Post #4: Text to Film Considerations

Dear Douglas Adams,
       Thank you once again for allowing our studio to adapt "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" for film. We would like to discuss with you the considerations and liberties we plan to take with your work as we transition it from text to the big screen. There are three areas in particular which require precise decision making in order to translate well from book to movie, namely casting choices for the main characters, cutting scenes from the story in regard to length, and deviance from the original plot and theme.


Casting Choices:
       In order to capture the essence of the many memorable characters found in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", we have selected actors and actresses best suited to fill these roles.


Zaphod Beeblebrox - Nicolas Cage
Trillian - P!nk
Arthur Dent - Frankie Muniz
Ford Prefect - Carrot Top
Slartibartfast - Sean Connery
Voice of Eddie - Kath Soucie
Voice of Deep Thought - Morgan Freeman
Marvin - Ben Stein
Vogon Captain - Danny DeVito
Cops on Magrathea - Andrew W.K.


Scene Cuts:
       There are a number of scenes found in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which would either be very difficult to translate from text to film, or are not entirely necessary to the plot and would extend the length of the film greatly. There are two scenes in particular that fit these criteria. One of these is the scene in which a sentence said by Arthur travels back in time and starts a war between two nations who eventually form an army together to defeat Arthur, and that army is eaten by a small dog. While very humorous, this scene breaks away from the action in the story, and would be difficult to portray with our limited special effects budget. The other scene is the room of unimaginable size under the surface of Magrathea. Once again, this would be incredibly challenging to portray, as it would take up an incredible amount of movie time to get an accurate feeling of the immense size of the room.


Compliance to the Original Text:
       All of us at the studio feel that the content within "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is sacred, and should not be changed in any way. As stated in the previous section, several scenes from the book will be absent from the film, scenes which, though crucial to the text, would make the film sluggish and harder to enjoy. Content will be omitted in the production, but none will be altered or added in any way. Our goal is to best translate your novel into film, not to take our own creative liberties with the text.