Last February we reported that V.E. Schwab’s alternate-universe fantasy novel A Darker Shade of Magic was coming to television courtesy of Gerard Butler’s production company G-BASE. Well today we’re excited to update that information: A Darker Shade of Magic will now be a film! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Butler will produce along with Alan Siegel, Danielle Robinson, and Neal Moritz. While Schwab is no longer writing the script, she will be producing as well.
Schwab shared the update on Twitter, saying:
THR also mentioned a tantalizing possibility for the future:
Schwab followed A Darker Shade of Magic with two other books in the series: A Gathering of Shadows in 2016 and A Conjuring of Light, which just hit shelves on Feb. 21 this year. The trilogy could be ideal for a film franchise as the second and third installments expand on the magical world introduced in Schwab’s first book. Filmmakers are said to be already lining up for a chance to put their stamp on this fantasy.
So now we get to dream-cast a movie! Tell us all about your ideal Kell and company in the comments. Also, any picks for writer/director?
Great news! Congrats to Victoria!
I would be sorry that Victoria isn’t the scriptwriter. But I can’t be, since the time can be diverted to writing more books–or to taking a well-earned break.
I’d love to see either Domhnall Gleeson or Nicholas Hoult as Kell, Douglas Booth as Rhy, and either Alicia Vikander or Ellen Page as Lila.
I love the plans for this becoming a movie :)
Luke Pasqualino as Rhy for sure!
Oh wow, can’t wait for the movie! Maybe Eddie Redmayne or Douglas Booth as Kell? It’s so hard to find someone to fit Kells wonderful character. But Ellen Page as Lila for sure.
For Lila, you could be the one to find the next Evangeline Lily. Kell could be a naturally red-haired actor, such as Myles Jeffrey, Christian Cooke, or an unknown. I am thoroughly convinced that Mark Suki is Rhy in real life, but that Bruno Mars would also be astounding (he has the perfect personality and can sing). Everyone seems to want Avan Jogia, and with good reason (not only easy on the eyes, he is a co-founder of an LGBTQ organization and has played royalty before), except I would rather have Dev Patel or anyone else who could get the emotions across better. Peter Adrian and Boo Boo Stewart are my wild cards. Naveen Andrews is my Maxim and Morgan Freeman my Tieren. It would be amazing and hilarious to have Grant Gustin as Tuttle, Andrew Garfield is a distant second choice. I can easily see Michael Socha as a crew member of the Night Sire. Edward Norton would truly do Holland justice, yet Chandler Riggs would be an interesting choice. I hope you find someone fabulous enough to portray Alucard. I remember when everyone wanted to whitewash and straight-wash Magnus Bane as Darren Criss who even with the best intentions I cannot see playing a sharp enough character for either role. My dream cast: Mark Suki, Naveen Andrews, Edward Norton, Grant Gustin, Michael Socha, and surprisingly amazing new talent!
Benedict Cumberbatch as Holland!, Colin O’Donoghue or Ian Harding as Rhy¿, Lindsey Shaw as Lila¿¿¿ annnd Sasha Roiz or Josh Dallas as Kell!
Douglas Booth, Colin O’Donoghue, Ian Harding??? It is sad that people want to whitewash Rhy. One of the things I really enjoyed was how race played a role in him and Kell’s brotherhood. Coming from a mixed family myself, I thought it was done tastefully and should make it in the movie adaptation. I mean, look at Mik’s pick of Naveen Andrews for the king! Something like that would be very timely.
Hi, I want Tom Leeb for Kell and Nina Dobrev for Lila
I sincerely hope this will be a diverse cast. I think that the range of characters, 4 different londons and 3 kingdoms will certainly allow for this. And I don’t mean just the background characters – Deepika Padukone, Tessa Thompson or Olivia Munn as Lila, Riz Ahmed or Steven Yeun as Alucard, etc. I think it’s the perfect time and the perfect movie for this.
I pictured the red London folks with the tan skin Schwab kept referring to. Would be nice to see that in the actors – maybe Turkish, Spanish or Italian. Hope to see some English actors in there too, seeing as it is set in London! My ancestors were in London in the 1800’s, it’d be nice to see my culture represented. And hope they pay a bit of attention to history and geography, even though it is fantasy. But it would be lovely to see a diverse cast. Hollywood’s been shaken up a bit lately, I’m hoping we’ll see changes for the better.
I think it’d be really great if everyone was an unknown British actor, except for one or two. But here are my thoughts on known actors who could fit the parts (if the non-British ones could do a good accent):
HOLLAND- Adam Driver, Colin Morgan, Ezra Miller, or Nathaniel Buzolic
RHY- Jesse Williams, Charles Michael Davis, or Sendhil Ramamurthy
QUEEN EMIRA – Angela Bassett, Naomie Harris, or Thandie Newton
KING MAXIM- Mark Ruffalo, Terrence Howard, Javier Bardem, Idris Elba (although the queen is supposed to be darker), or Dwayne Johnson
KELL- Alden Ehrenreich, Jamie Bell, Joe Alwyn, Jack Gleason, or Jesse Eisenberg
LILA- Krysten Ritter, Anna Kendrick, Lily Collins, or Mia Goth
ASTRID DANE- Eva Green (with dyed hair), Uma Thurman
ATHOS DANE- Alexander Skarsgard, Cillian Murphy (dyed blonde), Michael Fassbender, Paul Bettany, Sasha Baren Cohen (dyed blonde), Tom Hiddleston
MASTER TIEREN- Ben Kingsley, Sir Ian McKellan
KING GEORGE III- Jim Broadbent, Steve Martin, or Michael Caine
PRINCE OF GREY/KING GEORGE IV- Joaquin Phoenix, James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor
ALUCARD- Jeffrey Dean Morgan
I predicted the future! We can have Chandler Riggs on board! I agree with Maddie (and thanks, Lostie) this is an amazing series to bring not only underrepresented minority groups to blockbusters but have them bring viewers to the seats. Watch out producers, Elise is a troll and Americans for one will NEVER AGAIN let Europeans stand in for/whitewash/black face those “folks with the tan skin Schwab kept referring to”. So, may I refer you to this video with over 3 million views- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag1IisyP1ak or this Rhy in real life- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSJCtbZO1_F0cR2V_ilJgg or Bruno Mars? These are real men and they exist and they are talented and they are lusted after and you cannot dismiss those facts anymore.
Sam Claflin or Richard Madden as Kell; Nick Robinson as Holland; and Robert Pattinson as Alucard
Made me jump from joy
Eddie Redmayne for Kell
I love these books but I’m really worried that they’ll turn it into the Standard Hollywood Bro-Fest where the woman is reduced to a sidekick just so they can check their diversity boxes. Lila is so much more than that and deserves to be visible and as large, intelligent and instrumental as she was in the books.
While I’m so grateful for Schwab’s having written these books, I’m very sorry to hear she won’t be writing the script! It is her touch that made the books what they were, and the dialogue she created was part of that. I’m sure she’s busy, however! And hopefully getting to take a break too.
As far as a pick for writer/producer: Please choose a (woke) woman! There was a very specific attention with regards to the way that women were represented in her books that cannot be manufactured by a stand-in. It’s time Hollywood stopped talking about equality and started putting women in production roles, anyway. If you are portraying a story that subverts women’s gender roles in such complex and intuitive ways, best not to have a guy do it. Think Starz’s “Vida” series- They did it right. I hope characters like Kisimyr are given ample screen time and done justice and that it doesn’t turn into the standard Hollywood bro-fest. Please make Lila as visible and prominent a character as she was in the books!! Let her lead the way she was written.
For actors: I second what a few folks said about unknown actors!! It would be great to see some new faces take these roles!! (Like they did with the Harry Potter kids!) It seemed to work really nicely and let the characters themselves stand out more rather than the big celeb names being a distraction, with all those prior reference points.
Also second what people said about not whitewashing the Arnesians (or the Faroans, for that matter). Emira as a POC queen? Yes please! Seems like if they stick to how people were actually described in the book they’d be fine. The Veskans seemed like Vikings, the Grey Londoners kind of like regular London, etc etc. Hopefully they’ll pick age-appropriate actors too. Casting real queer/pan actors for Rhy and Alucard would be really nice.
Last comment: Please preserve not only Lila but also the witty banter!! :) It was such a defining characteristic of many of the relationships and the story won’t be the same without it.
The Superman Homecoming movie did this really well, I thought. It reminded me of what I hope they do with this series.
Thank you for taking comments on this!!