Dan Simmons’ ‘Hyperion Cantos’ Finds A Director

Posted by Rob Hunter (rob@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 30, 2009

wb-hyperion

How quickly Hollywood forgets.

Just last month Scott Derrickson’s remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still actually made the box-office stand still and grossed a mere $80 million. That’s fantastic bank for a small film about a quirky, pregnant teenager or an Indian teenager winning millions on a game show, but for a high profile sci-fi remake with big name stars it only barely covers the production costs. As punishment for his apparent mishandling of the science fiction classic, Derrickson has been handed the directorial keys to a more modern science fiction epic.

Per Variety, Derrickson has signed to direct Hyperion Cantos based on the novels by Dan Simmons. The Warner Bros. film will cover the events of the first two books in Simmons’ acclaimed and award-winning four book series which includes Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion. The plot finds humanity on the edge of extinction due both to war and hubris, with their only hope resting in the journey of seven pilgrims to the planet Hyperion. There they will face unsolved riddles, death, betrayal, and an unstoppable and deadly entity known as The Shrike.

Derrickson is an amiable guy, and the deck was admittedly stacked against him from the start when he signed on to remake TDTESS with Keanu Reeves, so there’s still hope for Hyperion Cantos. It’s unfortunate that WB is cramming two books into one film though. Both novels are long and dense so a substantial amount of plot and character will have to be dropped. So really, why don’t they just make Simmons’ masterful The Hollow Man into a movie instead?

Have you read the Hyperion books?

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Lisa

Hyperion is one of the best sf books I've ever read, maybe even one of the best books period. It's a sf version of the Canterbury Tales in a lot of ways, and features one of the coolest creations in literature: the Shrike. I'm a huge Simmons fan, particularly this book. I'm glad it's at WB and not Fox.

Aaron Griffin

Oh man, this is exciting. The Hyperion novels are amazing. I really hope they can do it right. Personally, I would much rather see two movies than one.

Randallphobia

Hyperion is a great book. It's easy to put down & pick back up thanks to its episodic style. There were times that I found its similarities to the Canterbury Tales slightly disconcerting, but Simmons manages to make it work. I agree wholeheartedly with Lisa about the Shrike; this is a wonderfully enigmatic presence in the books.

djjeffhall

"Have you read the Hyperion books?" - Yes, and they are uniformly wonderful. Good luck in trying to make a movie out of both of these books. I don't see it happening, or at least happening well.

The studio could take one piece of either of these books and turn it into a film. (Hopefully a good one.) However, the idea of taking both these books and combining them into one two hour affair just doesn't sound like it will work.

natalie.

They're going to mutilate it.

Thibault Kervarech

Oh wow - just from the description it sounds like they're trying to make a far-future horror film, as opposed to the complex tale that the Hyperion books actually were.

If anything, I would have seen this as much more of a mini-series, assuming there was a decent special-effects budget behind it. But there's no way that much quality material can be reduced to less than three hours in any meaningful way.

I3ladeDragon

I never speak out when it comes to movie translations of various media. That said, I feel so strongly about the Hyperion Cantos that I feel the need to post everywhere that combining two books into one movie is a bad idea! There is just WAY too much essential material in both books to go removing or hacking away at content. If they intend on cramming both books into one movie, it better be a six hour movie or I will be greatly disappointed. I don't mind the director they have chosen... just so long as they don't mess with the story in a severe way like what I am feeling will happen if they go through with this! Not to mention the fact that with one movie per book, if the movies are done correctly, it means more money in the long run for Hollywood and will please the fans of the series more as well!!!

Dan Simmons’ ‘Hyperion Cantos’ Finds A Director

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