IAmA John Dies At The End, Don Coscarelli and David Wong.

Being an independent movie release, why wasn't John Dies at the End given more of an opportunity to be as true to the novel as possible? I feel as if many important plot points(as well as superb jokes) were left out entirely. This can not only annoy those who compare the movie to the book directly, but also those who have never read the book and are trying to follow a very convoluted story that the movie tries to tell.

It was a function of time limit by nature of an independent feature film. As it was we shot a number of scenes that will be on the DVD that were deleted including more of North, monologs from Justin and a great interview with Marconi. The choice was to do it this way or not do the movie. I think the work can exist in two mediums.

Oh, so there will be a director's cut or extended edition released?

Or will it just have deleted scenes?

I think just deleted scenes for this release. But we could put together a longer cut if the power-that-be agreed to do it.

The first thing my wife said as the credits rolled was "Man I can't wait for the director's cut."

That's a great reaction to have.

Sounds to me like you married well. Congrats!

Huge fan of the books and I liked the movie. It was done very well for the budget. Obviously, like with most fans of a book that gets adapted to a movie, I have my complaints. But you guys did an awesome job overall (I realize it wasn't just you two making the movie, and that it was probably a much larger group).

1. Was it ever considered to make the movie into 2 parts? I know me and a couple people I know were slightly upset that some good shit was left out.

2. Dave, do you ever masturbate to thoughts of your newfound money and fame?

3. Why did the wig monster not have a wig?

4. Dave and Don, what is the most ridiculous thing you've ever purchased?

5. Last question. Do you guys hope to make a sequel based off of "This Book is Full of Spiders?" In my opinion it seems much more movie friendly.

Once again I'll take my comments and let DW handle the masturbation one. Always was looking to make one movie. Haven't really purchased anything extroardinarily ridiculous but would really like one of those doorknobs from the movie. TBIFOS is a freaking terrific book! It should be a movie!

I felt that Chase and Rob did an excellent job acting as Dave and John, with really spot-on performances. How long did it take during auditions to find those two, and how much direction did you invest in them until you felt they had the parts down as well as they did?

Thanks for that comment. They are talented actors and real good guys. It was a terrifying experience casting the movie as we needed these two actors to make the movie work. Chase walked into our casting session on the second day, he had just graduated USC and had never been in a movie or tv show. I had to ask him to show up the first day of shooting with Paul Giamatti and do 8 pages of dialog. The guy has ice water in his veins, for a guy his age. Rob had a charm and sweet, goofy nature, that just seemed like John to me.

DAVID WONG SHOULD BE JOINING US SOON - SOME TECH SCREW UPS UNFORTUNATELY...

Bark Lee? Really?

Now that that's out of the way I love you both and the work that you've done more than I could possibly express. Thank you both, from the very bottom of my brain spider.

My brain spider sends his regards. See info on Bark Lee in post above.

Big fan of the books, found out about the first one because I buy pretty much every Permuted Press book, a few questions:

1. Why is the book no longer being published by Permuted Press?

2. How did you get Paul Giamatti on board? Did he read the book?

3. What were the reasons for the changes made to Molly's character in the movie? (Bark Lee is a terrible name.)

4. Is a movie adaption of This Book is Full of Spiders, Seriously Dude Don't Touch It being considered? Will it be called This Movie is Full of Spiders, Seriously Dude Don't Watch It?

5. When will the movie be out in Europe? Specifically for sale on Blu-ray/DVD?

I watched the movie through ahem less legal means because I couldn't wait but it's a definite buy for me once it releases here in the Netherlands.

edit: yes I had this comment written out over an hour ago already.

I'll answer the ones I can and DW can answer the others. I met Paul as he was a fan of a previous film I did BUBBA HO-TEP. i gave him the screenplay adaptation and he signed on. Later he read, and loved the source novel. I selected the best dog I could find for the film. He was a male and his name was Bark Lee. He responded to his name. Changing the name guaranteed us a better canine performance.

The film will release in UK and Germany soon. We will post info on facebook.com/johndiesmovie as soon as we get info. Thanks.

Jason, for you: The movie, by necessity, had to cut a lot of the parts of the book out, but in the process cut a lot of important bits. Specifically, the whole Ship of Theseus bit never became relevant because there was no body in the shed, Amy's character never got developed and she became the "he got the girl" device, and the shadow people from Vegas didn't come into play. Do you see the JDATE movie as a simplified version of the book, or do you see it as a completely different story?

For Don: How did your initial vision for the film change as you had to try and cram everything into one and half hours? How did you choose which parts you wanted to include most?

JDATE was a wealth of creative riches, but it became my curse to bear, trying to streamline it for a movie. Those scenes you describe are all terrific. Did you ever read the book Sophie's Choice, there were some elements of that in the process of adapting the book (well no one had to go to the ovens in Nazi Germany, but it was difficult!)

Was the animated sequence a stylistic choice, or a budget choice?

It started as what I thought was a brilliant budget choice. If you re-read that passage of the book, that scene would have cost tens of millions of $$ to pull off. But as I began to see what our terrific animator, David Hartman, was doing with the scene, I fully embraced it as the perfect creative depiction of the scene, imho. If you liked what Hartman did, check out his website for more terrific illustrations and music videos he did for Rob Zombie at sideshowmonkey.com !!

Don, I love Bubba Ho-Tepp. Any word on there actually being a sequel or is imdb just screwing with me?

Don, I printed off your article about your 6 Harsh Truths and I read it almost everyday of this new year. Just wanted to say thank you. I really really needed that kick in the ass.

I wish I would have writte the 6 Harsh Truths. That piece is epic.

As to BUBBA NOSFERATU: Curse of the She-Devils, we came very close to getting that made. Unfortunately at the last minute it fell apart. However, Elvis is eternal, and one day I hope to get back to it. In fact next time I see David I should ask him for his take on a sequel to that movie...

For Don Coscarelli- In regards to the ending scenes of John Dies At The End (The Movie), What are the implications in which the story will, if the cliffhanger holds true, be continued? Will it lead into (again with the premonition that you’re working on a sequel of sorts) the predecessor of the original novel? Or be continued on grounds with the concept of the Shadow people left out in the previous movie? If not, could that even be a possibility, if not already discussed

For David Wong - If I may permit another question, I remember reading John and Dave and the Temple of X'al'naa”thuthuthu when it was first being written. I understand that it turned into This Book Is Full Of Spiders; Seriously Dude, Don’t Touch It, but I was amazed and entranced by some of the original concepts and events contained within the original writing (Such as witnessing the Assistant disappear from existence and the accompanying reaction of those other than David, as well as the multiverse contained within the story, leading to a VERY interesting plotline I looked forward too). My question would be that of curiosity pertaining to the concepts being re-used in another book? Not necessarily pertaining to John or David, as I remember reading about you writing a novel not based on the John Dies At The End Universe. So, in short, are you sticking to the themes laid out through your previous writings? And if you are, can I expect to see the same multi-dimensional themes?

Let me first say that I am thrilled that folks are even talking about a sequel here so much. I'm going to keep my cards close to the vest on this one -- but I assure you that if a sequel is financed, and if David can tear himself away from his day job, I would look to him for the supreme guidance necessary to navigate the sequel world.

Hi, David Wong! I love your work. “What is the Monkeysphere?” and “The Ten Minute Suicide Guide” changed my life. I also really enjoyed “10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (and Must) Agree On.” You talk about religion to varying extents in all of these. What are your religious beliefs, and how did they impact JDatE?

Also, why didn’t Morgan Freeman play Morgan Freeman?

Also, why didn’t Morgan Freeman play Morgan Freeman?

To be fair, in the book its noted that 'Morgan Freeman' doesn't actually look remotely like Morgan Freeman, Dave just kind of had a racist 'all black people look alike' moment when he came up with the nick name.

My sense was that Morgan Freeman would never do a movie like JDATE. Especially a budget limited film. He seems to stick to the Hollywood studio stuff.

For Don: Will there be a "This Movie is Full of Spiders" film? How well are the rental sales so far on the JDATE release?

For Dave: I love you and have been reading your book since before it was a book. How does it feel to have an army of neckbeards swooning over you?

If everyone orders the film 3 times on VOD, takes a dozen friends to the theater and then buys 4 copies of the DVD, I can guarantee we will make a sequel. (I love TBIFOS btw) I hear sales are great so far.

First off loved the book and movie! three questions:

1. Dave, how did you come up with the characters, situations, monsters etc?

2. Don, since you had to cut some parts of the book out of the movie, how did you decide what was to be kept and what wasn't?

3. Any chance of a third book? Please? I'll be your best friend.

1. The opening third just read like an amazing movie to me. Once they went to Vegas I just had no idea how to put that on film, or digital. So I just jumped forward to the ending. Keep in mind, I am a huge fan of the book and love those passages that were left out.

NEW PHANTASM?! WHEN?!!! Angus Scrimm is OLD now. Is it even possible anymore?

Last time I spoke with Angus he had this answer for you. "Just tell them I haven't hung up the old balls yet."

Hey, I just want to say that John Dies at the End is one of my favorite books ever, and the sequel is amazing as well. The movie was great and perfectly cast (though I wish it was longer). Are there any similar books or movies either of you can recommend to fans? I can’t wait for whatever comes next from you guys!

Agree with your sentiments. I don't think there are any similar books certainly. A lot of folks have compared the movie to Naked Lunch, but there's not many gags in that one.

Hi David,

This is more of a question about This Book is Full of Spiders. My favorite part of JDATE was the random horror imagery and events that happened throughout the book. It was one of the few novels I couldn't put down simply because I was always excited to see what would happen next. While I did like TBIFOS I felt that it lacked some of the more random horror and comedy bits because it focused on building tension for forthcoming future events instead of having David deal with the constant mind fuckery KORROK was sending his way.

That being said what created this change in writing style between the two books? Was it that JDATE was pieced together over the years from various stories you wrote versus TBIFOS where you had a singular story in mind to tell? How did you decide the storyline for TBIFOS and where did KORROK go?

Also do you have any ideas what your next story will be?

Also for Don. I loved Bubba Hotep. Do you know if the prequel Bubba Nosferatu is still in the works? Are you attached to it in anyway?

Thanks again. Love both you guy's work. Hope to continue seeing more of it in the future.

As to BUBBA HO-TEP sequel... I wrote a sequel script entitled BUBBA NOSFERATU: Curse of the She-Vampires. It actually functioned as both a sequel and prequel. I think it would have been pretty cool. I would love to do one some day. You should ask this question of Bruce Campbell. Thanks for the interest though!

Finally, this is the first AMA that I've actually waited for! John Dies at the End has quickly become one of my favorite books and I'm excited to read This Book is Full of Spiders.

Anyways, my question is for David. I wanted to know what your inspiration for the wig monsters was, they are so incredibly odd sounding and actually made me laugh later on that I had to know. Also I wanted to know what it was like turning your book into a film and if your vision was realized and how that process worked, that could also be answered Don if he feels like it.

PS I'll be watching the movie very soon, I'm very excited.

I'll just say that as a director, maybe 25% of your orginal inspiration ever actually makes it to the film. There are so many challenges and impediments. I think that's why sometimes its hard for me to watch my movies as all I can see are the mistakes and missed opportunities. That also might be why when one person says they like a film I make it's such a relief to hear. I guess you could consider me a glass half empty kind of guy.

David and Don-- What the hell was up with Clancy Brown's accent as Marconi? Did he decide to speak that way or was that how y'all wanted it?

Clancy Brown, in addition to being a great actor, is also one of the top voice over artists in Hollywood. When he auditioned that voice for me, I loved it. Maybe we went too far, but I always saw Marconi as maybe the most over the top human character in the story, so at the time it seemed very right. I still like it. David? Thoughts?

David, how do you think your unique sense of humor developed?
Don, thanks for Phantasm.

Thank you for watching! I saw Angus Scrimm recently and he is doing great and if he was here I'm sure he would send you his best wishes.

Since The movie seemed to slightly annoy fans of the book by how much they cut out (I'm not one, as I'm an aspiring filmmaker and totally understand) I was wondering if turning the series into...well, a TV series would ever become an option?

Do you have a relative at a network? A friend? If so, give us an introduction!

Was a TV mini series considered so it could capture all of the plots in the book?

Not really. However, maybe its something we should consider now?

Will there be any juicy merchandise to look out for? Maybe a stuffed badgerconda? A John Cheese action figure with kung-fu grip?

While those are awesome ideas and something I will discuss with the merch teams, currently we are limited to a JDATE T-Shirt that you can buy at johndies.com

Also, the Three Arm Sally songs, including Camel Holocause, from the movie will be available on iTunes in a week or two. And a soundtrack album of the score by Brian Tyler will be released soon from LaLa Land Records. Thanks!

I can only imagine the time and effort it takes to convert a book, especially one like JDATE, into a movie. My question is this: Was there any one-liner or part in the book that you were disappointed to be unable to include?

I loved the scene where David went into the bad part of town to get the gun. Would have loved to see that in the final film. Very sorry to exclude that.

Has anyone ever told you you look exactly like Prince?

David has a distinct resemblance, although he's taller.

What's your best dick joke?

In days of old, when knights were bold, before rubbers were invented, they tied their socks, around their .....

I'll let you finish the limerick...

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I'm told that it is now in HD on Fios. Please take another look and see if my info is correct. Thanks.

Why isn't the movie available to watch, legally, on any of the streaming services in canada? When will it be available? Specifically for Mr. Coscarelli, will there ever be a director's cut of the first Phantasm? I've always wanted to see where all that original footage strung through the rest of the movies fits in.

A deal has been struck and I'm told Canada will have JDATE soon. Stay tuned to facebook.com/johndiesmovie, or johndies.com or magnet's site for info.

That full directors cut thing is a very interesting idea. If I had the time I'd look into it. Hopefull someday we could get that going. Thanks for asking!!!

How wide of a theatrical release can we expect initially?

Check this site for dates: http://www.magpictures.com/dates.aspx?id=b94c5b06-1566-439b-ae15-fa580e6ca8bc

Hopefully a lot of John and Dave fans will go out the first few weeks which will open up lots of other theaters for the movie.