Hitting Screens, Week of January 23, 2017
Adaptations coming this week include three to the small screen, plus a troubled theatrical opening.
Debuting in theaters on January 27th is A Dog’s Purpose, a tearjerker about a dog named Bailey who comes back to life again and again (each time remembering his past).
The book was first published in hardcover in 2010 and spent over a year on the New York Times hardcover and trade paperback best seller lists. Anticipation of the movie has brought the title back to best seller lists. It is currently #1 on the USA Today list, up from #3 last week.
The film stars Dennis Quaid, Britt Robertson, Josh Gad, Peggy Lipton, and some great dogs. Unfortunately, it recently received unwanted attention due to accusations that one of the dogs was treated cruelly on set. Author Bruce Cameron has defended the production, but threats of boycotts by PETA caused Universal to cancel last week’s scheduled premiere. The general theatrical release is going forward.
Tie-in: A Dog’s Purpose: A Novel for Humans, W. Bruce Cameron (Macmillan/Forge; Tantor Audio; OverDrive Sample).
Coming to TV on Wednesday, Jan. 25 is the opener of season two of Syfy’s The Magicians, based on the trilogy by Lev Grossman.
Entertainment Weekly reports the 13-episode run begins with the events depicted at the close of the first season and will include a more detailed look at Fillory: “Fillory is beautiful,” the magazine quotes actress Summer Bishil (who plays Margo) as saying, “It really feels like we’re somewhere magical when we’re in Vancouver because we’re always in some majestic forest and it’s lit like heavens are opening.”
Ttie-in: The Magician King: A Novel (TV Tie-In), Lev Grossman (PRH/Penguin; BOT; OverDrive Sample).
New on TV is the debut of the live-action adaptation of the Archie comics, Riverdale.
Den of Geek! says of the CW show, it is “not a sitcom” as readers of the comic might expect, “but a one-hour drama inspired by Twin Peaks.” Praising its casting and its production team, (it is written by Archie comics’ Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and is executive produced by Greg Berlanti who also produced Arrow and Flash) the site says the show has its “finger on the pop culture pulse.”
In their rave review of the first four episodes, Den of Geek! also calls it “highly addictive” and writes “Yes, this is a show that mixes sex and murder and noir with Archie, but it does so in a way that is self-aware and instantly ready to shatter expectations … And you know what? It is magnificent.”
The show is set to premiere on Thursday, Jan. 26. A tie-in comes out at the end of the month: Road to Riverdale, Mark Waid, Chip Zdarsky, Adam Hughes, Marguerite Bennett (PRH/Random House; OverDrive Sample).
Also new, and streaming on Amazon, is Z: The Beginning of Everything, a mix of costume drama and bio-pic detailing the life of Zelda Fitzgerald (played by Christina Ricci) and her legendary marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald.
New York Magazine suggests, “Think of the Fitzgerald scenes from Midnight in Paris, but 50 percent grittier … and filmed in America.”
It is based on on Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (Macmillan/ St. Martin’s Griffin; OverDrive Sample). The trade paperback bears a sticker tying it to the series. It starts streaming on January 27.