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The Seeker (film)
Encyclopedia
The Seeker, titled The Dark Is Rising in the United Kingdom
and The Seeker: The Dark is Rising in Canada
, is a 2007 American
film adaptation
of the second book in the five-book young adult fantasy series The Dark Is Rising
by Susan Cooper
. The film is directed by David L. Cunningham
and stars Ian McShane
, Alexander Ludwig
, Frances Conroy
, Gregory Smith, and Christopher Eccleston
. The Seeker is the first film to be produced by 20th Century Fox
and Walden Media
as part of their Fox-Walden partnership.
On his 14th birthday Will Stanton (Ludwig) finds out that he is the last of a group of warriors - The Light - who have spent their lives fighting against evil - The Dark. Will travels through time to track down the signs that will enable him to confront the evil forces. The Dark is personified by The Rider (Eccleston).
This film adaptation drew strong negative reaction from fans of the book series for its disregard for the source material.
), the local mistress of the Manor, and her Butler Merriman Lyon (Ian McShane
) invite the siblings to a Christmas party. Later, two farmers, Dawson (James Cosmo
) and Old George (Jim Piddock
), whom Will does not know, arrive at his house with a large Christmas tree ordered by the family. The farmers know Will’s name, wish him a happy birthday, and predict bad weather despite the clear sky. Will’s birthday is so close to Christmas that everyone in his large family ignores it except for his little sister Gwen (Emma Lockhart
), who gives him his only birthday present (a Casio G-Shock Mudman wristwatch
). The family has moved from the United States to a small English village and a brother has arrived home for the holidays and displaces Will to the attic. For a Christmas present, Will buys Gwen an enigmatic stone pendant at the local mall. Two suspicious security guards accuse him of shoplifting and take him to their office. Alarmingly, whilst questioning Will under the room's flickering lights, the guards metamorphose into rooks
. They attack Will, but he manages to escape, accidentally using his powers for the first time. Will begins to experience more odd incidents and receives a strange and Celtic-looking belt from his oldest brother, Stephen (Jordan J. Dale).
At the Manor Christmas party, Will once again sees Dawson and Old George who seem to know him well. Miss Greythorne and Merriman debate about when and how to approach Will about his destiny. Maggie Barnes (Amelia Warner
), an attractive local girl appears at the party and Will becomes upset when one of his older brother approaches her and begins dating her. Will leaves the Manor, and an ominous figure mounted on a white horse and accompanied by dogs chases Will. The ominous figure prepares to kill Will who is currently no match for him. Miss Greythorne, Merriman, Dawson, and Old George suddenly appear and save Will in time. Merriman names the threatening figure The Rider who warns them all that in five days' time his power - The Dark - will rise. The four adults are the last of the Old Ones - ancient warriors who serve The Light - and take Will on a walk through time and space to a place called the Great Hall. Will is the last of the Old Ones to have been born: he is the seventh son of a seventh son
whose power begins to ascend on his fourteenth birthday. Will is The Seeker: the sign-seeker who must locate six Signs whose possession will grant The Light power over The Dark. The Rider is also seeking them. Will returns home to his attic room and falls and twists his ankle. The doctor who calls is The Rider in disguise, he is recognized by Will. The doctor/Rider demonstrates his powers on Will’s ankle by alternately healing it and making it much worse before restoring it to its injured state. Will discovers he has a lost twin brother named Tom, who as a baby mysteriously disappeared one night and was never found. Since Tom was born before Will, Will is the seventh son of a seventh son. Merriman instructs Will on his powers, which include summoning superhuman strength
, commanding light
and fire
, telekinesis , stepping through time
, and the unique knowledge to decipher an ancient text in the Book of Gramarye.
Will returns to The Great Hall, and learns the form each sign will take. Will reveals the first sign within Gwen’s pendant. As the sign-seeker, Will travels through time to find the next four signs. The Rider enlists a mysterious figure to help him get the signs from Will. When Will's brother invites Maggie to their home, she reveals some of her powers to Will. Will reveals his affections for her, saying he felt an instant connection with her. He tells her he has been thinking of her constantly. The Rider also tricks Will's older brother Max into helping him. The spell over Max is finally broken when Will uses his great strength to give Max a concussion. By the fifth day, The Dark that The Rider commands has now gained tremendous power and begins to attack the village with a terrible blizzard. Will locates the fifth sign but without the sixth sign, the Dark continues to rise. Maggie is revealed to be the mysterious witch helping the Rider in exchange for immortal youth. She is betrayed by him when she fails to get the fifth sign and ages rapidly, disintegrating into a flood of water. The Old Ones and Will seek sanctuary in the Great Hall, where the Rider cannot enter unless invited. However, The Rider's final trick (impersonating the voices of Will's mother and father, as well as Gwen) gains him access to The Great Hall. The Rider reveals that he has trapped Tom, whom The Rider mistook for The Seeker and kidnapped, within a glass sphere. He sends Will into an evil dark cloud. As he enters, Will solves the riddle of the sixth sign: he himself is the sixth sign. With all six signs identified The Rider cannot touch nor harm Will. Using his power over the dark, Will banishes both The Rider - imprisoning the evil figure within one of his own glass spheres - and The Dark. The sphere disappears into murky water. Will and Tom are reunited and return to their family.
optioned the rights for the film adaptation of Susan Cooper
's novel The Dark Is Rising. The company attached Duncan Kenworthy
as producer and Andrew Klavan
as screenwriter, with the film's budget estimated to be $20 million. Brian Henson
, president and CEO of the company, pursued the purchase of the rights because the book was one of his favorites.
In May 2005, with production never becoming active under Henson Pictures, the film adaptation rights were purchased by Walden Media
, who attached Marc E. Platt
to produce the project. In August 2006, Walden Media announced a joint venture with the studio 20th Century Fox
to distribute Walden projects through Fox channels. The next October, director David Cunningham
was hired to helm the film, then titled The Dark Is Rising. Cunningham visited Romania
to prepare production for an early 2007 start to target a September 28, 2007 release date.
's series The Dark Is Rising Sequence
, titled The Dark Is Rising. Walden Media
hired screenwriter John Hodge in October 2005 to adapt the story for the big screen. The mythology of Cooper's book was considered to be the plot, and Hodge was tasked to interpret the book into events that could be portrayed in a film. The story, which took place in the 1960s and 1970s in the book, was rewritten to be contemporary. Vikings were included in the film, based on a reference in the book to an old Viking boat which the protagonist discovers.
Hodge rewrote the protagonist Will Stanton, portrayed by Alexander Ludwig
, to be 14 instead of 11. The screenwriter chose this age, considering 11 to be more of a child's age, and 14 to be an age of transition. Stanton was also written to be American so he would be established as more of an outsider, culturally alien to the story's English setting. Hodge also wrote new subplots for Ludwig's character in the film, including sibling conflicts, a crush on a young woman (Amelia Warner
), and alienation at school. The script also features the inclusion of many action sequences. The character of The Walker, portrayed by Jonathan Jackson
, was also rewritten as a younger person with a new story arc about the loss of his soul. However, Jackson's character was ultimately removed from the film's theatrical cut. Susan Cooper was reportedly not happy with the adaptation of her book.
. The film was shot on several soundstages at MediaPro Studios
in Buftea
, Romania. Several sets built at the soundstages included an English village, the Stanton family's country home, a medieval church, and a mysterious ruin known as the Great Hall. Cinematographer Joel Ransom chose to have such sets, including the reconstruction of the 13th century chapel that took four months to construct, built to surround the actors so he could use 360-degree camera sweeps in the locations to represent time travel sequences.
Director David Cunningham
chose to minimize the use of visual effects in The Seeker, only creating around 200 visual effects for the film. Instead, the director pursued practical means to carry out the effects of the film's scenes. A thousand snakes were shipped in from the Czech Republic
to be dumped on the actors, real water was used to wipe out a mansion in the film, and real birds were trained to fly at the actors. Cunningham also hired Viking
reenactors
to assist with the Viking element in the film.
The crow-like birds are consistent with the book's signature harbingers of the Dark: the rook
s. One visitor to the set said that the rooks were represented by "a half-dozen trained ravens."
Costume designer Vin Burnham designed a riding cloak for The Rider (Christopher Eccleston
), a black get-up lined with real fur and feathers for an animalistic appearance. Burnham provided eccentric 1960s outfits for the character Miss Greythorne (Frances Conroy
), with Celtic symbols incorporated into the outfits. The costume designer also wove small crystals into the outfits worn by Conroy and Ian McShane
so that the outfits glisten on camera.
weekend. Up until July 27, 2007, the film was titled and marketed only as The Dark Is Rising. Fox Walden changed the film title from The Dark Is Rising to The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Prior to its release, the film's title was finalized to be The Seeker in the United States
market. In the Canadian market, the film was released simultaneously with the U.S. distribution but under the title The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. In the United Kingdom
, the film was released under the title The Dark is Rising.
The Seeker was reported to have issues leading to its release: author Susan Cooper
was not happy with the adaptation of her book, the film's title was changed repeatedly, and advance screenings were canceled.
and Blu-ray Disc
on March 18, 2008. Region 4 and Region 2 DVDs contain 'Extended/Deleted Scenes' which include outtakes of Jonathan Jackson's scenes as the Walker. There are also two featurettes, and optional director's commentary
on the extended/deleted scenes
. Because the Region 1 DVDs did not contain the extended/deleted scenes in the special features, it is assumed (and hoped) by many fans that Walden Media will release an extended version of The Seeker.
and Canada
on October 5, 2007. The film grossed $3,745,315 in 3,141 theaters in its opening weekend, ranking #5 at the box office in the United States and Canada. The Seeker had one of the poorest starts for a fantasy film
. The Seeker was questioned for having too high of a venue, with the cost for prints in 3,141 theaters exceeding its opening weekend gross. As of 2009, The Seeker has grossed $8,794,452 in the United States and Canada and $22,606,288 in other territories for a worldwide total of $31,400,740.
Walden Media has the distinction of back to back super wide releases competing with each other in the race to the bottom. The Seeker had the second worst debut of all time for a film released in more than 3,000 theaters, placing behind the Walden's 2006 comedy-adventure film Hoot
. The Seeker though managed to pull into first place in 'biggest theater drops' - wide releases that lost the most theaters in their third weekends - and nudged ahead of Hoot. Most wide releases are contractually obliged to stay at a particular screen for two weeks and can be dropped by a theatre only at the beginning of the third week.
finding only 14% of critics gave the movie a positive review earning the film a "Rotten" rating on the site. Metacritic
, a similar review aggregation site, calculates the movie as having a score of 39/100.
Criticism was varied. The New York Post
’s Kyle Smith
objected that, "Good and evil don't seem to be trying to destroy each other so much as come up with cool-looking effects to show off, as if they were competing in a "Project Runway" for wizards... [and] given superpowers, Will does approximately nothing with them." Gianni Truzzi of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
opined that the movie lacked the "grandiose elements" of "magic rooted in its ties to Arthurian legend and British folklore" that made the books so memorable. The Boston Globe’s Ty Burr
panned the movie for not understanding its intended audience of book-readers, saying, "the producers have tried to gin up the story for multiplex audiences. They've succeeded in making a movie for no audience at all." And The New York Times
s Jeannette Catsoulis complained that "John Hodge's screenplay is frequently dreary and overly literal... 'The Seeker' feels passé and lacks a charismatic lead."
One of the few somewhat-positive reviews came from the Chicago Tribune
's Kelley L. Carter, who said that "At its best, The Seeker is a pretty vivid fantasy book come-to-life" and found the lead character of Will Stanton to have been "played convincingly." Another came from the Baltimore Sun's Michael Sragow
, who found that The Seeker had "a lot going for it, including wonderful sets and locations...that create a heightened-reality English hamlet". Both gave the movie only 2½ stars out of 4.
Several of the reviewers mentioned the Harry Potter
movies. The New York Times' Catsoulis mentioned, "Too bad Daniel Radcliffe
is an only child." The Chicago Tribune's Carter wrote “Harry Potter, meet your not-so-much cousin... had it not been for the Potter series, the bar for children’s fantasy film wouldn’t be quite as high, and 'The Seeker' falls short of the high-riding, high-quality material delivered in the Harry Potter film series." The New York Post's Smith went so far as to title his review "Bad Harry Day" and to joke that "In today's England, a teenage boy is instructed by grown-up mentors in the use of magical powers while a dark lord who comes in many formats promises an epic battle. The movie is based on a 1973 book by Susan Cooper, who must be trembling in fear of being sued for ripping off J.K. Rowling's ideas and publishing them 20 years in advance." The Boston Globe's Burr described the parallels more clearly, saying that "against him is a metrosexual meanie called The Rider (Christopher Eccleston), sort of a He Who Can Be Named. In general, Cooper's story line has been Potterized to little avail: Will's family is as large as the Weasleys, as unloving as the Dursleys, and no fun whatsoever." ("He Who Can Be Named" is a parody of Lord Voldemort
's appellation, "He Who Must Not Be Named.")
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and The Seeker: The Dark is Rising in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, is a 2007 American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the second book in the five-book young adult fantasy series The Dark Is Rising
The Dark is Rising Sequence
The Dark Is Rising is the name of a five-book series of children's contemporary fantasy novels by Susan Cooper, published in 1965–1977, which depicts the struggle between the forces of good, called The Light, and the forces of evil, known as The Dark...
by Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...
. The film is directed by David L. Cunningham
David Loren Cunningham
David L. Cunningham, born in Switzerland and raised in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, is an international filmmaker. Besides his documentary credits in more than 40 countries, Cunningham has also directed several feature films including To End All Wars and the TV miniseries The Path to 9/11...
and stars Ian McShane
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane is an English actor, director, producer, voice artist, and comedian.Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly the BBC's Lovejoy and HBO's Western drama Deadwood...
, Alexander Ludwig
Alexander Ludwig (actor)
Alexander Ludwig is a Canadian teen actor. He played Will Stanton in the 2007 fantasy film, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising...
, Frances Conroy
Frances Conroy
Frances Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth, the matriarch of the Fisher family, on Six Feet Under, which earned her a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.-Early life:...
, Gregory Smith, and Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
. The Seeker is the first film to be produced by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
as part of their Fox-Walden partnership.
On his 14th birthday Will Stanton (Ludwig) finds out that he is the last of a group of warriors - The Light - who have spent their lives fighting against evil - The Dark. Will travels through time to track down the signs that will enable him to confront the evil forces. The Dark is personified by The Rider (Eccleston).
This film adaptation drew strong negative reaction from fans of the book series for its disregard for the source material.
Plot
Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a day away from his fourteenth birthday. While the Stanton kids walk home, Miss Greythorne (Frances ConroyFrances Conroy
Frances Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth, the matriarch of the Fisher family, on Six Feet Under, which earned her a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.-Early life:...
), the local mistress of the Manor, and her Butler Merriman Lyon (Ian McShane
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane is an English actor, director, producer, voice artist, and comedian.Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly the BBC's Lovejoy and HBO's Western drama Deadwood...
) invite the siblings to a Christmas party. Later, two farmers, Dawson (James Cosmo
James Cosmo
James Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
) and Old George (Jim Piddock
Jim Piddock
James Anthony "Jim" Piddock is an English actor, writer, and producer who began his career on the stage in England, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1981.-Life and career:...
), whom Will does not know, arrive at his house with a large Christmas tree ordered by the family. The farmers know Will’s name, wish him a happy birthday, and predict bad weather despite the clear sky. Will’s birthday is so close to Christmas that everyone in his large family ignores it except for his little sister Gwen (Emma Lockhart
Emma Lockhart
-Career:She had numerous small roles in television, movies, and the stage. Her most memorable role was as young Rachel Dawes in the 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins.Lockhart also appeared in The Seeker, as Gwen Stanton....
), who gives him his only birthday present (a Casio G-Shock Mudman wristwatch
G-Shock
G-Shock is a brand of watches manufactured by Casio, known for its resistance to shocks . They were, and continue to be, designed primarily for sports, military, and outdoor adventure oriented activity; for example, practically all G-Shocks have some kind of stopwatch feature, countdown timer,...
). The family has moved from the United States to a small English village and a brother has arrived home for the holidays and displaces Will to the attic. For a Christmas present, Will buys Gwen an enigmatic stone pendant at the local mall. Two suspicious security guards accuse him of shoplifting and take him to their office. Alarmingly, whilst questioning Will under the room's flickering lights, the guards metamorphose into rooks
Rook (bird)
The Rook is a member of the Corvidae family in the passerine order of birds. Named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species name frugilegus is Latin for "food-gathering"....
. They attack Will, but he manages to escape, accidentally using his powers for the first time. Will begins to experience more odd incidents and receives a strange and Celtic-looking belt from his oldest brother, Stephen (Jordan J. Dale).
At the Manor Christmas party, Will once again sees Dawson and Old George who seem to know him well. Miss Greythorne and Merriman debate about when and how to approach Will about his destiny. Maggie Barnes (Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner is an English actress and songwriter. As of October 2011, Warner is a signed musician to Island Records and works under the name, 'Slow Moving Millie'.-Early life:...
), an attractive local girl appears at the party and Will becomes upset when one of his older brother approaches her and begins dating her. Will leaves the Manor, and an ominous figure mounted on a white horse and accompanied by dogs chases Will. The ominous figure prepares to kill Will who is currently no match for him. Miss Greythorne, Merriman, Dawson, and Old George suddenly appear and save Will in time. Merriman names the threatening figure The Rider who warns them all that in five days' time his power - The Dark - will rise. The four adults are the last of the Old Ones - ancient warriors who serve The Light - and take Will on a walk through time and space to a place called the Great Hall. Will is the last of the Old Ones to have been born: he is the seventh son of a seventh son
Seventh son of a seventh son
The seventh son of a seventh son is a concept from folklore regarding special powers given to, or held by, such a son. The seventh son must come from an unbroken line with no female children born between, and be, in turn, born to such a seventh son...
whose power begins to ascend on his fourteenth birthday. Will is The Seeker: the sign-seeker who must locate six Signs whose possession will grant The Light power over The Dark. The Rider is also seeking them. Will returns home to his attic room and falls and twists his ankle. The doctor who calls is The Rider in disguise, he is recognized by Will. The doctor/Rider demonstrates his powers on Will’s ankle by alternately healing it and making it much worse before restoring it to its injured state. Will discovers he has a lost twin brother named Tom, who as a baby mysteriously disappeared one night and was never found. Since Tom was born before Will, Will is the seventh son of a seventh son. Merriman instructs Will on his powers, which include summoning superhuman strength
Superhuman strength
Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, or super strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. It is the ability for a character to be stronger than humanly possible...
, commanding light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
and fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
, telekinesis , stepping through time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, and the unique knowledge to decipher an ancient text in the Book of Gramarye.
Will returns to The Great Hall, and learns the form each sign will take. Will reveals the first sign within Gwen’s pendant. As the sign-seeker, Will travels through time to find the next four signs. The Rider enlists a mysterious figure to help him get the signs from Will. When Will's brother invites Maggie to their home, she reveals some of her powers to Will. Will reveals his affections for her, saying he felt an instant connection with her. He tells her he has been thinking of her constantly. The Rider also tricks Will's older brother Max into helping him. The spell over Max is finally broken when Will uses his great strength to give Max a concussion. By the fifth day, The Dark that The Rider commands has now gained tremendous power and begins to attack the village with a terrible blizzard. Will locates the fifth sign but without the sixth sign, the Dark continues to rise. Maggie is revealed to be the mysterious witch helping the Rider in exchange for immortal youth. She is betrayed by him when she fails to get the fifth sign and ages rapidly, disintegrating into a flood of water. The Old Ones and Will seek sanctuary in the Great Hall, where the Rider cannot enter unless invited. However, The Rider's final trick (impersonating the voices of Will's mother and father, as well as Gwen) gains him access to The Great Hall. The Rider reveals that he has trapped Tom, whom The Rider mistook for The Seeker and kidnapped, within a glass sphere. He sends Will into an evil dark cloud. As he enters, Will solves the riddle of the sixth sign: he himself is the sixth sign. With all six signs identified The Rider cannot touch nor harm Will. Using his power over the dark, Will banishes both The Rider - imprisoning the evil figure within one of his own glass spheres - and The Dark. The sphere disappears into murky water. Will and Tom are reunited and return to their family.
The Six Signs
The signs that Will found, in the order he found them, were:- Inside a pendant Will bought for his little sister Gwen
- Just before the black plague, inside a skull's mouth under a church - the skull belonging to the creator of the signs - at the beginning of the 14th Century
- On a shield some time in the past when VikingVikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s attacked the village. He trades the watch Gwen gave him for his birthday for the sign. - On one of the feathers of "The Champion" from 1690
- Underwater in the manor when it was flooded, at the time of Maggie's demise
- Will's soul
Cast
- Alexander LudwigAlexander Ludwig (actor)Alexander Ludwig is a Canadian teen actor. He played Will Stanton in the 2007 fantasy film, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising...
as Will Stanton The seventh son of a seventh son, the descendant of a Thomas Stanton who created the six signs. The youngest male in his family and born with special powers that reveal themselves on his 14th birthday. The powers of The Seeker. At first he seems inexperienced and prone to emotional overreaction, but in the end he saves the world from The Dark. Alexander LudwigAlexander Ludwig (actor)Alexander Ludwig is a Canadian teen actor. He played Will Stanton in the 2007 fantasy film, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising...
also plays a small role as Will's twin brother Tom who was lost, taken by The Rider when he was a few weeks old. He was freed after Will defeated The Dark.
- Christopher EcclestonChristopher EcclestonChristopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
as The Rider The antagonist of the film, who by day disguises himself as the Village Doctor. He is The Dark of the world.
- Ian McShaneIan McShaneIan David McShane is an English actor, director, producer, voice artist, and comedian.Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly the BBC's Lovejoy and HBO's Western drama Deadwood...
as Merriman Lyon An Old One, a fighter for The Light and one of Will's primary instructors on how to fight the dark. For most of the film he is emotionally distant from Will trying to encourage him to be a warrior instead of listening to him.
- Frances ConroyFrances ConroyFrances Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth, the matriarch of the Fisher family, on Six Feet Under, which earned her a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.-Early life:...
as Miss Greythorne An Old One, a fighter for The Light and one of Will's primary instructors on how to fight the dark. She is the owner of Huntercombe Manor and a generous benefactor to the college where Will's father now teaches. She is hinted to have pulled some strings in order to get the Stanton family to the village.
- James CosmoJames CosmoJames Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
as Dawson An Old One, a fighter for The Light. Very humorous and is undercover as a farmer in the village, he originally gives the Stanton's their Christmas tree where he reveals he knows Will's name. Best friend of George. Traumatized by the initial belief that George was lost to The Dark.
- Jim PiddockJim PiddockJames Anthony "Jim" Piddock is an English actor, writer, and producer who began his career on the stage in England, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1981.-Life and career:...
as Old George An Old One, a fighter for The Light Very humorous and is undercover as a farmer in the village, he originally gives the Stanton's their Christmas tree where he reveals he knows Will's name. Best friend of Dawson. After a fight with The Rider in a bar, it is believed that he was either killed or lost to The Dark, saddening his best friend Dawson.
- Amelia WarnerAmelia WarnerAmelia Warner is an English actress and songwriter. As of October 2011, Warner is a signed musician to Island Records and works under the name, 'Slow Moving Millie'.-Early life:...
as Maggie Barnes A pretty girl in Will's school in the beginning, he couldn't work up the nerve to talk to her. After his brother James begins to date her she and Will meet for the first time where she hints that she is an 'Old One'. She is a cause of emotional distress for Will throughout the film until it is revealed that she is an ancient witch who works for The Rider in exchange for remaining youthful.
Stanton family
- John Benjamin HickeyJohn Benjamin HickeyJohn Benjamin Hickey is an American actor with a career in stage, film and television. He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart....
as John Stanton Will's father a lecturer at a college in England, the family patriarch he is initially critical of his son Max and seems too busy to listen to Will. It is revealed that when Will was a new-born, his twin brother Tom was kidnapped whilst John was working on a thesis The Light and The Dark, the loss of his son, the guilt and emotional distress he went through made him abandon the thesis. John Benjamin HickeyJohn Benjamin HickeyJohn Benjamin Hickey is an American actor with a career in stage, film and television. He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart....
also plays a small role as Thomas Stanton an ancestor of the Stanton family and the creator of the Six Signs.
- Wendy CrewsonWendy Crewson-Life and career:Crewson was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of June Doreen and Robert Binnie Crewson. She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she won the prestigious Lorne Greene Award for outstanding work in the theater. She then studied at the Webber Douglas Academy...
as Mary Stanton Will's mother. A housewife who holds great love for her family and great pain from the loss of one her sons, Tom.
- Emma LockhartEmma Lockhart-Career:She had numerous small roles in television, movies, and the stage. Her most memorable role was as young Rachel Dawes in the 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins.Lockhart also appeared in The Seeker, as Gwen Stanton....
as Gwen Stanton Will's younger sister, the only girl of the Stanton family and the only one to give Will a proper present on his birthday. A kind girl, she is the first of his family to unintentionally witness his power as he takes her to a Viking battle where she rescues a lost kitten. She promises not to say anything to anyone else, showing her and Will's close relationship. This is seen further when Will is threatened with the death of the person he loves most, and this person turns out to be Gwen.
- Drew Tyler BellDrew Tyler BellDrew Tyler Bell is an American actor and dancer.-Career:Bell is perhaps most known for his role as Thomas Forrester in The Bold and the Beautiful, which he held from 2004 until 2010, for which he won the 2010 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series...
as James Stanton Will's older and more arrogant brother who dates Maggie and causes Will to be jealous. He teases Will with the fact he got to date Maggie in the beginning of the film.
- EdmundEdmund EntinEdmund Entin is an American Actor.-Biography:He is well known for his role as Robin Stanton in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising and as Jonah in the upcoming Seconds Apart.-Personal life:...
and Gary EntinGary EntinGary Entin is an American Actor.-Biography:He is well known for his role as Paul Stanton in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. Entin co-stars with his brother Edmund in the upcoming After Dark Originals Seconds Apart.-Actor:-Producer:-Editorial Department:-Writer:-Miscellaneous...
as Robin and Paul Stanton Will's older brother who happen to be twins. The twins bully Will slightly but they do love him.
- Gregory Smith as Max Stanton Will's older brother, shown to be coming home for the holidays from college and taking Will's room forcing Will to move to the attic. It is later revealed that Max dropped out. He is taken over by The Rider for a short period of time. He tries to take the Signs away from Will under The Rider's influence. When Will speaks to Max trying to convince him to leave him be. Max is knocked unconscious and comes back free of The Rider. Max later tells his father, who is critical of him in the film's beginning, that he dropped out of college.
- Jordan J. Dale as Stephen Stanton Will's oldest brother, a member of the United States Navy, it appears he is commissioned to Hawaii when he sends the family floral print shirts. Shown to be looked up to and admired by his siblings. Instead of sending Will a shirt, he sends him the celtic belt that he uses to hold the signs. Shown for a brief time only.
Development
In July 1997, Jim Henson PicturesJim Henson Pictures
Jim Henson Pictures is an American movie studio, owned by The Jim Henson Company and opened by Lisa and Brian Henson, the daughter of the late Jim Henson.-List of films produced by JHP:* Buddy...
optioned the rights for the film adaptation of Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...
's novel The Dark Is Rising. The company attached Duncan Kenworthy
Duncan Kenworthy
Duncan H. Kenworthy, OBE is a British film and television producer, and co-founder of the production company DNA Films. He is currently a producer at Toledo Productions....
as producer and Andrew Klavan
Andrew Klavan
Andrew Klavan, is an American author and screenwriter of "tough-guy" mysteries and psychological thrillers. Two of Klavan's books have been adapted into motion pictures: True Crime and Don't Say A Word . He has been nominated for the Edgar Award four times and has won twice...
as screenwriter, with the film's budget estimated to be $20 million. Brian Henson
Brian Henson
Brian Henson is an Academy Award-winning puppeteer, director, producer, and technician. The son of puppeteers Jane and Jim Henson, Brian was born in New York City, New York....
, president and CEO of the company, pursued the purchase of the rights because the book was one of his favorites.
In May 2005, with production never becoming active under Henson Pictures, the film adaptation rights were purchased by Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
, who attached Marc E. Platt
Marc E. Platt
Marc E. Platt , also credited as Marc Platt, is an American film, television and theatre producer.-Life and career:Platt was raised in Pikesville, Maryland. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. He was an avid member of the Penn Glee Club during his time at the university...
to produce the project. In August 2006, Walden Media announced a joint venture with the studio 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
to distribute Walden projects through Fox channels. The next October, director David Cunningham
David Cunningham
David Cunningham lives and works in London. Cunningham's work has ranged from pop music to gallery installations, including work for television, film, contemporary dance, and a number of collaborations with visual artists...
was hired to helm the film, then titled The Dark Is Rising. Cunningham visited Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
to prepare production for an early 2007 start to target a September 28, 2007 release date.
Writing
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is very loosely based on the second book in Susan CooperSusan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...
's series The Dark Is Rising Sequence
The Dark is Rising Sequence
The Dark Is Rising is the name of a five-book series of children's contemporary fantasy novels by Susan Cooper, published in 1965–1977, which depicts the struggle between the forces of good, called The Light, and the forces of evil, known as The Dark...
, titled The Dark Is Rising. Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
hired screenwriter John Hodge in October 2005 to adapt the story for the big screen. The mythology of Cooper's book was considered to be the plot, and Hodge was tasked to interpret the book into events that could be portrayed in a film. The story, which took place in the 1960s and 1970s in the book, was rewritten to be contemporary. Vikings were included in the film, based on a reference in the book to an old Viking boat which the protagonist discovers.
Hodge rewrote the protagonist Will Stanton, portrayed by Alexander Ludwig
Alexander Ludwig (actor)
Alexander Ludwig is a Canadian teen actor. He played Will Stanton in the 2007 fantasy film, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising...
, to be 14 instead of 11. The screenwriter chose this age, considering 11 to be more of a child's age, and 14 to be an age of transition. Stanton was also written to be American so he would be established as more of an outsider, culturally alien to the story's English setting. Hodge also wrote new subplots for Ludwig's character in the film, including sibling conflicts, a crush on a young woman (Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner is an English actress and songwriter. As of October 2011, Warner is a signed musician to Island Records and works under the name, 'Slow Moving Millie'.-Early life:...
), and alienation at school. The script also features the inclusion of many action sequences. The character of The Walker, portrayed by Jonathan Jackson
Jonathan Jackson (actor)
Jonathan Stevens Jackson is an American actor, best known for playing Lucky Spencer, son of supercouple Luke and Laura on the American daytime drama General Hospital...
, was also rewritten as a younger person with a new story arc about the loss of his soul. However, Jackson's character was ultimately removed from the film's theatrical cut. Susan Cooper was reportedly not happy with the adaptation of her book.
Filming
Filming began on February 26, 2007 in RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. The film was shot on several soundstages at MediaPro Studios
MediaPro Studios
MediaPro Studios in Romania is Eastern Europe's largest and longest established film studios with a tradition in cinema spanning over 60 years. It provides full production services for the international film and TV industry. The complex is located in the town of Buftea, some 20 kilometers...
in Buftea
Buftea
Buftea is a town in Ilfov county, Romania, located 20 km north-west of Bucharest. Its population is growing due to its proximity to Bucharest. One village, Buciumeni, is administered by the town....
, Romania. Several sets built at the soundstages included an English village, the Stanton family's country home, a medieval church, and a mysterious ruin known as the Great Hall. Cinematographer Joel Ransom chose to have such sets, including the reconstruction of the 13th century chapel that took four months to construct, built to surround the actors so he could use 360-degree camera sweeps in the locations to represent time travel sequences.
Director David Cunningham
David Cunningham
David Cunningham lives and works in London. Cunningham's work has ranged from pop music to gallery installations, including work for television, film, contemporary dance, and a number of collaborations with visual artists...
chose to minimize the use of visual effects in The Seeker, only creating around 200 visual effects for the film. Instead, the director pursued practical means to carry out the effects of the film's scenes. A thousand snakes were shipped in from the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
to be dumped on the actors, real water was used to wipe out a mansion in the film, and real birds were trained to fly at the actors. Cunningham also hired Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
reenactors
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
to assist with the Viking element in the film.
The crow-like birds are consistent with the book's signature harbingers of the Dark: the rook
Rook (bird)
The Rook is a member of the Corvidae family in the passerine order of birds. Named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species name frugilegus is Latin for "food-gathering"....
s. One visitor to the set said that the rooks were represented by "a half-dozen trained ravens."
Costume designer Vin Burnham designed a riding cloak for The Rider (Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
), a black get-up lined with real fur and feathers for an animalistic appearance. Burnham provided eccentric 1960s outfits for the character Miss Greythorne (Frances Conroy
Frances Conroy
Frances Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth, the matriarch of the Fisher family, on Six Feet Under, which earned her a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.-Early life:...
), with Celtic symbols incorporated into the outfits. The costume designer also wove small crystals into the outfits worn by Conroy and Ian McShane
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane is an English actor, director, producer, voice artist, and comedian.Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly the BBC's Lovejoy and HBO's Western drama Deadwood...
so that the outfits glisten on camera.
Release
Production on The Seeker began early in 2007 to target a September 28, 2007 release date. The release date was eventually moved a week later, to October 5, 2007 during Columbus DayColumbus Day
Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
weekend. Up until July 27, 2007, the film was titled and marketed only as The Dark Is Rising. Fox Walden changed the film title from The Dark Is Rising to The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Prior to its release, the film's title was finalized to be The Seeker in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market. In the Canadian market, the film was released simultaneously with the U.S. distribution but under the title The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the film was released under the title The Dark is Rising.
The Seeker was reported to have issues leading to its release: author Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...
was not happy with the adaptation of her book, the film's title was changed repeatedly, and advance screenings were canceled.
DVD
The Seeker was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on March 18, 2008. Region 4 and Region 2 DVDs contain 'Extended/Deleted Scenes' which include outtakes of Jonathan Jackson's scenes as the Walker. There are also two featurettes, and optional director's commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
on the extended/deleted scenes
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
. Because the Region 1 DVDs did not contain the extended/deleted scenes in the special features, it is assumed (and hoped) by many fans that Walden Media will release an extended version of The Seeker.
Box office performance
The Seeker was released in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on October 5, 2007. The film grossed $3,745,315 in 3,141 theaters in its opening weekend, ranking #5 at the box office in the United States and Canada. The Seeker had one of the poorest starts for a fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
. The Seeker was questioned for having too high of a venue, with the cost for prints in 3,141 theaters exceeding its opening weekend gross. As of 2009, The Seeker has grossed $8,794,452 in the United States and Canada and $22,606,288 in other territories for a worldwide total of $31,400,740.
Walden Media has the distinction of back to back super wide releases competing with each other in the race to the bottom. The Seeker had the second worst debut of all time for a film released in more than 3,000 theaters, placing behind the Walden's 2006 comedy-adventure film Hoot
Hoot (film)
Hoot is a 2006 American family comedy film based on Carl Hiaasen's novel of the same name. It was directed by Wil Shriner and produced by New Line Cinema and Walden Media. Hoot was released on May 5, 2006....
. The Seeker though managed to pull into first place in 'biggest theater drops' - wide releases that lost the most theaters in their third weekends - and nudged ahead of Hoot. Most wide releases are contractually obliged to stay at a particular screen for two weeks and can be dropped by a theatre only at the beginning of the third week.
Critical reception
Critical reception to the film has been largely negative, with movie-review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
finding only 14% of critics gave the movie a positive review earning the film a "Rotten" rating on the site. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, a similar review aggregation site, calculates the movie as having a score of 39/100.
Criticism was varied. The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
’s Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith is an American critic, novelist and essayist. He is a staff film critic for the New York Post. His film reviewing style has been called "an exercise in hilarious hostility" by Entertainment Weekly....
objected that, "Good and evil don't seem to be trying to destroy each other so much as come up with cool-looking effects to show off, as if they were competing in a "Project Runway" for wizards... [and] given superpowers, Will does approximately nothing with them." Gianni Truzzi of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
opined that the movie lacked the "grandiose elements" of "magic rooted in its ties to Arthurian legend and British folklore" that made the books so memorable. The Boston Globe’s Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr has been a film critic for the Boston Globe since 2002 where he reviews films alongside Wesley Morris.Born in 1957, he studied film at Dartmouth College and New York University and has written three books: The Hundred Greatest Movies of All Time, The Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time and...
panned the movie for not understanding its intended audience of book-readers, saying, "the producers have tried to gin up the story for multiplex audiences. They've succeeded in making a movie for no audience at all." And The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
s Jeannette Catsoulis complained that "John Hodge's screenplay is frequently dreary and overly literal... 'The Seeker' feels passé and lacks a charismatic lead."
One of the few somewhat-positive reviews came from the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
's Kelley L. Carter, who said that "At its best, The Seeker is a pretty vivid fantasy book come-to-life" and found the lead character of Will Stanton to have been "played convincingly." Another came from the Baltimore Sun's Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow is a film critic and columnist who has written for The Baltimore Sun, The New Times, The New Yorker , The Atlantic and salon.com...
, who found that The Seeker had "a lot going for it, including wonderful sets and locations...that create a heightened-reality English hamlet". Both gave the movie only 2½ stars out of 4.
Several of the reviewers mentioned the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
movies. The New York Times' Catsoulis mentioned, "Too bad Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....
is an only child." The Chicago Tribune's Carter wrote “Harry Potter, meet your not-so-much cousin... had it not been for the Potter series, the bar for children’s fantasy film wouldn’t be quite as high, and 'The Seeker' falls short of the high-riding, high-quality material delivered in the Harry Potter film series." The New York Post's Smith went so far as to title his review "Bad Harry Day" and to joke that "In today's England, a teenage boy is instructed by grown-up mentors in the use of magical powers while a dark lord who comes in many formats promises an epic battle. The movie is based on a 1973 book by Susan Cooper, who must be trembling in fear of being sued for ripping off J.K. Rowling's ideas and publishing them 20 years in advance." The Boston Globe's Burr described the parallels more clearly, saying that "against him is a metrosexual meanie called The Rider (Christopher Eccleston), sort of a He Who Can Be Named. In general, Cooper's story line has been Potterized to little avail: Will's family is as large as the Weasleys, as unloving as the Dursleys, and no fun whatsoever." ("He Who Can Be Named" is a parody of Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter series written by British author J. K. Rowling. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997...
's appellation, "He Who Must Not Be Named.")
External links
- The Seeker at Walden MediaWalden MediaWalden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
- Interview with Christopher Eccleston
- Interview with author Susan Cooper