Wednesday, November 10 2004
Kloves steps down; new screenwriter for OotP
Coming Soon reports that Steve Kloves, who wrote the first four Harry Potter movie scripts, will step down after Goblet of Fire so that he can direct other films. If JK Rowling approves, Michael Goldenberg will be the new screenwriter for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I was shocked to say the least when I read this. I reckon Kloves has done an exceptional job with the script for the HP films. I mean, it's no easy feat transferring the pages of a book (and very thick books at that, mind!!) to a 2 1/2 hour movie.

But I'm excited to see what this Michael Goldenberg is gonna do with OotP. I've always said change is not necessarily a bad thing, so having this new screenwriter on board will be mighty interesting.

I reckon JKR's gonna be a bit nervous about this though, since it took her awhile to fully trust Kloves. After all, screenwriters are the ones that will be (in her words) "ripping her baby" apart.

So...what do you reckon guys? Any thoughts?

(I was just going to make a thread on this, you beat me to it! )

I don't know if I can trust Michael Goldenberg as of now because I have never watched any of the movies he's done screenplays for and the most recent one is Peter Pan. I'll really have to see because I'm really quite nervous with the results. New director, new soundtrack, new writer. . .You really don't know what to expect. Maybe they'll sweep the Acadamey Awards like Lord of the Rings (and better?)

IMDB (what does that stand for anyway?) still says Steve Kloves is writing for OotP. Looks like Veritaserum is more updated.

For all those movie-goers who despised PoA, I remember there was a discussion on how "horrible" it was. (In quotes because I didn't think so) There were people who though, "don't blame the director, blame the writer!" Well I know those people will be happy.

Wow, so Kloves is going to direct. (What exactly?)

And JKR, she should definitely have a say in what goes and what stays in OotP.

Good luck to Mr. Goldenberg because OotP is the longest book and there will definitely be some editing.

I'm rather disappointed with the news.

JKR liked having Steve Kloves as the screenwriter, and I think she struck up a kind of 'bond' with him, regarding the books, and the future of the movies. I'd hate to see that go to waste, and I really don't want to sit through a movie where the new screenwriter is trying to figure it all out. If Kloves has the rest of the series all planned out in his head, how is he going to communicate that with the new screenwriter? I'd sure hate for the tone of the movies to take a drastic change.

And if you couldn't tell already, I'm concerned for the future of the HP movies....

Mmm...I dunno. I really don't. I have to agree with Anneth in fearing for the future of the HP movies.

Of course I understand that people will want to move on and do other things and never for one second did I expect the same entire crew to remain with all seven films - that's just against human nature, among other things. It's a very long period of your life to dedicate to just one thing...not many people stay in exactly the same jobs for more than a decade, which it will be by the time the films are all made.

But it took JKR such a long time to trust Kloves...he's gotten a feel for the characters and the books now which is going to take time for a new scriptwriter to build up. More than that, OotP is such a pivotal book in so many ways that it's going to take a substantial talent to be able to do it justice and I just don't feel secure trusting Goldenberg with it right now because he hasn't done enough of anything else for us to see the quality of his work. If he'd done loads of other things I'd say, yeah, great...let's see what he can do...but as it is....

I really do feel that the HP film expansion if beginning to reach the critical mass here, you know?

I dunno....very unsettled.

Hopeful, but unsettled.

Oh, wow! This really came to me as a shock! But anyway... I suppose we should give him a chance...(I'll be surely look him up for other movies he's written...)

Hmm...both Ash and Joe are right. We could do with some bit of fresh air...and Cuaron is a good example. It's my favourite movie among all three...

But I really hope Mr Goldenberg would take the time to read the first four books. I dunno, I think he should....cause reading OotP before the first four could...how should I say.... spoil the mood of HP's world. You have no idea what Quidditch is, what Galleons, Sickles, Knuts is, and most of all, you don't *know* the attitude and behaviour of each character.

So, yeah...I hope he would but if he's already did, that's all the better!

I agree... OotP is a really long book.. with loads of important things. Mr. Goldenberg has a tough challenge ahead.

Like what some of you have said... it took JK some time to trust Steve Kloves... if you watch the interview the two of them did in the CoS DVD... she was insecure about the fact that he was going to strip her books down and cut out this and cut out that. I can imagine Mr. Goldenberg... good luck to him. I really liked Peter Pan.. it had amazing dialogue among other things...

Change isn't always a bad thing ya know.

No, change isn't always a bad thing, but sometimes it takes a while to get used to...

I guess we can't really do anything until we know more about the OotP movie anyway.

i hope that the change in writers doesnt have a big effect on the overall movie, unless it is a good effect

This was a pretty big shock. Kloves was amazing at condensing the books but still keeping the feel of them there. But I guess change isn't always bad...

Goldenberg has a job on his hands if JK agrees. OotP is a big book and it just has to be done right. I liked Peter Pan (which he was the screenwriter for) so hopefully he will work some (of the right) magic on the HP films.

Good Luck to him (he'll need it)

You know, a thought just occured to me...what if JKR doesn't agree with WB's choice? What if she wants someone else? Do you think WB will respect her wishes? Or do you think they've got such a snowball in motion now that they'd be willing to take a risk and strike out on their own? Does anyone know what exactly the deal is that she's got going with WB anyway? Have they bought the rights to all of the books yet?

The whole Stanley Kubrick, The Shining and Stephen King incident springs to mind here....

Mmm.....

Well as far as I know, any decision pertaining to the movie, big or small, HAS to meet JKR's approval first. So for them to have announced that Kloves has stepped down and Goldenberg taking over, it must have already gone through JKR

But this of course, this doesn't stop her from being nervous about the change, even if she did agree to it, you know what I mean?

I'm still remaining (or at least making myself to be) optimistic about it. Everyone is a professional in their field of expertise and I have faith in WB that they made the right (or best there was) choice.

Of course humans make mistakes...but HP is a very huge franchise, mind, so I'm pretty sure they're gonna take everything into careful consideration before coming to a final decision.

Ohh ooops, my bad!! Well then, we've just got to wait and see, have we?

Oops, I assumed that JKR approved already. Really, what what they do if JKR didn't approve of Goldenberg? They'll have to pick a new writer?

Yeah, taks, I've heard he did Peter Pan. I haven't watched it, but at least we know it's something along the lines of fantasy and that it was a story many people knew. You can sort of relate that to OotP in the sense that many of the fans will know the story and he is capable of doing it. . .Honestly, I've never seen Peter Pan, but Taks if you're right about his work on that movie, then I hope he works wonder with Rowling's work.

I think we should all stay optimistic for our sanities. You know, just lie back and hope for the best.

Phew so I'm not the only one then yay!! I assumed that since it sounded pretty much final that JKR must have approved of it already.

I've watched Peter Pan and the screenplay was pretty good. I wouldn't say it was exceptional or anything, but for Peter Pan and for the target audience, it was bang on.

I was just watching the CoS DVD and I watched the interview with JKR and Steve Kloves talking about the screenplay for CoS.

In one part of the interview.. the moderator asks her something like "How do you feel about the future of the HP series?".. and she responds "Uhm, I hope Steve keeps writing the scripts. Uhm, I'm used to him you know."

So what does that tell you about how she may feel about having a new screenwriter. Sorry if something similar has been said or posted.

The following post was written by Lovegood091 on Apr 5 2005, 03:24 AM but has been transferred here as the thread it was in is now closed.

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Hallo!
I'm from germany and i hope you can undersatnd this:
Do you know the autograph adress from Michael Goldenberg?
Thanks, thanks, thanks... MUCH*g*

I am actually more worried about the director than the screenwriter... I mean he wrote Peter Pan which turned out to be really good..so it's okay.. But I mean, have you ever heard of David Yates?! Who is he? I wish Chris or Mike could direct the 5th movie... I hate Alfonso's version..I just hated the 3rd movie..I didn't even bother getting the Dvd!!!

MOD EDIT : Hi and welcome to the forums!! Please take a few moments to read through the forums rules here. Swearing is not allowed and "hell" is considered a cuss word in the context you've used it in. So please be more careful with your choice of words next time. Thanks.

I think that anything is better than Kloves.. *who is obcessed with Hermione*

and also the guy who is doing it is the guy who did the new version of Peter Pan and that is really like the book...

The following was written by savingharry in a now closed thread:

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Anyway, in case you didn't hear, Steven Kloves, the writer of the four Harry Potter films currently out, was not the screenwriter for the Order of the Phoenix film. Instead, Michael Goldenberg wrote the script. According to IMDb, his writing credits are:



Peter Pan (2003)- The recent live-action adaptation of JM Barrie's famous stageplay and book series with Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfroy) as Captain Hook. The director of the film, PJ Hogan also has a writer's credit for this film. Hogan wrote the screenplay for well-known independent films Muriel's Wedding and Unconditional Love. Peter Pan was charmingly written, and stayed very true to the source material, while at the same time creating a world in which you can immerse yourself. An interesting (and telling) addition into the story was a romantic subplot between Peter and Wendy. The screenplay gave the Director and Producer a lot to work with, though the dialogue did come off flat at points. I think that this film is the most telling of those that Goldberg has done with regards to Order of the Phoenix.



Contact (1997)- An adaptation of the science fiction novel by Carl Sagan with Jodie Foster. In the film, a SETI radio astronomer receives a satellite transmission from an unknown extraterrestrial source. It was co-wrote with James V. Hart, an action writer who wrote screenplays for films like Sahara and Lara Croft. Contact was good overall, though lacking the charm that Peter Pan had. Of course, some of this was, no doubt, due to its source text, which I have not read. Nevertheless, I thought that the screenplay did come off a bit sterile at times. The dialogue, as in Peter Pan, was well delivered, but jerky in its writing. As well, the film came off very preachy, though, most likely, most of this was due, again, to its being an adaptation of a Carl Sagan novel. Though I have not read the original source, it seems to me that this film, no matter its faults, was probably very true to its source text.



Bed of Roses (1996)- An original screenplay with Christian Slater as a florist who falls in love with a girl after only glimpsing her shadow. I have not seen this film, so I can't talk about its writing. However, it's good to note that Goldenberg's only original screenplay was a romantic comedy.



So... I'm a bit worried. Goldenberg's dialogue has not been stellar in the two films I have read by him, and dialogue is one of the best things about Harry Potter in my opinion. However, he is an experienced adapter, and seems to stay true to the source texts. He does seem to have a pension for romantic subplots, so look for the Ron/Hermione and Harry/Cho plots to definitely make an appearance (I'll try not to stray into this territory, so that maybe the post won't be shut down).



So what are your thoughts?



-fish

Well, I have to say that I am a bit nervous. OotP is my favorite book in the series and I'd like to see it done right. I don't know how many of you saw the relatively recent peter pan movie the Goldenberg did but I thought it was honestly probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Just to give you an idea, there were probably only about 10 people in the theater when the movie started and by the end only my girlfriend and I remained. So, yeah...hopefully its a bit better than peter pan. And yes, a lot of the shortcommings of the Peter pan movie were definitely faults in the script.