RH films(yep,RH stands for Random House)has just announced that Dean Koontz's upcoming new novel,The Husband,is on their slate for movie adaptation. No word on cast or director just yet but here's hoping that Dean finally gets a decent mainstream movie for once and not another mess like Hideaway or any of the Watchers movies. Random House has a pretty good rep in publishing(the James Frey fiasco not withstanding) and they seem serious about developing quality films here. My only concern is that they're already planning to market The Husband as another Constant Gardener,which is a big mistake in my opinion.
Granted,both books apparently have the "In Search Of Missing Wife/Husband Unravels Secret" Thriller Plotline #937 but Dean Koontz and John Le Carre are as similar in style and theme as Alicia Keys and Shakira(you decide who's who there,folks). Both fellas give good story but Le Carre has more leisurely pace in his plots while Koontz can get quite sci-fi with his heroes and villians. I'm sure that if the two of them met up in a small cafe somewhere,they would have plenty to chat about and even trade some juicy Hollywood stories. My hope is that Dean's new book/movie is not hyped up the wrong way because that would hurt any chances of any other of his works getting a fair shot at becoming quality films.
My fears are not totally unfounded;a few years back when Miramax's Mansfield Park opened up to mixed reviews and the ire of devoted Jane Austen fans,plans for a new version of Northanger Abbey(with a script from Andrew Davies,well known for the P&P miniseries) were put on hiatus and later canceled. Davies has had no luck in getting his screenplay back since(there's been some hope still of having NA filmed). Part of the probelm was JA backlash but also the quality of the film and the ads which proclaimed it to be "Jane Austen's Mansfield Park" when it was really Patricia Roxema's Revisionist Version of Mansfield Park! Patricia Roxema wrote and directed MP and if you ever want to see JA fans in an uproar,just drop her name in conversation.
Well,fingers crossed and here's hoping that The Husband will become a great film that brings more people back to the bookshelves,eager to read as much Koontz as they can. If any author deserves a good cinematic adaptation of their work,Dean has certainly earned his place in the line.
2 comments:
For as many books as he's written, you'd think more would find their way to film.
Maybe the movie version of The Funhouse cooled off producers...
Dean seems to have had better luck with TV movie versions of his work. Intensity was exceptionally well done.
I never saw Funhouse but did have hopes that Mr. Murder would turn out well-it was considered as a project for Bruce Willis at one point. Unfortunately,it veered off into direct-to-video land.
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