Yates to direct bigscreen 'Doctor Who'

[kvz5]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118046098?categoryid=13&cs=1&cmpid=RSS%7CNews%7CLatestNews

Yates to direct bigscreen 'Doctor Who'

LONDON -- "Harry Potter" director David Yates is teaming up with the BBC to turn its iconic sci-fi TV series "Doctor Who" into a bigscreen franchise.

Yates, who directed the last four Potter films, told Daily Variety that he is about to start work on developing a "Doctor Who" movie with Jane Tranter, BBC Worldwide's L.A.-based exec VP of programming and production.

"We're looking at writers now. We're going to spend two to three years to get it right," he said. "It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena."

"Doctor Who" follows the adventures across space and time of a super-intelligent alien in human form, who battles a variety of cosmic bad guys aided by plucky human companions.
"The notion of the time-travelling Time Lord is such a strong one, because you can express story and drama in any dimension or time," Yates said.

The series ran from 1963 to 1989, and then was successfully rebooted in 2005 by writer Russell T. Davies and subsequently by Steven Moffat ("The Adventures of Tintin"). Tranter oversaw the revival when she was the BBC's drama topper in London.
"Doctor Who," starring Matt Smith as the 11th incarnation of the Doctor, is now one of the pubcaster's most lucrative global TV franchises.

The series airs Stateside on BBC America.

Yates made clear that his movie adaptation would not follow on from the current TV series, but would take a completely fresh approach to the material.

"Russell T. Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch," he said.

Yates and Tranter are looking for writers on both sides of the Atlantic.

"We want a British sensibility, but having said that, Steve Kloves wrote the Potter films and captured that British sensibility perfectly, so we are looking at American writers too," he explained.

There are two previous films, based on the TV series: "Doctor Who and the Daleks" (1965) and "Doctor Who: Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D." (1966), both starring Peter Cushing.
The BBC has since made a few unsuccessful attempts to develop a "Doctor Who" feature, and shot a one-off telepic in 1996 at a time when the TV series was dormant.

But the combination of Yates and Tranter means this is the most high-powered effort to date to launch "Doctor Who" onto the bigscreen.

Before directing "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and both parts of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Yates worked with Tranter on several BBC TV series, including "The Way We Live Now" and "State of Play."

Contact the Variety newsroom at [email protected]

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Cool. Keep it British though, no Americanization.

 

[Mister Sinister]

No, no, no, no, NO!

 

[Cherry]

But it's not connected to the TV series at all? Boo.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

But it's not connected to the TV series at all? Boo.

Just treat it as a seperate entitiy. Much int he same way you would treat TAS and Nolan as a seperate entity (TAS being way better).

 

[Wolfwood]

That's great news, I'd love to see what they'd do with the Doctor given a big movie budget.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Part of the fun of Dr. Who is the continuity. Even his regeneration characteristics hinge on having a linear existence. A "past" is key.


I don't think it will work as well as a series.

 

[DACrowe]

I don't know if this is a great idea. He works so well as an episodic character and has such a detailed mythology...but I will most probably see it.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

I never saw this coming. I'm interested in the notion that a movie of Doctor Who is in the works but I'm disappointed that it won't have anything involved with the TV-series, which it's a strange move.

Of course there's a chance that this movie might turn out good but I'm cautious of it, for the time being.

 

[Tanin]

As long as it doesn't change the TV series I'm game.

 

[Mr. Thing]

As long as it's a separate entity from the TV Series, I'm okay with it.

 

[Raiden]

Personally, I think it's a good idea. As popular as Dr. Who is, its fan base is largely confined to UK, and I think a full-featured film will expose this character to moviegoers from across the globe. The TV show will probably benefit from the film if it becomes success, as well.

 

[chaseter]

Separate from the tv series? Bleh. Matt Smith is King. You are setting yourself up for failure if you don't connect them. Nobody is going to go see this but fans and if you alienate the fans then nobody will see this.

 

[DACrowe]

But the appeal of the Doctor is that despite constantly being reinvented with new actors and writers, it's all the same "man" (or Time Lord if you prefer) having these adventures and everything has a long history with him...but not in a convoluted, boring Star Trek draconian way, but in a fun wink-wink over-the-top excessive silliness way.

Starting from scratch just kind of loses what has made the Doctor a popular character again since his reemergence in pop culture 6 years ago. Most people who watch it, including myself, never saw the older series but appreciate the value it brought to the new one.

Oh well, I'll see it.

 

[moviedoors]

Cool. I've been curious about Dr. Who for awhile now, but I'm too intimated by the decades worth of TV. I have no clue where to start and I hate coming into a show with huge gaps in how the narrative works and having to constantly play catch up.

In addition, the character is never going to break through here in America without a big, giant push like this for the very same reasons. It's too entrenched to break through as a TV series. A big budget movie is exactly the right way to break this character open world wide. Take a big step back, and introduce people who don't live in a culture that takes him for granted to all the various aspects of the mythology.

I welcome this. I'll still probably take the plunge into the show before these movies hit screens, but this is the best way to make my mom or my little sister actually give a **** about Dr. Who.

 

[obin_gam]

FOR ****
SAKES NO!

I'm sorry but this sounds like the worst idea ever.

​

 

[obin_gam]

Cool. I've been curious about Dr. Who for awhile now, but I'm too intimated by the decades worth of TV. I have no clue where to start and I hate coming into a show with huge gaps in how the narrative works and having to constantly play catch up.

No nead to start decades ago. Start with the new start 2005 and go on from there. Its only 6 season with 13 episodes in each.

 

[Anubis]

I don't know about this......could either be kinda cool or incredibly bad. Wait and see for me.

 

[moviedoors]

No nead to start decades ago. Start with the new start 2005 and go on from there. Its only 6 season with 13 episodes in each.

Cool. I figured that was probably the case, but I didn't really know. I'll probably start there. The whole concept behind the character sounds tailor made to my sensibilities, so I wanna do it right.

Still think the movie is a cool idea. I don't think you could ask for a better team. Yates is at a point in his career like Christopher Nolan. He can do whatever the hell he wants, and this is what he's throwing himself at.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

eh, I dunno, I've always thought it was a concept best suited for tv, y'know, he's a master of time and space, and the fun is seeing where he ends up every ep(or multi-ep story like the old series).

It's the same with Star Trek, better suited for tv given the concept. But, Star Trek has a simple concept behind it that folk can grasp easily, for new audiences(particularly in the states who will not know the concept), they will have to introduce the whole concept of timelords, how he is the last one, have him end up on Earth so he can pick up a companion, and fit all of that in before you even get to the part where you introduce a villan and the plot...
The Peter Cushing movies in the 60s(which did not feature the same actors as the tv show) worked because they assumed that you had seen the show, and just jumped right into the adventure with no introduction, just like a regular ep of the show.

They are gonna have to introduce the whole concept to a new audience with this movie, if it is to be an ambitious film that they want a worldwide audience for, and the movie could be a bit of a cram, and not as good as the best a low budget tv series could offer.
but, y'know, maybe they could come up with a script that pulled you into the concept, while simultaniously hitting the ground running with the plot, without it being confusing for new audiences or crammed.
I am a little skeptical that they will come up with the perfect script to do that kind of job though.

 

[Crockett]

Hmm, I don't mind with this, could turn out be interesting and bringing in even more new fans just as long as they don't Americanize it, didn't work out do well last time they did that. It's just making the format of the show to the big screen I'm having a hard time imagining being executed well.

....But then I read this:

"Russell T. Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch," he said.

I'm having second thoughts now, I'm fine with the show.

 

[Project862006]

get james mcAvoy!!

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

I really hope that the movie isn't going to be Americanized. Because if it is, I'm sure it will look something like this:

 

[obin_gam]

How I am currently feeling

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Nope. Lol. Nope. Not gonna work. Hang it up Yates before you get ahead of yourself.

And also someone said earlier in the thread that a majority of the fanbase is in the UK, while that may be true, ever since the premiere of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor it seems the series has started to take it's own footing into the United States as well.

This is nothing but a bad idea. Thankfully, there have been bad ideas done with this series before and it always manages to survive, but this is going to be a trainwreck completely.