Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Sequels Get Nixed
Looks like neither The Restaurant at the End of the Universe nor any of the successive books in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series will be finding their way to the big screen any time soon. Martin Freeman, who starred as Arthur Dent in the 2005 film, told the MTV Movies Blog that he recently had dinner with director Garth Jennings, who informed him that the studio decided the first film hadn’t made enough money to warrant any further sequels. It seems a bit strange, considering that the film made $104 million at the box office and cost only $50 million to make, but what do I know?
For his part, Freeman is apparently okay with this judgment, since it means he gets to avoid being typecast all over again, but personally I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a shame. You see, I was one of the few people who liked The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie, and from what I’ve been told, some of the other books in the series are even better. I’ll save my full defense of the movie for a future Film Junk Defense Force segment on the podcast, but one thing that seems increasingly clear is that people don’t seem to like humour mixed with their genre films, unless it’s completely obvious that it’s a straight up comedy. On the other hand, maybe The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is simply one of those things that works best in print. Are you disappointed that we won’t see a sequel on the big screen?
Comments (8)
I really wanted to like the film, but it just wasn’t funny to me. The main problem with the first book is that it really doesn’t have much of a story, the beauty of the books is in the narration by Adams, not in the crazy antics of the characters.
Posted by Paul on October 2nd, 2007I never read the books and I thought the movie was forgettable. I’m not horribly disappointed by this decision.
Posted by Rian on October 2nd, 2007the other books are indeed better, and no matter what the books will always be beter than thee films. but I did like HHGTTG too. the other films are better fleshed out already (the first book is pretty thin) and wouldnt require as much fucking around with plotwise.
its a shame…
Posted by Goon on October 2nd, 2007I remember the first trailers for HHGTTG and remembered how annoyed I was at them because it didn’t give people, like me, anything to look forward to. It’s another one of those trailers that takes its audience for granted and expect you to know everything about the movie. That’s why I waited till they showed it on tv.
I didn’t really like the movie and it didn’t get me interested to read the books. I did like the casting of this movie, but the movie didn’t flow well at all and didn’t find all too humorous. I would actually like to see sequels if they were to get the same actors reprise their roles, if indeed, the latter books are better for making a movie.
Posted by Primal on October 2nd, 2007I haven’t read the books yet but around the time the film was out there was a box set that priced the same as buying just two of the books so I own the entire series.
I had kind of hoped they would all be made into films, seeing as the first one seemed so good and also now that you mention it made back it’s budget two fold. Still, I’d be a total lier if I said I was even the least bit surprised that the studio decided to pass.
Posted by Aaron on October 2nd, 2007I really enjoyed the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galazy movie. I haven’t read the books and I don’t think I would’ve come to know the series if it weren’t for the movie. And on this side, I think the movie did his part to introduce newbies like me to Douglas Adams’ universe.
I think it’s a shame that a worthy series like this doesn’t get a second chance, especially when there is a solid audience and fan base.
Posted by Julien on October 3rd, 2007I was a huge fan of the books, and although the movie had the sense or feel of the books, it fell down on the dialog. And the books were *all* about Douglas Adams’ sense of humour, which was all about how he crafted the words.
So why did the movie not ‘get’ the dialog? You’ll love this one. Because the script writer wasn’t a fan of the books. In fact, he hadn’t *READ* the books before getting the project. (WTF?) Unfortunately, I can’t find a reference to back this up, but I was shocked to read it prior to the movie coming out.
Evidence for this clearly comes out in the movie. There were examples where the setup for a joke was given (verbatim, from the books) but then the punchline was omitted. It’s like the scriptwriter didn’t understand the material.
Posted by Doug on October 4th, 2007for all you above who didnt like hitchikers guide dont know gold when you see it true it didnt have the adams feel and dialog but the chemistry of the cast and the adams sense of humor shines in it not to mention the set design and puppeteering was amazing it did skip though the books and stray from the original book but it keeps the dry wit and cynical social satire that i love about adams if you wanted a verbatim copy of the book wah mos def was a genius the jokes still landed and the imigary was superb if you dont like go watch a micheal bay flick its probably something closer to you level
Posted by dale boren on March 15th, 2008Leave a Reply