Two (million) can play at that game!
I still like seeing the science articles that come up at io9, but I worry more and more about their entertainment reporting. For one thing, their coverage of comic book films has pretty much declined to the point of whining about how nobody makes a comic movie by just giving the artist of the comic $20,000,000 and turning them loose. Up until the release of The Spirit (which, by the way, I really think is the 80’s Flash Gordon of the modern era), their entertainment bloggers were angrily blogging that Frank Miller’s movie should be scrapped completely and instead the artist of the current comic should be given twice the budget Miller had and turned loose.
At this point, I have to point out – just giving a comic artist a massive budget to make a film is a phenomenally bad idea. Comics and film being, hey, two completely different media.
Lately, ranting and gloating have not been enough for them. They’ve taken it on themselves to begin making the news up. First off taking the pipe dream of one of their own reporters – that Christopher Nolan would do the next Batman film as a direct adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns – and reporting it as “the latest buzz in Hollywood” that they “hope to be true.”
Then there’s the gloating they’ve done over The Spirit’s lousy performance in theatres, which has lately grown to declaring Frank Miller’s Hollywood career to be “ruined.” Honestly, Frank Miller is nowhere near as bad as Uwe Boll – and Boll still gets new chances. And leave us not forget in the ranks of wunderkind directors with truly lousy films, there’s Robert Rodriguez and From Dusk ‘Til Dawn.
But rather than continue to be bitter about the way they turn their own opinions into “the latest Hollywood buzz,” I’ve decided I can take this opportunity to do the same, myself. See, io9 wants to know who the new Doctor’s companion is. So I’m pleased present the latest buzz to come out of the Beeb offices.
Emma Watson is rumored to be (wink, wink) in negotiations with the Beeb to play the companion to the Doctor as portrayed as Matt Smith. Sources within the Beeb report that the Harry Potter and the [fill in the blank] star is far and away a favorite. Not just for her youth which will match the image of the younger doctor, or for the star power she brings to the bill, but also to help appease the wrath of author J.K. Rowling, still upset after being dis-invited from the Doctor Who Christmas special.
Allowing Emma Watson to become the Doctor’s companion will soothe wounds with the author, and may pave the way for Rowling to appear in Smith’s first Christmas as the good Doctor. Moffat, while eager to work with Watson and Smith, was apparently unhappy with the decision to reinstate the Rowling story (an idea of Davies’) until the BBC sent Rupert Grint around to his office with a switchblade.
And this rumor is a 100% real rumor. Because I want it to be.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:13 am
io9: Not often right, but isn’t it pretty to think so?
I stopped reading io9 pretty early on, largely because it was just too much of a time-sink. Now I’m actually glad I did that, since they’ve become increasingly less reliable from all accounts. Neil Gaiman mentioned some lies they posted just last week.
Here’s the thing, io9: you can post industry rumors, but there should at least be a credible source behind it. Heck, there should be some source behind it. Nothing says you can’t opine about what movie Nolan should make, or what script Gaiman should write. But don’t pretend it’s anything but your own wishful thinking then.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
[...] That’s mighty funny coming from io9 – a blog that routinely reports its own bloggers’ idle speculation and pipe dreams as “the industry buzz.” [...]
July 7th, 2009 at 11:26 am
why not publish industry rumors? we do it all the time here in The States, lol. what high rollers take seriously are signed contracts, everything else is just buzz. industry buzz is good, though, because it helps generate and gauge commercial interest.
i once met Frank Miller years ago at a book signing; he’s a really sharp guy, like many writers are, but he’s easy to get along with and Hollywood won’t get rid of him for this reason.
and who doesn’t like Emma Watson? the BBC certainly does. the question is, does Emma want to work on Doctor Who? if she did, it would be a scheduling issue. she has a personal life, models, wants to go to university… even if she was a guest on the show, it would be fantastic.
if Emma appeared on Dr. Who, i think she should look and act very different and distinct from everything else she’s done, and memorably: an alien, a bad guy, a magistrate, an incarnated demon, another space-time traveler… whatever.
the thing about playing the Doctor’s companion is the commitment to the role, because whomever is going to get cast (stuck?) for a few years.