Take heart- if Douglas Adams did the adaptation, it has a chance.

Last summer we listened to the entire book-on-tape and Adams did his own reading (normally authors are terrible at readings). I never laughed so hard in my life, never mind the fact that we were totally lost somewhere in the upper Missouri Breaks, at least we were on the planet! It dawned on me that the actual Hitchhiker's Guide is really the Internet with all the non-factual stuff pulled out.

What bothers me is that there's been a "rewrite", and Monty Python is not doing the film. My question is why Adams would put an entirely new figure in the film (Malkovich's part)?

But, I'm sure if I thought about it, the answer is "42".

Um, Dani, you know Douglas Adams is dead, right?

I'm not sure why anyone would attempt to do Hitchiker's Guide as a live-action movie. Seems to me it should be animated. Futurama, while not particularly funny in my opinion, was clearly set in a Hitchiker's sort of universe. It worked stylistically, even though the writing wasn't that good.

Yes, I did know that.

Disney project helmed by a first-time director.

Gads, that could be worse than *anything* Chris Columbus could come up with!

Kacie, if you read the story, you'll see that Adams wrote the screenplay and added a new character to it--the one Malcovich will be playing.

Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich!

Jerry, thanks for the "Being John Malkovich" reference. That made me laugh out loud.

PS, Oh, and in answer to your statement: Malkovich; Malkovich...Mal-kovich, dammit!

Yet something in me says I'm not going to like this movie. I don't know what it is.

Yes you do. You said it yourself:

They're making the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a movie.

Hollywood sucks at making movies.

I don't know if it will translate well into a movie...how do you cinematically make something "hang in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't"?

nathan: you don't get out very often, do you? :)

Dean, I can think of a reason for you: Malcovitch isn't funny.

Hell, Thomas Jane in The Punisher is funnier than Malcovitch.

Yeah, I know; I'm gonna get some eyes rolled at me in that one. :)

Oh, and in answer to your statement: Malkovich; Malkovich...Mal-kovich, dammit!

That would be "Being John Malkovich" as if it had been written by David Mamet?

Well, look at it this way: any movie adaptation, done today and with a real budget, will have to be better than that execrable BBC mini-series version of it that came out in the late 80s.

Normally a British show with guns made out of toilet-paper rolls ought to have a certain endearing cult quality. But not that turkey.

[Ford gazes into the camera] It's called, "After this, it can only get better!"
[they all break into a rendition of the Betelgeusian National Anthem, which is the Star Spangled Banner with a falsetto shriek at the end of each line]

The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series that was done was the best and no movie is going to come up to snuff.

I liked the BBC series too.

It was originally a radio show in the first place, wasn't it?

With Malcovich in it, it might actually work. He has the right level of angst to work.

Dean - Yes it was. And it was considerably different from the books, which in turn were somewhat different from the BBC series (which I happened to find endearing precisely because it was so awful). Somewhere or other (I think in the omnibus edition of the books), Adams explains all these permutations.

So I guess you could argue that there is some legitimacy in adding a new character for the movie, especially as it apparently was Adams' idea. The trouble is that Adams is dead, Hollywood now has free reign, and the business model says push the power star (i.e. Malcovich) to the forefront.

To quote from another sci-fi classic, "I got a baaad feeling about this."

The official Douglas Adams site claims to be the only official place for HHG2TG news and information.

Also, this from the alt.fan.douglas-adams FAQ (notably outdated):

"Disney are, sort of, doing a Hitch Hiker's Guide movie. With the emphasis on 'sort of', because Disney may well have made Bambi but it also made Pulp Fiction, as Douglas Adams has pointed out.

An agreement was reached between Douglas Adams and Hollywood Pictures (a division of Disney) for production of a movie to be released summer 2000. Roger Birnbaum (of Caravan Pictures, an independent company whose productions tend to be released by Disney) will produce, Jay Roach will direct and Douglas will write the screenplay and co-executive produce.

Douglas is working on the screenplay now; he says it's based on the first book with some new material added.

Jay Roach, the director, last finished Austin Powers II.

The recent story suggesting Jim Carrey will be in the movie has been refuted by DNA himself, right here on the group. He has also even more recently downplayed the Disney connection as well as pointed out that Roger Birnbaum and Caravan have been responsible for such notable pictures as Rain Man and Gorillas in the Mist."

IMDB has a different director listed. I wonder if Jay Roach is still on board.