Expand Quote
For people outside the US, Annihilation comes out this week. I'm looking forward to it. There's an interesting backstory on how Paramount sold the international rights to Netflix behind the directors back too if you look for it.
Hopefully Garland will deliver because the trailer hinted at a generic action romp. Couldn't be further from the source material.
Ah, it says that the movie might be “too complicated” and “too intellectual” to connect with mainstream audiences in this article. Right...
http://www.indiewire.com/2018/02/annihilation-netflix-paramount-deal-streaming-1201932550/
Just caught in the theater tonight and really enjoyed it. I still would have liked it, but I'm very glad I had the chance to see it in theaters instead of on a TV.
It honestly felt like Garland was adapting someone else's story, which obviously he was, but it seemed...noticeable. It didn't feel as solid and intimately thought out as Ex Machina, but more so a relatable idea he had found in someone else's story and wanted to present what he had gleaned as it fit. I haven't read the novels yet so I can't say that's the case, it's just sort of the general feeling I got. I've read that he was pretty liberal with the source material, which isn't surprising. At least when Kubrick had his way with someone's story, it felt like it was his.
The Netflix deal and middling box office numbers coupled with the fact that he's said he has zero plans to bring the other novels to the screen is a bummer, because it was gorgeous, solid all around (outside of some story elements feeling shoe horned), and I'd like to see more.
It did get me really interested in visiting the source material though, so at least I've got three more books to read.