Comic Con Report: Beautiful Creatures
By on Oct 15, 2012
Chiller was at New York Comic Con from October 12-14 and attended the panel for the film Beautiful Creatures. On the panel were the writers of the novel which the film is based on, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, along with the film’s director and writer, Richard LaGravenese. The film’s stars, Emmy Rossum, Zoey Deutch, Thommas Mann and Kyle Gallner were also present. . The film deals with the world of witches, magic and spells. Although, LaGravenese warned us, calling the characters witches is derogatory, and comparable to calling a smart student a geek. So he prefers to call them “Casters”
We were shown the trailer with a clip at the end in which Rossum’s character, Ridley, is claimed. Claiming is the time in a witch’s life when she is either to be a Dark or Light Caster. Destiny chooses this for them. Ridley, it turns out, has become a Dark Caster. She is a coy, flirty siren who can control what others do, and in the clip shown exhibits some particularly naughty behavior. Alice Englert’s character, Lena, doesn’t want her fate chosen for her, and the result is a teenage fantasty film with a little romance and a lot of cool magic. The set pieces and wardrobe are absolutely stunning and vivid.
Rossum explained that the process of claiming is a coming of age ritual that is everything to the Casters. She was a big fan of the novel, and went after the role with enthusiasm. She said her audition read was 15 pages long, and she recited the lines for 3 days, non-stop (we're assuming she took some breaks now and then).
Garcia and Stohl said they were fully confident in LaGravenese’s abilities to translate the novel to the big screen. Stohl said that she’s heard horror stories from her writer friends about seeing their novels translated for the big screen, but that’s not the case with Creatures. LaGravenese said he was passionate about the characters and the world, and was super excited to dig in.
Beautiful Creatures opens on February 13th, 2013.
