HBO orders The Time Traveler’s Wife to series

[Enterprise is Great]

Deadline.com

In a competitive situation, HBO has landed The Time Traveler’s Wife, a drama from top UK writer-producer Steven Moffat (Dr. Who, Sherlock), with a straight to series order.

Written by Moffat based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife is described as an intricate and magical love story about Clare and Henry, and a marriage with a problem… time travel.

HBO been ordering quite a few series recently.

I've never read the book or seen the movie but I remember some people saying there was something a little creepy about it.

 

[Starbreaker]

Unnecessary. The movie is pretty good and the book is relatively short . They'll be adding a bunch of stuff to fill 10 episodes if it comes to that.

On the other hand, the acting in the movie is pretty bad. Rachel McAdams has really improved her craft.

 

[Shawnster]

The book goes into a lot of detail the movie doesn't. More jumps to different points in time.

Some of the jumps no doubt could be explored in greater detail. There was a scene in the book where Henry said he saw the same concert X number of times. It'd be kinda cool to have a scene on screen with him in the audience in like 3 or 4 locations.

Spoiler

The multiple miscarriages, including the ones where the embryo/fetus time travels and returns outside of Claire's body was not in the movie at all.

Definitely greater exploration about his mother's fatal car crash. The book describes how he kept jumping to that moment and helping in various ways.

Alba, their daughter, could have greater play than she did in the movie.

It was clear from the novel Henry had multiple trips as a child. Enough that friends and family do know what's going on. These could be explored.

Of course the scene where Henry's dad catches Henry with his teenage self will be depicted.

There might be enough to expand upon from the book to fill 10 episodes without embellishing too much. Heck, we have an entire sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale" so it's possible to expand upon a book and be respectful of the story.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I loved the book, and I haven't wanted to see the movie. I don't really see a reason for this, unless the series ends up being more accurately reflecting the book.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I've never read the book or seen the movie but I remember some people saying there was something a little creepy about it.

I admire the book more than I like it. I admire it for the technical challenge of telling a story like that. But I didn't always like the story, I didn't always like the characters, and the passive acceptance of fate (in particular, the 9-11 scene where Henry and Claire basically throw their hands up and say, "Well, that was supposed to happen and there was nothing we could do about it") seemed like a cheat, necessary for the book to function but completely at odds with human nature.

The movie was fine for what it was, though I felt the leads were miscast.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, it was an amazing technical challenge. I kept imagining the author sticking post-it notes on a board to keep track of the timelines. It couldn't have been an easy novel to write. But for me, for the most part, it worked.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Deadline.com



HBO been ordering quite a few series recently.

I've never read the book or seen the movie but I remember some people saying there was something a little creepy about it.

The creepiness factor is usually assigned concerning the young age of Clare (6) when she first meets Henry.

If Moffat does mention 9/11, I wonder if he will handle it differently than the book. Perhaps Henry simply loses track of the date, doesn't realise in time and feels guilt. Perhaps they do try to alert the authorities but they are not believed. Perhaps circumstances otherwise conspire to thwart them altering the timeline in any way.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I was 4 when I first met Princess Leia, and she's still 19 years old, so I only partially feel like a dirty old perve when I watch my favourite movie.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I was 4 when I first met Princess Leia, and she's still 19 years old, so I only partially feel like a dirty old perve when I watch my favourite movie.

Was she into grooming like her mother perhaps?

 

[Guy Gardener]

I like a close shave.

 

[Reverend]

I admire the book more than I like it. I admire it for the technical challenge of telling a story like that. But I didn't always like the story, I didn't always like the characters, and the passive acceptance of fate (in particular, the 9-11 scene where Henry and Claire basically throw their hands up and say, "Well, that was supposed to happen and there was nothing we could do about it") seemed like a cheat, necessary for the book to function but completely at odds with human nature.

I haven't read the book in years, but IIRC we only see it from Claire's perspective, while Henry has already lived through it multiple times. I think there's even a line somewhere about him trying to warn the authorities at least once, if not more, which does exactly fuck-all. Also keep in mind this is a character that has lived with knowledge of a predetermined future for most of his life, including having to literally relive/witness a childhood trauma over and over and over again. By that point, he's all to aware of the futility of trying to alter events that have (4th dimensionally) already happened.