h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why they shouldn't make films from popular books... (or why political correctness is wrong)

Lord of the Rings - did anyone else get suspicious when Liv Tyler was announced as Arwen - surely they shouldn't be casting such an A-list star in a role that in the book doesn't actually get a line until halfway through the last book? oh, that's right - they wanted to have a strong feminine role to increase audience.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - the sacrifice made by Carlo to save Captain corelli is totally meaningless without the chapters explaining his love for corelli - oh no, that would showing homosexuality in a heterosexual love story dammit!

Harry Potter - those books were magical to read & like a disney ride to watch - immediately exciting but short-lived & leaving you feeling slightly nauseous.

Blah, don't even talk to me about books + films + political correctness. I heard that they've considered changing the title of "LotR: The Two Towers" because some people could see it as a reference to the September 11 attacks (!)


Petkan

I thought 'Portrait of a lady" by henry james was as equally good as a film- N Zealand woman director, forget her name.

No one at New Line or Wingnut ever -- for a second -- considered changing the title of The Two Towers; it was just a bunch of oversensitive nuts who didn't realise that Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings before the World Trade Center was even built.

not so much political correctness but i heard that that The Madness of King George was originally called the Madness of George III but had to be changed as dumb audiences were wondering when they'd missed the Madness of George parts I & II...

Well, changing the title of The Two Towers was actually considered (and rejected). Here's a quote:

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Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is reportedly concerned about the title of the second film in the trilogy, The Two Towers, but won't try to change it.
Because of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre's twin towers, Jackson admits he has qualms about the second film's title, the same as the second novel in the trilogy by JRR Tolkien.
If the title is changed, "Tolkien fans would kill us," he said of the millions of dedicated readers of the fantasy trilogy.
"It's true that I've thought about what that title means now," he told the Evening Post newspaper in Wellington, New Zealand.
"I just pray that by the time the second movie comes out, it won't cause any controversy."
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Petkan