Gemmell Movie?

[Torpian]

I totally respect David, but he did also mention in an interview that one of his favourite movies was Straw Dogs with Dustin Hoffman and his all time favourite movie was Rocky. There will never be an author as good as David Gemmell in my opinion, but I cant help but wonder how successful a movie of Legend might have been if David were able to influence it. Likewise, the same might be said about Lord of the Rings. I doubt JRR Tolkien would have made it the way Jackson did, but it was still rather successful. Once again though, dont look at this as a slant on DG, he's still my hero and always will be. Perhaps DG wasnt aware of James Cosmo. There's a war movie James has been in where he stands up to a Japanese POW camp commander. Check it out if you get the time.

[Memnoch]

Stallone is the right age to play Druss and has the physical prowess, just needs a little work on the verbals

[Parmenion]

Oh please i would rather poke my eyes out than see Stallone murder such a great story...it needs an actor..some one with skills and ability...not spme muscle bound moron!

[jenna]

I love me some Sly, but he is so not right for the part it's ridiculous!

[Parmenion]

in that case i will climb down off my high horse and breath a sign of relief that there are sane people in the world!! {grin}

[MARKLS21]

Hi guys,still arguing who's gonna be Druss?,who said sean Bean?,A great actor,but much too young and small to be Druss,James Cosmo?,again,great actor,but Druss has a presense unequaled by anyone in the acting world that i can think of.John-rees-Davies,is the name of the chap who played 'Gimli',in LOTR,he has the voice,but anyone who's watched the extras on the extended versions will know,he's half the size he was while filming the epic trilogy,also he can't wear prosthetics because his allergy makes his skin a total mess.
Lets face it guys,an ideal Druss just isn't out there,a few may be similair in a way,but Deathwalker just isn't around,so lets just agree we'll do this just for fun as DG's family most likely will honour his wishes and not let the books be 'moviefied'.
Right......next suggestion........

[Parmenion]

Ah but druss does exist...go watch Flash gordon...Brian Blessed...what a druss he would make, and if we are talking about legend then ...sorted he is about the right age, too old for the younger books though.

As to DG family honoutring his wishes...after he died he said they could do as they wished...so...it may well happen

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by Parmenion

Ah but druss does exist...go watch Flash gordon...Brian Blessed...what a druss he would make

Oh HELL yes. Just imagine it!

"Skilgannon's ALIVE?"

[Parmenion]

PMSL!!!....i just spat OJ at my screen cheers for that!!

[drosdelnoch]

Old joke though, its come up a few times.

[Parmenion]

but never loses its humour

[Urien]

I think the Jon Shannow books would perhaps be the easiest and possibly the most interesting to film. The market for fortresses under siege was a bit scooped out by LOTR.

If Shannow was done right, it could be very good.

[Parmenion]

my problem with that comes back to sipstrassi, it was the one cop out that gemmell used in some of his books. The later sipstrassi being the worst.

But yes an appocalyptic western style wasteland would be easier to film.

[Torpian]

What if it was a trilogy, beginning with Druss as a youth when Rowena gets taken and ending with Skilgannon walking away from Ulric with a piece of bone and Snaga. I'd simply call it "Druss". Each volume would be broken up as such: Druss: the Chronicles, Druss: the Deathwalker, and Druss: the Legend.

As two thirds of the story would require a younger actor than the ones mentioned, you'd have to find someone powerfully built to play Druss as a youth and just age him. There are none that I can think of. To find someone like Druss would be very rare. You'd need someone built like a strongman, not a bodybuilder. The strongman contests often have stocky, thickset men with huge arms. But before you go searching the internet for strongmen, consider that Druss also needs to be intelligent and have a commanding scottish sounding voice. This narrows it down considerably. If you find a man like this, he'll more than likely have red hair and a fair complexion. Druss would have been well tanned, we know he's about 5'9. His biceps are as round a normal man's thighs. At the end of Chronicles he's described as big but not tall. He has black hair and a thick beard / moustache. He also has pale blue eyes.

Druss is the master of one liners. If a movie gets made about him, people will quote him for years to come. He's a cult figure already, but he'll be as well known around the world as what Conan is if a movie is made on him. I'm going to continue to do some research about this, as I feel very passionate about these books.

[Torpian]

If shape and condition didnt play such a huge roll with the part of Druss, these are some actors who might be able to pull it off.

Firstly is a picture of Druss from one of the book covers. This picture is why I thought Daniel Day Lewis might be able to play the part. He's a bit scrawny for the roll, but he's a great actor.

Whilst many may not like Vinnie Jones, he can pull off the role of a tough no nonsense sort of guy. With black hair and pale blue eyes and a bit of size to him as well, I think he'd do a reasonable job for the part of Druss in Deathwalker.

For years now I've heard people say that Sean Connery would make a brilliant Druss for Legend. I cant really disagree, except for the fact that Druss is way more powerfully built than Sean. The voice is the biggest asset that Connery has in my opinion.

And last but not least, Parmenion's favourite Brian Blessed. I still stand by James Cosmo for Druss. I watched Half Light with Demi Moore on the weekend, and Cosmo has a small part in it. He's grown his hair out a bit and wears a beard. I think he'd need to lose a little weight to play Druss, but he still reminds me of Druss from Legend more than anyone else.