Actress Zooey Deschanel recently talked about her role in 2005's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, and expressed an interest in making a follow-up. The 2005 adaptation of Douglas Adams' 1979 novel was the culmination of years of growth in the history of the bizarre, sci-fi comedy franchise. Adams had already adapted the book from a 1978 radio series, and would go onto adapt the property into a 1981 television series, a stage show, a video game, a comic book, and countless other mediums, in addition to four more novels to round out the series to a self-coined 'pentalogy'. Needless to say, the fact that all of this media was able to produce a concise, sub-two-hour film at all is impressive.
However, the process to make said film proved more complicated than ever, ranging from future stars like Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell and Zooey Deschanel. Though the film would receive mixed reviews, enough Adams diehards enjoyed the film enough to cement its status as a cult classic.
Now, in an interview with The Guardian, Deschanel addresses her role in Hitchhiker's Guide, and entertains the possibility of a return to the character of Trillian. Deschanel speaks fondly of both the role and the actors she worked with, and says she would have enjoyed potentially doing a follow-up. Also in the interview, Deschanel expresses sadness at the fact that Adams died before being able to see the film, in addition to revealing that Trillian would have been confirmed as part-alien, as she was in the books, if not for the scene featuring the revelation being cut. Read the full excerpt below:
"I did [enjoy playing Trillian], but the character was supposed to be part-alien and for some reason they cut that out. As an actor, I was heartbroken, but I loved the movie and the people. Douglas Adams ed away before his time, which was so sad. He never saw the finished movie, but people from his camp made sure it stayed true to his vision. I would have loved to have made more."
Deschanel expressing fondness for the role is surprising, considering the massive strides her career took afterwards, including a memorable starring role in the fan-favorite FOX sitcom New Girl. Ultimately, though, the lack of a sequel in 17 years is due more to the Hitchhiker's Guide movie's mediocre box office performance, making only $51 million domestically and eventually being trounced by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith only three weeks later. So while actors like Deschanel, Freeman and Rockwell have contemporarily praised the film's production, any plans to adapt the book's sequel A Restaurant at the End of the Universe, have stayed grounded.
And yet the current climate for sci-fi projects could allow for a Hitchhiker's Guide continuation or revival of some sort. Spinoffs and prequels to projects like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings have been gaining interest as they approach, and studios have found success by adapting the work of Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick and, ultimately, Frank Herbert, with Dune becoming a huge hit in 2021. At the same time, actors like Deschanel, Bey, Freeman and Rockwell are all in decent places career-wise, and would all jump at the chance to return to their Hitchhiker's Guide characters. If anything, this Deschanel interview gives hope to the fans who feared it'd be another 42 years before seeing a sequel to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on screen.
Source: The Guardian
