Warner Bros. to make 'Shannara' fantasy books into movies

Eric Buscemi — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:56:00 EST

Somewhere in Hollywood, a group of executives gather, brainstorming the next sequel, remake or adaptation. Wait, I mean they are brainstorming the next brilliant original cinematic idea. Well maybe, but one particular group of execs, from Time Warner Inc's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros., recently came up with the idea of picking up the rights to Terry Brooks' Shannara fantasy book series.

Let me give you a little background on the author and the series: Brooks had read Lord of the Rings in college and decided to write The Sword of Shannara while in law school (according to this biography). I'll be kind and say that from reading The Sword of Shannara, you can tell he is definitely a fan of the Lord of the Rings. A really big fan.

This heavy influence on Brooks likely gave Warner Bros. visions of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings box office totals dancing in their heads. But what I see is a lot closer to Eragon's box office take, should this movie ever get made.

See, this series, like Eragon, isn't Lord of the Rings -- it's not even close. To give you an idea of the flaws in the Shannara books, Warner Bros. has decided to start the series with the second book, The Elfstones of Shannara, instead of the first. No explanation was given, but as someone that has read them, I'll tell you why -- the first book is so close to a retelling of the Lord of the Rings that it wouldn't get by as its own movie. It only was made into a book in 1977 because hordes of rabid Lord of the Rings fans were looking for their next fantasy fix.

Anyway, enough of my ranting, I think you can see how I feel about this being made into a movie. What do you think? Have you ever heard of these books? Do you think the adaptation(s) will be successful for Warner Bros?

Warner Bros. to make 'Shannara' fantasy books into movies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst upgrades 1-9-07: Cheesecake Factory takes top honors

Kevin Shult — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:59:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Good news, Novell Inc (NOVL), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Armor Holdings and Cheesecake Factory were the most notable upgrades this morning.

Lehman Brothers upgraded Armor Holdings (NYSE: AH) to Overweight from Equal Weight, following details of the President's $100B 2007 defense budget supplemental.

Raymond James upgraded Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's better than expected forth quarter comps and revenues.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Shares of Novel Inc (NASDAQ: NOVL) were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by JMP Securities; the firm said Novell's release of Open Enterprise Server 2 may help stop declines in the combined Netware/OES product lines.

Jefferies upgraded shares of Endo Pharmaceuticals Hlds (NASDAQ: ENDP) to Buy from Hold, with a $35 target, to reflect improving Opana prescriptions and the resolution of the Penwest dispute, which the broker believes removes uncertainty and adds earnings visibility.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst upgrades 1-9-07: Cheesecake Factory takes top honors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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