There is no shortage of folklore making TV whimsical, with series like NBC’s Grimm and ABC’s Once Upon a Time and its spinoff paving the way for Fox’s upcoming Sleepy Hollow series. Film is catching up, though the huge mystical creature mash-ups are usually children’s films, such as Rise of the Guardians, and they’re often of subpar quality…Just like Rise of the Guardians. Warner Bros.’ upcoming adaptation of the graphic novel Lore, however, is one of the more intriguing projects floating around, with Dwayne Johnson attached to star, and the film has now secured a director in David Green, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The last time we’d heard anything about this movie, Barry Sonnenfeld was set to helm it, but that's no longer the case. Instead that job has gone to David Green.
You probably don’t recognize Green's name because his only other feature to date, Echo still hasn’t come out yet. His résumé features a few good shorts, and he’s directed all six episodes of the FEARnet comedy horror series Zombie Roadkill, starring Thomas Haden Church and produced by Sam Raimi. But there’s no denying Warners took a step down from Sonnenfeld with the move, even though his career is as spotty as anyone’s. Echo began life as a $5 million dollar sci-fi adventure film for Disney, written by Green's Zombie Roadkill writer Henry Gayden. But Disney didn’t know what to do with it, so they held onto it for months before letting Relativity Media finally put the film out there (it is now set to come out January 10, 2014.)
Lore will be quite a challenge for Green, as I’m sure it was for screenwriters Cory Goodman (Priest) and first time screenwriter Jeremy Lott. The story it tells is ambitious, centering on a secret clan of shepherds that keep mythological creatures from disrupting our existence. When there’s a break in the succession of shepherds, the creatures take advantage, and it falls on one woman to hold them back.
Not only that, but a good portion of the graphic novel, written by T.P. Louise, is told through diary entries, and the rest is backed by some amazing illustrations from artist Ashley Wood. I have to assume that Green made the most out of the budget for Echo, and Warners assumes they can get a bigger profit off of this. Sonnenfeld probably would have probably blown it completely out of its already lofty proportions. This could be a genius move. We’ll see. Whatever you do though, don’t get it mixed up with the Cate Shortland drama Lore, or you’re going to be really confused.
Below, you can watch the Funny or Die horror spoof sketch “Dial M For Murder,” which Green directed.
