Darkfever Novel to Be Made into a Movie

If you've never heard of Karen Marie Moning you're missing out. Moning is a New York Times best selling author who writes paranormal romance, and now urban fantasy. Though the two sets of stories are different in feel, their worlds are connected. Her romance novels consist of time traveling, druids, faeries, sexy highlanders and Celtic mythology. Her current Fever series contains many of the same elements as her Highlander novels, but with a darker, edgier feel to it. It's also written in first-person. The Fever series follows the story of MacKayla Lane, a young American woman from Georgia who journeys to Ireland seeking revenge for her sister's death. While in Ireland Mac discovers a whole new world that she never knew existed; a dangerous world filled with unimaginable creatures, people who need her help, men who want her, and to make matters worst, she discovers she's not who she thought she was.

With such a complex and well written story as Moning's Fever series, it's no wonder that the film rights have been optioned by Twentieth Century Fox/New Regency. Unfortunately for the fans, Moning has no say in the production or casting for the movie(s). At present there has been no mentioning of even a script, but according to The New York Times, a studio executive by the name of Anna Kokourina has been listed. Kokourina is responsible for the department of Twentieth Century Fox that makes movies outside of the US. What does that mean for the potential Fever movie? The probability of filming on location in Ireland.

In recent months there have been a lot of buzz about the Fever movie on Moning's forum. There have even been actors who have expressed interest in the movie. Perhaps it's because the fifth and final installment of the Fever series, Shadowfever, is set to be released on December 28, 2010, or perhaps her devoted fans, the "Moning Maniacs" have been tirelessly spreading the word, or in this case the "fever". There are several threads on Moning's forum that are dedicated to "casting" for the movie, but it's all in good fun. Some popular fan choices for the role of Mac has been Kristen Bell of When in Rome, and Heroes, Hayden Panettiere. For the role of the enigmatic Jericho Barrons, it's been everyone from Gerard Butler (The Ugly Truth), Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) to Eric Etebari, who many might recognize as Ian Nottingham from the TV series Witchblade.

In late 2009 a "maniac" had contacted Etebari on Facebook informing him about the Fever series, a potential movie, and that he was the fan favorite to play the role of Barrons. Apparently Etebari's interest was peeked because he promptly got in touch with the author, picked up a copy of Darkfever, the first book in the series, and have since been adopted by the "maniac" clan. He's even done a personal interview with Moning, participated in a shout out video, and provided a photo for the "Official Jericho Barrons" Facebook page.

Another actor who has expressed interest in the potential Fever movie is English actor Charlie Bewley, who's most recently known for his role in New Moon as a vampire named Demetri. It all stared with a tweet, how that tweet came to be is still a mystery. Supposedly a "maniac", not the same one who contacted Etebari, had met Bewley at a convention and mentioned the Fever movie to him, and how she thought he would be perfect for the part of V'lane. Bewley then tweeted, "Anyone familiar with "The Fever Series" - a character called U'lane? Please FURNISH me with some info." By "U'lane" he obviously meant V'lane, the Seelie fae prince, who's a major character in the series.

More recently, actor and filmaker Chris Ivan Cevic (Henry John and the Little Bug), has expressed interest in playing the series main villain, Darroc. He was also contacted by a "maniac." Cevic has picked up a copy of Darkfever, as well as one of the Highlander novel as suggested by another "maniac", to get a full grasp on the character. He's even dropped by the forum to say 'hi' to the "maniacs," and thanked them for their support.

Will all this effort by Moning's fan be enough to get the ball rolling on a Fever movie? Only time will tell. As much as the "maniacs" have managed to accomplish so far in terms of building up a buzz about the movie, it wouldn't be a surprise if a script gets written not too long after the release of Shadowfever.

Sources:

http://www.karenmoning.com/
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/452934/Darkfever/credits
http://blog.twelvepoint.com/?tag=anna-kokourina