Amanda Hocking

Amanda's Blog Post

What’s the Deal with the Movie?

March 8th, 2014 by
This post currently has no comments

Last Updated 7/15/2015

This film rights for the Trylle series have reverted back to me, which means that at this time, there will not be a movie or TV show about the Trylle. Things in development got very close a few times, and Terri tried to very hard to get things going, but unfortunately, the film industry can be very finicky. There was also a succession of paranormal teen films that didn’t well as movie studios had hoped, and now the tide is turning towards more contemporary YA like John Green and Gayle Foreman. (Which is still a good thing for fans of well made young adult books and movies).

What all this means is that for the foreseeable future, I do not see any of my books being adapted for film. As much as I would like to make it happen, I don’t have the connections or the capital to make the films myself, and I don’t have enough clout to get a studio to back them.

If you would like to see a film of any my books, and you’re wondering what you can do to help that happen, the only thing that you as a reader can do is buy my books and talk about my books. Tell all your friends about them. The better the books sell, the more likely the possibility of someone buying the rights for a movie in the future.

For now, I’m just going to keep writing books and focusing on moving forward. If things do change and a movie becomes a possibility again, I’ll be sure to let you all know. Thank you for all your support and interest. Without readers like you, there never would’ve been a chance of a movie in the first place.

Previous Updates Below

This is a question I get asked a lot, so I decided that it needs to get its own page.

Here’s the deal: In early 2011, Terri Tatchell (the co-writer for District 9) approached me about adapting the books for a movie, and I told her yes. As a fan of her movie, I was especially excited about her working on it.

She contacted Media Rights Capital, and they bought the rights to all three books in the trilogy. (Here is the article in the NY Times talking about the deal: here.) I’ve talked to Terri via email a few times since then (and she’s terrific and very funny). That is about all I know.

I get a lot of questions like, “When will the movie be out?” “Who will be starring in it?” “Where are auditions being held?” As well as statements such as, “This person should star in it.” “I should star in it.” “I’d make a perfect Wendy.” “I want to audition.”

So I’m going to answer all those questions right now: I don’t know, and I don’t have any control over any of it.

I’m not in charge of any of it anymore. I sold the rights to other people who are in charge of things. I’ve done all I can possibly do to help ensure a movie gets made thus far. As an author, I don’t have as much control over the film adaption as many of you may think. (As in I have no control over it at all from this point on).

And I’m not complaining about it. That was absolutely my choice. When it comes to the film version, I want to be as hands of as possible. I’ve never made a movie before, and I don’t want to get in and muck it up.

Besides, in my emails with Terri, I feel like she’s the absolute best person to adapt it, and she understands my vision for the series. She’s far more brilliant than I am, so my involvement could only hinder things. I sold my rights to MRC because I trust them and Terri, and I’m certain they’d do a better job on it than I ever could.

Hollywood is very finicky, so at any moment, the movie could go into production, or it could set dead on the shelves for another ten years. It may get made very soon, or it may never get made. That’s the nature of the business, and there’s nothing that I can really do about it, no matter how much you or I would really like to see the films be made.

So, as of this moment, I have no idea if/when a film will be out, if/when/where auditions will be held, nor do I have a say in casting. But I trust Terri and MRC, and I am cautiously optimistic about things. Whatever they come up with, whenever they come up with it, I’m sure it will be amazing.

UPDATED: 4/14/2015

A fan recently emailed Terri Tatchell asking if there was anything they could do to help get the films made, and Terri suggest that she drum up support online. So, she started a Facebook Fanpage called Trylle Trilogy Movies. The link is here, if you’d want to like the page: www.facebook.com/pages/Trylle-Trilogy-Movies/ I’m not sure if it will help make the Trylle film reality, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. 🙂