Douglas Adams is not a stranger to the audiovisual medium. The popular British writer (who was also the screenwriter for some episodes of ‘Doctor Who’) has seen his work adapted in different formats, most recently his ‘Dirk Gently’ saga for BBC America. But what happened to ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’? The actor Stephen Fry considers that justice was not done to the most iconic saga of the author in theaters.
Happy Towel Day!
‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ is the mythical pentalogy written by Douglas Adams between 1979 and 1992. It is a very popular saga that gave rise to the famous Towel Day (Geek Pride Day, go) and has had many adaptations to various media.
From radio serials, theatrical versions, illustrated books, video games and even a series in 1981 for BBC 2. With this background, the idea that this funny space comedy would end up making the leap to the big screen seemed logical, although this happened after the premature death of the author in 2001 with 49 years.
Garth Jennings (‘Sing!’) was in charge of transferring the first book of the saga to the cinema in 2005. The film had a luxury cast: Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Zooey Deschanel, Yasiin Bey, Warwick Davis…plus star cameos like simon jones (the Arthur Dent of the 80’s series) or Helen Mirren.
Despite the high expectations placed on her, she had a Somewhat lukewarm reception at the box office and there was no further talk of adapting the following books in the saga. Although later claimed as a cult classicin general, does not have the approval of the fans of the novel, who considered that it did not correctly capture the sense of humor that Adams imprinted on his work.
Stephen Fry is one of those fans detractors of the film adaptation. The actor is not only a great lover of novels but he was also close friend of Douglas Adams and participated in several of its versions: he narrated the audiobook, he played Murray in one of the radio serials and he is the movie narrator.
As a result of the premiere of the ‘Sandman’ series for Netflix, which is based on the Neil Gaiman comic of which Fry is also a great admirer, the actor commented that the adaptation of the Adams book it could have been so much better had it been done 10 years later:
(The adaptation of ‘Sandman’) It reminded me of my friend Douglas Adams with his ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’ and how, if he could have lived another 10 years, they might have adapted it well. It is not only because of the technology, but also the budget and the willingness to do things correctly and give them due care and attention. That is something that is now more popular.
We will never know what Adams would have thought of the adaptation, however, we will be able to see if Fry’s theory is confirmed with the new adaptation that is underway from ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’. The series, delayed by the pandemic, is in the hands of Hulu with Carlton Cuse (‘Lost’) and Jason Fuchs (‘Wonder Woman’) as showrunners. Will this finally be the final adaptation? Time will tell.