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Now I've seen Orion and the Dark, and it's a good film! I liked it.

But you'll remember I worried that the filmmakers had taken liberties with Charlie's script, and it turns out my suspicions were correct.

Source: Orion and the Dark closing credits

(Pay no attention to this paragraph. I'm an idiot.) If you've never heard of a "Story Artist," it's "a credit given to additional screenwriters on animated films who do not share in the screenplay or story credit, as can be seen on Pixar and Disney animated films." (Wiki)

I liked the movie overall, but after Orion and The Dark leave Orion's house, it deviates a lot from Kaufman's first draft. It's missing some of the meta commentary on kids' movies, it's missing a bunch of stuff that was aimed at adults, CK's themes have been blunted somewhat, some of the darker (!) material is gone, his commentary on storytelling has been... softened? muddied? ... and the storyline itself is quite different after they leave the house, but still kiiiiinda the same. Fair enough in some ways, I guess, but it's a bit of a bummer.

Good movie! But not entirely Charlie's movie.

I'll be adding Charlie's first draft to the site soon, so you can check it out for yourself.

It's here! Orion and the Dark is officially out now on Netflix. 86% at Rotten Tomatoes. I'll be checking it out later tonight, Aussie time.

I just noticed, too, the Media page on BCK is a little broken on desktop; looks fine on mobile. If you're on desktop, try shrinking the window a little until it enters mobile mode, then it should look a'ight. I'll hafta fix it.

Neat interview at Animation Magazine, where Orion and the Dark director Sean Charmatz and producer Peter McCown talk about putting the film together.

Snippet:

McCown (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants) had a similar reaction when first told by DreamWorks about this Kaufman-written animation project, and it took zero effort to convince him to climb aboard.

“I went to film school and Kaufman is our darling,” says McCown. “We literally spent one of my screenwriting classes studying his writing and, specifically, Eternal Sunshine. That’s the Mount Olympus of screenwriters right there. We got to make Orion in a way that was bucking a four-quadrant movie. We didn’t have to make a global family consumer products film; we were with Netflix. We got to take a little bit of chances, and I think that’s a perfect marriage for something like a Kaufman script. He took a beautiful and very charming book by Emma and kept the spirit there of this kid who’s dealing with something that we all can relate to, whether it’s fear or whatever. I think Kaufman is great for this type of animated space because of how whimsical he can get. The script itself was just so much to play with.” (Source)

via u/pavingmomentum.

Early reviews are coming in for Orion and the Dark--not only are they positive, they're a bit of a relief. Despite my fears based on the trailer, it seems like Charlie's script is essentially intact.

Says Hollywood Reporter:

The best animated movies are entertaining enough for kids while providing rewarding diversions for older viewers. This Netflix premiere from DreamWorks Animation hits just that sweet spot. Hilariously and movingly tapping into typical childhood anxieties, it’s infused with ample wit of both the visual and verbal variety for adults, the latter courtesy of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) in his return to feature-length animation, nine years after Anomalisa. Much like the streamer’s recent Nimona, Orion and the Dark proves the sort of sophisticated animated project that outshines many recent big-screen toons. (Source)

In that review, Frank Scheck mentions a bunch of things that definitely were in CK's first draft.

Meanwhile IGN gives it a 7/10:

If Inside Out could be described as Pixar doing Charlie Kaufman, the new animated feature Orion and the Dark is essentially Charlie Kaufman doing Pixar. Technically speaking, the film – which Kaufman wrote but didn’t direct – comes courtesy of rival studio Dreamworks, and is premiering on Netflix. But in its polished spectacle, its anthropomorphizing of abstract concepts, and its aspirations to tug on the heartstrings of kids and adults alike, the project definitely resembles something from the house Woody and Buzz built. And part of its charm rests on seeing the mad genius behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich try to work within the bounds of all-ages formula without being completely consumed by it.

[...] In many respects, Orion and the Dark plays like the screenwriter’s work-for-hire version of a high-concept Pixar fable, complete with life lessons and a very Inside Out-like panel of abstract-concepts-as-characters. But if the animation is nothing special, the script is better than what drives most animated movies aimed at a young audience. And you can certainly feel Kaufman’s neurotic touch on the material. (Source)

Early days, but it's sitting on 100% positive at Rotten Tomatoes.

There's been some movement on the Memory Police front: Hollywood Reporter says Lily Gladstone has signed to star in the film.

Hot on the heels of her historic Oscar nomination, Killers of the Flower Moon breakout Lily Gladstone has found her next starring role, one that reteams her with filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

Gladstone is attached to star in The Memory Police, a hot package that is coming together. It will adapt of the acclaimed 1994 science fiction novel by Yoko Ogawa. Reed Morano, who helmed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale as well as indie I Think We’re Alone Now, is on board to direct the feature whose story has tones of Franz Kafka and George Orwell, and fittingly comes armed with a script by Charlie Kaufman, the writer of such mind-tripping movies as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Morano and Margot Hand of Picture Films will produce. Scorsese will executive produce along with Ogawa. (Source)

A little refresher on the plot:

Ogawa’s novel is a parable taking place on an unnamed island off an unnamed coast where a majority of the island’s residents are subject to collective amnesia. They endure a process of forgetting things, including objects, people and daily rituals, with the amnesia enforced by an organization called The Memory Police. In the story, a novelist tries to hide her editor, who can still remember, from the Memory Police, while he encourages her to write her book.  

This one's starting to sound pretty good. We heard the first rumblings about this project three years ago, when CK was promoting Antkind.

Great news for Charlie's fans in China: Antkind is out now, and with a spiffy cover to boot!

Thanks to Xu Jinglu, Charlie's editor in China, who tells me that Charlie has a lot of fans there! Nice.

Didn't have Ariana Grande on the BCK bingo card, but here we are!

March 8 sees the release of Grande's new album, and it's titled Eternal Sunshine. I don't think the film has been mentioned by Grande is any media releases so far, but come on. Connecting the dots, this certainly means it's her favorite film of all time and Kaufman is obviously her favourite screenwriter. RIGHT?

Ariana Grande has announced her new album: Eternal Sunshine will arrive March 8 via Republic. News of the Positions follow-up comes on the heels of this month’s lead single “Yes, And?” and its Paula Abdul–inspired music video.

The new album title likely refers to Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman’s beloved 2004 film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Grande, a big Carrey fan, starred alongside him in the second season of Showtime’s Kidding. Gondry was among Kidding’s executive producers and directed several episodes.

In 2019, after filming Kidding with Carrey, Grande wrote online, “thankful for the most special experience of my life.” She continued, “nothing is crazier than getting to work with and spend time with someone whom you’ve idolized and adored since before you could speak. actually, what’s even crazier is discovering that person to be more special and warm and generous in person than you ever could’ve imagined.” (Source)

Ahead of the Feb 2 Netflix release of  Orion and the Dark, a new trailer has dropped:

Looks okay?

But it does not seems to resemble Charlie's script in many ways. Keep in mind, Orion is an adaptation of Emma Yarlett's picture book (affiliate link!), so the storyline is the same, but I went through that trailer and did a line-by-line search for dialogue in Kaufman's script. My half-assed methodology: first I would take part of a sentence from the trailer, then a key word--to see if either the sentence itself or a version of it is in the first draft of CK's screenplay. Maybe I messed up, but there seems to be not a lot in there.

“if it kills me” – No.
“my job” “fundamental” – No.
“important” (from “it’s probably the most important job") – No. The word "important" only appears once, spoken by Orion's dad.
“without darkness, the others don’t get to do their bits” “without darkness” – No.
“brightness and hope to the world” – No.
“fix everything I’m afraid of in one night” –No. ("fix" is in there once, in a line unrelated to that one)
“One night can change everything” “change everything” – No.
“we have work to do” – No.
“freaks out” – No
“universe is permanently altered” – No ("universe" is in there)
“That’s a thing that can happen” / “can happen” – No
“Seems unlikely” – No.
Sleep is a character in the script, I couldn't find Sweet Dreams, Quiet is in there, Unexplained Noises is in there, Insomnia doesn't get a mention, Light gets a mention.

So. It could be that Charlie did a later draft that I haven't seen (doubtful), it could be that someone heavily re-wrote him (likely), it could be that they aren't using his script... or--this is highly unlikely, but hey--it could be that most of the dialogue in the trailer was created just for the trailer?

Interesting that they aren't mentioning Kaufman in promotional material. There was a video where the filmmakers spoke of their admiration for CK and how they didn't want to change much of his screenplay. Maybe Netflix had other thoughts?

Thanks to u/pavingmomentum!

"Charlie Kaufman and Eva H.D. in person!" says the blurb over at Yale's site. If you're keen to catch them and a screening of their short Jackals & Fireflies, you might want to visit the uni at the end of January.

Admission is free, 7:00-8:15pm, it's open to the general public, and you'll want to head to:

Humanities Quadrangle, L01
320 York Street
New Haven, CT 06511

More info here.

Thanks to u/pavingmomentum!

Charlie's Italian fans should be thrilled to know that the Italian version of Antkind has hit the shelves! Not a bad cover, too. Little bit plain, maybe?

Andrea, who sent the news, tells me: "It's called Formichità (Ant is Formica in italian) and was published by the prestigious Einaudi publishing house." Nice!

Don't forget, Charlie has a short story coming out in May, too.