Master and Commander sequel possibly coming?

[Primula Baggins]

I thought we had a thread for the Master and Commander film, but apparently not. So:

Russell Crowe has confirmed that he is in early talks about returning for a Master & Commander sequel.

The actor claimed that he is in negotiations about reprising his role as British sea captain Jack Aubrey. . . .

Master & Commander, which was based on three novels from Patrick O'Brien's 20 book series, was released in 2003 and earned ten Oscar nominations.

A script based on O'Brien's 1986 book The Reverse Of The Medal has reportedly been completed. The story follows Aubrey in the Caribbean on HMS Surprise, where he meets his illegitimate son Samuel Panda.

Cast members from the original film are apparently already signed up for two sequels.

Link

This is wonderful news, I think. M&C was an excellent adaptation, for my money, and Crowe really surprised me with his very un-action-heroish, understated, generous performance as Jack Aubrey. And, The Reverse of the Medal is one of my favorites among the Aubrey/Maturin books (Aubrey falls on hard times). I hope this all works out.

[eborr]

M & C was outstanding, it's a film I ca rewatch and enjoy if another is going to be made, then that's really good news. I am probably wrong on this but I thought the film didn't make much money

[Primula Baggins]

It was not a big theatrical hit, but it got ten Oscar nominations (won two, including cinematography) and has apparently been selling steadily on DVD. I've rewatched it a number of times with great pleasure.

The deluxe DVD is well worth the price; the extras are as good and almost as extensive as for an LotR film. And the filmmakers went to some of the same lengths for a feeling of authenticity.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There doesn't seem to be an indication as to whether Peter Weir would be back at the helm. I think that would be at least as important as having Crowe back as Aubrey. Weir did an excellent job with that film.

[Primula Baggins]

I agree. I would love to see Weir back. He understood the source material, which is as daunting and complex as LotR if not more so (twenty long novels).

[vison]

I haven't seen this movie and would like to. I'll have to give it a go.

I've never read the books, either. Maybe this winter. .. .

[Primula Baggins]

It took me about three tries to get through the first book, but I've now read the entire series three or four times. It's really almost one long novel, though each book has an ending (sometimes a cliffhanger).

I can't recommend these books highly enough. They're written in a nineteenth-century style, not just in terms of prose but in terms of the omniscient point of view, and of feeling free to wander off down interesting winding side streets of the plot. But the characters are intensely real; the action is gripping and clearly described; and the books themselves are insightful, deeply moving, and at times extremely funny.

The only tip I would give a new reader is not to worry about the seafaring jargon. Let it wash over you and don't worry about decoding everything. Anything you have to understand to follow the plot is clearly explained when you need to know it. Stephen Maturin knows nothing of the sea at the start (and very little more at the end), and he makes a wonderful viewpoint character for that.

[Pearly Di]

Hurrah!

But, oh, I do hope Weir is helming this. He is probably my favourite director ever. Witness and The Truman Show are two of my favourite films of all time.

I absolutely loved this film. You were on board that ship with those men. Sadly it got completely overlooked at the Oscars by -- guess what -- our own beloved RotK and in any other year I'd have been rooting so hard for it.

Weir looked so down at those Oscars. It was such a shame because he had really praised the way PJ used CGI in the LotR films to aid the story, not swamp it.

I have never been able to get through the first book, I'm afraid. Lots of my friends got into the series after seeing the film and praised it to the skies.

[Primula Baggins]

The first book is actually the hardest to get through, I think. And then the second is the longest of all of them. He doesn't make it easy.

[eborr]

I have not read the books, but the film struck me as giving a very realistic impression of life at sea in the early 19 c. I was never a student of this period, but my feeling is from the language they used in the speech, and in the attitudes they captured their period better than most things I have come across, and without the dreadful bourgoise platitudes of most of the novels of that period.

I do like it when film create worlds that are believable, either historical or fantastical.

[Primula Baggins]

I don't know how realistic the books are—I'm not a historian—but I suspect they're as accurate as a lifetime of research could make them. Many of the accounts of naval engagements are based directly on contemporary reports, and many of the significant fictional characters are based on real ones.

I had already read all of C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels many times through, and it all seemed to fit. And of course, England ashore is Jane Austen's England; that all fit, too. All in all it's a fascinating world. The books are set all over the world: India, southeast Asia, South and North America (including Boston), France, Spain, the Mediterranean, even Antarctic waters. All are described so vividly that I feel as if I've been there.

And, Stephen Maturin is a physician and a naturalist, so the focus is by no means solely on naval battles. The conflict in the film that the young midshipman faces, when he's torn between his naval career and the fascinating natural world Stephen has shown him, is a strong running theme in the books.

Peter Weir made an intelligent film of these intelligent books. I hope he'll make another. Reverse of the Medal is a deeply melancholy, moving, wonderful novel.

[Hurin]

I would love to see another film based on the Aubrey-Maturin books, which I have read 3 times. O'Brian is my favorite author other than JRRT. The Aubrey-Maturin series truly immerses the reader into another time and place far different from the present. These books are, in my opinion, far superior to the Hornblower series. And you learn a heck of a lot about sailing, about which I previously knew little. Like Prim, I highly recommend these books to everyone.

The Reverse of the Medal is a good choice for a film since both Aubrey and Maturin face hard times and it contains what is, to me, the most emotionally moving moment in the entire 20 books. Interestingly, the characters are on land for more of this book than probably any other in the series.

Has Peter Weir directed any movies since "M&C"?

[solicitr]

I agree. O'Brian seems to have completely internalised the attitudes, the manners, the speech, the mindsets, everything of the Age of Austen, both ashore and in the very, very different shipboard society. Amazing. His characters act, think and speak like genuine Regency people- not, as is usual with 'historical novels,' transplanted moderns.

[sauronsfinger]

Húrin asks

Has Peter Weir directed any movies since "M&C"?

This link will show you what Peter Weir is now working on for release next year.

www.imdb.com/title/tt1023114/

WITNESS is a truly beautiful film.... that barn raising scene is one of my favorites in any film. GALLIPOLI is also a really good film. I would agree with the others here that Weir is very important to any M&C sequel.

[Primula Baggins]

Húrin, I am sure we're both thinking of the same scene. It has moved me to tears every time.

Soli, one of the things I love about the series is that it's really the other half of Jane Austen's world: the men's world, the one she never presumed to show. And yet many of the women in the Aubrey/Maturin books have the spirit and intelligence of Austen characters. They are people, not prizes for good behavior.

[Folca]

I for one would love to see another movie or two, especially if they are of similar quality as the first.

[Maria]

I enjoyed the M & C series up until the moment I realized it was the same society as Jane Austin's. I detest that era's treatment of females, and couldn't enjoy the books any more after that.

So, I never did finish the series.

I liked the movie, though. But that was before my unwelcome realization of what women's lives were like in that era. Roped in, hemmed in, mentally hobbled, constrained to behave in particular ways every which way they turned. Utterly dependant on men. GAhhhhhhhgggggggggghhhhhh! Until I read Pride & Predjudice, this had never been brought home to me before with such clarity. After that book... well, I'm not sure I can even re-read the Hornblower series without my hackles being raised.

So, much as I like stories of tall ships, I may not see this movie. I've had the first movie sitting on my DVD shelf unopened for several years now. I meant to watch it again when I bought it, but lost my enthusiasm...

Anyway.... carry on. I just had to get that out of my system.

[vison]

I can't quite relate to that, Maria!

You seem to see only the differences in women's lives, I tend to see the similarities - and how little people have changed.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I see both. How far we have come, and how far we still have to go. But this is another subject altogether from Master and Commander!