A bit late, I know but from what I heard, the film that was gonna be based on Dragon of Pern was shunted back to the drawing board by an executive because it went too far from the books. I shudder to think what we would have gotten if it had gone through.
@@Servellion yeah that’s the major reason Anne had with get a film or tv show made from way back and with good reason when you look at most block buster books like this that get so garbled due to The producers needing to put their stamp on the thing Classic of That is star ship troopers about the only one that I can think that really followed the book was the lord of the ring saga
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that it would take someone who has money to burn (think Bill Gates level) to ever get this done. Because there is no guarantee that there would be any return on investment. And seeing how it's not been done yet, it's likely that market research was done and the results didn't look financially promising.
How could it not make money there is a huge following already and people eat this shit up, LOTR GOT both made huge money. This would be a instant success with today's tech
With the talentless hacks in Hollywood at the moment it might be best to wait a generation. They butchered star wars (they casually killed off Admiral Akbar) , so I don't trust them.
Wow! I didn't realize any efforts to adapt Anne McCaffrey's books to the screen had gotten this far. She was one of my first and favorite fantasy authors as a kid. I would love to see a screen adaptation of her work, but only if they give it a decent budget and bring on some experienced screenwriters and a decent director. I'd hate to see Dragonriders of Pern get shanked like some of my other favorite literary works. I'd even settle for something animated, as long as it had exceptional artwork and wasn't dumbed down to cater to a younger audience.
Honestly given the success of LotR, Harry Potter and GoT, and the obvious market and demand for fantasy adaptation, I'm surprised no studios have gone back to the Pern series to try for a movie franchise or even streaming series. The first book alone could probably be adapted into a really good 6 - 8 episode season.
Been reading the books again. I am SO glad that this series never finished or aired. It would be horrible to try and watch it now. This would be a great series to make now!!
Provided it sticks exactly to the books and is a multi season series like game of thrones rather than a movie it could be bigger than Star Wars or even game of thrones.
The problem is who would fund this? And would it be commercially marketable? Would the ratings support it. I suspect not. If it won't make them money, they aren't going to do it. Of course we don't know for sure it wouldn't make them money, but they have marketing and market research down to a science. I suspect they did polls and research and from the results, concluded that the financial risk was too great. Dang it all!!! Cause I would love to see this.
@@kellyrayburn4093 With the recent young adult (Twilight, Divergent, etc.) and fantasy (Game of Thrones) productions released as well as the technology to do them justice, you'd think now would be a good time to translate these novels to film.
@@dave29123 I think it would be a great time to translate it to film. The problem is I don['t control the purse strings. If I did, this *would* get done. Do you know how much Herb Solow had to go though to get Star Trek on the air? And he told Ro'ddenberry, "This must be good. I like it but you can't sell it worth a damn." I fear the same would happen here. There would be meetings and meetings and meetings ad nauseam while the network asked for and nixed more and more.
I remember reading an interview in dead tree media years ago and she said it's been optioned a few times. She had learned to smile, take the money, make encouraging noises but not get her hopes up. On another note: I would have loved to see Harryhausen's take on Pern.
Warner Brothers has the rights now. They found out that the CGI is coming in way too expensive. I think it would be worth it, as, right now, there isn’t anything on screen like this. It would bring in tons of revenue.
Kinda glad this never went anywhere, the hype-man voice-over was so off. The dragons look like placeholders for the most part so they had to been coming up with something better to replace them. Wonder if there will be a big screen version tho, someday.
Going by the Dragons in games of thrones, the quality Anne McCaffrey was after is now available, if only they could get it produced without too mush angst
Yes and no. HBO spent a ton of money just to get three dragons in a handful of episodes. Having a series where dragons appear in EVERY episode and in a bulk of the scenes would be insanely expensive. The only way IMO to do the series well and within budget would be to do it as an adult animated series.
Have been a fan of this series for 30+ yrs. glad this 1999 movie did not happen, technology is so much better today, besides I have always seen the movie in my mind as realife human characters & settings and the computer generated dragons and actions not so animated looking. IT IS TIME FOR THE MOVIE THO - BUT PLEASE STAY TRUE TO THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!
There are people in media that care to adapt the story for film, but what they're waiting for is such a mystery. I'm reading the books for the third time, they could get six movies out of them till the Red Planet is nuked for the third and final orbit knock out.
Unfortunately you're looking at 120 to 150 million for those 6 episodes, maybe even more. CGI is expensive. I *REALLY* hate to say this (cause I love the Dragonriders of Pern series) but it doesn't look financially viable to me.
@@kimhuse4126 Al I know is if the marketing research team reported it was unlikely to make a profit, I would say, "Damn it!!! I really wanted to see this made, but I have to answer to the stock holders and if a profit is unlikely, I would be irresponsible to greenlight it." The entertainment industry, like all industries is driven by profit and the almighty dollar. You can like or not (and I don't like it one bit) but love it, like it or hate it, that's the reality of it.
I think the problem is that the books don't hold the excitement/action that media companies want to promote. The overall story would have to be drastically changed to be seen by hollywood as a 'profitable' adventure. Any movie or series probably wouldn't resemble Anne's dragonriders much at all.
with todays tech and cgi and awesome effects any great major company can really make this movie blast off like the novels did or even a series like how they do the flash and legends of tomorrow that good special effects
$$$$$ with the exception of doing it as an adult animates series, it is just too darn expensive to get dragons in every episode. And by the second book you have dozens of tiny fire lizards everywhere (each of which is basically the same rendering cost of modelling a single dragon!). Even Game of Thrones with a massive budget had dragons appear sparingly.
Groghe, Lord of Fort Hold, sardonically called F'lar the ruler of Pern at the end of Dragonquest. “Spent my whole life trusting dragonkind. I’m too old to change. But you’re running the planet now. Do as you will. You will anyhow!” I imagine plenty among the old timers felt the same way by then, whether they said it aloud or not. I was more put off when the voice over mentioned "warlords". Whaaaat?
Considering all the interaction between the dragons and the riders would be better off if they went the James Cameron/Avatar route. Otherwise, trying to green screen or splice in the actors to dragons, or dragons to actors would be a monumental pain. I found these books when I was around 14. I can't tell you the impact the Dragon Riders and the Crystal Singer series had on me. Rest her soul. She got me, a complete stranger, through some rough adolescent times.
Thank goodness this wasn't made when the terrible trailer was. It looks like a cross between Xena and a Carry On Film. I think I'll start chasing the rights and see where they are...
You dream. I thank the gods they (whoever they may be) aren't making this. It would be warped to fit their target audience and it would suck for those of us who love the world Anne created.
I find it spoilt my mental image of the dragons,who were at once gentle and biddable but immensely powerful. But if it was OK with Mrs McCaffrey, then it's OK with me.
I really really wish there was some way to find out who the cast was going to be for this. the woman in the promo who is presumably Lessa really looks like Claudia Black who would have been gearing up for Farscape at about the same time, so it probably wasn't her.
With the technology available today, there is absolutely no reason for a media outlet to NOT buy this series. Especially since the game of thrones and it's wonderful cinamatics with dragons. This would be an epiphany as cinema grows. The next great series and step forward for a series. Dane
Putting Dragonsdawn out first would be a mistake. Non-readers would get invested in the colonists, and might not like having to reinvest in "new" characters, making it a good way to lose disgruntled viewers. Anne brought about the colonists' story in an organic way, so that we learn the history at the same time the Pernese do, and I don't think there's any need to change that.
After reading the comments I think the problem is the early books. Let’s be honest, Pern isn’t exactly about equality. The Queen dragon riders don’t get a say in who they mate with, it’s whomever is the rider of the best bronze or brown. That’s going to piss off the feminists. On the other hand, when a Queen dragon rider becomes pregnant she usually quickly fosters the child. That’s going to piss off those who believe in the parents raising their child. Then there’s what happens when a green dragon, who is usually ridden by a male, goes into heat and mates with a brown or blue dragon who also have male rider. That’s going to please sone people and piss off others. people.
Start with space travel to suck in Star Trek and Firefly fans. Make sure dialogue, character development and story line and emphasized. Utilize Jurassic Park and Star Wars special effects, make sure it is not flat like many versions of Narnia or some of the Hobbit films. Non stop battle is not a good film. Build tension, develop character, make sure lethality of nature is intensely appreciated, then add human treachery episodically.
@@kellyrayburn4093 HBO does not think anything since Warner Bros have the movie rights and for a first season that would start with the first book there could be only little bits of cgi since the dragons were not really there till the end of the book so if they made a good fan base from the first season then the money for the other seasons would be there
@@skull2333 Well, you said HBO could do this easy. Since Warner Brothers owns the rights, HBO won't touch it. And there may be little CGI in the 1st episode, but the following episodes would be heavy in the CGI department. If you are thinking about the first season, no. The fans wouldn't wait for the last episode of a season to see the dragons. They would start wondering when they were going to see the dragons that were talked about so much. And if the studio waited for the last episode, most fans wouldn't even be around then. I would along with the die hards, but most of their revenue base would be gone. Remember, this is the entertainment *industry.* They have to have return on investment or they won't sink one thin dime into it. They would have to show the dragons by the 3rd episode at the latest and even that might be too late. And that costs money for the CGI.
Ouch, this would have aged terrible, the CGI looks okay but the animation is absolutely abysmal (yes even for its time) you can totally get away with bad cgi if you have good animation but you can't in the reverse order. At least the story would have been good as Anna was still around to guide them, any adaptation today is just going to end up like an fan abomination.
I don't think the connection to Earth and the loss of technology should be broadcast right from the start. Let it be discovered during the story, like in the books.
If this was what Anne was shown no wonder she axed the project it's nothing like the books and us loyal fans would have been disgusted by it. Just what I watch and having read most of the books. This movie Promo was not good at all. Rumor has it that Warren Brother is producing a new one and I pray that it's follows the books not be crap like this.
did I just watch an advert for sandals ? anyone.... "dragon sandals?" said my boyfriend who wishes he was a dragon... how many times did we see the sandal? anyone?
This should totally be a series right now. The effects are available to make this a true to the stories adaptation.
i was just thinking that when i searched it here
i agree i loved the novels man anything thats real cool n good never gets made half the time
A bit late, I know but from what I heard, the film that was gonna be based on Dragon of Pern was shunted back to the drawing board by an executive because it went too far from the books. I shudder to think what we would have gotten if it had gone through.
IKR? This could easily be a high class HBO series.
@@Servellion yeah that’s the major reason Anne had with get a film or tv show made from way back and with good reason when you look at most block buster books like this that get so garbled due to The producers needing to put their stamp on the thing Classic of That is star ship troopers about the only one that I can think that really followed the book was the lord of the ring saga
I've been wanting this to be a series (or at least a movie) for 30 years. Maybe someday!!!!!
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that it would take someone who has money to burn (think Bill Gates level) to ever get this done. Because there is no guarantee that there would be any return on investment. And seeing how it's not been done yet, it's likely that market research was done and the results didn't look financially promising.
How could it not make money there is a huge following already and people eat this shit up, LOTR GOT both made huge money. This would be a instant success with today's tech
How did I miss this and why is it not available on Sci-fi channels?
With the talentless hacks in Hollywood at the moment it might be best to wait a generation. They butchered star wars (they casually killed off Admiral Akbar) , so I don't trust them.
@@AlbertaRose94 because it never happened. Ann put the breaks on it diverted to far
Wow! I didn't realize any efforts to adapt Anne McCaffrey's books to the screen had gotten this far. She was one of my first and favorite fantasy authors as a kid. I would love to see a screen adaptation of her work, but only if they give it a decent budget and bring on some experienced screenwriters and a decent director. I'd hate to see Dragonriders of Pern get shanked like some of my other favorite literary works. I'd even settle for something animated, as long as it had exceptional artwork and wasn't dumbed down to cater to a younger audience.
Honestly given the success of LotR, Harry Potter and GoT, and the obvious market and demand for fantasy adaptation, I'm surprised no studios have gone back to the Pern series to try for a movie franchise or even streaming series. The first book alone could probably be adapted into a really good 6 - 8 episode season.
Been reading the books again. I am SO glad that this series never finished or aired. It would be horrible to try and watch it now. This would be a great series to make now!!
I know, those are some clunky dragons.
Provided it sticks exactly to the books and is a multi season series like game of thrones rather than a movie it could be bigger than Star Wars or even game of thrones.
For the fall 1999 television schedule. Sigh. Now 2019, and still no Dragonriders of Pern
The problem is who would fund this? And would it be commercially marketable? Would the ratings support it. I suspect not. If it won't make them money, they aren't going to do it. Of course we don't know for sure it wouldn't make them money, but they have marketing and market research down to a science. I suspect they did polls and research and from the results, concluded that the financial risk was too great. Dang it all!!! Cause I would love to see this.
@@kellyrayburn4093 the real question is tho - what happened to the alliance atlantis production?
@@kellyrayburn4093 don't agree at all. If HBO is looking for a replacement for Game of Thrones, this is it.
@@kellyrayburn4093 With the recent young adult (Twilight, Divergent, etc.) and fantasy (Game of Thrones) productions released as well as the technology to do them justice, you'd think now would be a good time to translate these novels to film.
@@dave29123 I think it would be a great time to translate it to film. The problem is I don['t control the purse strings. If I did, this *would* get done. Do you know how much Herb Solow had to go though to get Star Trek on the air? And he told Ro'ddenberry, "This must be good. I like it but you can't sell it worth a damn." I fear the same would happen here. There would be meetings and meetings and meetings ad nauseam while the network asked for and nixed more and more.
I remember reading an interview in dead tree media years ago and she said it's been optioned a few times. She had learned to smile, take the money, make encouraging noises but not get her hopes up.
On another note: I would have loved to see Harryhausen's take on Pern.
Harryhousen's take would be really intriguing
@@galaxydeathskrill5607 As in Claymation/puppetmation dragons?
Warner Brothers has the rights now. They found out that the CGI is coming in way too expensive.
I think it would be worth it, as, right now, there isn’t anything on screen like this.
It would bring in tons of revenue.
If anyone can do a well made movie or TV series out of the Dragonriders of Pern series, I'm all for it and I'd love to see it.
Probably Peter Jackson
Kinda glad this never went anywhere, the hype-man voice-over was so off. The dragons look like placeholders for the most part so they had to been coming up with something better to replace them. Wonder if there will be a big screen version tho, someday.
whoever did this had NO concept about what the Pern series was ABOUT; this scenario would not ever have happened on Pern.
@@kimhuse4126 I think they were trying to punch it up, but really the story can work all by its self if they were faithful to the material.
Sad fax never showed up
Going by the Dragons in games of thrones, the quality Anne McCaffrey was after is now available, if only they could get it produced without too mush angst
Yes and no. HBO spent a ton of money just to get three dragons in a handful of episodes. Having a series where dragons appear in EVERY episode and in a bulk of the scenes would be insanely expensive. The only way IMO to do the series well and within budget would be to do it as an adult animated series.
*cries* I want to see this brought to life. Dragonriders captured my childhood imagination. This is the closest it's come to being brought to life.
Have been a fan of this series for 30+ yrs.
glad this 1999 movie did not happen, technology is so much better today, besides I have always seen the movie in my mind as realife human characters & settings and the computer generated dragons and actions not so animated looking. IT IS TIME FOR THE MOVIE THO - BUT PLEASE STAY TRUE TO THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!
I'm so glad that this didn't become a thing in 1999...
Now is the time since TV effects are cheap enough to hold quality.
I can see this will be somewhat darker than the book series.
2021 and still waiting, I only have a few decades left!
I'm76 I don't have decades
Someday this will be an epic set of movies, or at least in my dreams.
So sad this got cancelled. Anne never got to see her books made into movies or tv series. :(
There are people in media that care to adapt the story for film, but what they're waiting for is such a mystery. I'm reading the books for the third time, they could get six movies out of them till the Red Planet is nuked for the third and final orbit knock out.
Unfortunately you're looking at 120 to 150 million for those 6 episodes, maybe even more. CGI is expensive. I *REALLY* hate to say this (cause I love the Dragonriders of Pern series) but it doesn't look financially viable to me.
@@kellyrayburn4093 I dunno, we have Avatar...
@@kimhuse4126 Al I know is if the marketing research team reported it was unlikely to make a profit, I would say, "Damn it!!! I really wanted to see this made, but I have to answer to the stock holders and if a profit is unlikely, I would be irresponsible to greenlight it." The entertainment industry, like all industries is driven by profit and the almighty dollar. You can like or not (and I don't like it one bit) but love it, like it or hate it, that's the reality of it.
Why hasn’t this part of my childhood come to be?
I think the problem is that the books don't hold the excitement/action that media companies want to promote. The overall story would have to be drastically changed to be seen by hollywood as a 'profitable' adventure.
Any movie or series probably wouldn't resemble Anne's dragonriders much at all.
Too bad an independent film company couldn't snatch this up.
Some things are better left to the imagination. At least that doesn't cost us a thing. They lack any true understanding of the source material.
it's time
I wish someone would allow the movie to be made now.
Director: Quentin Tarantino
with todays tech and cgi and awesome effects any great major company can really make this movie blast off like the novels did or even a series like how they do the flash and legends of tomorrow that good special effects
Why on earth haven't they made this into a tv series yet?
No idea, but i think of continuing the books... Alright Dragonquest here i go
$$$$$ with the exception of doing it as an adult animates series, it is just too darn expensive to get dragons in every episode. And by the second book you have dozens of tiny fire lizards everywhere (each of which is basically the same rendering cost of modelling a single dragon!). Even Game of Thrones with a massive budget had dragons appear sparingly.
"The rule of the Dragonriders"???? WHen did they become the rulers of Pern?
Groghe, Lord of Fort Hold, sardonically called F'lar the ruler of Pern at the end of Dragonquest. “Spent my whole life trusting dragonkind. I’m too old to change. But you’re running the planet now. Do as you will. You will anyhow!” I imagine plenty among the old timers felt the same way by then, whether they said it aloud or not.
I was more put off when the voice over mentioned "warlords". Whaaaat?
Considering all the interaction between the dragons and the riders would be better off if they went the James Cameron/Avatar route. Otherwise, trying to green screen or splice in the actors to dragons, or dragons to actors would be a monumental pain. I found these books when I was around 14. I can't tell you the impact the Dragon Riders and the Crystal Singer series had on me. Rest her soul. She got me, a complete stranger, through some rough adolescent times.
The time for a proper Pern adaptation to film has come! Thanks for sharing this clip.
Meanwhile, here we still are in 2024 waiting for a Pern series!
Thank goodness this wasn't made when the terrible trailer was. It looks like a cross between Xena and a Carry On Film. I think I'll start chasing the rights and see where they are...
I think the last I heard was something like Copperheart or Copperstone Studio. Was stuck in development there too.
*RDM tried this before BSG... I read that it went down in flames the day before shooting was supposed to start due to studio interference.*
We can only dream
You dream. I thank the gods they (whoever they may be) aren't making this.
It would be warped to fit their target audience and it would suck for those of us who love the world Anne created.
I find it spoilt my mental image of the dragons,who were at once gentle and biddable but immensely powerful. But if it was OK with Mrs McCaffrey, then it's OK with me.
I really really wish there was some way to find out who the cast was going to be for this. the woman in the promo who is presumably Lessa really looks like Claudia Black who would have been gearing up for Farscape at about the same time, so it probably wasn't her.
When I started reading the dragonriders of pern in the early 80s I envisioned Carrie Fisher as Lessa
@@Bethihearyoucalling that very much works, Lessa and Leia are quite akin to one another.
With the technology available today, there is absolutely no reason for a media outlet to NOT buy this series. Especially since the game of thrones and it's wonderful cinamatics with dragons. This would be an epiphany as cinema grows. The next great series and step forward for a series. Dane
Be cool if the team who did the new dark crystal would try this.
That is crazy! I JUST had the same thought...not one second before reading your post!
Coincidence? I think not!!!
Tv show for sure! Run all the stories concurrently with the 2 part 2 hour episodes pilot being dragonsdawn!
Putting Dragonsdawn out first would be a mistake. Non-readers would get invested in the colonists, and might not like having to reinvest in "new" characters, making it a good way to lose disgruntled viewers.
Anne brought about the colonists' story in an organic way, so that we learn the history at the same time the Pernese do, and I don't think there's any need to change that.
Thank you so much for uploading this!
I’m kinda getting that 2002 adaptation of Dinotopia vibes from this
Omg why isn't this a thing!!!
Because it would SUCK!
I need to make this fucking TV series
I've always thought that these books should have been made into a film or series.
This is so 1999 😂
1999 and pathetic.
@Jeremiah Bullfrog you know this means I can never sing that song again. I understood every word you said.
Gollum was rendered in 1999, wasn't he?
After reading the comments I think the problem is the early books. Let’s be honest, Pern isn’t exactly about equality. The Queen dragon riders don’t get a say in who they mate with, it’s whomever is the rider of the best bronze or brown. That’s going to piss off the feminists. On the other hand, when a Queen dragon rider becomes pregnant she usually quickly fosters the child. That’s going to piss off those who believe in the parents raising their child. Then there’s what happens when a green dragon, who is usually ridden by a male, goes into heat and mates with a brown or blue dragon who also have male rider. That’s going to please sone people and piss off others.
people.
Woke is a joke, and the end of everything that makes life worth living.
Start with space travel to suck in Star Trek and Firefly fans. Make sure dialogue, character development and story line and emphasized. Utilize Jurassic Park and Star Wars special effects, make sure it is not flat like many versions of Narnia or some of the Hobbit films. Non stop battle is not a good film. Build tension, develop character, make sure lethality of nature is intensely appreciated, then add human treachery episodically.
I have always said that themovie version should be Dragonsdawn. Then make the 9th pass stuff a tv series.
WHEN WILL IT BEGIN??!!??
It needs to be a series to be done properly. A movie just isn’t long enough.
This would be nice.
HBO could do this easy and itd be just as popular as GOT
Obviously HBO doesn't think so. This would take a lot of money to bring to screen. The CGI alone would be in the tens of millions, if not more.
@@kellyrayburn4093 HBO does not think anything since Warner Bros have the movie rights and for a first season that would start with the first book there could be only little bits of cgi since the dragons were not really there till the end of the book so if they made a good fan base from the first season then the money for the other seasons would be there
@@skull2333 Well, you said HBO could do this easy. Since Warner Brothers owns the rights, HBO won't touch it.
And there may be little CGI in the 1st episode, but the following episodes would be heavy in the CGI department. If you are thinking about the first season, no. The fans wouldn't wait for the last episode of a season to see the dragons. They would start wondering when they were going to see the dragons that were talked about so much. And if the studio waited for the last episode, most fans wouldn't even be around then. I would along with the die hards, but most of their revenue base would be gone. Remember, this is the entertainment *industry.* They have to have return on investment or they won't sink one thin dime into it. They would have to show the dragons by the 3rd episode at the latest and even that might be too late. And that costs money for the CGI.
As if.
@@kellyrayburn4093 they'd have to use animatronic & puppets in the non-flying scenes. That'd cut down on some CGI costs.
I want this series so much! It would be better than House of Dragons!
No wonder this movie wasn't made it doesn't even come close to expressing anything in the books it's too cheesy
What happened?
The new game of thrones!
Please do a series but don't ruin it!
Really? Of course they would ruin it.
Yes!! When!!? Amazon can afford it
Ouch, this would have aged terrible, the CGI looks okay but the animation is absolutely abysmal (yes even for its time) you can totally get away with bad cgi if you have good animation but you can't in the reverse order.
At least the story would have been good as Anna was still around to guide them, any adaptation today is just going to end up like an fan abomination.
Would of been great to have been made right but from what was shown here they would of ruined it
I agree completely - this doesn't seem to be the real story at all
Im making this i called it nobody steal it ok promise thanks
im gonna finish what they started
I don't think the connection to Earth and the loss of technology should be broadcast right from the start. Let it be discovered during the story, like in the books.
Was this made?
No. This was as far as the project got before being sold to Warner Bros.
How sad.
Someday
; _ ;
If this was what Anne was shown no wonder she axed the project it's nothing like the books and us loyal fans would have been disgusted by it. Just what I watch and having read most of the books. This movie Promo was not good at all. Rumor has it that Warren Brother is producing a new one and I pray that it's follows the books not be crap like this.
Well that sucks
Huh. looks about the same as some of the cinematography from the Battle of Winterfell...
#waiting
it shoult hve it alla
Gawd Damn Shame!!! 😤😳🤨
A video game would be better
did I just watch an advert for sandals ? anyone.... "dragon sandals?" said my boyfriend who wishes he was a dragon... how many times did we see the sandal? anyone?