In our quest to be a media / news outlet for entertainment and pop culture, The Two Gay Geeks want to let you know of any news we receive about the perennial / potential/ possible/ persistent rumors about the making of a Dragonriders of Pern movie. This topic comes up frequently and we are committed to bringing you any and all news about this and other popular topics.
I have done some research on the topic and have discovered that it is apparently in what is referred to as “Development Hell”, at least by the dearth of new information. The last real reporting on the film was when Warner Bros. announced they had optioned the rights from the estate of Anne McCaffrey. That was in July of 2014, which we reported on here.
I have tried to piece together a timeline of what has happened with the options and development that we have discovered.
There are several dates of options prior to Warner Bros. picking up the option in 2014. Those date back 2006 and 2011. The official option date for Warner Bros. was August 15, 2014 with a treatment by Sara Cornwell written and completed on November 19, 2014. Since that time, there are a number of dates of updated script activity with the most recent being February 1, 2017. The Production company prior to Warners options was to be Copperheart Entertainment out of Toronto. Whether they are still in play with Warner is yet to be seen and is not clear.
The synopsis they have is:
On search for a young woman to ride the last queen dragon on Pern, F’lar finds Lessa, a unique young woman who must save an entire species, the dragons, so they can fulfill their most important function… Saving the world from a menace that could destroy it completely.
Interstingly enough, there was mention of a Dragonriders of Pern movie in an interview with Gigi McCaffrey, Anne McCaffrey’s daughter. Gigi has picked up the mantle and has released a new book in the series entitled Dragon’s Code. It was published in October of 2018. She has also written another book attached to the series in 2013. The interview was with SyFy.com and published October 4, 2018. In the interview she had this to say:
Over the years we’ve had a lot of people interested in putting Pern on the screen. I’d love to see dragons on the big screen but all those cogs haven’t fallen into place yet. We’ve gotten so close in the past. Even with CGI as developed as it is, it would be a really big budget. At the end of the day, I know when Hollywood has been involved they’ve had this problem with dragons.
We’ve had loads of interest in recent years. “Watch this space,” I suppose is what I can say. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I hope that the cogs fall in place and the universe gives us a Pern in a fantastic series or on the big screen or through some streaming service.
Todd McCaffrey, son of Anne McCaffrey has written a number of Pern related books under the subtitle of “A New Story of Pern”.
So, there you have it. Sorry it is not much information but, I suppose there is still hope with the advancements in technology. Specifically, those used for the Game of Thrones dragons. We may yet see a Dragonriders of Pern movie before the sun burns out.
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