“Chaos Walking” author Patrick Ness on adaptation of novel to film

I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Patrick Ness. He is the author of the Chaos Walking series of novels and short stories. Chaos Walking is a Lionsgate Movies film that will be released on March 5, 2021. Ness and I discussed what it was like to have his first novel, The Knife of Never Letting Go, be adapted to the big screen.

Chaos Walking follows Todd Hewitt (played by Tom Holland) and his new-found friend Viola (played by Daisy Ridley). Viola has crash-landed onto Todd’s planet where all of the women have disappeared. Men are afflicted with the “Noise.” The “Noise” is a force that puts their thoughts on display for everyone around them. Todd has sworn to protect Viola.

Patrick Ness discusses working on Chaos Walking

I asked Patrick Ness where he got his idea of the “Noise.” The premise of this series is nothing like I have ever heard of before. His answer surprised me:

“The premise for this particular place was the idea – even when I wrote it in twenty 07, twenty 08 – was the idea of information overload. That we were suddenly, in an unprecedented way, being pelted with people’s opinions and thoughts constantly. And it really started with just the idea of being in line with somebody and they’re yopping on their phone…and so the question became: as the internet almost obliges us to share parts of ourselves, what if you had no choice in that transaction? What if you had to share?”

Fans of books always want to know: how involved are the authors in the movie making process? Will the movie do the book justice? Patrick Ness is very happy with the way the movie came out, saying that, “The movie is not going to erase the book.”

“I view the film as a remix of the book. It does a different thing. You can like the original track, and you can also like the remix, acknowledging that there’s some changes. And that’s my attitude. Great adaptations always veer. They are always – they are never an exact replica because the movie has to do a different thing… I think fans of the book will be pleased.”

I asked Patrick Ness how he felt when he found out who was starring in the film:

“The casting is hilarious! You never believe anything. But, Daisy [Ridley] was first on. She was really keen to play Viola. Showed me a fantastic letter/note about why she wanted to play Viola. And it was just so smart and so good and I was so happy. Then, Tom [Holland] came aboard and I was familiar with Tom ’cause I had worked with him…then they promptly became stars of the two biggest movie franchises in history. So, that’s a nice bit of luck!”

He went on to talk about how the casting director made “cool choices. And you don’t often get cool. And I am very, very please to have gotten cool.”

You can watch Chaos Walking in select theaters on March 5, 2021.

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