'The Giver' movie adaptation gets closer
The movie adaptation of the classic dystopian novel 鈥淭he Giver鈥� by Lois Lowry is almost here.
鈥淭he Giver,鈥� which was first published in 1993, centers on a boy named Jonas (Brenton Thwaites of 鈥淢aleficent鈥�) who is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories, which means that he must be trained by the previous Receiver (Jeff Bridges). Jonas gradually begins to understand what his community has given up by eschewing emotions and pain.
The movie also stars Meryl Streep as the Chief Elder, 鈥淭rue Blood鈥� actor Alexander Skarsgard and Katie Holmes as Jonas鈥檚 parents, actress Odeya Rush of 鈥淭he Odd Life of Timothy Green鈥� as Fiona, an acquaintance of Jonas鈥檚, and singer Taylor Swift as Rosemary (who, according to , is the Giver鈥檚 daughter).聽
Lowry recently told that she had given those behind the movie some advice about how to handle the relationship between Jonas and Fiona.
鈥淚 remember seeing the costume designs for the female lead, Fiona 鈥� in the book she鈥檚 12, and in the movie she鈥檚 16,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 advised them that some of the costumes were too sexy. And so the hem was dropped a little bit. I asked them: 鈥楶lease don鈥檛 turn this into a teenage romance.鈥欌��
Meanwhile, Thwaites explained to why the role of Jonas appealed to him.
鈥淗e has such a complex journey throughout the film,鈥� Thwaites said. 鈥淗e is literally chosen to 鈥榣earn the history of the world.鈥� I thought, 鈥業 would like to learn me some history of the world from Jeff Bridges. Let鈥檚 do this!鈥欌��
And Rush discussed with the how her character was expanded for the movie.聽
鈥淪he鈥檚 mentioned a few times in the book but she鈥檚 not a key part of Jonas鈥檚 journey,鈥� Rush said. 鈥淚 think she just puts her foot down more in the film. She goes through a bigger transformation. I think that also comes with making her older, because I think, at 12, there鈥檚 only so much you can take.鈥�
"The Giver" will be released on Aug. 15.
