book on my mind for a few years now.

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director_eric2004

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Hello people,

I have had a book on my mind for a few years now, that I would love to option into a screenplay. Anyway, the book is called "Wizard's Hall". It is similare to the Harry Potter books, and my concern is that there would be no market for another Harry Potter like movie in the cinema.

Should I continue to follow my dream and turn this book into a movie, or would It be somthing that I should not even consider? :cool:

I don't want people to be calling me a "Copycat" you know.
 
Unless you're idea is radically different from Harry Potter in some way (i.e. the only similarity is that it involves magic), you WILL be called a copycat, no doubt about it. If the work is BRILLIANT, people might like it anyway. But I think you'd have more luck writing a good book of it than making a movie of it, myself... you could then make an adaption later, too.
 
There's a problem with that Demo...

The book already exists.. ;)

Wizard's Hall -- Jane Yolen, Magic Carpet Books (April 12, 1999), ISBN: 0152020853

"Henry is a small fellow, thin as a reed, without much talent for magic. But he tries. He really, really tries. And, as it turns out, that's the most important thing. Upon entering Wizard's Hall, the school for young wizards in training, Henry is promptly given a new name: Thornmallow--prickly on the outside, squishy within. And although his curses tend to "splatter or dribble around the edges," and he's not quite mastered his changes or spells, and he simply cannot chant on the dominant, Thornmallow is bound and determined to do the best he can. As the 113th student to arrive at Wizard's Hall, he quickly learns that he has a mysterious extra burden of responsibility that no one will explain. The horrifying secret? The future of Wizard's Hall depends on him, regardless of his magical bumbling."

Judging by that description I'd say it's nothing more than a Harry Potter knock off, but I have not read it.
 
How can you say that about someone elses hard work? They took the time to read Harry Potter, steal the best idea, change the name, AND give him a horrfying secret! People these days have no respect for good old copyright infringement... where would we be without that?
 
Well look at it this way, Wizards Hall pre-dates Harry Potter by about 8 years. So if anything, Harry Potter is a knock - Off of this book.

Harry Potter is LOADS better though.
 
Yes, Harry Potter is not very unique in its genre.

It is certainly very successful, but I was reading very similar books way back when.
 
Yes, Harry Potter is not very unique in its genre.
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Indeed. I must admit I am a person who rather dislikes the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. Stick with the classics like Lord of the Rings IMO ;).
 
Well you could always dig up a very very old D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) campaign book, and generate a script from that I suppose.. could be interesting :) Hmm maybe I shouldn't be giving away this idea.. oh well
 
It's quite a great idea.

Actually, that's interesting... My friend has been running a D&D campaign for over 12 years. He's kept logs of everything that's happened and is creating a screenplay.

He also has had another Sci-fi campaign going on, his own RPG he developed himself, for over 9 years. This RPG has developed into 3 screenplays and the 4th is almost done.

It's quite a great idea.
 
Yea.. especially considering some of the systems available.. A lot of Steve Jacksons games could be used to develop something 'present day realistic' and such.
 
Really? 8 years? I thought Harry Potter books had been around since about that time...
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No, Im saying This book pre-dates the copyright of the 1st Harry Potter book. So 8 years before J. K copyrighted Harry Potter 1, Jane Yolen copyrighted Wizard's Hall. :)
 
Everyone says JK ripped them off. But how many different ways can you write about wizard kids, really? JKR just happened to be successful... I think that still says something (though what, exactly, I'm not sure).
 
Ms. Rowling was extremely lucky to have her first script read to start with. Definitely a lucky break, for sure.

I'm sure she's put a lot of original ideas into her stories to give them that unique angle or edge... but escapist stories about kids in "magic schools" are pretty old. I enjoyed reading books like that 30 years ago. I'm sure the tradition goes back even further.

(I'm not that ancient!)
 
Yes, I recall a film not many years ago called "The Worst Witch", Which is pretty much a "Girlie" version of Harry Potter.

the idea of wizard kids in a school is not new, I recall myself along time ago reading books like this.
 
I suppose it's not really a far cry from something like "The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe".. not to mention the Hobbit & lord of the rings.. and the countless Dungeons & Dragons/Dragon Lance/etc books
 
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