Our hosts think that the Paper Towns film was a fun adaptation of the John Green novel, much lighter than the book and with a few unresolved plotlines. They’ve also decided that no one is good enough for Lacey and we really need to find a story that properly deconstructs the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, preferably from her perspective.
After covering The Fault in Our Stars novel by John Green in a previous episode, the hosts return to talk about the new film adaptation of this teenage life story. They agree that the film was extremely accurate, but still missed a few of their favorite moments and worry that some themes were lost.
What did you think? Let us know in the comments!
Back in September when we made our Adaptations We Wish Existed vlog, I smugly suggested that my pick, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan was the most likely to happen given all the recent press on The Fault in Our Stars adaptation. Well, I got the author right, just not the book.
Earlier this week, Deadline announced that the team behind the TFIOS movie will be joining up again to bring John Green’s Paper Towns to the screen. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber will once again take on the challenge of writing the screenplay while Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will reprise their roles as producers. This time, however, John Green himself will be getting a executive producer credit. In addition, Nat Wolff who plays Isaac in TFIOS will be stepping into the center of Paper Towns as the main character, Quentin.
While it might seem presumptuous to sign the team up for another project when the TFIOS film is still two months away from release, Green comes complete with a built in audience that leaves no doubt of the film’s success, at least in the number of fans that will run out to see it opening weekend. How well they like it will be another story, but if the author’s reaction is anything to go by, it will be amazing.
Following the announcement of the Paper Towns film, Green wrote about his experience with TFIOS and his confidence in the team:
The experience of making The Fault in Our Stars was really wonderful because of the people involved: They all brought their talent and professionalism to the story and I’m so proud of the movie they made.
It was all so fun and magical (and frankly so different from my previous Hollywood experiences) that to be honest I wasn’t particularly keen to make another movie—unless I could work again with people I really trust.
And now it has happened!
I’ve already admitted that Paper Towns wasn’t my first choice for a second John Green novel adaptation, but that doesn’t make me any less excited about the announcement. Especially since the writing team was also behind (500) Days of Summer, a film that attempts to dismantle the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope just as Paper Towns does.
Still, I’m not giving up hope that one day I’ll get to see Tiny Cooper on the big screen.
Adaptation Podcast 