Why hasn’t GREEN DARKNESS been made into a movie?

Fans of GREEN DARKNESS, including both of us, have asked and re-asked that question. We had heard from the publisher that we were not the first ones to take out a screenplay option on the novel.

Why weren't the previous optioners successful? 

While there may be no answer, we can’t help but wrack our brains with the question. We came up with  a few theories:

1) Perhaps they didn't try hard enough? 

2)Maybe they didn't love the book the way we do.

3)When the book was first published, reincarnation was a new and perhaps frightening philosophy. Since then, people have come to accept it and even if they may not believe in it themselves, they recognize that others do. Many films have dealt with the subject.

4)While this may annoy many lovers of the book, the bald fact is that Celia is not terribly likeable. She continues to pursue Stephen in the past even though he tries to keep her at arm’s length. 

5)The novel's method of returning to the past is a real stretch of the "willing suspension of disbelief". We've dealt with that differently and in a more believable way, but to do so we've made a significant shift in the story telling. It's a change that makes the story deeper and more emotional, we feel.

6)The most obvious reason? Cost. But we've taken steps to keep the costs down as well. 

Ultimately, it will be the test of time and our resources to prove whether we were right.

Plunging ever onward~~

Angela & Marla

STANDING ON A LEDGE -- LOOKING UP!

Let the bells ring out, and the small banners fly -- our little blog about adapting the novel GREEN DARKNESS into a feature screenplay hit the 5,161 viewership mark on April 3rd.

We can add Argentina, China, Sweden, Latvia, Poland, Turkey and Afghanistan to the countries from which our fans check out our blog.

Angela and I often feel like we're climbing our own form of Mount Everest. We have obviously left the base of the mountain, but we can't quite see the pinnacle -- in our case that could be two things/events  a. signing an option agreement with a producer or b. watching our screenplay-turned-feature-film on the big screen at the premiere.

So we'd call having our blog pass the 5000 mark our first 'base camp' along the climb. (Finding the number of yearly tourist visits to Ightham Mote, Cowdray Castle, and Naworth Castle was an estimated 500,000 was like having someone toss us down an extra safety rope coated with encouragement!)

This base camp is a safe ledge area where we stop for a breath, look up at what we have to achieve next.

We've come so far, it's true, but we never look back -- always look ahead!

Stick with us. Give us a push as often as you can. We will get the GREEN DARKNESS movie made!

Cheers

Marla & Angela

For Now, Silence is Golden

Hello, Green Darkness novel fans.

Yes, we mean you... all 3,000 of you who have been reading our blog since we began posting. We truly appreciate your dedication to dropping in on this site. Especially since our updates have become rather sporadic.

We both dislike the cliché 'no news is good news', however, in this instance, concerning our GREEN DARKNESS adaptation screenplay, it truly does hold an element of truth.

This entry wouldn't be complete without mentioning another adage that actors have long claimed describes their working conditions on a film set - "it's all hurry up and wait".

The time has come for screenwriters to claim shared ownership of that expression. It aptly describes some of the frustrations we encounter when dealing with the Biz of Hollywood. That saying is at least preferable to the interminable 'silent no'.

Keep checking this blog, fans.

The news, good news, could come at any time.

Regards

Marla & Angela

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

While we twiddle our thumbs patiently (not!) waiting for the lull to pass and our adaptation of GREEN DARKNESS to move into the next stage, we thought we'd share some information on the locations in the screenplay.

The Spread Eagle Tavern (www.spreadeaglehotelmidhurst.com) is today the Spread Eagle Hotel and Spa, in Midhurst, Sussex, England. It dates back to 1420.

Cowdray House at www.cowdray.co.uk is the Cowdray Castle we envisioned. This is actual estate Sir Anthony Browne owned. Because of its condition, more ruin than liveable quarters, we changed Browne's ownership to Ightham Mote for the sake of making it easier for prospective location scouts and filming.

Ightham Mote (pronounced Item Moot) can be seen at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ighthammote and www.ighthammote.co.uk. The second link includes a video about the actual restoration of the estate house. C.H. Robinson built a replica of this historical treasure in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and named it 'Hidden Court'.

Naworth Castle, home of the Dacre and Howard families in Scotland, appears to be very receptive to movie film companies. www.naworth.co.uk Walt Disney enjoyed a visit at this splendid estate in 1935. (We can't help but wonder if award-winning director Ron Howard can trace his ancestry back to this piece of heaven in Scotland.)

Your assignment – should you choose to accept it and we hope you will – is to check out these sites. We hope that seeing these real  sites will stir your imagination as it did ours!

Can’t you almost SEE the GREEN DARKNESS characters living, breathing the story in these real places? We can!

 Until next time -

 Marla & Angela

 

IN HOLDING PATTERN BUT STILL ACTIVE

As the title suggests, our screenplay adaption of GREEN DARKNESS has slipped into another holding pattern on its journey to fruition on the big screen.

But that doesn't mean there's a lack of activity. To the contrary. Angela and I have renewed our option on the rights to the novel with the publisher... we are find our footing in the maze that is the world of entertainment lawyers and their roles in the Biz... 

We did indeed complete our consultations with screenwriting mentor Bill Boyle (see our April 22nd blog) to our great satisfaction and his delight with the project (we are delighted that Bill's delighted)...

And thanks to you readers, we wanted to update you on where in the world the blog views originate. From the highest number of views to the lowest - the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Russia, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Malaysia and France. The admin stat reports don't include all locations, however we remember many views from Romania, Brazil and the Ukraine.

If you're astonished that Russia, Australia, Malaysia, Romania, and the Ukraine have shown up in our stats, imagine how we feel - Surprised! Pleased! Grateful!

Your encouragement keeps our spirits raised on those days when our energy reserves momentarily flag over promoting our project.

Ever onward to our goal -

Marla & Angela

TRULY AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON

As we approach what could be our last consultation session with our screenwriting mentor, Bill Boyle, over our screenplay adaptation of GREEN DARKNESS, we decided to do a more comprehensive dig into the publication history of the best-selling novel.

It turned out that there wasn't one single site online with all of that information. So we compiled data -

English has been the primary language for publication. However, the popularity of this classic historical romance also caught the attention of publishers internationally. The book has been translated into French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Turkish and Dutch. Two other variations were created that further widened the book's marketplace - books in large print and books on tape.

Whether the publisher was Houghton Mifflin, Hodder & Stoughton, Chicago Review Press, Fawcett Crest, Buccaneer Books, Emece Editores, Random House, Inc., Ulverscroft Large Print, The Book Club, Corgi, Coronet, Amereon or Books on Tape, GREEN DARKNESS has been published in some form almost continually from its first edition in 1972 to the most recent in 2009.

Considering that every edition can have multiple printings, it’s no wonder we can’t discover a final tally for the total number of books sold!

   

It would be equally difficult to determine the number of copies that were bought, read, enjoyed and passed on to friends so they could relish this tale.

Talk about a built-in international marketability factor for our screenplay!

Until next time -

Marla Hayes & Angela Falkowska