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Gaiman Eppy Titbit

^I would bet more than has heard of Richard Curtis... ;)

Hmm. $240 million for Four Weddings and a Funeral; $281.9 million for Bridget Jones's Diary; $363.8 for Notting Hill; $246.9 for Love Actually....

I wouldn't be so sure of that bet.
 
People know films. People know monetary stats. People do not know Richard Curtis. People don't refer to it as "Richard Curtis' Love, Actually". He's not a household name. Gaiman isn't either. But, people would know him faster than Curtis, because there is a "Neil Gaiman's The Sandman". "Neil Gaiman's American Gods". There's something to be said for being a literary pop-culture icon, versus a guy that made a few movies...
 
People know films. People know monetary stats. People do not know Richard Curtis. People don't refer to it as "Richard Curtis' Love, Actually". He's not a household name. Gaiman isn't either. But, people would know him faster than Curtis, because there is a "Neil Gaiman's The Sandman". "Neil Gaiman's American Gods". There's something to be said for being a literary pop-culture icon, versus a guy that made a few movies...

Well, first off, Curtis is a bit more famous than you're making him out to sound like in Britain. Just look up his Wikipedia article -- between his films, his TV shows, and Comic Relief, the man is fairly famous there.

Second, again, I think you're vastly over-estimating the number of people who know Gaiman versus the number of people who know Curtis. Even if he's not a household name, the sheer number of people who saw his films means that the number of people who do know who Richard Curtis is probably outnumbers the number of people in geek circles who know who Gaiman is.

I'd be much more comfortable betting that more people know who Richard Curtis is than Neil Gaiman.
 
Oh, c'mon. Who the hell has heard of Neil Gaiman outside of comic book and sci-fi circles? Maybe the people who read his recent children's book, but that's it.
In a post-Harry Potter world, what you've just described is a very large group of people. And they're all around the world.
 
Oh, c'mon. Who the hell has heard of Neil Gaiman outside of comic book and sci-fi circles? Maybe the people who read his recent children's book, but that's it.
In a post-Harry Potter world, what you've just described is a very large group of people. And they're all around the world.

Not every children's book out there makes Harry Potter numbers. How many bestseller lists did Gaiman make?
 
Well, first off, Curtis is a bit more famous than you're making him out to sound like in Britain.

But, if you remember, I'm only talking America. I wouldn't presume to guess what he's like for the Brits. In America, Neil Gaiman is a pop-culture icon. He is one of the personifications of 1990 media and pop-culture, much like Kurt Cobain and The X-Files. He's the literary rockstar.

I'd be much more comfortable betting that more people know who Richard Curtis is than Neil Gaiman.
Well, that's your call, but I have yet to see any logical evidence to convince me...
shrug.gif
 
Well, first off, Curtis is a bit more famous than you're making him out to sound like in Britain.

But, if you remember, I'm only talking America. I wouldn't presume to guess what he's like for the Brits. In America, Neil Gaiman is a pop-culture icon. He is one of the personifications of 1990 media and pop-culture, much like Kurt Cobain and The X-Files. He's the literary rockstar.

I'd be much more comfortable betting that more people know who Richard Curtis is than Neil Gaiman.
Well, that's your call, but I have yet to see any logical evidence to convince me...
shrug.gif

The sheer number of people who've seen his stuff versus the much smaller number of people who've seen Gaiman's stuff doesn't count?
 
Not every children's book out there makes Harry Potter numbers. How many bestseller lists did Gaiman make?
I can walk to any library here and pick a book written by Neil Gaiman, and I live in Switzerland, so I guess he's doing okay. You don't have to do JK Rowling numbers to be successful.
 
Can't we just split the difference and say to Joe Public when they see "Written by Neil Gaiman" or "Written by Richard Curtis" they won't know or care who either of them are.
 
The sheer number of people who've seen his stuff versus the much smaller number of people who've seen Gaiman's stuff doesn't count?


Once again, they didn't see "his" stuff. They saw "that new movie with Liam Neeson in it", or "Hugh Grant and Julia Robert's marginally successful team-up". If people have read Neil Gaiman's works it's because either they are into comic books already and were there for Sandman, or they are people who have since discovered his other works based on his critical acclaim for said comic legacy.

The trailer for Notting Hill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNBXHp2qbRo


The trailer for Mirror Mask

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA1iawlsKLg


Neil Gaiman is a name. Richard Curtis is not. :techman:
 
I'd never even heard of Richard Curtis until I found out he'd written an episode of Doctor Who. But I've known of Neil Gaiman for years, even before I'd read any of his work.
 
I like both their work, but I'd still come down on the Curtis is a bigger name side of the fence. Anyway, another interview with him. Doesn't really drop any hints apart from saying what the episode was called at one stage, but does say writing Who is a bit like being God...

Not remotely pretentious then eh ;)

Link
 
It isn't that surprising. As has been pointed out you often don't care who the writer/producer of a film is and although Neil Gaiman is fairly famous in geek circles I wouldn't have thought he was a well known literary figure in general like a Stephen King or Terry Pratchett...
 
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