Author of The Vampire Academy series, Richelle Mead, sat down with reps from Examiner, Page to Premier, Hypable and a couple of other’s, to chat about the upcoming movie adaption of her book.
The first movie is currently filming in England and will star Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry and Danila Kozlovsky. The movie is being directed by Mark Waters and is due for a February 14th, 2014 release date. There was a few different reasons for filming in England, Meads says, but one of it was they had a good exterior site that looked like what you would expect St. Vladimir’s to.
Richelle is as equally excited for the moive as the fans are and says that the cast are as well. She told the reps “They (the fans) are super enthusiastic, and I think it’s really amazing that the people working on the movie and the cast are so active online as well. They feel very accessible and I think that a lot of the fans feel connected, and not just to be as they have in the past, but also to these people cause they are open – as much as they can be of course – about what they are doing and how excited they are for the project. They have just generated a lot of enthusiasm for it that is spreading to readers as well.”
When asked about the script and how she felt when she read it, Mead shared that she was surprised at how true to the book that it was. “As an author when you sell your options and you turn it over to a screenwriter you never know what is going to happen. I was blown away at just how the script not only follows all the main beats of the book, all the pivotal scenes are there. It really just gets the spirit that I try and convey in my books. My books are always this mix of one part is humorous and another part you have this deep emotional component and then there is action running through it. And all of that is there. Daniel Waters, who was the screenwriter for ‘Heathers’is the one that wrote this script and he just nailed all of that. He got all of that. He understood what I was trying to do. He understands the characters, and I was just kind of amazed. I remember when I finished I looked up at my husband and was like ‘We’ve got this, babe. Look what they did. It’s amazing.’” she told them.
When asked what inspired the character of Dimitri, Mead told the reps that he was purely made up in from her mind, “I can make up this great thing about maybe my car broke down and a hot Russian came and helped me fix my tire. I basically built a lot of mystique around the character. But I’m afraid the truth is he was born straight from me.” And as for her most anticipated scene between the hot Russian, Dimitri and Rose, Mead said that there is not just one particular scene but infact she is excited for all of them, “Really I just want to see them together. I think Zoey and Danila are such amazing casting choices for it. And they get along great off-screen as well which I think is fun. I love that everyone working on the movie is having such a good time with it. There are so many great scenes in the evolution of Rose and Dimitri’s relationship.”
Mead’s most anticipated scene in the movie is the final sequence where Rose & Dimitri’s relationship comes to a head and we learn of the underlying evil that runs through the series, mentioning that there is also some “stellar action sequences” following, sharing “Once that starts in the movie you are just gonna be riveted watching the way it will all unfold. I know those scenes in particular are ones that Mark has put a lot of thought into and I think it’s just going to blow people away when it unfolds on the screen. And honestly, I’m just excited to see any – well I am just excited to see all of it – but I mean any scenes with characters, their chemistry and their energy. The actors all have that with each other. They are a really good group and really enjoying the project. I can’t wait to see any of that come out.”
As yet, Mead has not visited the set of St. Vladimir’s Academy but is hoping that a visit might be on the cards in the next month. Currently she has just finished copy-edits for the ‘Fiery Heart’ which is ‘Bloodlines’ number 4 … ‘Bloodlines’ being the spin-off of ‘Vampire Academy.’ And then she is working on the sequel to ‘Gameboard of the Gods’ which is her new futuristic adult novel.
You can read the full interview over at any one of the sites mentioned above.
