Question about the movie "Simon Birch"

[bif]

I turned on the tv late the other night and there was this movie on called "Simon Birch". It actually was "Prayer for Owen Meany". Why the heck did they change the name?

[jilln]

1. Who knows...

they changed the plot too. Both are good, but the book is so much better.

[Book Lover]

2. As you might have guessed, script and legal reasons

Irving had some kind of hassle with the way the script was turning out so he pulled legal strings and had the movie title changed. I do believe his name does not appear in the credits (but could easily be incorrect there...)

[MissMillie]

7. his name is there

I saw the movie on television over the weekend, and the movie credits include a statement that the movie is based on "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving.

The book is one of my all-time favorite books. Iving w/ his quirky characters--this one is one of his best works.

[Book Lover]

8. Ah, OK

Then I'm thinking the agreement must have been the title change... must go look up back issues of Publisher's Weekly to find the details...

[Dora]

3. Because it sucked and Irving wouldn't have anything to do with it.

I'm just guessing.

I was appalled at how they changed the story. I read that Irving was embarassed.

[Taverner]

5. Yep

He wanted nothing to do with it when they changed it from the excellent nihilism vs. determinism theme the book had to the feel good movie it became.

[fishwax]

4. Irving actually would only sell the novel for film on the condition that they change the name

He didn't think it could be made into a good movie. He suggested the new name himself, I believe, and the credit for the film reads that it was *suggested by* Irving's novel.

[Broken_Hero]

6. I had no idea, the title was changed

our dvd of Simon Birch, says Simon Birch...:shrug: I had no idea the title was changed...