Movie Alert: Cirque Du Freak
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By John A. Sellers -- Publishers Weekly, 10/8/2009 11:25:00 AM
Two directors—who happen to be brothers—are each responsible for bringing a hot vampire book property to life this fall on the big screen. Twilighters are anxiously awaiting New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz, on November 20. But first, vampire fans can turn to Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, based on Darren Shan’s popular series and directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy), which arrives October 23.
The Universal film features 17-year-old actor Chris Massoglia in the role of Darren, with John C. Reilly as vampire Larten Crepsley, along with Salma Hayek, Orlando Jones, Ken Watanabe and others. Covering the first three book in Shan’s series, The Vampire’s Assistant follows Darren as he meets the freak show performers of the eponymous Cirque Du Freak and is drawn into a conflict between different vampire factions.
Cirque Du Freak is published in the U.S. by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Hachette’s Yen Press division began publishing manga versions of the novels earlier this year. To date, the series has sold 4.4 million copies worldwide. To tie in with the upcoming film, Little, Brown released The Vampire’s Assistant and Other Tales from the Cirque Du Freak in September; like the film, the book collects the first three Cirque Du Freak adventures. The publisher has also been promoting the movie via “Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture” bursts on paperback editions of the Cirque Du Freak books.
In other Darren Shan news, the ninth book in his Demonata series, The Dark Calling, arrives this month, also from Little, Brown. Last fall, the Irish author toured the U.S. in support of that series. The 10th and final Demonata book, Hell’s Heroes, will arrive next May. And The Thin Executioner, a standalone novel from Shan, is due next August.
