FILM

Aussie author John Marsden’s hugely popular kids’ thriller ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began’ has finally made it to the big screen. Will it be the new Harry Potter?  

It's one of those publishing phenomena that have film studio bosses reaching for their cheque books. John Marsden has won every award going for young people's fiction in Australia. In a 21-year writing career, his 30-plus books have sold more than four million copies worldwide and been translated into 14 languages. The most popular of these is his 'Tomorrow' series of seven novels, which have sold 2.5 million copies. For film moguls struggling to find something to fill that Harry Potter-sized gap in the release schedules that will appeal to adults and children alike, this is not only a potential goldmine but also a ready-made franchise. Just one problem: Marsden was exceedingly reluctant to part with the film rights.

“I strongly resisted having it turned into a movie and in the end probably got approached by around 120 or 130 film companies," the author recalls. “Every few weeks there would be another letter or email or phone call from someone enquiring if the rights were available and expressing interest, and I kept turning them down because I wanted it left alone. I wanted the book to be able to stand by itself. But in the end I got talked into it by people who really had a commitment to the books, who really loved the stories, loved the characters and talked about the books with passion. I thought if it's ever going to happen, Stuart Beattie would be someone I would trust to do it and so here we are now.”

Versatile Beattie, himself an Australian expat, certainly has an impressive Hollywood track record. Among his writing credits are the first 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie, the Tom Cruise flick 'Collateral', vampire romp '30 Days of Night', sweeping romance 'Australia' and the western '3:10 to Yuma'. The awful 'G.I. Joe' is the one stinker on his CV. But Beattie had never directed a film before. He had, however, a specific idea in mind for his directorial debut, and the first book in Marsden's 'Tomorrow' series fitted the bill perfectly. "I was looking to make a character-based but commercial action movie set in Australia that could compete on the international stage," Beattie explains. "'Tomorrow, When The War Began' has all the action, but also has the heart."

Adapting such a well-loved novel carries additional responsibility, which Beattie doesn't take lightly. “It's exciting to have such popular and beloved source material because it means that there is an audience out there that really wants to see your movie and I take the fan response very seriously. I am a fan myself of these things so I am not going to make a movie that I don't want to see. I just try and make the best movie that I can and hope everyone agrees. The idea that people actually know the story and have thought about these characters is great. It means you are not working in a vacuum so much; you are working in a world that people already know and love and are interested to see. It's a wonderful challenge."

So how to explain the popularity of 'Tomorrow, When the War Began'? The story follows an octet of schoolfriends who go on a camping trip in a remote region of Australia. When they return, they find the entire country has been invaded in a war that nobody saw coming. Separated from their family and friends, the teenagers must learn how to survive and fight back. Marsden says the key difference between young Australians in the 1940s and today is that they no longer grow up with the imminent threat of war and conflict. His intention was to portray them as being capable of great things under stress.

“What keeps these books attractive to people is the concept that good people working together in small groups can overcome great odds if they show spirit and if they act heroically," he argues. "It answers a question that's deep inside us, which is: how would I cope if I were in that situation? Would I be okay? Would I come through? Would I deliver? Every time we hear about great events in history we imagine, would I cope with that? If it was World War I, could I have coped in the trenches? Would I have got trench foot and died or would I have been shot by the first German sniper?

"No one wants a war and no one wants to be caught in a bushfire or a flood or some really demanding situation, but at the same time when you are in those situations it's important to know that you do have the right stuff, that if you dig deep you will find a kind of resilience and stamina and capacity for heroism that you may never have been aware of in yourself.”

'TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN' OPENED ON FRI 8 APR. 
 

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