Another enthralling sci-fi movie adaptation to watch for is I Am Number Four which is based from Pittacus Lore’s masterpiece of the same title.

The Guardian books blog notes that the movie trailer for Where the Wild Things Are is out. The film is based on the classic children’s book by the same name (Wikipedia article on it is here) and will be released on October 16th.

From The Guardian:

The Vatican looks likely to call for a boycott of Angels and Demons, the prequel to the blockbuster film adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

Official Vatican newspaper Avvenire reported on Friday that it “cannot approve” of Ron Howard’s film, which is based on the eponymous book by Brown and opens worldwide on 15 May. The report prompted suspicions that the church is gearing up to call for a new boycott, after urging Catholics not to see the first film.

…except they are reputedly worried that a boycott could backfire and drive additional sales to the film. Full story here.

Reuters has a short video up about the movie Inkheart (based on the book by Cornelia Funke) and its world premiere. Nothing too fascinating, but it’s probably worth a look if you’ve read it and/or plan to see the film:

(Link to video on Reuters is here if the embedded video doesn’t play. You’ll have to watch a short commercial first.)

The official shortlist for the Hugo (one of the top awards for science fiction and fantasy books, stories, movies, TV shows, art and more) has just been released. Here are the candidates in the best novel category:

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Halting State by Charles Stross

Link to the full list of nominations

From the Hugo award site:

You do not need to attend Denvention 3 in order to participate in the Hugo Awards. A “supporting membership” will be sufficient to make you a member of the World Science Fiction Society and get you voting rights for both the nomination stage and the final ballot. A supporting membership costs US$50 and you can buy one here.

According to the LA Times, Warner Brothers plans to split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two movies. Part one will arrive in cinemas in November 2010 and part two will follow in May 2011. It might seem an obvious ruse to add a little more value to the richest franchise in movie history - which has brought in £2.2bn around the world thus far - but those involved insist the decision has been made to serve a story that cannot be properly adapted any more briefly.

Daniel Radcliffe, the series’ star, is quoted as saying “it’s the only way you can do it, without cutting out a huge portion of the book”. He explained that subplots in earlier books could be excised for adaptations, but “the seventh book doesn’t really have any subplots. It’s one driving, pounding story from the word go.”

Link to full Guardian article

From Guardian Unlimited:

The Tolkien community was in hysterics yesterday. At least that was the verdict on one of the leading Hobbit websites following the announcement in Los Angeles that Peter Jackson, director of the $3bn-plus trilogy The Lord of the Rings, had signed up to produce two films based on The Hobbit, expected to go into production in 2009.

Story here. The Hobbit will be split into two films, tentatively scheduled to release in 2010 and 201. No director has been chosen yet - Peter Jackson is too busy with other projects, according to an article in stuff.co.nz. Presumably, the leading website mentioned is TheOneRing.net.

Newsweek reports:

“The Golden Compass,” New Line’s $150 million film adaptation of the first volume in Philip Pullman’s best-selling fantasy trilogy “His Dark Materials,” stands accused of being both anti-Catholic and not anti-Catholic enough - though no one making either claim has actually seen it, reports Senior Editor Devin Gordon in the December 3 issue of Newsweek. The Catholic League is urging families to boycott a film in which the word “Catholic” is never uttered.

The story is available on NYTimes.com. (I’m still trying - and failing - to understand why it’s filed under Business and Financial News.)