Angry Web

9.15.09 – Dan Brown’s long-awaited novel, “The Lost Symbol”, has finally been released today with a record number of 5 million copies in its first print. Curious how that was possibly accomplished? You might even be wondering how these hardbound books are produced in the first place. Enjoy the video.

Here is Good Morning America’s coverage of the release:

Doubleday has finally revealed the cover artwork to Dan Brown’s highly-anticipated novel, “The Lost Symbol”.  This next installment once again follows the adventures of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon as he travels to Washington D.C. to uncover the mysteries behind the secret society of the Freemasons.

The official Doubleday site for “The Lost Symbol” can be found here, where you can pre-order the novel through various websites as well as follow Dan Brown on Twitter and Facebook.

“The Lost Symbol” hits bookstores on September 15th, 2009.

Dan Brown’s highly-anticipated novel, “The Lost Symbol” is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com for the discounted price of $15.63 (List Price: $28.95). According to Amazon’s details, the hardcover novel will run at 480 pgs.

5 millions copies of “The Lost Symbol” are set to be released by Doubleday Books on September 15, 2009.

A 40-minute Lord of the Rings fan film entitled “The Hunt for Gollum” has been produced by Independent Online Cinema/Rickety Shack Films and is now available for free online viewing. The film is impressive indeed considering it was made on a $3,000 budget by a group of passionate fans who strove to produce a work that stood up to the quality of the theatrical trilogy.

“The Hunt for Gollum” follows the Heir of Isildur who ventures out to seek the creature known as Gollum in order to discover the truth about the Ring and to protect the future Ringbearer. The story was adapted from the appendices of “The Lord of the Rings” book series.

You can watch the entire film in HD at thehuntforgollum.com. The trailer is posted below.

Which is based on the upcoming movie…which is based on the cartoon…which is based on the action figures…

Where has originality gone in the media?

THE LOST SYMBOL.

…not “The Solomon Key” as we had all long anticipated.  With almost 5 years of delays, a soaring amount of hype that followed shortly after The Da Vinci Code’s epidemic popularity, and the multitude of speculative books assuming “The Solomon Key” as the book’s title, it really does come as little surprise that author Dan Brown has simply retitled the work.  Despite the lack of details concerning the book’s storyline, we do know that Brown has spent an awful lot of time researching Washington D.C.’s Masonic temples and that the author is very much obsessed with the Freemasons.

The 3rd in a series of conspiracy thriller novels following Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, The Lost Symbol will be published by Doubleday in the U.S. and Canada on September 15th, 2009.  5 million copies are scheduled to be printed.  This was announced today by Sonny Mehta, Chairman and Editor in Chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.  Mehta commented with the following:

This is a great day for readers and booksellers.  The Lost Symbol is a brilliant and compelling thriller. Dan Brown’s prodigious talent for storytelling, infused with history, codes and intrigue, is on full display in this new book. This is one of the most anticipated publications in recent history, and it was well worth the wait.

Jason Kaufman, who is Vice President and Executive Editor at Doubleday as well as Brown’s longtime editor, said:

Nothing ever is as it first appears in a Dan Brown novel. This book’s narrative takes place in a twelve-hour period, and from the first page, Dan’s readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape. The Lost Symbol is full of surprises.

Brown added:

This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey.  Weaving five years of research into the story’s twelve-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon’s life clearly moves a lot faster than mine.

Columbia Pictures is also moving forward with The Lost Symbol, which will be the third film in the series.  Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are expected to return.

Angels & Demons, the second installment, hits theaters May 15th.

Reposted from www.andrewseely.com
see also the angryweb post

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here on the blog, but I’ve been keeping track of this movie for a few years now. The moment I heard it was being made I got giddy. The moment I heard Spike Jonze was directing it I peed my pants.

The beloved book Where the Wild Things Are is now a major motion picture. I talked about this yesterday on twitter, but thought I’d share in more detail here.

This film almost didn’t come to be. It’s gone through multiple delays, re-writes, and studio mumbo-jumbo.

Spike almost left the project and I vowed not to watch the movie if Spike’s visionary talent was not attached to the film. Basically here’s what I think happened.

What it boils down to is that this is not a “kid’s” movie. This is a movie the deals with real emotion, fear, hope and beauty. Taking the premise of the small book and turning it into a full 90min movie is hard enough, but how do you translate something that is more than a story about an imaginative boy who gets sent to his room. That’s where I knew Spike was the right person to be behind the screenplay and the director’s chair. What Spike was going to create I knew would be inventive, brilliant and visually stunning. Though NOT specifically kid friendly. The studio shot back some junk about not liking the casting of Max (the little boy) and therefore put the picture in jeopardy. The film got put on hold and ultimately delayed.

Today we finally began to see this vision realized. There were a few screenshots, but nothing would be as convincing as seeing these larger than life creatures move and saunter with our own eyes. Finally we have a full trailer for the film.

Trust me when I say you have to plain just see it. The scope and grandeur of this film is going to be breathtaking. Note in the trailer of the montage of Max running through various locations (about 1:28). I can only imagine seeing those on a large screen in detail, simply awe inspiring. The other thing that vividly sticks out to me are the eyes. There’s humanity and feeling behind the eyes. Take a close look at them during the trailer. Kudos to either the Henson workshop or the CG peeps, they nailed it. I’m very excited for this october 16th (fingers crossed that it doesn’t get pushed back) when the film will finally be released to the public. I have long been a fan of Spike Jonze for his willingness to step outside the confines of what is traditional and take risks with his work. Here’s hoping this film is everything I hope and want it to be.

For now sit back and watch the trailer. If you have the time, watch the full 1080 HD version which can be found here.

Or it is posted earlier on angryweb