I have to come clean. According to the open letter from Dave Callaham regarding the screenplay of Doom, I am:
nothing less than shoddy and irresponsible
I don’t think he was talking so much about my post, this site, but more about the abuse he’s received from big time Doom fans. Well, as Film Rotation report, I too felt really bad as I read the opening quote they contain from their letter. Read the next quote though and you are suddenly wondering why the hell he’s complaing.
Okay, apparently we may have quoted a source that was not accurate in his world location or attributation of the comments, but reading the letter it looks like the comments were right anyway and he goes on to say that:
The screenplay I wrote DOES differ in a number of ways from the games…we were never going to top Doom 3 anyway, and we all knew that. Instead, we have toyed with some elements of the game, and yes, I am pretty much solely responsible for that, since it was my pitch and my screenplay that got made. Let me assure you, though, that the themes and elements that you love about Doom are ALL represented strongly in the film…just with some new twists.
Then goes on to say:
I don’t enjoy watching a bunch of strangers bastardize my baby any more than you do, but really none of us can do anything about it at this point, so I hope that at least some of you will fret, with me, in the direction of optimism.
So although he hasn’t just listed what the changes are, he changed them for his screenplay and since then it’s been taken away from him and changed way more, to the point he’s really not happy with it and doesn’t think it’s what he wrote in the first place.
For me, I think the letter and what is contained does more damage to the idea of the Doom movie than the previous incorrect quote did. I would have just kept quiet, it now sounds like it’s totally ruined and even the writer is preparing to distance himself.
Doomed? Or should we really try and be optimistic as Callaham is, what do you think?
