"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:9
January might be the time for movie awards, but it's a wasteland for movies. There's a reason the term "summer blockbuster" is a thing, but not the winter type. And, yes, a quick look at February's release schedule includes another rehashed film adaptation we've seen too many times.
Reboots and remakes seem to infest Hollywood. Case and point? On February 21, a new adaptation of The Call of the Wild is coming out--starring Harrison Ford.
Any idea how many times this particular Jack London novel has been adapted to the big screen? By our count, this will be the fifth, counting the first silent film released in 1923. You've probably seen at least one version in your lifetime. Which was it? The one with Clark Gable? The one with Charlton Heston? How about the Rutger Hauer version?
We watched the latest trailer, and the dog playing Buck looks a little--how should we say?--fake. It's amazing how far computer special effects have come. But this particular dog looks like something out of those awful Scooby Doo movies they made a few years back.
But putting aside technical matters, perhaps it's time to consider adapting other source materials. The subject can even stay on dogs or wolves--or wolf-dogs.
There's one book that hasn't made it to the big screen but should: a little known 1973 Newbery Medal winner called Julie of the Wolves. We read Jean Craighead George's book as a kid and loved it.
The story follows a young Inuit girl named Julie who has to survive in the Alaskan wilderness with the help of a wolf pack, and it's a real coming of age story that's more than worth a movie adaptation.
Julie of the Wolves has several aspects of Jack London's work that fans will love, from raw northern wilderness, themes of survival, the beauty of a bond between humans and dogs--and more.
And if movie executives don't want to take a risk on one or two of the more adult themes in the novel, they can still give moviegoers something that hasn't been done a dozen times before. Or, to abandon hyperbole, a half-dozen times.
Editorial on 01/06/2020