ROTTEN TOMATOES: Exclusive: Paramount Unveils Kite Runner Poster

Exclusive: Paramount Unveils Kite Runner Poster

An adaptation of the Khaled Hosseini novel.

by Alex Vo | August 06, 2007

Literature is adapted into pedigree films for awards season all the time, though few are coming with more anticipation this autumn than The Kite Runner. Paramount Vantage has just given us an exclusive look at the poster to the film, based on the bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini.

Spending countless time on the book charts and discussed in book circles, The Kite Runner tells the timely story of Amir, an Afghanistan émigré living in California with guilt over abandoning his country and past. When Amir learns that a childhood friend and his son are in trouble, he returns to Afghanistan to save them and redeem himself.

Below is the poster to The Kite Runner, out in theaters November 2^nd.

Click for the hi-res version!

Paramount Vantage calls it "an epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy to the atrocities of the Taliban reign."

David Benioff wrote the screenplay while Marc Forster directed. Forster was recently hired to direct Bond 22 and while not necessarily action-packed, The Kite Runner is something of a thriller and is set in a variety of exotic locations. How Forster presents these elements should give us a little taste for how he'll handle similar elements in the next Bond flick.

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(1-15 of 15 posts) | Reply

UCLASmrtGuy82 writes:
on Aug 06 2007 01:14 PM

I enjoyed the novel greatly and I am hoping that Marc Foster approaches this movie with the same vein of the novel: a tough, hard, but thoughtful look at Afghanistan during the Taliban regime and the people affected by the times and situations.

(Reply to this)

Bane Of Anubis writes:
on Aug 06 2007 01:43 PM

Great book - hard to pull off the movie without making it overly maudlin or treacly

(Reply to this)

ZiGyStRdUsT writes:
on Aug 06 2007 03:37 PM

I'm intrigued... I'll probably pick up the book soon. Would the movie be in Arabic or English?

(Reply to this)

Karthik Selvakumar writes:
on Aug 06 2007 08:27 PM

Marc Forster is unbelievable. This film will be great, no doubt.

(Reply to this)

Detrs writes:
on Aug 06 2007 08:44 PM

Let me know when they start adapting good books.

(Reply to this)

skletonkee writes:
on Aug 06 2007 09:02 PM

In reply to this comment (#1017246)
hey...its not that bad...sure it's a bit contrived but hopefully forster will be able to reign it in.

(Reply to this)

Detrs writes:
on Aug 06 2007 09:09 PM

Contrived doesn't begin to cut it. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly well written, but it really isn't all that good. Then again, 2003 was a terrible year for books: The Da Vinci Code, Eragon, The Dante Club, The Devil Wears Prada, Thr3e, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and a lot of others.

There's such a wealth of books out there, but they choose to adapt another over-hyped bestseller.

(Reply to this)

antarianzan writes:
on Aug 06 2007 10:39 PM

I recently read this book, its one of the best I've ever read. I can't wait for the film, hopefully it does it justice.

(Reply to this)

jthrashr writes:
on Aug 07 2007 05:36 AM

The book was filled with cliche after cliche. The only thing that set this book apart from the rest is its setting.

(Reply to this)

Baccus83 writes:
on Aug 07 2007 06:49 AM

Yeah, why on EARTH would they want to adapt the best-sellers? Stupid Hollywood.

There ARE a wealth of great books out there, and thank god they're not made into movies because they'd end up with posters like this one. Yuck.

One adaptation I AM looking forward to: Atonement. Anyone else? The book's a masterpiece, and I was doubtful that the film would be able to do it the slightest justice. But I have to say, the previews look promising.

As for the "Kite Runner," I don't know. It's a contrived story. Not BAD, per se, just if you took it out of it's setting it would be completely ordinary. Oddly enough, it will probably work better as a film than as a book. It's odd how things happen like that sometimes. Take the "Bourne" films. I actually think the films are better aesthetically than the books. But I'm rambling, so I'll stop.

(Reply to this)

Brad 3000 writes:
on Aug 07 2007 08:32 AM

In reply to this comment (#1017761)
Cliches such as what exactly - could you be specific?

(Reply to this)

jthrashr writes:
on Aug 07 2007 11:51 AM

Such as the two childhood friends who are inseparable, tragedy strikes, they part ways, years later their story comes full circle...redemption and the such

(Reply to this)

Bane Of Anubis writes:
on Aug 07 2007 04:41 PM

In reply to this comment (#1019464)
Um... name a book that isn't riddled with cliches? After thousands of years of existence, everything can be classified as a cliche. What separates one book from another is the author's ability to impart emotional resonance within the reader (obviously not as true for some genres -- children's, fantasy, etc.. pop fiction -- which KR is not). So, Kite Runner didn't resonate with you... sure, it's cliched... perhaps b/c that's life -- maybe not your life, but it resonated with many... In terms of things other than plot, KH did a terrific job with pacing and developing character.

(Reply to this)

Detrs writes:
on Aug 07 2007 08:31 PM

In reply to this comment (#1018718)
Brad, the setting is a poor but proud country. The family is dysfunctional with a few unaired secrets. The way karma comes back to bite some of the characters. A lost child in need of saving (and of course, the narrator can't have one). Soraya's uncle just happens to work at the INS. Assef's reappearance. It felt like I was reading a damn soap opera.

Baccus, my point with that is there are book which most readers will never be aware of. Perhaps the only way they might gain exposure and a place in the mainstream literary canon is to force them into other people's awareness. Some books that have been OOP for decades might finally see new, better editions. I dread reading some of my favorite books because they are literally disintegrating despite that I keep them in wraps. It breaks my heart, and something like this doesn't help.

(Reply to this)

Baccus83 writes:
on Aug 08 2007 07:11 AM

I completely understand your frustration, but at the same time I understand the thinking of studio execs. They don't want to greenlight a films based on books that people "aren't aware of." Awareness is the key, because then you have something amounting to a built-in audience. This is not to say that less-popular books will never be made into films, it's just more difficult. Whoever wants to film it would have to do a LOT more convincing. Say I wanted to film David Mitchell's "Black Swan Green" and another guy wanted to film a movie based on "The Kite Runner." One has sold millions and has a huge readership - the other... not so much. There's no doubt that "Black Swan Green" is the better book, but in Hollywood - as in all business - you go with the surer thing, and in this case it's "The Kite Runner."

And I'll say this about cliche's: a lot of books have them, sure, but it's in the way they're utilized that makes them obnoxious. I can't name a book without a cliche (Ulysses?), but I can name a LOT of books that are far more original and far more entertaining than "Kite Runner." I can also name a lot of books that are worse than "Kite Runner." The point is not that it's riddled with cliche's, it's that the story is contrived and boring and I've read it a billion times before.

(Reply to this)

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