Dig through the bookshelf and find your old copies of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series, because the time has finally come. For those of you who don’t know, there is a Maximum Ride movie coming out. Supposedly cast members and James Patterson have been posting pictures about the movie for the past year, but until I saw the trailer I had no idea it existed. When I first saw the trailer I had to double check with the internet that this wasn’t some cruel joke, but to my surprise and delight the movie is scheduled for digital release on August 30th and will be featured in select theaters September 30th. I am never quite sure what “select theaters” means, so I’ll settle with the digital download, which I can watch a month before.
The idea of a Maximum Ride movie has been floating around for the past six years and has been shuffled between different directors and production companies. The original plan was for a big production directed by Catherine Hardwicke and featuring Kristen Stewart as Max. However, Hardwicke ended up quitting, after having delayed the film by requesting that the script be rewritten. Then Don Payne picked up where she left off, but died of bone cancer before seeing the movie through. In 2014 there were rumors that a YouTube series would be launched when Collective Digital Studios acquired online rights for the series, but that also never happened. Fast forward another year and Jenna Marbles, the famous YouTube personality, signed on as executive producer and here we are with an actual release date and a slightly concerning trailer.
This movie is already being criticized for its low budget appearance and B-movie vibes – which I’m willing to look past, as long as they stay true to the books. So far, I can’t tell how well it will line up and I’m not sure how I feel about the casting of the characters. From the brief glimpses of them in the trailer and from the poster I am already upset that Max is platinum blonde, when in the books her hair is described as brown, sometimes blond. Also, the actress playing Nudge is much too old for the part; she looks like she’s in her twenties when Nudge is eleven at the beginning of the series. While these two characters really stood out to me, I think I need to see the film before forming an opinion on the rest of the cast.
What blows my mind is that with the success of movie adaptations like The Hunger Games and Divergent, this series wasn’t picked up to be turned into a Hollywood blockbuster. I think the plot is creative and the characters are diverse and interesting. If the right people were to be involved, this movie could have been huge.
I am curious as to how successful this film will be and if it will result in other movies covering the rest of the books. If the movie does prove to be a success, will we see more low-budget adaptations of other book series? I would love to see a movie adaptation of Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series, another series with a film proposal that has been up in the air for years.
I am definitely going to reread the series before I watch the film and despite all my concerns, I am still super excited to see one of my favorite book series brought to life: Anyone up for a viewing party August 30th?
