Your own LTROI

[Jedi Apprentice]

Greetings, my infected brothers and sisters. After recovering from watching Showtime's atrocious "adaptation" of LTROI, I was actually fantasizing in my head about my own adaptation of JAL's book. Although, as a true fan, I would try to be 100% faithful to the original material, there are some things in my imaginary adaptation that are exclusively invented by me, such as a scene that shows Tommy casually watching Oskar and Eli play (thus explaining why he recognized her in the basement chapter) from a distance.
That said, I wonder, if you had the opportunity to make your own adaptation of LTROI, what things from the original book would you add/change, either because you think that said element from the book does not convince you or that new aspect would enrich the lore?

[Siggdalos]

Well, I don't think the Showtime version is that bad.

But as for things I'd change, I'm not sure. Depends on the format. I don't know that adapting everything 100% from the novel into, say, a miniseries would make for a good result. And I wouldn't be interested in another live-action adaptation anyway since we already have 3 versions of varying quality (5 if the Korean and Spanish adaptations get made). Enough's enough. On the other hand, it might work in a graphic novel, and as I've written before I think that's the format I'd most like to see the story adapted to.

I'd definitely want to include LTODD as an epilogue, which would require adding Karin as a player in LTROI's events (maybe replacing Gunnar—I'm not interested in giving too much focus to the police aspect considering how over-saturated Swedish literature and TV already are by crime and police drama). Maybe also try to develop Staffan a tad more (as a foil to Karin?) to justify the amount of time spent with him.

Seeing the bath of blood in visual form would be cool (I always felt the blankets in the film were a bit meh and that the locked bathroom door was building up to a more disturbing reveal), but that would almost require including JAL's original idea that vampires breathe blood through their skin. One part of me thinks it would be good to emphasize the story's pulpy body horror side as a way to distance it from TA's cleaner and more fairy tale-like vision (and to make Eli scarier), but another part of me thinks it might be too much. Not sure.

Maybe, as a balance, show a bit more of Elias' origin. Nothing major, just a wordless flashback or two to his childhood (specifically his relation to his mother and sister) to humanize him more.

Oh, and I'd definitely want to re-add the wonderfully twisted scrapped scene of Gösta getting infected and killing all of his cats (mentioned here).

[Jedi Apprentice]

Well, I don't think the Showtime version is that bad.

Maybe as an indepent product it can be entertaining. But as an adaptation of JAL's masterpiece, it's simply an unfunny joke

But as for things I'd change, I'm not sure. Depends on the format. I don't know that adapting everything 100% from the novel into, say, a miniseries would make for a good result.

Wait, why do you think a 100% accurate miniseries wouldn't work. I think it woulld be an amazing idea

And I wouldn't be interested in another live-action adaptation anyway since we already have 3 versions of varying quality (5 if the Korean and Spanish adaptations get made).

Wait, is there a spanish adaptation in the making? I had no idea about that. Can you give more info?

Enough's enough.

Not necessarialy. I mean, there are popular books like Dracula or War and Peace that constantly get adapted, even if they already have amazing adaptations. I don't see why LTROI shouldn't have more adaptations, as long as they try to make something creative with them, of course

On the other hand, it might work in a graphic novel, and as I've written before I think that's the format I'd most like to see the story adapted to.

I love the graphic novel idea. Anyway, I think an anime adaptation, could also be great

I'd definitely want to include LTODD as an epilogue, which would require adding Karin as a player in LTROI's events (maybe replacing Gunnar—I'm not interested in giving too much focus to the police aspect considering how over-saturated Swedish literature and TV already are by crime and police drama). Maybe also try to develop Staffan a tad more (as a foil to Karin?) to justify the amount of time spent with him.

Adding Karing would be a pretty cool idea, but I wouldn't do that by removing Gunnar, considering that he's one of the few people(aside from Eli and Tommy) that shows genuine affection for Oskar. I would also add a scene in which Staffan talks to Gunnar about what Yvonne and/or Tommy told him about Oskar and his character, making Gunnar more interested in him

Seeing the bath of blood in visual form would be cool (I always felt the blankets in the film were a bit meh and that the locked bathroom door was building up to a more disturbing reveal), but that would almost require including JAL's original idea that vampires breathe blood through their skin. One part of me thinks it would be good to emphasize the story's pulpy body horror side as a way to distance it from TA's cleaner and more fairy tale-like vision (and to make Eli scarier), but another part of me thinks it might be too much. Not sure.

I get why JAL and TA removed the bloobath element, but seeing that thing adapted would be really cool. I would also an extra scene of Eli dreaming that he is under a beautiful sunny sky before awakening inside the disgusting bath of blood

Maybe, as a balance, show a bit more of Elias' origin. Nothing major, just a wordless flashback or two to his childhood (specifically his relation to his mother and sister) to humanize him more.

I would love to actually have a prequel movie based on Eli's chapter, like how "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" only adapts the chapter of "Dracula" about the Demeter's massacre

Oh, and I'd definitely want to re-add the wonderfully twisted scrapped scene of Gösta getting infected and killing all of his cats (mentioned here).

Me too. I would also add a scene about Lacke's gang mourning his friend after Eli and Oskar's departure.

[CyberGhostface]

I would at least include the Elias reveal. The play did that a little.

If this was a miniseries then I would add Tommy and the Hakan zombie. For one film it might be too stuffed.

Maybe address Hakan being a pedophile like a newspaper clipping about him being fired and have the bit where Eli meets him for the first time to just to make it clear he wasn’t in Oskar’s position.

[Siggdalos]

Maybe as an indepent product it can be entertaining. But as an adaptation of JAL's masterpiece, it's simply an unfunny joke

Well, you're free to have that opinion, of course. I have my own long list of problems with it, but I still got enjoyment out of it and can appreciate what Andrew Hinderaker and the rest were going for in trying to, as you say, do something creative and different with the story. But that's just me.

Wait, why do you think a 100% accurate miniseries wouldn't work. I think it woulld be an amazing idea

Just the difference between the formats. The scene where Oskar delivers advertising flyers and looks at the picture of his parents, for example. Works in the book where there's a lot of introspection and we learn about the characters through their thoughts, but on-screen I think it'd be kind of pointless. I also don't know if there's an appropriate way (a way that wouldn't overshadow everything else in the story) to ever do something like the basement scene with Zombie Håkan and Eli with real actors involved.

Wait, is there a spanish adaptation in the making? I had no idea about that. Can you give more info?

Honestly, after posting the above I realized I'm not sure where I heard it. I think JAL mentioned at the anniversary party that he'd recently heard about plans for a Spanish adaptation. But I could be misremembering.

Not necessarialy. I mean, there are popular books like Dracula or War and Peace that constantly get adapted, even if they already have amazing adaptations. I don't see why LTROI shouldn't have more adaptations, as long as they try to make something creative with them, of course

Yes, but the difference is that those and similar classics have been around since the 1800s, while LTROI is only 20 years old. I think it'd be great if LTROI is still remembered and getting adaptations 50 or 100 years from now, but the three live-action versions so far all came out in a span of 14 years (2008-2022). There were already complaints about the fact that TA's film got an American remake two years after its release, and a common online reaction (as far as I saw) to the trailers for the Showtime version was "How many times are they going to remake this?" I think no matter how you do it, it'd be difficult to do yet another version in the same format that'd stand on its own so shortly after the movies and TV series. (At least in the West. I don't know anything about Korean, or Asian-in-general, cinema.) That's why I'd prefer a different medium so you can do something actually different with it that wouldn't have to compete with the others.

[Jedi Apprentice]

Well, you're free to have that opinion, of course. I have my own long list of problems with it, but I still got enjoyment out of it and can appreciate what Andrew Hinderaker and the rest were going for in trying to, as you say, do something creative and different with the story. But that's just me.

I respect your opinion on the show, but I don't find appropiate to say the guys behind it were trying to do something "creative" with the story. There's a huge difference between giving your own vision on a popular story and just taking some elements of it to make a completely different story that barely has something in common with the work you say you are adapting. That was not "creative". It was just using the name of a popular film as a mere cash grab for an original story. They should have just sold the show with a different title and stated they used LTROI as an inspiration, but not as an adaptation

Just the difference between the formats. The scene where Oskar delivers advertising flyers and looks at the picture of his parents, for example. Works in the book where there's a lot of introspection and we learn about the characters through their thoughts, but on-screen I think it'd be kind of pointless. I also don't know if there's an appropriate way (a way that wouldn't overshadow everything else in the story) to ever do something like the basement scene with Zombie Håkan and Eli with real actors involved.

I would still include the flyers scene, mostly because the wholesome brief interaction between Lacke and Oskar. Regarding the photo scene, I get your point, but I still think it could serve its purpose as long as we stablish through the show how lonely his parent's divorce made Oskar feel. I must admit a 100% faithful adaptation of Eli and zombie Häkan's scene would simply be a big NO, but I think this issue can be fixed by Eli punching Häkan before first happening any kind of sexual abuse.

Yes, but the difference is that those and similar classics have been around since the 1800s, while LTROI is only 20 years old. I think it'd be great if LTROI is still remembered and getting adaptations 50 or 100 years from now, but the three live-action versions so far all came out in a span of 14 years (2008-2022). There were already complaints about the fact that TA's film got an American remake two years after its release, and a common online reaction (as far as I saw) to the trailers for the Showtime version was "How many times are they going to remake this?" I think no matter how you do it, it'd be difficult to do yet another version in the same format that'd stand on its own so shortly after the movies and TV series. (At least in the West. I don't know anything about Korean, or Asian-in-general, cinema.) That's why I'd prefer a different medium so you can do something actually different with it that wouldn't have to compete with the others.

It's not like those adaptations of classics had many years of differences between them. For example, the War and Peace adaptation by King Vidor was released in 1956. The Soviet Union decided to beat Vidor by making the colossal serial adaptation, released in 1967. Then, in 1972, the BBC made its own miniseries adaptation. In just 16 years, the world got three amazing and unique adaptations of War and Peace that are even among the best examples of their genres. As you can see, it's not by any means necessary to wait a certain amount of time to re-adapt a popular book to be a success. The problem people had with LMI and the Showtime show is simply that they cannot trust Hollywood and its habit of making modern terrible remakes.

By the way, I just published in the television topic a new post talking about the cancelled TNT show. You should probably check it out!

[CyberGhostface]

I thought the Showtime series was decent although they effectively defanged everything remotely transgressive or taboo about the original story.

On top of that it’s stained because it was only made due to Hammer taking advantage of JAL and swindling him of the rights. He got paid nothing for the show and no one bothered to even contact him.

[danielmann861]

The pedophile thing is always gonna be a sticking point with the Hakan role in any adaptation, but I would've liked to see someone tackle it. If not the pedophile, then another idea would be to take one of John's original ideas for the novel and have the Hakan character be a vile greedy man who genuinely kills for the fun and power of it. I remember an interview with JAL where he mentioned he thought about making Hakan a Patrick Bateman - American Psycho type. Which I think could be interesting.

The reason I say this is because I would like to see an adaptation tackle the Zomkan aspect from the book. And if not make him a pedophile, then why not make hi the embodiment of evil? A usefool fool for Eli, but still the embodiment of evil. A counter point to Eli. Eli has no other choice but to do it. This version of Hakan does it because he enjoys it and relishes in the power of it.

Again, that's not quite the book Hakan but my point remains, I'd like to see someone really flesh out that parasitic relationship and do the book proud by running with that a bit more.

As far as everything else? There are things I would take from both LMI and LTROI and blend together. I always thought the bullying in LMI was closer to the book and would bring that in. I understand why Alfredson scaled back as he builds the torment up. But I did like that LMI was closer to the aggressiveness of the book. Also, in a longer adaptation, that could allow for more of the escalation. For example, the train station incident which leads to Oskar lighting the desk on fire. It would be kind of cool to have all that back in.

One scene I would LOVE to see back in is the scene where Eli attacks the cancer patient before fleeing from her burning house. That scene is still one of my favourites from the book.

Obviously the big one would be reincorporating Staffan and Tommy as they're the two characters we've never seen in any adaptation. I don't count the cop in LMI...different character all together. But it would be interesting to see Staffan and Tommy have their stories reincorporated. Hence why I mentioned Zomkan at the top of this. Actually, and this is something I still think LMI should have done. I would get rid of the barflies in this version and make Staffan a mixture between Lacke and his original character. Have his wife in the Virginia role. Then you can play into the whole idea that Tommy doesn't really get along with his step father Staffan and the family friction before it all collapses thanks to Eli's presence.

Sure, it means sacrificing (or blending characters) the barflies, but it would be an interesting change and a fresh take exploring the side characters no adaptation has really explored yet.

Oh and I'd bring back the playful banter between Eli and Oskar. As much as I adore Alfredson's film, I did miss the banter and playful moments between O and E from the book.

Anyways that would be MY LTROI

[Kenlo]

I think that instead of changing, I would add something, for example being clearer with Oskar's feelings towards Eli; Since after he revealed to him that he is a man, a change in Oskar's attitude is felt. However, at the end of the novel it is made clear that Eli already loves Oskar, but it is not fully understood if Oskar's feelings towards Eli they are still romantic