The New York Times ran a story yesterday on the misleading ad campaign for Disney and Walden Media’s new version of Bridge to Terabithia — and along the way, they cite my interview with Katherine Paterson, though without quoting the exact words:
The reviews are in for “Bridge to Terabithia,” a new children’s film from Walt Disney and Walden Media: loved the movie, hated the trailer. . . .
Advertising campaigns for movies present a carefully edited, and often misleading, glimpse of the films they promote. But a funny thing happened after some fans began seeing advance screenings of “Bridge to Terabithia,” which opened Friday: Bloggers started telling people to ignore the ads and see the movie, as did both Ms. Paterson and the film’s director. . . .
Ms. Paterson, who was not involved in making the film but whose son David was a producer and screenwriter, said on the Web site ChristianityToday.com that she was telling everyone to avoid seeing the trailers. The film’s director, Gabor Csupo, said that the filmmakers “had nothing to do with that promotion,” and that the film “is not a Harry Potter kind of a movie.” . . .
I must admit, the ads may have done their job, inasmuch as Bridge to Terabithia, with $22.6 million, had easily the highest opening weekend of any Walden Media film that doesn’t have the word “Narnia” in the title. The previous record was held by either Ray (2004; $20 million), which was produced by Walden’s subsidiary Bristol Bay, or Holes (2003; $16.3 million), which was produced by Walden proper. And if the good reviews and word-of-mouth keep the movie going, Bridge to Terabithia may even surpass the lifetime gross of Charlotte’s Web, which is currently Walden’s top- grossing non-Narnian film, with $81.5 million and counting.
But still, those ads did suck. And I still wish the movie hadn’t made those ads possible by deviating from the book as much as it did.
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