Narrativia, the independent production company launched by Sir Terry Pratchett in 2012, have announced that they will be creating screen adaptations of Pratchett’s beloved Discworld novels in conjunction with Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content – but more importantly, with creative input from Rhianna Pratchett, Sir Terry’s daughter, and Rob Wilkins, Sir Terry’s former personal assistant, two people who know the series inside and out.
Rhianna Pratchett – who is also co-director of Narrativia – said “Discworld teems with unique characters, witty narrative and incredible literary tropes, and we feel these should be realised on screen in a form that my father would be proud of. It’s wonderful to embark on this journey with Motive and Endeavor Content, who both perfectly share our vision to make this a reality.” Rob Wilkins stated “The Discworld books are a huge source of joy to millions of readers, and rightly so; every paragraph, phrase and footnote was crafted with brilliance and flair and we are committed to bringing Terry’s world to the screen with the respect and care it deserves,” adding that this creative partnership meant that Discworld had “finally found its home”.
That latter comment may allude in an unkind way to BBC America’s own Discworld adaptation, The Watch – still supposedly in production, but which has been in limbo ever since the fans pissed all over what they found to be a deeply unimpressive first look. The Watch was billed as a “startlingly reimagined…punk rock thriller”, a brief which reads alarmingly like a media executive tossing out buzzwords which test well with the vital 18-34 market.
Neither Rhianna Pratchett nor Rob Wilkins chimed in at the time, save to link Ursula K. LeGuin’s lambasting of a bad adaptation of her Earthsea novels (books which Discworld owed more than a little to) which was intended to cash in on the Lord Of The Rings-prompted boom in fantasy media. LeGuin’s response is probably better-remembered than that adaptation, and included the rather telling quote: “When I looked over the script, I realised the producers had no understanding of what the books are about and no interest in finding out. All they intended was to use the name Earthsea, and some of the scenes from the books, in a generic McMagic movie with a meaningless plot based on sex and violence.”
Adaptations tend to do better the less actual adaptation takes place, and this correlates well with having the creator – or people who love them – on board to preserve the magic of the original. We’ve established what happened when Earthsea was out of LeGuin’s hands. By contrast the recent adaptation of Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman’s collaborative project, Good Omens, had Gaiman on staff and was beloved by all. And Narrativia, notably, have specified their version will “remain absolutely faithful to Sir Terry Pratchett’s original, unique genius.”
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