Being the author of a book that's being made into a film must be a really weird feeling, especially when it's a formative book that influenced a lot of young readers, and all the trailers make those readers super concerned and uncomfortable with how the movie's gonna end up. But Lois Lowry wants you all to know that The Giver isn't as bad an adaption as you're worried it will be—heck, there's even some stuff in there that she wishes she'd thought of first.

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SDCC isn't the only place you can catch the stars this weekend in San Diego - Zachary Levi is doing his usual awesome thing over at Nerd HQ for Operation Smile, and they've kindly been posting all their excellent panels online for the world to enjoy.

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I remain cautious about the film, but I've got to say -- that's a striking poster. (via Entertainment Weekly)

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I wonder what people who haven’t read The Giver think is going on with the partial-color, partial-greyscale of the trailer. And hey, this new one isn't as horrifyingly generic Hollywood as the first. But it still gives us a healthy dose of cheese with “Then that must make me… The Giver. *drama chord*” Grooooooan. (via: Digital Spy) Previously in The Giver

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Which is not to say that I'm feeling entirely better about this one yet. The Giver was the first book that made me cry, and despite the presence of author Lois Lowry herself, this featurette just doesn't mesh with the image of the Community that I had in my head. But we'll see. We'll see.

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It seems like it was winter just yesterday, but already summer movie season is starting in the US with today's release of a little movie called Captain America: The Winter Soldier. A ton of movies are coming out over the next few months, some that we're looking forward to here at The Mary Sue (Guardians of the Galaxy), some that we're... not (Transformers: Age of Extinction). But we got curious: Which ones are you most looking forward to? So we asked. What follows is a roundup of the 2014 summer movie season, ranked from the flick you're are least anticipating to the one you're most chomping at the bit for. We've included our thoughts as well, plus a general sample of the responses we got to each film. (Are you in there? Step up and claim your wit!) Does the breakdown surprise you, or is it just about what you thought it would be?  Do you differ from the majority? Sound off in the comments.

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The office has been buzzing this morning with discussions of the feasibility of getting a partially black and white movie made in 2014, the difficulty of sensing the relative level of technology when the narrator is a child native to the setting, how terrifying Meryl Streep looks in that wig, and whether any of us would definitely remember human-tractor-beaming hovercraft if they'd really been in the book. (via io9.) Previously in The Giver

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Hey, so, did all of you guys in the film industry read the same book that we all read in middle school? Because call me crazy, but I kind of thought the whole point was that nobody in the Community could see color. Why am I looking at colors right now, Jeff Bridges? Explain to me why colors are a thing, please. That is your literal job as Giver.

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Remember how Meryl Streep is going to be in The Giver? So exciting. But this pic has Jeff Bridges, which is pretty dang cool by itself. Collider has the other picture, featuring main character Jonas (aged up from 12 to 16) and A Baby.

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Soon, Lois Lowry's beloved novel The Giver will join the ranks of young adult books that have made it to the big screen. Come on, you know you've been waiting for this since you were twelve and checked it out of the school library. It's one of the classic dystopias for young readers, with its creepy community of too-perfect people who see everything in black and white (literally).

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Jeff Bridges' long awaited adaptation of Lois Lowry's The Giver has its first good sign that it's actually happening: a major Hollywood star (other than Bridges himself) is in talks to participate.

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These days, it seems like Hollywood has finally discovered that dystopian young adult fiction is a trend that can make bunches at the box office, thanks to The Hunger Games. We can also look forward to The Host and the long awaited advent of a big budget Ender's Game adaptation. But older young adults in their twenties and thirties can sit around saying "In my day, we walked fifteen miles to the library to pick up copies of Garth Nix's Shade's Children and Lois Lowry's The Giver. And then we wrote our book reports with pencil and paper! And then gave it to our parents to spellcheck!" But I actually had The Giver read to me at bedtime before I was ever assigned it in school, so I guess I have the most hipster dystopian YA cred of all.

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Anyone else get the feeling that Hollywood is out of ideas? Take a look at this summer’s studio releases. What do you see? A lot of entries into pre-existing franchises (The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Prometheus), a sequel or twelve (Men in Black III, Madagascar 3), some additions to the “edgy kid’s story” genre that’s refused to die since Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland made bank, two movies based on self-help books (Think Like a Man, What to Expect When You’re Expecting), and one that draws its inspiration from a board game (Battleship). Look, I’m not here to pooh-pooh the idea of sequels, prequels, reboots, remakes—there are some ridiculously unnecessary ones, sure, but if I told you my level of anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises is not positively stratospheric I’d be lying. I’m not asking that Hollywood start coming out with original content or anything, because A) that’s what indie movies are for, and B) it would be unrealistic. Hollywood exists to make money. If people pay to see Madagascar 3, they’re going to make Madagascar 4. That’s how it works. But still. Movie versions of Candy Land (and Adam Sandler is attached, oh goodie!), Stretch Armstrong, and the Ouija board are in the works. Hollywood, I implore you: If you’re going to adapt something, can’t it be something good?

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In 2006 Jeff Bridges and director Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog) came very close to producing a film adaptation of Lois Lowry's classic The Giver. The film never got off the ground, however, and in 2007 Warner Bros. took over the rights. Now, Bridges and producer Nikki Silver have re-acquired the rights and are planning to try again.

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