George R.R. Martin & Paul W.S. Anderson on Changing the Ending of Their Stories & In the Lost Lands
14It's that time of year again! No, not Spring — it's time for a new George R.R. Martin adaptation, which takes place in a grungy Western post-apocalyptic world. Based on a short story of the same name, In the Lost Lands follows a witch called Gray Alys (Milla Jovovich), who is cursed to fulfill whatever wishes are demanded of her by people. She is approached by a queen (Amara Okereke) who asks Gray Alys to give her the gift of shapeshifting into a werewolf. Alongside a hunter named Boyce (Dave Bautista), Alys travels into the barren place known as the "Lost Lands" to hunt down a werewolf and fulfill the queen's wish.
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, who also developed the story alongside screenwriter Constantin Werner, the film expands Martin's relatively brief short story to include new characters, a wider world, and a new twist on the ending. In an exclusive interview hosted by Blancpain with Martin, Jovovich, and Anderson, the director and the author break down the changes in the ending and talk about tragic endings to stories.
Paul W.S. Anderson Explains Why He Changed the Ending of 'In the Lost Lands'
In the original In the Lost Lands short story, things end on a somewhat depressing note, with the moral of the story being "be careful what you wish for." Gray Alys is very much like a human monkey's paw, and the people who buy from her don't often get what they want — even if it's what they wished for. However, the film offers a more uplifting and hopeful ending, which I asked director Paul W.S. Anderson about.
When changing the story, Anderson explained that while the film has the original short story ending, it also goes further beyond. "I think sometimes what works on the written page, if you have that experience in the movie theater, that's not going to be the best experience." He added that reading the story at home alone and getting to the ending would elicit a very different reaction compared to watching it on screen in a theater, saying, "You don't want to send the audience out unsatisfied."
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