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If you want up-to-date information on the movie, check out the director's site HERE. Thanks!
Currently, the movie is completed. The official movie websites can be found here or here. Both links will direct you to the same site. A official link to the soundtrack can be found here.
If you want to know the director, cast, etc., please go to the Internet Movie Database for more information. Above is several covers/teaser/one sheets that have come out. The one with the "foreign" language is Russian.
Note: Please do not email with questions about the Blood and Chocolate movie. Whatever I have stated here is all I know. Please refer to the Internet Movie Database (link above) for up-to-date coverage. Thanks!
History
This movie has a very long, interesting history. The book was optioned by the MGM studios around 1997--the same year the novel was published. At the time, Jennifer Love Hewitt was in talks to play the starring role of Vivian, and wife and husband team Larry Williams and Leslie Libman were set to direct (their first directing job). Screen writer Christopher Landon (yes, actor Micheal Landon's son) was hired to write the screen play. Unforunately, Williams died of a heart attack, so the movie production was postponed.Fast forward a few years...rumors of Eliza Dushka being the star started to circulate. Director Po-Chih Leong (director of The Wisdom of Crocodiles and several Hong Kong films) was to replace Willamson, and Jeff King (cowriter of "Tears of the Sun") was to replace Landon.
Again, the movie was postponed, and Po-Chih Leong dropped out of the project--only to be replaced by another director, Sanji Senaka--but Senaka was dropped.
Fast forward some more years, and the movie is currently in production. Once again a new director was selected, Rupert Wainwright, but that fell through--again. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger (writer of "The Ring" adaptation) became the new screen writer, replacing King.
In January 2005, the Variety magazine wrote a small snippet that announced Katja von Garnier as the new director. Currently, she is--at last--the official director. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger is--at last--the official screen writer.
It is interesting to note that Klause, at least when this movie was first optioned (plus or minus), was given updates from the producer (I believe). However, that was a long time ago, and Klause was pretty much left out when this movie was made.
Different From the Book?
It amazes me that people actually ask this question. Most definitely it will stray from the book! Don't expect this to have Harry Potter status! Klause had no say so in what goes into this movie. Countrary to popular belief, once a movie is opitioned for movie status by the studio, authors usually loose all rights, which is why book-to-movie adaptation are not very good (from book to novel, that is).However, there are very rare exceptions, namely the most famous one: J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Rowling has power because Harry Potter has world power. It would be a massive financial gamble (that the studio would loose) if the Harry Potter books stray too, too much from the novels. (Of course, one could argue with the later movies). Anyway, Klause hasn't that power. Even big time writers might not never reach Rowling's status.
Anyway, a heads up on the Hollywood drill.
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Screenwriter Ehren Kruger did a very interesting interview about his present and future movie projects. The entire interview can be found here, but below is information on just the Blood and Chocolate movie:
JB: Onto a film I'm very excited about, Blood and Chocolate. I know it was based on a novel, what've you done differently with the script from the novel?EK: OK...Blood & Chocolate. That one is just getting up and running. We’ve just hired a director and we’re hoping to start shooting at the end of the year. Our version deviates a bit from the source novel at first glance, but is considerably faithful in tone and spirit and mythology.
The novel examines a hidden society of werewolves, a bit like Anne Rice explored all those vampires around us, and focuses on Vivian, a young female werewolf who falls in love with a human man and finds her loyalties divided. The novel took place in America, with most of its characters high schoolers. We’ve made the protagonists a few years more adult and have moved the setting across the Atlantic, to better capture the rich history of a culture that’s lived among us for centuries. But hopefully the novel’s fans will allow us these liberties when they see the end result. Most werewolf movies take a campy approach and end up being not very frightening; this one should be quite different, assuming we all do our jobs right. It has fierce suspense, a gripping romance and lots of genuine scares. I am always reluctant to talk about any project before shooting has begun, but as of this particular moment, the odds look pretty good.
JB: Sounds very interesting. Is the title going to stay the same, considering the changes done do it? Anyone in mind for the design of the werewolves?
EK: Yes, same title. Rupert Wainwright will now be directing, which is very good news for the movie. He has a keen understanding of the genre and its lore and mythology and he’s very conscious of the need to portray this society in ways that we haven’t seen before. You should be able to count on strong performances and an exciting visual palette for the film, which is now tentatively slated to start production early in the new year.
The Ring and The Ring 2 screenwriter Ehren Kruger will next turn his attention to Blood and Chocolate at MGM. In addition to the deal to pen the script, Kruger will for the first time step into an executive producer role. Sanji Senaka will direct the feature, which will be his feature debut.
The film adapts Annette Curtis Klause's popular teen horror novel, which portrays a secret society of werewolves living in modern society. The original story, which will be reworked by Kruger, follows the difficult romance between a young woman werewolf and a human boy.
MGM is readying "Blood" for a summer start. Kruger is preparing The Ring 2 for a spring start and is also working on The Talisman, the Stephen King adaptation being produced by Steven Spielberg and Kennedy/Marshall for Dream Works and Universal. That film is set to shoot this summer.
--from Variety Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Movie Stills
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More stills can be found at Bloody-Disgusting.com.
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