DISCUSSION: Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie's ''Jack the Giant Killer''
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
(1) Do you still have faith in Bryan Singer after ''Superman Returns''?
(2) Does the premise of this film sound intriguing to you?
(3) The word is that this movie will be pretty violent. (It has the word "killer" right there in the title). Does that make it more or less likely that you'll want to see it? Should they focus on making adaptations of classic fairy tales more appropriate for all ages?
Here's the Slashfilm story if you want more background:
http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/04/21/christopher-mcquarrie-rewriting-jack-the-giant-killer-for-bryan-singer/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Pt5Gyiv50
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M$2 Answers
Personally, I'm a fan of fairy-tale adaptations and don't see either fairy tales or movies adaptations as needing to be appropriate for fans of all ages – any more than I see comic books and their adaptations as needing to be for all ages. I believe it's a false assumption that either fairy tales or comic books are intended for children. (My comparison between fairy tales & comic books is drawn from Singer's work with the "X-Men" films. But the same argument applies to animation, to my mind.)
Besides, there's already a rich film history of fairy-tale adaptations intended for adults, including Cocteau's "La Bell et la Bete" ("Beauty and the Beast"), "The Company of Wolves" ("Little Red Riding Hood"), "Freeway" ("Little Red Riding Hood"), "The Red Shoes," "Snow White: A Tale of Terror," and "Splash" ("The Little Mermaid;" it may be a film appropriate for most (not all) children (PG rating), but it's not intended for children). Plus there's all the films out there that are even more loosely inspired on fairy tales or folk tales, like Terry Gilliam's "Brothers Grimm" and "Sleepy Hollow."
Like the fairy tales themselves, especially those not sanitized by the Grimm Brothers let alone Disney, these films tend to the suspenseful, gruesome, and horrific.
So to my mind, Singer is participating in a rich cinematic history by working with fairy tales and adapting them for an audience he's interested in. I've never had the impression, at least based on his directing and producing history, that he's particularly interested in creating work for all ages. Nor do I think he "should."
As for "Jack the Giant Killer" itself, versions of the tale are dark, dark indeed. Not every version of the tale has poor little underdog Jack killing the giant in self-defense. It's not a David vs. Goliath story. In many variants, Jack is the aggressor – stealing from the giant(s) and killing them wantonly. He's a trickster figure. And those magic beans? Not necessarily part of the tale. Indeed, the Jack from the comic-book series "Fables" is closer to many variants of the tale than Mickey Mouse from "Mickey and the Beanstalk."
So I'd be more concerned/interested in what Singer plans to do with 3D and who he's bringing on for cintematography than about the adult focus of the script.
All that said, it's entirely possible that the film won't be any good. If that were to happen, though, it wouldn't necessarily be because "Jack the Giant Killer" was was a fairy-tale adaptation not intended for or marketed to children. I'll be watching with interest to see how the project develops!
Wikipedia's list of fairy-tale films: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_based_on_fairy_tales
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M$I have to see more content before I am dismissive or in praise of it.
I'm interested in how they're going to get away with calling it "Jack the Giant Killer"
I know it may sound silly to some people, but I think that you don't have something like killing in the title of your film when it's for a wide audience. maybe for PG-13, but I'm guessing this is PG.
As long as there's no blood, it's all cool, right? I think it'll be fantasy violence, and little more than that. Nothing too crazy. It sounds like a Harry Potter type audience they're going for.
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M$
OK, so reading the Slashfilm article, they call it an adult take. That's what I thought. I think that this will be a PG-13 film for mid to late teen audiences and above. I can see this working, for sure.
Agreed, I was very surprised to see that the film would be called "Jack the Giant Killer" and especially when the article said it was going to contain on-screen giant murdering. From the article:
"A variation on the story, 'Jack the Giant Killer,' has Jack venturing into a land of giants and slaying them in increasingly gruesome ways."
That word "gruesome" seems odd to me. Say what you will about the Harry Potter films....They are scary, but not really gruesome.
Anyway, I'm curious to see how this will shape up. I agree with you that they can't really do a Jack in the Beanstalk film and push it far past PG limits. Who is the intended audience for that?
Great answer...Very thorough. You are correct that a lot of "fairy tale" films have been extremely dark, even troubling in many cases.