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Dave Wolverton to self-produce Runelords movie

Dave Wolverton began his career in science fiction, though his real passion lay in fantasy. After years of successfully writing in the science fiction genre he decided he didn’t want to be tied down and he assumed the pen-name David Farland. His fantasy series called The Runelords took off, hitting the bestseller lists in several countries.

He’s now fulfilling his dream as few authors have ever done. He’s producing his own movie from his own bestselling novel.

When an author signs a contract to have his book made into a movie, he’s offered a set amount of money, and he’s done. He never sees any of the big profits from merchandise and tie-ins. So Wolverton decided to follow the money trail and see just who was making the big money. “Many moderately successful producers were living in huge mansions in Hollywood, with swimming pools, and then there were the sea of actors, most of whom were driving beat up old Fords,” Wolverton said. “So I decided I wanted to be behind the camera instead of in front of it.”

As a producer, Wolverton has more control than most authors in the creation of his film. He pitches the movie, secures money for the film, lines up global distribution, hires the director and some of the key actors and pretty much has final say over any changes from the book to screen.

Wolverton has not taken it upon himself to write his own screenplay but he has worked carefully with a seasoned studio screenwriter, Terry Kahn, to make sure his film has the intended effect. It’s a different type of writing, he explained. Although he has the final say, Wolverton’s also open to suggestion. “My goal isn’t to force my own vision on others. A director or visual effects designer may have an idea on how to make the flameweavers more interesting, for example, and I’m fine with that.”He may take that suggestion and incorporate it into the film,making it better. On the other hand,he said,”I also get to tell them when their ideas are less than brilliant.”

There are also problems with internal dialogue that cannot be transferred easily from a book to the screen.To account for this,he has stepped back in time,taking a look into the childhood of the main character, Gaborn. This allows him to visually explain his magic system and the events that shaped Gaborn’s outlook on life.

Wolverton is working closely with designers to make his monsters appear as lifelike as possible. “I don’t want stale creatures. I want them to appear to be real animals.” He comments on the dinosaurs in the first “Jurassic Park” movie. He wants his creatures to be of that quality or better. He’s defined his creatures’ habits and habitat,taking up to three months to design just one of the monsters to be featured in this film.

Source: Hurricane Valley Journal

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Comments

David Farland
March 21st, 2009

Sorry folks, but it seems that this writer used information that is out of date. I did some work as a producer in 2002-2004, but I’m not working at self-producing right now, at least not on this movie. I have been discussing producing a screenplay that my daughter wrote–a very fun romantic comedy.

David Farland

JSG
July 23rd, 2010

What a shame! I have been following this movie hoping it would be made since the announcement in 2002-2004 and this article gave me hope of seeing it on the big screen. Now it looks like it truly is dead after David posted his comment.

B.Bosch
August 5th, 2010

I don’t know if this is the real David Farland or not but please make this movie. They make the most c**p movies and now there is a great story and it won’t be on screen?

Dickson
December 21st, 2010

The movie is too good to be made. It would be impossible.

Mike
December 2nd, 2011

I talked to Dave a couple months after he made his comment here, and he was not working on the movie at the time, but he was looking into ways to get it started again. He explained a few things he was hoping to see work out for funding, but even if it fell through it didn’t sound like he was going to give up.

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