Richelle Mead’s beloved, shelf-disappearing “Vampire Academy” series is headed to the silver screen – and by all indications, it’s packin’ the bite. The first flick of the proposed celluloid franchise, “Vampire Academy”, has quite a few creative cats working it like a scratch pile – “Mean Girls” director Mark Waters is helming, his brother and “Batman Returns” scribe Daniel Waters wrote the script, and amongst the producers, IM Global’s Stuart Ford, whose due for a big hit this holiday season with the “Walking with Dinosaurs” flick. If the cool-ass posters haven’t sold you, and that fun teaser trailer hasn’t spurred interest, then Meads’ words just might.
Most important question : How involved in the ”Vampire Academy” film are you?
~My role is mostly advisory, which is completely normal for authors in book-to-movie adaptations (despite many rumors to the contrary). The movie makers make movies, I make books, and I’m totally okay with that division of labor! That being said, they’ve been really great about asking my opinion and getting my input. I was allowed to read the script and offer feedback, which was used in revisions. During production, Mark Waters asked me questions about costumes and creatures, as well as if certain choices he made would affect future books. This is actually more involvement than many authors gets, so I’m super-flattered both to have that part and that they’ve been so conscious and detail-oriented about the choices made.
“‘Mortal Instruments” and ”The Host” haven’t done well at the box office, but similar-themed movies like ”Hunger Games” and ”Twilight” have. Why do you think that is? Do you believe ”Vampire Academy” will fare better than MI etc?
~ Hollywood is such an unpredictable business that it’s hard to really say for sure what makes one movie fail or another succeed. The Hunger Games and Twilight already had massive readerships before hitting the theaters, which definitely helped with both ticket sales and word of mouth. They have more readers than any other YA adaptation that’s come out since Harry Potter, far more than Vampire Academy. If every VA reader comes out to see the movie, but no one new does, the movie still won’t be financially successful, which makes pulling in new viewers so critical. I suspect some of the other franchises that haven’t done as well recently were in similar positions and simply weren’t able to extend beyond their readership. If that’s the case, marketing becomes a key issue, and it too is a tricky business. I know right now that the VA advertising is focusing heavily on its humorous and edgy sides because that’s definitely what makes VA stand out among some of its peers. The hope is that dark humor will appeal to those who might normally think supernatural stories are too melodramatic. Whether that works to attract new viewers remains to be seen, but we’re certainly crossing our fingers!
The press spiel for the book and upcoming film said it’s more ‘Buffy than Bella’. Do you agree? ~Rose, Buffy, and Bella are each unique characters. Rose and Buffy do share a similarly sharp sense of humor, and they’re certainly both fighters. Zoey Deutch got a pretty big compliment recently when Sarah Michelle Gellar saw the Vampire Academy trailer at a theatre and tweeted to Zoey: “That’s my girl- you show them how it’s done.”
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