MPW Blog: The Next Great Franchise – by Geek Cast Ry

Harbingers of Doom

The old adage goes something like this: “The book will always be better than the movie.” I’m here to disagree with that — if only for this instance.

I recently bought and read, “The Stuff of Legend Omnibus One,” the New York Times best-selling graphic novel written by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith and produced by Th3rd World Studios.

The story centers around a child’s toys which travel into The Dark to save him after he is brought there by The Boogeyman. The Dark is just that, a desolate place run by Boogey himself and populated with the boy’s discarded toys.

Set in World War II-era Brooklyn, this haunting and beautifully drawn comic book has all the makings of a blockbuster-exploding film, and luckily for us, that’s just what we are going to get a chance to watch.

Disney has already made a deal for “Stuff of Legend,” with Pete Candeland attached to direct and Abduction‘s Shawn Christensen writing the script. It’s the second, recent Disney deal for Candeland, an accomplished commercials and video director best known for his work with animation and for creating and directing the music videos for the Gorillaz. Candeland recently got the gig from Disney to turn “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” into a movie.

The best news about this is Disney and Th3rd World want to do this as a live-action film. While beautiful Disney animation would surely be able to capture the grit and heartbreak of the comic, the ability to see the characters — hand ax-wielding Jester and the foul-mouthed duck, Quakers, being my favorites — come to life is a fanboy’s dream come true.

This comic-turned-movie has every possibility of becoming a money-making, award-winning, complete success of a franchise. For now, all we can do is wait and read and hope that the movie proves that old adage wrong.


Editor’s Note: Geek Cast Ry is the host of the incomparable Geek Cast Live Podcast, a must-listen for anyone who loves geek news and discussions. Ryan is also a co-host on Movie Podcast Weekly, where each Wednesday we review new movies that are in theaters.

2 thoughts on “MPW Blog: The Next Great Franchise – by Geek Cast Ry

  1. Ryan, this seems incredibly interesting. One question: what is the tone of the source material? You used the word “haunting,” so I imagine it has a more gritty and serious tone. If that’s the case, I just hope the film adaptation doesn’t pull any punches and cover it in a Disney sheen.

  2. It’s def gritty and serious with a lot of adult concepts. Not to mention gunfights, axe fights, dismemberment and whatnot. With that said I would shy away from sharing it with my six year old because while it has its adult themes there are also strong themes of right and wrong, loyalty, and love. Must read!

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