Ask the Oracle! (Fantasy Questions Answered)

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Tags : Ask the Oracle, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jim Henson, Lions of Al-Rassan, Lucy Lawless, News, The Dark Crystal, The Power of the Dark Crystal, Xena: Warrior Princess

Ask the Oracle! (Fantasy Questions Answered)

Posted on 05 May 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Q: Is it true there’s a sequel in the works to The Dark Crystal? — Wade, Portland OR

A: The Oracle can reveal that yes, there is such a movie in the works, but it’s still early in the process. Called The Power of the Dark Crystal, the project is based on the notes of the creators of the original 1982 film, including Jim Henson, who had wanted to do a sequel at the time, but found that the modest success of the first movie didn’t allow it. Now that The Dark Crystal’s reputation has grown, and the DVD release was a big hit, the sequel has been put into active development.

The movie, which reportedly tells the story of an evil girl made of fire and her efforts to steal a shard of the crystal in hopes of reigniting the dying sun, will be made using a combination of puppetry and computer animation.

Stay tuned! The Oracle is working on a full-length article on the would-be film.

Q: I heard a couple of years ago that a movie version of Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay was in the works. Kay is an amazing author and Lions is his best work, so I was very excited by this news. Is a movie still in the works or has it fallen into development hell like so many other movies? — Angela

A: The Oracle has good news and bad news. The good news is the film is slated to be directed by Legends of the Fall’s Edward Zwick. The bad news is it’s still far from a done deal.

“As with so many expensive film projects in Hollywood, especially today, it is taking time,” Guy Gavriel Kay tells the Oracle. “The good news is that Cathy Schulman of Mandalay Productions, who won the Oscar for Crash, and Ed Zwick and his partners at [his production company] Bedford Falls remain committed to the project and are still developing it.”

Interestingly, film versions of two other Kay projects are also in the works: The Last Light of the Sun, for which Kay himself is writing the screenplay, and Ysabell, his latest novel, which was just optioned last month.

“The Ysabell project is in the earliest development stages, preparation of a ‘treatment’ and sorting through of possible international co-production,” Kay says.

Q: I loved, Loved, LOVED Sierra’s Gabriel Knight computer fantasy games. Are there other more recent games out there this beautiful, complex, novelistic, and rich? And, more specifically, will Sierra ever make Gabriel Knight IV? — Tamilyn, Saint Paul, MN

A: The Oracle hates to be the bearer of more bad news, but it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll ever see more installments of the classic (and groundbreaking) 1990s adventure game series. For one thing, Sierra no longer exists (having been absorbed by Activism Blizzard), and the designer of the games, Jane Jensen, is no longer associated with the company and has no control over the rights. A year and a half ago, Jensen admitted in an interview that a sequel was eventually “possible,” if very unlikely, but that she wouldn’t have anything to do with it.

Recent games this rich and complex? Assassin’s Creed is pretty clever, even if the story is somewhat lacking, and Bioshock is as intelligent as anything you’ll play. Meanwhile, Jensen’s latest game, Gray Matter, is supposed to be released sometime this year (but the Oracle isn’t hold his breath).

Q: I was told by some people that Xena was making a comeback in a new movie or that Lucy Lawless was coming back to TV. Which is it? — Jeanie

A: As TheTorchOnline.com reported two weeks ago, a Xena movie is not going to happen. But Lucy Lawless is definitely coming back to television — or at least the pay cable Starz network — in Spartacus, a graphic Xena-esque show set in ancient Rome, due January 2010.