I've decided to tell you all: I'm working on a Monkey Island screenplay. It does deviate from the game slightly, in order to make it more accessable as a movie, but the basic elements are there. If you are interested, I can tell you more.
By posting that you risk getting stopped by the law, or Lucasarts... Anyways, since I remember from the MILegend forums hearing the same topic before, and it's just not worth it to bother with... but that's my opinion. Best of luck ;)
I wrote half of a MI1 screenplay in late 2000, just as practice.
I remember that Trap. THat was really good. Anyhoo, tell us about yours, LucasTones.
Well, Guybrush is kind of a mystery. He has no memory of his life before he arrived on Melee Island, or how he got there. He gets lodgings at the SCUMM Bar, and after meeting people decides he wants to be a pirate. He gets robbed one day, and Captain Smirk trains him. But when he meets the governer, he falls in love. So, mimicking LeChucks actions all those years ago, he goes to monkey Island to impress her. I havent decided whether or not Guybrush is LeChuck yet.
How could Guybrush be LeChuck?!?
That's deviating slightly to make the story more accessible?! First, tell us that you're joking. Second, throw away your Fight Club DVD -- you've absorbed more of it than your sanity can bear.
Sorry. I had a strong reaction to the "no memory" and "Guybrush is LeChuck" stuff. When I re-read it, I realized that most of it fit your description of "changed slightly." But I still don't see what the value of Guybrush having amnesia is (except to hide the fact that he's LeChuck, which I don't see any value in either). Maybe if you gave us a more thorough plot description it would make more sense, but right now it just seems like "weird for the sake of weird."
Well, the amnesia was mostly to get out of having to explain how Guybrush ends up on Melee. The 'Guybrush is LeChuck' thing, well...
I'm only toying with the idea at the moment, but it works along these lines (DONT MOAN THAT IT DOESNT FOLLOW THE GAME PLOTS, ITS A SCRIPT BASED ON THE GAME, NOT A CONVERSION OF GAME TO MOVIE):
Guybrush was exposed to Big Whoop. Big Whoop is a powerful Voodoo curse that tears your sould apart. Guybrush was saved by someone (Dont know who yet) and therefore only part of his soul was removed - the evil. It manifested as LeChuck, and then Guybrush realises that in order to destroy leChuck he must either (a) kill himself or (b) destroy Big Whoop, which, incidentally, is in the Giant Monkey Head.
Well, like I say, I'm only TOYING with the idea, and I may yet make changes to it.
So long as you establish the fact Elaine does not want to marry Guybrush: can I co-write it? I like the idea! And you have to do the theam park ending!
=mek=
Well, I dunno if I haven't changed my mind about what happens yet. If 'twere a real movie it would still in pre-production. At the moment I'm going along with this plot:
-Guybrush is washed up on the shores of Melee.
-Some pirates take him to the SCUMM Bar, and Guybrush can't remember what happened to himslef.
-The SCUMM Bar owner gives him a room, but Guybrush has to work there.
-Through the pirates he talks to, he learns about the pirate life, and wants to become a pirate.
-He asks how to be a pirate - they say that ususally you just join a crew, but at the moment its impossible because of LeChuck.
-Guybrush asks about LeChuck, and learns what happened.
-He asks how to become a pirate without joining a crew.
-They set him three tasks that normal pirates do on a daily basis - thieving, fighting and treasure hunting.
-Captain Smirk overhears and says he will train Guybrush to fight. (He can come back in later as having an ulterior motive, but at the time we assume he is being friendly)
-Everyone at the SCUMM Bar is suprised at how good Guybrush is at sword fighting (the fighting is insult based, as in the game, but is a lot faster and contains funky stunts between insults)
-At SCUMM Bar, Guybrush boasts that he will take any one of them on at a sword fight. Carla volunteers; everyone except Guybrush knows who she is. Guybrush wins the fight.
-The Voodoo lady comes into the Bar (she knows that something strange has just happened - ie, Carla lost - but we dont know that thats what it is thats strange, if you follow.)
I can tell you some more if you are all still interested.
hmm ok i like your enthousiasm of writing a screenplay but this is what bothers me..
you see if there would be a MI movie then for me and a lotta other fans it would only be perfect if it stuck to the exact storyline and details of the games. Because if they don't...well...we all played EMI didn't we? It was a good adventure but not good as a Monkey Island adventure. Same with the movie in that case, it would be a good movie but not good for a Monkey Island movie. Get my point?
So additionally you being a huge fan of LucasArts and Monkey Island as we all are here....it disturbs me that a fan could already get hisself as far as to changing the storyline and details for a MI movie. Imagine what a non-mi or lucasarts fan, who would make the real screenplay for a possible Monkey Island movie, would change and alter to the story. *shudders*
Maybe I'm missing the point and you're just trying to have fun, in that case never mind hehehe :)
Quez, I know what you mean, but think about it: the Secret of Monkey Island as it is would make an awful movie. Its a great story, and I love it, but it just wouldn't work on film. Why? Well, for one, movies generally don't have one character solving puzzles on thier own. For example, Indiana Jones. In the movies he solves puzzles with help from the other characters, and then there are a few fights to make it exciting. Monkey Island, if directly translated, would be boring. We'd be sat in the theater, watching this guy walk around solving puzzles and not doing anything really exciting. True, there's insult sword-fighting - but in a movie it would be good the first time, and then would just get repetitive. If I was Joe-nobody, never played Monkey Island, and saw a trailer for a pirate movie, and then decided to go and see it, I'd be really annoyed. A pirate movie with no galleons trying to blow each other out of the water, no fighting and a villain who is really easy to defeat.
You have to stop and think for a minute. Why is Monkey Island so great? Its long, good puzzles, and its very funny. Thats when you are playing it by yourself. Imagine having to watch someone complete the game though, and you can't actually commmunicate with them in any way. You'd be suicidal after two hours, you would be for almost any game in the world.
What games have been made into movies?
Super Mario bros. - story is nothing like any of the games, but characters are the same
Final Fantasy - similar to the games, but all new story / characters
Street Fighter - same characters, new story
Mortal Kombat - followed the story reasonably well
Tomb Raider - same characters, new story
Thats one out of five movies that are almost identical to the games they were based on. You need to change the story in order to make the film work, because games and films are two different things. All I'm atempting to do is come up with a way to make Monkey Island work as a film without having to add characters, or deviate from the basic plot too much.
All those other game-movies' original games really have plots like MI. Of course you have to exclude all the puzzle solving, but the storyline is still good. I don't care if Guybrush visits several other islands that weren't in the game at all, but the basic MI1 storyline should remain. No fancy LeChuck surprises, in MI1 he's just a dreaded ghost pirate dealing with rejection.
Guybrush has previous memories in MI1, they're just never brought up. In MI2 they are several times (although vaguely). So Guybrush having no memory isn't consistant with MI2 (and if there's a MI1 movie there'd better be a MI2 movie.)
Guybrush's reason for being on Melee was because he wanted to be a pirate, plain and simple... You have to keep in mind that the whole adventure is possibly young Guybrush's imagination (as MI2's ending alludes to). So the pirate world is somewhat realistic, but also at times simple and surrealistic. So he starts the adventure out with a solid goal, no explaination.
Oh well, go on telling us the plot if you'd like.
I really agree with Trap. If you ellude some of the irrelevant puzzles in MI1 (Which you can maybe actually use in a movie but not as puzzles but as humurous events (because they are)) that what remains is a very catching story with a lot of extremely interesting characters. The movie would be still very original. Sticking the the original storyline is of essence to archieve a goal of creating a MI movie with a good MI feeling.
And trap's right about the other thing too. We will need to see a soda machine, and those subtle hints. The makers of the movies should not explain the secret by forming their own scenes which so-called reveal the mystery of monkey island. They should tell nothing more than the game does. And they should also not miss out on giving any of the subtle hints that were dropped by Ron in the games. That way even film critiques will have the same 'pleasant torture' like we MI players had about the secret of the MI :D
I agree with you too, in a way. I envisage a Monkey Island DVD set, with two films, but if I were to write the script...
I would have to stress the fact that we know nothing about Guybrush. He would have amnesia - this way I can bring in details about how he ended up on melee in the sequel - at the carnival, when the 'secret' is revealed. I would keep the Elaine / LeChuck love thing going... wait, yes.
I've had a change of heart. i can make this work. I'll be back on monday. With the revised script. Thanks QueZ, and you too Trap.