:Marvin's look? (Score:3, Interesting)
I do know I have the habit of overlooking or forgetting details about character descriptions when reading books, so my ideas might not match some factual details (which I would check before making anything like a film). And I am also aware that Marvin's personality was GPP prototype and somewhat of a failure by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, so there really isn't any logical reason that his appearance should match his personality. But neither of the Marvin designs seen thus far are at all satisfying to me.
My Question. (Score:5, Interesting)
This movie was in deadlock for a long time until Douglas Adams died. In a reasonably short time span after this, things began moving.
My question is what things did Douglas Adams block that have now gone ahead?
Re:Goals for the Film (Score:5, Interesting)
Was the goal to create a splashy movie that appealed to the general masses that have not read the books, or was the goal to create a movie that appealed to (or at least appeased) DNA fans, with in-jokes and plots only understandable with a-priori knowledge?
Where do you want the final edit to fall on this axis, between those two endpoints?
Examples of many LotR and Dune attempts come to mind. The first Dune movie was doomed, for it made no sense without having read the book.
Dialogue cuts (Score:3, Interesting)
What does an executive producer do? (Score:1, Interesting)
Trailers (Score:5, Interesting)
I guess I fall into both categories, so I will be there for the humor and the explosions. ; )
SiO2
That OTHER Series... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What is the answer? (Score:2, Interesting)
Any Surprises? (Score:3, Interesting)
Dont forget to bring a towel (Score:5, Interesting)
2) With the six books in the series on Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, how did you choose to keep some material and not show other material? Did you do this with the the thought of a sequel in mind?
3) In the Introduction: Guide to the guide: Some unhelpful hints from the author, will the movie update the contact info on "How to leave the planet" with current contact info to NASA, The Whitehouse, The Kremlin, and the Pope, with the addition of Virgin Galactic at www.virgingalactic.com ?
4)So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
Generic question here, but I'm curious: (Score:5, Interesting)
Director's Cut (Score:5, Interesting)
We have heard a lot about scenes being in and out of various cuts, suggesting that many of the things long-time fans will miss in this movie may have been filmed.
So, my join questions: Are there plans in place to have an extended cut? and Are there any particular scenes that come to mind that you believe should be added back in?
a grain of salt? (Score:3, Interesting)
1 Question (Score:3, Interesting)
No, seriously though, here is my question:
Did you get to work with Douglas Adams before his untimely death? If so, what was it like?
Character Motivations (Score:3, Interesting)
The plot of HHGTTG has always been fluid, but the characters were the same throughout all the plot variations. I think the new PLOT of the movie could have worked just as well as any of the other HH plots, except that the characters are significantly different in attitude, behavior, and motivation.
Social sattire versus plain humor (Score:5, Interesting)
The movie trailers look as if they capture the light-hearted wacky humor, but my big concern is that the movie will fail to capture and blend in Adams' commentary on society. And as others have pointed out, with Disney involved somehow in the making or distribution of the movie, I doubt the suits would have let much bitter or deep underlying social commentary into the film.
Do you think you actually correctly identified, related to, and captured in film format the social commentary aspect of Adams' writing?
Adams had a George Carlin-esque approach that was key: he pointed out the asinine flaws in mainstream human thinking and behavior, which are things we all notice but few dare to explicitly point out or belittle. To lose that would be a an artistic shame.
Target Audience (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:If.. (Score:4, Interesting)
DarthBastard: We are hearing from some of the reviews of the film that some of the references to God (such as the second half of the babelfish description) are not in the movie. This is a shame but, given the current political climate in America, is perfectly understandible (though I'm glad the more subtle dig at organised religion - Humma and his sermon - is going to be there). What are your thoughts on this and will we see some of these references on the DVD?
Robbie Stamp: Good first question - there has been *no* pressure of any kind whatsoever to take out any of the " God" references. That Guid entry was cut because the pacing at that stage wasnt working. We had too many entries coming on top of each other too quickly. But there is still plenty of Douglas' atheism in the film and the whole Humma plot is right on the nose when it comes to organised religion. And yes look out for the DVD.
Re:One question (Score:2, Interesting)
Douglas Adams was an amazing man, and the popularity of the radio series allowed him to do a lot of very cool things. But he always acknowledged how different the books were from the radio series, much of which was written very quickly. And he usually hinted at the fact that the books were written because there was a definite ready-made market for them, and I say good for him.
Even though I'm an obvious true believer in the original radio series, I still say bring on the movie, different or not. A movie isn't a radio dialogue, or a book either. And why shouldn't his wife benefit as well?
It does irk me a little for the trailers to say "..based on the best selling novel." Again I say there'd be nothing without the original radio series.
My Question: "Why doesn't Zephod's (sp?) second head show all the time?"
cultural/linguistic problem (Score:3, Interesting)
Why is the flim so different from other versions? (Score:3, Interesting)
I understand that the movie is not a movie of the book, just another conflicting version of the whole story. But, why are things that are consistant between the book and TV show (and probobly the radio plays too I suspect) different in the movie?
Why does the production design/costumes/etc differ so much from what the books (and I assume the radio plays) describe and also what is shown on the TV series? (e.g. zaphod's extra head and arm not being as prominent as the book and TV series depict, the heart of gold not being shaped like a sneaker as described in the book and shown in the TV series and so on)
Re:Towels? (Score:2, Interesting)
There were promotional towels draped over the backs of the chairs for the recent Leicester Square premier.