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• Now the question we've all been wondering. When are we going to see another Dirk Pitt movie? Well, again, I took and excerpt from the book "Dirk Pitt Revealed" by Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo to answer that question. I hope we'll see more of his novels go to the cinema as was announced this summer where Crusader Entertainment announced that it has acquired the much-sought-after rights of Cussler's novel Sahara. Paramount Pictures also agreed to distribute the film. Crusader has the rights to two other novels with Cussler after Sahara. Let's hope they'll give "Raise The Titanic" another shot. Even with the wreck already found and knowing what her condition is.
Craig Dirgo: When are
they going to make another Dirk Pitt movie?
Clive Cussler:
People often wonder why I’ve never sold another book to Hollywood.
My response is “Not after the way they botched up Raise The Titanic!”
The screenwriting was simply awful, the direction was amateurish and even
the editing was pathetic. Only John
Barry’s musical score and the special effects were first rate.
I’m not looking for a blockbuster motion picture, but I’m hoping for
a production of quality, more of a classic then a run-of-the-mill car chase with
special-effects explosions every five minutes.
I recall seeing Raiders Of The Lost Ark a
year after Raise The Titanic! Came out in the theaters.
I almost cried. The manner
in which Spielberg produced a fast-paced, nail-biting adventure was how I had
envisioned the Pitt movie I never got.
Peter and I have had many, many offers, but
the producers in Hollywood are more interested in the art of the deal then the
art of creating a movie with scope and depth.
We’ve turned down many millions of dollars because I refuse to cheat my
readers with another sloppy production. I
don’t need the money that badly. I
wish to have script and casting approval, but from what I hear from the studio
bosses, that nonnegotiable. A
number of actors have approached Peter about making a deal, but most of them are
not my image of Dirk Pitt, or they are too well known.
If a big box-office star plays Dirk Pitt, you don’t see Pitt, only the
star. That’s why I prefer an
actor who is not well known who can become Pitt, much like Sean Connery became
James Bond.
None of the producers and studios gets it.
They think any author would sell his soul to have his book made into a
movie. Once was enough for me.
Actors see a chance to increase their fans; producers look only at the
money angle. I’ve yet to be
contacted by a director, who has read the books, enjoyed them and asked to sit
down with me and discuss how a movie on Pitt should be made.
Not a likely event, considering the egos in Tinseltown, but who’s to
say? Someday someone will come
along and sell me. But until then,
I’ll keep writing about Dirk Pitt, Al Giordino and the NUMA gang and be happy in
my ignorance. |
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