Hey folks, Harry here with the latest on the live-action LAST UNICORN film from creator Peter Beagle... who has been continually screwed over on all things regarding THE LAST UNICORN, but he's hoping for a brighter future and personally - if you're a fan of the original, you can't wait for his sequel book, TWO HEARTS. The real question after this piece is who is the Hollywood Heavyweight that has come aboard THE LAST UNICORN - or more to the point is about to come aboard. Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
I've enjoyed your site for a while now, thanks. This might not
be big or impacting news but for anyone that's a fan of The Last
Unicorn it may be pretty cool, and you should at least know.
I got this today from Peter Beagle's newsletter, the Raven.
"LAST UNICORN FILM NEWS
It wouldn't be a RAVEN without an update on the announced
live-action version of The Last Unicorn. This time the structure
is inevitably a bit like one of those good news/bad news jokes,
however.
The Good News: Continent Films, the company which has held an
option on the property for the last five years, recently paid
the Big Movie Money needed to exercise the buyout clause on
their deal with Granada Media, the English company which owns
the rights to the 1982 animated movie. This buyout fee was
$250,000, so their action shows serious commitment.
The Bad News: The announced budget is a third what Peter
believes it should be, and he hates their plan to create his
unicorn by filming a trained horse (or horses) and modifying the
picture with CGI later. If that's how things are going to be,
he'd rather they not make the film at all.
The Good News: Continent says they are bringing a new producer
on board who is a Hollywood heavyweight, someone with a
background in this kind of movie, someone who can get things
done and get the budget increased.
The Bad News: Peter has heard this kind of rah-ah before, and it
has never led anywhere. It may not lead anywhere this time
either.
The Good News: IF the name being mentioned is for real, and IF
the deal goes through, it would radically change the situation
for the better.
So let's all cross our fingers. In the meantime, it turns out
that Peter's 1978 film contract for The Last Unicorn granted him
all media rights in any sequels that he writes. Now that "Two
Hearts" is coming out, and a full sequel novel is in the works,
Peter is free to try and start up his own direct cinematic
sequel to The Last Unicorn if he can find an interested producer
or studio. That search has begun."
It's too bad the budget is being restrained but I'm excited to
know the project is moving forward in some way. As far as the
use of the horse, I can understand why someone who likes
unicorns would care so much, but I think it's probably the best
way to get the movement somewhat realistic. The hooves, tail,
and horn can be manipulated afterwards. Idunno, maybe a CG
Unicorn would be better. Need to see tests first! Whether
they're planning on using a real bull or not might be the real
question.
Hope this was of some interest,
-cgmatrix
