Ever since the box office success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hollywood has been shifting back towards the fantasy genre. Though there was a time when films involving magic, swords or sorcerers did not perform up to box office standards, it looks like moviegoers are ready to turn over a new leaf.
Besides Lord of the Rings, the recent Harry Potter films, based on a young wizard and his friends, have become guaranteed box office gold with every release.
Fantasy films are currently the hot sellers and Hollywood has taken notice.
Hollywood Sees Box Office Magic in Fantasy
USA Today recently did a report on the growing demand for films involving fantasy or magical elements among older audiences. Since Harry Potter is still considered a film for the younger ages, the studios have recently revamped their outlook with upcoming fantasy/magic films for those seeking a hard PG-13 or R rating.
The Prestige, in production in Los Angeles and out in November, pits Hugh Jackman against Christian Bale as dueling British magicians.
"I play one of the greatest magicians of the time period," says Jackman, who also co-stars with Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie in the film directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins). "It's an incredibly original story, a mind bender with twists and turns. The entire script is a magic trick."
In The Illusionist, Edward Norton is a Viennese master of marvels whose seemingly supernatural skills threaten a dogged chief inspector (Paul Giamatti) and an ambitious royal (Rufus Sewell).
"I'm no more into magic than the next guy," writer/director Neil Burger says. "But I am interested in that uncanny sense that nothing is what it seems. All the illusions are based on existing illusions from the time. We just pushed them another 10%-25% and made them more fantastical."
The Prestige and The Illusionist are only the beginning. Studios are still feverishly picking up novels and graphic novels to adapt to the bigscreen. As expected, a good portion of these stories feature fantasy elements such as magic.
What recent books can you expect to see on the big screen?
For the fans of Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy, the first book, Eragon, is scheduled to hit theatres by the end of 2006. The story of Eragon pushes all types of fantastical elements including magic, dragons, dwarves and elves. If that is a bit too much fantasy for your taste, Universal Pictures has recently acquired the film rights to the graphic novel The Red Star, a story that 'follows an epic battle in a world of militarized sorcery and monolithic technology.'
The last time Hollywood has seen the fantasy genre so hot was back in the early 80's with a little film that I would hope most could guess by now.
Hugh Jackman on set for The Prestige
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