If you are a regular reader of this blog then you are aware that at the moment a large portion of my time is taken up writing Oz: Fall of the Scarecrow King, an original graphic novel which will be published by
Insomnia Publications next year.
So what stage is it at?
Obviously all the contracts are in place, the entire creative team is on board I am currently finalizing the script while the art work has already begun. So short of an act of God, nothing can stop it now.
And then!
A friend of mine was good enough to forward me
this article which says.
"
Vanguard Films has gained screen rights to "Circus Galacticus" and "The Oz Wars," two graphic novels that Vanguard topper
John H. Williams acquired at Comic-Con."
...
"The Oz Wars" is an action film set in the Emerald City, where a fierce war is waged by the Witches in their evil citadel against the resistance fighters led by the beleaguered Wizard. The storyline was penned by an established screenwriter who's using the pseudonym "Dorothy Gale."
... will be produced by Vanguard's Williams, who found both in galley form at Comic-Con and bought them as works in progress.
... have huge spectacle, a clearly defined sci-fi genre PG-13 audience, and powerful themes of liberation and independence," Williams said. "They'll make great graphic novels and have film franchise potential as well."
Vanguard's
Rob Moreland will be involved in a producing capacity...
Ouch right?
I mean seriously, talk about a kick in the guts.
So what to do?
Should I sue them for everything thing they've got? Should I mobilize my army of lawyers to storm the legal bastion of Hollywood?
Well no.
Firstly I have no army of lawyers but also as a writer this kind of thing happens.
If you are working on an idea you can pretty much guarantee that someone somewhere is working on virtually the same idea.
To use examples from the movie world, remember the year there were two movies about asteroids and remember the year there were two movies about ants and remember the year there were two movies about mars? That was a bad year. Apparently in space no one can hear you yawn either.
Often ideas are simply out there in the ether and by either coincidence or a confluence of impossible to see events the ideas start making headway at the same time.
Also if you choose to adapt something that is in the public domain expect this to happen tenfold.
My heart really did sink on reading the article and my initial reaction was like the falling whale in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “not again.”
Why “not again?”
I have been working on my Oz vision, off and on, more off than on to be honest and in one form or another since at least 1998. Since that time dozens of Oz projects have been announced, most have fallen by the wayside, some went forward then stalled; others went all the way through and were made.
Remember the Muppet wizard of Oz? No? Fair enough practically no one does.
In that time I have also seen the McFarlane Oz figures come into existence and the constant rumours of that movie going ahead.
There was the Rod Steiger Wizard of Oz project which had Elizabeth Taylor marked to play a seventy year old Dorothy.
There was the announced, urban Oz project staring a rapper I can’t remember.
There is the CGI John Boorman animation currently in the works which is based on the original book.
And of course last year there was the Sci-Fi/Syfy channel’s Tinman. Which I watched and thought was kind of ok but for me strayed so far from being the Wizard of Oz that it essentially became something else.
So is the limited information I have on The Oz Wars from the above article different from these others.
Yes and no.
The most troubling aspects of the story are obviously it is discussing a yet to be published graphic novel which deals with some form of Oz rebellion. However, add to this that the original film script for my project was called Oz Wars.
Over the years, as it was a spec script, the various scripts, development notes, outlines and treatments have probably been in the hands of a couple of hundred people, only a handful of whom were ever involved in any form of development with the project.
Now I have tracked where my project has been and who it has been with and it was registered with the right places back at the very beginning of the process. So am I worried that my original script has been stolen and reworked or anything along those lines?
No.
I am sure it is a simple coincidence and it actually goes someway to reaffirming that it is a good idea which has industry / audience appeal in the first place.
And as a writer that is the best thing to take away from this.
While is does for a while feel like your heart has been ripped from your chest simply pick it up, have a heart healthy breakfast and get back to work.
All the best.
Peter
