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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 16, 2020 4:04:45 GMT -5
The film's US DVD release contains a gallery of concept art not carried over to either the bluray releases or the international copies. I've created an Imgur gallery for it which I've linked below. imgur.com/a/9Bmtkao:Edit: I've been working on gathering all the pictures/footage we have of the movie's deleted and alternate scenes and they'll be going up later today.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 14, 2020 19:09:11 GMT -5
If we do get #ReleaseTheSilberlingCut to be a thing, then what about a complete/expanded release of the soundtrack? I really want an expanded release of Thomas Newman's masterpiece and maybe also some of the unused demos that I heard in The Sad Score. tbh- the full score is far more likely to be released before any kind of new cut of the movie, so you're in luck. There are whole companies that make their living off of just releasing expanded movie scores for the collector market and Thomas Newman is a famous enough composer that his name and it's acclaim (it was nominated for an Oscar, after all) will guarantee sales, it's just a matter of time. The score would also have been recorded and edited digitally as well, so the files are likely just sitting out there, just waiting for someone to gather and release them. The problem with the movie is that it while was shot on film, every edit (apart from the very final cut) was made by copying the footage onto VHS tapes, which were much easier to edit on as they could be purchased and junked at very little expense. That's why the colours and the picture looks so soft and fuzzy on the DVD's deleted scenes; they were never used in the final edit so nobody ever bothered to transfer the actual film. Personally, I'm down to watch his cut in any format but studios, for some reason, seem to hate releasing workprints. Even the (in)famous Snyder Cut is a re-edit of the entire film from the ground up using just the raw footage. Let's keep our fingers crossed though.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 14, 2020 13:01:37 GMT -5
#ReleaseTheSilberlingCut indeed! The sequel script that Daniel shared with the writers room was a faithful adaptation of AA and EE, with a brief sequence that comedically compressed MM into a few pages. It influenced our second season in the same way that I think the original film script (seen in excerpts here) influenced the first: the idea of Count Olaf revealing his disguise at a pep rally originated there, as did the subplot of VFD agents trying to get an important book into the Baudelaires' hands (in the script, a coded copy of The Luckiest Kids in the World). But I know there were multiple scripts developed so it's totally possible that one of the other versions conflated characters and books in a less faithful way. Thank you very much for putting up with my questions and for your informative responses. It really means a lot. Judging from what you've said, it seems that there were at least three different sequel scripts developed at some point during 2005-2013. Daniel Handler brought up one of them in a radio interview from around 2009, which he mentioned would be stop motion and feature an opening explaining that the previous film had merely been a recreation and had been tampered with by "sinister forces". Lemony Snicket would then show us the fates that befell the child actors, cutting to Liam Aiken as a hobo on the street, Emily Browning in a mental ward, and the Hoffman twins as cackling old women in wheelchairs. He brought up another one of them in an article for the Guardian from around 2013, where he mentioned that it would feature the Quagmires and, more intriguingly, Dr Orwell. :Edit: Speaking of #ReleaseTheSilberlingCut, while doing some research, I noticed that a monitor in the background of one of the DVD extras about sound mixing was playing an edit of the "Count Olaf slaps Klaus" scene that didn't actually feature Klaus getting slapped. And this was with less than a month to go before the release. So while it's clear Silberling did lose a lot of control over the editing process, it's nice to see that he was able to win at least a couple of his battles in the end.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 14, 2020 6:01:54 GMT -5
Wow, gothicarchiesfan! This Snicket scholarship is truly impressive. I'll add that it lines up with the things I've heard from various sources over the years. I think I've mentioned it on this board before, but the "VFD agent" subplot also made it into Daniel's script for the sequel -- minus the "young boy agent" and "young girl agent" (which feeds my personal theory that they were intended to be the Quagmires). You can see how those scenes affected the Netflix series too: our Quagmire parents storyline originally had "Mother" and "Father" showing up at the burnt mansion to investigate the fire, but even when we dropped that specific plot, their scenes serve a similar function of introducing VFD early while hinting at larger mysteries. And you can probably trace a direct line from the script's "fight choreographed like a halftime battle" to every scene with Jacqueline and Larry. An odd twist is that, since ASOUE wrapped, I've been developing a (non-Snicket) series with Netflix and we brought on Brad to direct. He and I got to swap Snicket stories and he shared his genuine fandom for what we did with the show. One thing that's easy to forget is that being true to the books has only recently become a priority for YA/middlegrade adaptations. Book readership is so small compared to film/TV viewership that, for decades, in-name-only adaptations were the norm, even for beloved and popular series. The trend towards faithful adaptation is one of the countless ways Harry Potter was a game-changer, and the ASOUE movie was made in the early days of that phenomenon. (Percy Jackson too, but that's another story.) So I know Brad fought to keep the film faithful when that wasn't necessarily everyone's priority, and while certain changes may drive other readers mad, I really love the film we got; seeing it in theaters is what led me to pick up the books in the first place. One of the joys of ASOUE is that its tone is so hard to pin down. It's simultaneously arch and sincere, terrifying and comedic, meta, ironic, philosophical, and melancholy -- and which of these tones you see has a lot to do with what you prioritize as a reader. Any adaptation is going to have to pick its priorities too. (That's why the notion of a third adaptation somewhere in our endless-reboot future feels like a joke that may one day end up coming true.) I suspect the challenging tone was the factor in the film's behind the scenes drama, and the final product is still more faithful than many book adaptations get. And then there's the cinematography, the music, the production design, the costume design... they're all gorgeous and evocative and make the movie a regular go-to when I need an escape. I often see people pitting the show, the movie, and the books against each other, as if a true fan can only support one, but I don't think that's true, and the fact that this series can sustain different (sometimes VERY different) creative visions is one of the things that elevates it. As the meme goes, it's a feature, not a bug. A postscript to my own recent experience: Brad and I were filming in NYC's famous Strand bookstore, and since Daniel was in New York, he came to visit us on set. For someone who has my own relationship with the film, the show, and the books, it felt incredibly special to have associates from all three versions, together in one place, surrounded by books. Thank you very much for responding to my post catastrophist , it really means a lot that someone who was so closely involved with the show still has time to chat with us fans. I'm very glad to hear that you were able to facilitate a meetup between Brad Silberling and Daniel Handler. I've always had a great deal of sympathy for Silberling and it has only increased these last few days as I've been deep-diving into the movie's production. It's clear he had a great deal of enthusiasm for the material but got saddled with a difficult leading man and a studio that undermined his work. One of the bonus features on the DVD shows Silberling still mixing and dubbing the movie just a couple of weeks before release because the studio keeps sending him new edits without warning and it's truly heartbreaking to watch. He just looks so unhappy and exhausted. That's why it's nice to see that he still has a great fondness for it even after all these years and enjoyed the Netflix show's take on the material. Maybe one of these days he'll be allowed to release his cut of the film, even if it's only a workprint edit. #ReleaseTheSilberlingCut? I agree with you that boy agent and girl agent were likely meant to be the Quagmires as it would fit with their roles in the books as the people who first introduce the Baudelaires to the existence of VFD but would not fit with a draft that was a direct sequel to the finished movie. :Edit: Actually, if you don't mind my asking, what role did the Quagmires end up playing in the sequel draft? Did they, or any other characters/locations like Esmé/Nero/Prufrock Prep/667 etc. end up getting merged or cut? Were the rumours about it being a combination of books 5 and 6 true?
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 12, 2020 19:44:49 GMT -5
I'm terribly sorry about the delay but over the last couple of months I haven't had any access to copies of the Netflix episodes with a full surround mixes or my audio editing software until yesterday. I'm still working on everyone's requests, don't worry.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 12, 2020 19:35:28 GMT -5
I am pleased to announce that the new Moderator for Malignant Merchandise is gothicarchiesfan !A knowledgeable, helpful, and reliable contributor to MMerchandise for many years, gothicarchiesfan is in many ways the ideal candidate for this position. His leadership in the Netflix Re-watch threads and detailed contributions surrounding the film and TV shows are but two examples of his generosity of time and talent. In addition, he completed an excellent application, which included correct answers to both bonus questions. Please welcome and congratulate the newest member of our staff! Congratulations, gothicarchiesfan; a promotion justly earned. Thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate being given the opportunity of accepting this position and I'm very grateful to everyone on here; who made it all possible.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 12, 2020 4:22:33 GMT -5
I'm starting to feel that there's no adequate answer. If the delay to the novel really starts to creep towards four years, then that's far too long for a normal publisher to just be sitting on it until a better opportunity arises - but at the same time, it seems a very long time for Handler to be taking the opportunity to rework the novel unless he essentially just threw the whole thing out, too. Remember, this was ready to go back in 2018. Even assuming he took advantage of a significant delay to rework it into, say, the first part of a series, he could probably have had a sequel out by now as well, or coming soon. If the book really doesn't come out in 2021, the gap between Snicket novels will be longer than that between ASoUE and ATWQ. It is enough to make one wonder why Daniel Handler has been writing more novels under his own name for the past few years... and not published by Little, Brown & Co., either. Top priority remains to seize any opportunity to ask the man himself. Exactly. The real problem is that it's so tough to get any kind of handle on what the situation is actually like; we know just enough information to drive us mad and not enough to actually provide any concrete answers. I think Daniel Handler owns the rights to the Snicket name and despite ATWQ's underperformance, it's still too valuable for any publishing house to just never use again. But then again how does one explain the partially completed book that disappears into the ether? What do you think is going on here? Personally, I'm thinking there has to be either some sort of legal/contractual holdup or there is some kind of conflict between Handler and the publishing house.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 12, 2020 0:38:52 GMT -5
I'd be more concerned about printing facilities, personally; and certainly the concept of "hitting store shelves" is not what it was. Normal publicity measures have gone out of the window. However, there are other aspects of the book industry which are comfortably compatible with working from home, and agents are reporting a surge in submissions. Of course, in this particular case, I remain relatively confident that the book was already complete and is just sitting on a server. We cannot know for certain because all is speculation on exactly what's going on with the book in the first place. In the short term, probably the best we can hope for is for somebody to finally ask Handler about it. Google Books now has this listed for the 4th of January 2022 as well. I'm beginning to wonder if the book has perhaps been reworked to such a large extent that it's being treated as an entirely new novel and these ever-moving listings for 2018's Poison for Breakfast will just continue to drift out there in the ether like the ones for the TRR: audio dramatization
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 11, 2020 20:01:32 GMT -5
What you have here is my attempt to reconstruct the plot of the last draft Daniel Handler and Barry Sonnenfeld worked on before their firings, pieced together from leaked bits of the script, concept art, and descriptions of the plot mentioned in interviews. It is very far from perfect and misses out quite a few key details that I couldn't find any reliable sources for. However, I have also included all the actual script excerpts that were posted here back in 2005, rearranged back into chronological order and proper script formatting. It's worth keeping in mind, though, that Sonnenfeld left more than half a year before filming on his version was even set to start so this script would not have been anywhere close to being a final draft.
catastrophist Are you free to reveal if this matches up with draft(s) you saw?
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 11, 2020 4:04:58 GMT -5
What you have here is my attempt to reconstruct the plot of the last draft Daniel Handler and Barry Sonnenfeld worked on before their firings, pieced together from leaked bits of the script, concept art, and descriptions of the plot mentioned in interviews. It is very far from perfect and misses out quite a few key details that I couldn't find any reliable sources for. However, I have also included all the actual script excerpts that were posted here back in 2005, rearranged back into chronological order and proper script formatting. It's worth keeping in mind, though, that Sonnenfeld left more than half a year before filming on his version was even set to start so this script would not have been anywhere close to being a final draft.
The Plot The movie opens in a graveyard, with Lemony Snicket standing by Beatrice’s grave and looking at the camera. He introduces himself to the audience and warns us to leave otherwise they may witness terrible things. He then shows us an example, cutting to a woman who we later learn is Aunt Josephine, screaming and running towards a window in her house. Though we don’t view her actual jump, we do hear the window break and see that her scarf is caught on the glass. When this fails to dissuade us, he begins to talk about about the tragic lives of the three Baudelaire orphans. We see all three of them arrive at Briny Beach and begin to set up one of Violet’s inventions; a device for retrieving skipped rocks. As he tells us about Violet and her inventing skills the film cuts to her father calling her down from her room for dinner. As he does so, we see that he is working on he and his wife’s last will and testament in the Baudelaire Mansion’s library. Lemony Snicket then tells us about Klaus and his magnificent reading and research skills, while the film cuts to Mrs Baudelaire asking Klaus to go to bed. As she does so, we can see that she is also in the Baudelaire library; locking the will into a fireproof box. Suddenly, the children interrupted by the presence of their parents’ banker Mr Poe, who tells them that their parents have died in a house fire. Their parents last and will and testament apparently specifies that they be sent to live with their closest living relative, an actor named Count Olaf. Count Olaf turns out to be a terrible villain and even worse actor, who makes the children’s lives a living hell as they slave away for him and his odd acting troupe. During this period the children are also confronted with a few mysteries; such as why they are not allowed in Count Olaf’s tower room or why he carries a mysterious spyglass with him. Eventually, the children manage to be taken out of his care and are placed with their next closest guardian, a kindly herpetologist named Montgomery Montgomery who also has a mysterious spyglass. Count Olaf then shows up in disguise as a scientist named Stephano and eventually murders their uncle and tries to frame it on one of his snakes. Luckily the children manage to escape his clutches and are sent to live with their Aunt Josephine, unaware of her many phobias and eccentricities. Meanwhile, a trio of VFD agents examines the wreckage of the children’s burnt down and now abandoned mansion. One of them is a pregnant adult woman, while the other two appear to be her child trainees, a young boy and girl roughly the same ages as Violet and Klaus. They discover the Baudelaire will in the fireproof box and realize that the one in possession of the authorities is a fake. The real will stipulates that the children must be passed to either Montgomery Mongomery or Josephine Anwhistle and that the children must not be placed with Count Olaf under any circumstances. Count Olaf manages tracks the children down again, disguising himself as an old sea captain named Sham and trying to force Aunt Josephine to kill herself. However, she manages to fake her death and hide away. The children meanwhile seek help from the local police force and when that fails they manage to sneak away back to Josephine's house to examine her secret library while they are dining at the Anxious Clown restaurant. The trio of VFD agents tries to contact Josephine via her spyglass but instead reach the children just seconds before Aunt Josephine’s house and the spyglass is demolished by Hurricane Herman. However, they do manage to eventually catch up with the Baudelaires at Damocles Dock and pass them a spyglass just minutes before getting captured by Count Olaf's henchpeople. The children manage to find Aunt Josephine but Count Olaf kills her anyway, he then manages to convince Mr Poe that he rescued the children and they are placed right back into his care. He then reveals that he plans to marry Violet under the pretence of putting on a play and threatens to kill Sunny if she doesn't go through with it. The children manage to defeat him just in time and discover that his tower room contains a device which magnifies the refractive power of the spyglass and allows it to burn things from a great distance but it's unclear whether this was what caused the fire or not. Count Olaf manages to escape and the children are forced to find a new home once more, their future unclear. Script Excerpts
#1 1. EXT. HILLTOP CEMETERY - DAY 1
This movie begins where most things end: A CEMETERY, one of the old-fashioned kinds, with rustling iron gates, and ivy. One TOMBSTONE reads "Beatrice - darling, dearest, dead," and there's a large and sinister CROW perched on top of it. Leaning wearily against another TOMBSTONE is a MAN in a GREY SUIT with a black FLOWER in the lapel.
The CROW caws. The MAN sighs.
LEMONY SNICKET (for it is none other) Hello, film enthusiasts. I am Lemony Snicket. I am the narrator of this motion picture, a phrase which here means "the man who insists on telling you the events in the story," although this story is so utterly miserable that I can scarcely speak of them. I am sorry to tell you that this dreadful movie contains such unfortunate events as this...
We cut toINT. JOSEPHINE'S LIBRARY - NIGHT...a large, formal LIBRARY, filled with BOOKSHELVES and overstuffed furniture. An enormous set of CURTAINS, obviously covering a huge WINDOW, dominates the room. Into the frame pops a woman with glasses, her hair up in a bun and a long fluttering SCARF around her neck. This woman (AUNT JOSEPHINE) opens her mouth and delivers a fluttering, somewhat ridiculously melodramatic SCREAM, flailing her arms over her head. She disappears from the frame and we see a bright BLUE rush toward the window. There is an enormous SHATTERING OF GLASS and the CURTAINS heave in the wind, blocking our view. Finally they part to reveal a vaguely person-shaped hole in a huge WINDOW, with JOSEPHINE's SCARF caught on a spike of glass, looking out over a STORMY SKY and down to the TURBULENT WATERS of a body of water (LAKE LACHRYMOSE). Did she throw herself out the window?EXT. HILLTOP CEMETARY - DAYMR. SNICKET stands up, getting more agitated.#2
17. EXT. EDGE OF THE BEACH - DAY 17
MR. SNICKET steps into the frame and stares sadly, first at the departing ENGINE and then at the BAUDELAIRES.
18. EXT. SHORE - DAY 18
All three BAUDELAIRES are staring out at the calm waters of the ocean. VIOLET puts her SUITCASE down on the sand, and presses a button on its top. It opens like a Venus flytrap, emitting a mechanical whir. KLAUS opens his BOOK.
VIOLET Do you think this will be as good as the mailbox?
KLAUS I think this will be better than the mailbox.
SUNNY nods in agreement, as a crazy Rube Goldberg DEVICE emerges from the SUITCASE. MR. SNICKET steps into the frame.
LEMONY SNICKET Violet Baudelaire is the eldest Baudelaire child. She is fourteen years old and she is right-handed but even more interesting in that she is one of the finest inventors the world has ever known.
We cut to
19. EXT. BAUDELAIRE MANSION – NIGHT
…an enormous mansion, all turrets and domes and such. We move toward one particular WINDOW as we hear a voice call
BAUDELAIRE FATHER (V.O.) Violet Baudelaire!
The camera reaches the window and we’re in
20. INT. BAUDELAIRE LIBRARY – NIGHT
…a formal, wood-paneled LIBRARY. The camera focuses on a LARGE DESK, where the otherwise unseen BAUDELAIRE FATHER is placing a red wax SEAL on a calligraphied page of parchment. At the top, it reads “THE BAUDELAIRE WILL.”
BAUDELAIRE FATHER Please come downstairs and do the dishes!
VIOLET (O.S.) But Dad – I’m at a very crucial moment in the process!
As she replies, the camera moves up to the next floor…
21 INT. VIOLET’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
…and we’re in VIOLET’s bedroom, dominated by a large WORKBENCH where VIOLET stands over the INVENTION we saw on the trolley. Mr. SNICKET stands behind her.
LEMONY SNICKET Whenever you see her put her hair up in a ribbon like this –
VIOLET ties her hair up in a ribbon, puts on some welding goggles, and primly fires up a welding torch. MR. SNICKET also puts on some goggles.
LEMONY SNICKET (shouting over the torch) --it’s a sure sign she’s working on some fantastic device!
We back cut to…
22. EXT. SHORE – DAY
…the shore. VIOLET is hunched over her INVENTION with an old-fashioned OIL CAN and making a minute adjustment. KLAUS is reading his BOOK, walking in careful, measured strides and holding a long STICK. SUNNY is nowhere to be seen on the otherwise empty horizon.
KLAUS Violet, would you say that it’s early mid-afternoon or late mid-afternoon?
VIOLET shades her eyes and looks at the sky.
VIOLET I would say it’s mid-mid-afternoon.
KLAUS nods, drives the STICK into the ground, squints out at the ocean as if surveying something, and looks back at his book as MR. SNICKET returns.
LEMONY SNICKET The young man with the book is Klaus Baudelaire. He’s a bit older than twelve.
23 EXT. BAUDELAIRE MANSION – NIGHT We’re back at the same mansion, with the camera moving toward the same window.
BAUDELAIRE MOTHER (V.O.) Klaus Baudelaire!
The camera has once again reached …
24. INT. BAUDELAIRE LIBRARY - NIGHT
Now we see the hands of the BAUDELAIRE MOTHER, who is rolling up the SEALED WILL and placing it in an ORNATE METAL BOX.
BAUDELAIRE MOTHER It is nearly an hour past your bedtime!
KLAUS (V.O.) But I’ve just reached a crucial part of the analysis!
As before, the camera moves up a floor to
25. INT. KLAUS’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
…KLAUS, who is sitting in BED reading a COMICALLY THICK BOOK by the light of an AMBITIOUS BEDSIDE LAMP. LEMONY SNICKET stands behind the headboard talking to us.
LEMONY SNICKET Klaus is a rhetorically encyclopedic euhemerist, a phrase which here means “the sort of person who reads everything he can get his hands on…
KLAUS turns a page.
LEMONY SNICKET …and stores it all in his brain for precisely the right moment.”
We cut back to...
26. EXT. SHORE – DAY
…the shore. MR. SNICKET is nowhere to be seen.
KLAUS (pointing at the INVENTION and then the STICK) So, that should go here, assuming this aquatic tide atlas is accurate.
VIOLET (moving things into place) So the invention should work.
KLAUS If we have the right projectile.
VIOLET Sunny, do we have the right projectile? SUNNY pops up into the frame – apparently she was sitting in the sand. She is holding a small ROCK in her hands. MR. SNICKET steps into the frame.
LEMONY SNICKET There are just two things you should know about Sunny Baudelaire. The first is that she sometimes talks in a way that is difficult to understand.
He pops out.
SUNNY Copee! [caption: I’m almost done.] He pops in.
LEMONY SNICKET The second thing is that she has four very sharp teeth. He pops out, and sunny grasps the rock, opens her mouth, and spins it quickly around her tooth, as if she’s sharpening a knife.
A loud, scraping SOUND comes from the ROCK, and when SUNNY holds it up again, it’s been transformed into a much flatter shape. She hands it to VIOLET, who looks at it and hands it to KLAUS, who gives her a thumbs-up.
KLAUS This is perfect.
VIOLET It’s too bad our parents couldn’t be here. That would be perfect.
KLAUS Dad said he’ll cook us a victory dinner.
VIOLET Only if there’s a victory.
KLAUS There will be.
KLAUS takes a PEN from a pocket in his coat and marks the ROCK with an X, and hands it back to VIOLET. Like a pro pitcher, VIOLET holds the ROCK in both hands, bends down, and skips it into the ocean. We watch it skip twice, three times, too many times to count, and sink into the water. We see all three BAUDELAIRES from behind – all three of them have their fingers crossed. VIOLET steps to her device and puts her hand on a small, blue LEVER.
VIOLET (quietly) What’s that thing Einstein said?
KLAUS “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious…”
VIOLET pulls the lever as KLAUS continues, and the INVENTION whirs into life. A long flexible crane reaches gracefully out, skimming along the water like a flying fish.
KLAUS “…It is the source of all true art and science.” It reaches farther, farther. VIOLET smiles slightly.
VIOLET And what’s that thing James Brown said?
KLAUS (as deadpan as ever) “I got something that makes me want to shout. I got something that tells me what it’s all about…”
Out in the ocean, the crane stops suddenly, and, in one dainty motion, dives into the water, retrieves something and zips back to shore and back into the SUITCASE, dropping the small object onto the sand. KLAUS picks up the object and we see, of course that it’s the damn ROCK, marked with an X.
KLAUS (permitting himself a bit of cockiness) “…I’m superbad.”
SUNNY Rube! [It worked!]
KLAUS (grinning at his sisters) It worked like a charm! The camera moves to MR. SNICKET.
LEMONY SNICKET Yes, the invention worked, and all three Baudelaires were very happy… The camera moves back to the BAUDELAIRES. SUNNY is frowning and pointing off camera.
SUNNY Gack! [Look at that mysterious figure on the beach!] The camera hurriedly moves back to Mr. SNICKET.
LEMONY SNICKET So I think it would be best for all of us to pretend that this movie ends at this very pleasant moment. 27. EXT. BEAUTIFUL MEADOW – DAY
Meadow. Sky. Soundtrack. “The End”. We cut to
28. EXT. SHORE – DAY
The BAUDELAIRES are watching the approaching FIGURE of A MAN IN A TOP HAT, while MR. SNICKET walks out of the frame, shaking his head. The MAN pauses for a moment and coughs into a handkerchief, and the BAUDELAIRES smile.
VIOLET Mr. Poe
KLAUS From the bank? What’s he doing here?
MR. POE arrives, a middle-aged man in a black suit: all business. He removes his TOP HAT and wipes his brow, nods at the children, and pauses for a moment to catch his breath.
VIOLET (what are you doing here?) How do you do?
SUNNY Odo yow? [How do you do?] He coughs once more into his handkerchief again, holding up one finger: I’m about to say something. Then he looks sadly at the Baudelaires, wondering when to begin.
MR. POE I’m afraid I have some very bad news for you children. Your parents have perished in a terrible fire.
The BAUDELAIRES don’t say anything.
MR. POE They perished in a fire that destroyed your entire home. I’m very, very sorry to tell you this. The BAUDELAIRES don’t say anything.
MR. POE “Perished” means killed.
#3
EXT. BAUDELAIRE MANSION RUINS - NIGHT
We're back at these ashy ruins, eerie in the dim light. We see the figures of the three AGENTS we saw on the TROLLEY, examining the wreckage. The PREGNANT AGENT holds the black V.F.D. BAG and is taking the WILL out of the ORNATE METAL BOX. The YOUNG BOY AGENT holds a cage just like SUNNY's, with something inside.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT (sadly) To think, all this destruction is the result of the refraction and convergence of light.
PREGNANT AGENT If the Will is here, where are the Baudelaire children? What can this mean?
The YOUNG GIRL AGENT looks at it;
YOUNG GIRL AGENT It means, "a place of refuge and protection"
PREGNANT AGENT We've got to get this to Josephine.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT We can't take it all the way over there. Our enemies are watching the roads.
YOUNG BOY AGENT It'll have to get there as the crow flies. He opens the cage, and we see a large CROW inside. He reaches in as we cut to.....
OLAF'S KITCHEN.
#4 ...the TOWER ROOM. The PREGNANT AGENT, still with her BLACK BAG reading V.F.D., is holding the TURQUOISE SOMBRERO, while the YOUNG BOY and YOUNG GIRL AGENTS are looking at VIOLET's INVENTION.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT Look at this.
YOUNG BOY AGENT (smelling it) Puttanesca.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT The Baudelaires were here. The PREGNANT AGENT reaches into the BAG - it's stuffed with all sorts of papers and unreadable objects - and pulls out a PHOTO of a SOMBRERO. She holds it up: we have a match.
PREGNANT AGENT Something's gone horribly wrong. Call Josephine and tell her we're on our way. The other AGENTS nod, and the YOUNG GIRL AGENT takes out SPYGLASS and dials into it as we cut to...
INT. JOSEPHINE'S LIBRARY - NIGHT
KLAUS So if we sail from Damocles Dock towards the Lavender Lighthouse, we'll reach the cave from the southwest. As long as we don't eat within the next hour - We hear the ringing of a phone. The Baudelaires look at one another.
KLAUS Aunt Josephine said she disconnected the telephone. It rings again, and the Baudelaires look down at the desk where the spyglass is vibrating slightly.
VIOLET It's not the telephone. It rings again. Violet picks it up and looks it over. We hear a roll of thunder.
KLAUS The atlas has a warning about Hurricane Herman, a notorious storm that can strike at any - Sure enough, the library is suddenly engulfed in RAIN and WIND. The SPYGLASS is yanked from violet's hand and flies through the air. she grabs for it, but it eludes her and with out last ring, falls out the window. The Baudelaires stand in the window looking down at the spyglass as it tumbles. they stare for a moment and then with a sickening lurch, the entire room tilts toward the raging lake.
#5 The AGENTS continue to circle the HENCHPERSON OF INDETERMINATE GENDER, moving in for the kill. Well, not kill. This is elaborately choreographed if somewhat ineffectual, looking more like a halftime show than a battle: The AGENTS twirl and parry with their SPYGLASSES while the HENCHPERSON OF INDETERMINATE GENDER swings its thick arms, whooshing over the agent's head.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT This is for Beatrice! The HENCHPERSON growls.
PREGNANT AGENT And this is for the secret passageway that you used without permission! Another growl.
YOUNG BOY AGENT And this is for - The HENCHPERSON swings its head toward the AGENT only to hit it on the arch.
HENCHPERSON Ow.
(S)He blinks for a moment and then falls on his or her face to the ground...
EXT. GATE - NIGHT
...we see, at the same moment, the GATE swing open, while the BAUDELAIRES continue to stare.
EXT. ARCH OF DAMOCLES DOCK - NIGHT
YOUNG BOY AGENT (to the girl agent) That was surprisingly easy. But the YOUNG GIRL AGENT is striding purposefully toward the Baudelaires, holding out her SPYGLASS.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT Violet, Klaus, Sunny - we're glad we found you. Here, take this. She throws the spyglass to VIOLET, who catches it absently.
YOUNG GIRL AGENT Where is Josephine? KLAUS leans down and picks up the atlas.
KLAUS (a bit dazed) Curdled Cave, we think ... but... The PREGNANT AGENT approaches them with the bag.
PREGNANT AGENT We haven't much time. Take thi-
She holds out the bag but as she does so, in one "Carl Stalling" swoop, a net rises from the ground ensnarling every last agent like one of those wild game traps Dr. Livingstone set in the jungle. The bag is tossed to the wet ground...
EXT. GATE - NIGHT ..and skims toward the Baudelaires. Sunny makes a grab for it, but it drops off the pier into the stormy lake. Glump! The camera swivels back to the ARCH, where the agents are a furious mass of netted humanity, dangling up in the air. Below them, we see the two WHITE-FACED WOMEN, standing at the posts of the arch smiling at one another in satisfaction. They are each holding the ROPES controlling the NETS.
WHITE-FACED WOMAN 1 There's something so satisfying about working with your hands.
WHITE-FACED WOMAN 2
Thank you.
They begin to tie the ropes to the arch, securing the net, while the pregnant agent pops her head out and calls to the Baudelaires.
Pregnant Agent We have the situation under control, Baudelaires! Get Josephine and meet us back here.
WHITE-FACED WOMAN 1 Josephine is alive?
WHITE-FACED WOMAN 2 Josephine is alive?
PREGNANT AGENT Go! The Baudelaires go...
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 10, 2020 21:20:59 GMT -5
I wonder...has Silberling ever directed something people actually liked? Since I mostly heard about him directing that weird Casper movie and the raunchy comedy reimagining of Land of the Lost. The show's dark comedy approach is nice, but I won't lie I kinda prefer Silberling's emotional drama attempt, though honestly it would be fun to see a fusion of the two. Can we at least agree the movie did Hurricane Herman better than the show? My feelings on the show's version of Hurricane Herman have softened somewhat over time. It had less than a 10th of the time and budget to plan and shoot it than the movie, so I understand why it played out the way that it did. With the much lower budget and the rushed post-production schedule, it was always going to look somewhat cheap and fake compared to the movie so they just decided to lean into it. I'm not happy about it, but I get it.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 10, 2020 3:14:15 GMT -5
I'm honestly surprised that Daniel Handler was still involved with the film even after the test screening drama, or that he remained on board after Sonnenfeld was fired and replaced with Silberling There's not a ton of information on this, for obvious reasons, but it's clear that Silberling didn't dislike Handler personally. He just disagreed on his ideas for what the movie's tone and story should be like. Handler favoured a more darkly comic approach while Silberling wanted a mostly emotional drama. According to one interview from 2003, Silberling was still emailing him pictures of the sets and the costumes so he wasn't left totally out of the loop, at least, in the beginning. And the rewrite work wasn't exactly extensive by all accounts it was mostly just punching up a few gaps here and there.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 9, 2020 18:01:15 GMT -5
Excellent and absorbing timeline, gothicarchiesfan. Where exactly did you source some of this information from, if I may ask? I'm fascinated by the accounts of Jim Carrey's antics, but things like the shifting state of the script's V.F.D. references are most intriguing. The Roman Polanski detail is new to me, too - although I do remember Handler once hinting, in an interview, that the producers were considering Mel Gibson for the Count Olaf role. He named no names, but I recall he framed the individual in question as "an actor who uses his film revenue to fund his father's anti-Semitic church." Thank you very much for your kind words Dante. I got the information from several sources: - Unofficial interviews with a couple of crew-members on the film - A fascinating book about Dreamworks/Amblin called The Men Who Would be King - Several articles which appeared in Variety Magazine during 2000-2003 - An article about the production under Silberling entitled Sour Lemony - The concept art and script fragments for the Barry Sonnenfeld film - Interviews with Daniel Handler from 2002, 2003, and late 2004 - And old, now deleted, aintitcoolnews articles about the film's test screenings.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 9, 2020 5:09:37 GMT -5
Here's a rough timeline of the movie's production that I was able to piece together from my research. 2000
The rights to the books get sold to Nickelodeon Films; a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Daniel Handler is set to write the script and the search is on for a director.
2001
Work continues on searching for a director and a producer. Terry Gilliam offers to work on the film but is eventually turned down by the studio due to the financial failure of his previous children’s films.
Roman Polanski also shows interest in directing the picture but is turned down by Daniel Handler as he does not want his movie directed by a convicted child rapist.
Daniel Handler continues to work on the script.
2002
Hollywood Mega-Producer Scott Rudin is hired to work on the project, kickstarting pre-production in earnest.
Barry Sonnenfeld is then hired to direct the film from Daniel Handler’s script.
It will be a somewhat loose adaption of the first three books, with musical numbers and various story elements from the later installments added in like VFD and Kit Snicket.
Jim Carrey is hired to star in the film as Count Olaf.
The $100 million production is set to film in New York during the spring of 2003 so that it can be released in time for the summer of 2004.
However, trouble soon begins to set in as Paramount’s executives grow uncomfortable with the film’s dark tone and demand that the movie’s budget be cut to around $85 million.
In order to acquiesce to their demands Sonnenfeld, Handler, and Rudin agree to massive pay cuts and the production itself will be moved to Wilmington, North Carolina.
Auditions for the children begin and actress Glenn Close is courted to play Aunt Josephine.
Concept Art begins being drawn up and the sets/costumes start to be designed.
Paramount, having just suffered a series of expensive flops and still unhappy with the film’s tone, demands that the budget be cut by a further $10 million.
Scott Rudin quits the film in anger at Paramount’s demands for an increasingly lower budget.
Paramount, concerned at losing one of the most powerful film producers in the business, decide that the only way they can make the film with the massive budget it requires is to co-produce it with another studio.
Sonnenfeld agrees to the idea but asks that the studio not choose Amblin/Dreamworks as the head producers there (Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald) do not like him and he will be fired on the spot.
Sonnenfeld is assured by the head of Paramount that he has nothing to worry about and that he will not be fired.
2003
Barry Sonnenfeld is fired.
Brad Silberling (a longtime protege of Dreamworks/Amblin head Steven Spielberg) is hired to direct the film based on Handler’s script.
With the co-production deal in place, the movie’s budget is raised to over $100 million and production is now set for summer 2003 in Los Angeles for a 2004 Thanksgiving release.
Silberling and Handler rewrite and review the script. Silberling wanting a more realistic and emotionally grounded approach to the film.
Eventually, Handler is let go and replaced with writer Robert Gordon (an alumnus of numerous Dreamworks projects).
Gordon and Silberling decide to massively rework Handler’s draft, cutting out most of the added material and reshaping the structure to be more like the books. However, they do retain some overall VFD references like the spyglasses.
The majority of the supporting cast are now hired and work on the costumes and the production design begins again, now in earnest.
Makeup, costume, and special effects tests begin but are almost just as quickly derailed by Jim Carrey’s demands. He asks to be flown to England to meet special wigmakers, wants full control over the script and is generally unhappy with the amount of prosthetics he will be expected to wear.
The combination of the script rewrites and Carrey’s antics cause filming to be pushed back to the autumn while pre-production continues.
When production finally does begin it is almost immediately slowed down by Carrey, who demands multiple retakes and rewrites of scenes. Even as they are being filmed.
One particularly bad incident involves over 5000 feet of film being used on a sequence of Olaf exiting a door that ends up being cut out of the finished movie.
Another requires nearly all of the TRR sequence to be rewritten as Carrey decides he doesn’t like the portrayal of Stephano as a swashbuckling adventurer and so puts the production on hold while they come up with a replacement.
Daniel Handler gets hired back to help with the, now daily, rewrite work and then gets let go again after a while.
2004
It’s less than 8 months to go before the film’s scheduled release and it’s still not even halfway done yet. Paramount reluctantly pushes the movie back to December.
Trouble has now broken out on the post-production side of things as Walter Parkes and Brad Silberling disagree on how the film should be edited. Parkes favours a more lighthearted approach that leaves in most of Jim Carrey’s adlibs, while Silberling wants to stick closer to the script.
Midway through shooting the TWW section of the film, cinematographer Emmanuel Luebezki leaves the production.
Once Jim Carrey’s scenes have all been shot, production speeds up tremendously and the film is able to wrap shooting soon after.
Parkes and Silberling’s disagreements on the editing have gotten so bad that Silberling goes directly to his mentor (and head of Dreamworks) Speilberg ad asks him to intervene.
After a series of test screenings, Spielberg sides with Parks and the film is recut to have a lighter tone.
Most notably, an ending scene where Count Olaf is shown to have escaped is cut and references to VFD are mostly trimmed down or removed entirely as test audiences find them confusing.
Daniel Handler is hired back again to write new narration for Lemony Snicket to match the movie after the removal of Olaf’s escape and the VFD references.
In December 2004, the movie finally crosses the finish line and is released to theatres. Its final cost is approximately $175 million.
A sequel is announced, and in light of Daniel Handler’s rewrite efforts on the movie, he is hired to write the script.
2005
Daniel Handler begins work on the sequel. It will be a direct followup to the movie, starting directly where it left off.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Aug 9, 2020 0:00:40 GMT -5
The other thing I'm shocked hasn't happened yet is some kind of graphic novel adaption of the books. Comic adaptions of books have been growing increasingly popular over the last few years and ASOUE/ATWQ would be perfect material to adapt into that format.
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