Myst novel optioned for film

by Justin McElroy on Jul 29th 2009 11:15AM

No, this isn't one of the huge stories of the day, but we thought you might like an update after our post from March of 2008 about Myst nuts Patrick A. McIntire and Adrian Vanderbosch trying to turn the game into a film. Sixteen months later, the duo has made some more headway, optioning the rights to Myst novel The Book of Ti'ana. "This option is a major victory," McIntire said. "Cyan has placed a lot of faith in us, and we have no intention of letting them down."

Though we wish the guys all the best, we're still not sure we're ready for a full-length feature film about a guy staring silently at pretty, albeit confusing things ... especially since The DaVinci Code has already covered that ground so completely.

Tags: Adrian-Vanderbosch, cyan, cyan-worlds, movies, myst, Myst-movie, Patrick-A-McIntire, The-Book-of-Tiana

Reader Comments (37)

That's like paying $9 to see a discovery channel special on castles. Don't think this movie is going to make much.

BUT THEY'RE SOOO PRETTY!! :D

This movie will be as good, if not BETTER, than the Asteroids movie.

You wait and see!

When can we expect a movie out of you, Capt? I'll be a movie about a bunch of kids saving the environment during the Green movement would sell better than any of these game flicks.

You'll probably have to wait for Captain Planet: The Game. Then they'll make a movie based on that.

Captain Planet isn't a product. You can't sell awesome.

I'm pretty sure Al Gore can and did.

God damn it! Why am I always getting downvoted for speaking the truth? Al Gore had a hand in creating the Captain Planet series, therefore he sold Captain Planet, which is a product. What is it with you people?

My thoughts exactly, Justin. I can understand why people like the games, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to watch someone basically play the game.

You have not read the books, hmm? The books are incredible. Not at all like watching the game. I have read the trilogy several times over and could not help thinking that they beg to be made into films.

There is potential for excellence, if they manage to get the right team working on it. Crazy theoretical physics and beautiful steampunkish visuals throughout.

I've never understood why people like this game. It always seemed like they just wanted to show off their pretty panoramics and the "game" part was thrown in as an afterthought.

Sounds like somebody used a guide. Or never played them at all.

OK FINE YOU CAUGHT ME I USED A GUIDE ON THAT ONE STUPID PART WITH THE LEVERS IN THE STEAM ROOM BECAUSE i WAS TOO STUPID TO FIGURE IT OUT.

Are you happy now. ARE YOU HAPPY?

Wow, downrated for not liking the game by Myst fans. Why am I not surprised? No, I did not use a guide. The game was so obtuse that I didn't have the desire to *get* a guide for it, I just gave up caring.

It's a puzzle. Some people like puzzles with pictures on them. There. I said it.

Heh, "obtuse." That's a funny word for "too hard."

I wonder if the movie will stay true to the game and have a frame-by-frame presentation. Where you just stare at a single image for 20mins and wonder what the fuck you're doing.

I know you were trying to be funny with the comment, but if you actually read the books (and yes, there are Myst books), you'd find there was more than just "lol purdy, dur hurr hurr" to the Myst universe.

Why they picked "Book of Ti'ana" instead of "Book of Atrus" is something I don't quite understand; BoA takes place just before Myst, and covers both D'ni, Riven, and Myst, which gives it more connection to those who played the games, while BoT only covers the fall of D'ni some hundreds of years before Myst even takes place.

Ti'Ana was the best of the books because you actually get to see D'Ni as it was. For everything else it would just be fans of the game.

With Ti'Ana everything starts off fresh and they could easily get lots of non fans to see it because it's the beginning and you don't have to know anything about Myst when you go see it.

I'm just glad this is actually happening now. been waiting like 10 years for a Myst movie.

That's all good and fine "Dave". But I think if you take the people who know what Myst is and then weigh the number of people who know what it is because of the games and compare it to those who know of the books, well there would be no contest. And the people at the helm of this project need to do 2 things: recognize that the majority of people know Myst as that "pretty screen-saver" game and use whatever source material their drawing from to make this appealing to those very same people. They need to get passed the name and I think it's going to be tough.

This book is set while the D'ni culture is flourishing. A generation before the events in the first game.

In my opinion it was the best of the 3 books.

Obviously none of you have read the Myst books. Unlike the games, the books are very story driven, and I think would make great movies. The Book of Ti'ana especially involves the events that cause the Fall of D'ni

Agreed. Based off the books, I think the Myst movie would have a good chance of becoming great movies.

Except for the Book of D'ni.

YES! SLAVERY IS BAD! WE GET IT ALREADY!

Great books, and *far* more than pretty pictures.

Ability to make money at the movie theater? Errr... not sure about that.

The slavery aspect of some of the D'ni resource worlds will touch base with people.

Wow, you guys really need to read the article. They didn't option the rights to make a movie based on the game, they optioned the rights to make a movie based on one of the books. The Book of Ti'ana was the best of the three Myst books, and no, it wasn't just one guy all by himself walking around an island trying to figure out how to move a bookshelf; it was a story about love, betrayal, duty, integrity, and the fall of a great society.

I've always wanted to see a movie based on this book.

I personally love these games. I'm actually playing through Myst IV right now.

Mostly my appreciation is due to the puzzles, but I am also a big fan of the art design. It's kind of nice to sit back on the couch and think about solving the puzzles and riddles throughout the worlds and not worry about something tearing across the screen trying to kill you.

I've never read the books, so maybe I'll pick up the Myst Reader (all 3 books in 1) and give it a shot.

I've played all five, and I don't usually go for game-related novels/comics/etc, but I found the Myst novels surprisingly enjoyable. They've really built up quite a legacy, it will be nice to see some more development.

This was an excellent book, definately the best of the trilogy. Glad to see it's the one greenlighted for film; now... will they do it justice?

"Though we wish the guys all the best, we're still not sure we're ready for a full-length feature film about a guy staring silently at pretty, albeit confusing things"

Don't worry, the film has nothing to do with the stranger from the games.

Oh wow haha I didn't even know there was a book series, so are the books actually entertaining? Because the game is kinda slow and stale in my opinion (hold your fire).

I want to echo the comments about the books. I read BoT and BoA and they were both excellent reads. I liked the Book of Atrus better since it was a little less dark (both were pretty dark stories).

These could be truly excellent films. However, since Hollywood seems to ruin everything it touches (Transformers), I am not too optimistic. Hopefully this franchise gets the care it deserves.

J

I love the mythology surrounding the games and books. Obviously, the books were way better at developing the story than the games, but I have immensely enjoyed all things Myst-related. It's definitely a franchise worth putting on the big screen, for sure. If it's done right and marketed well, whoever makes this movie might have a hit.

Here's the make-or-break question:

Are the Wachowski's available?

The books were actually really good. I have high hopes.

As all who have clearly read the books have said: they're really very good - great stories and great concepts that go way beyond the stuff in the games. If done properly (and I will lay heavy odds that it will NOT be done properly), the story could be translated into a movie well.

I just have so little faith in today's writers.

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Myst novel optioned for film

Reader Comments (37)

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