Hitchhikers Guide Interview

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Buzz, as they say, has been huge for the long-awaited screen version of Douglas Adams' cult novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The book's loyal fanbase has lived through rumour, gossip and a general Doubting Thomas attitude that has made the film widely-debated: the reams of messages on the IMDB noticeboard alone far outstrips the interest caused by any recent major release. On the day of the film's World Premiere in London, the brains behind the project - a fully-realised and hilarious success - spoke to the world's press.

It's been over 25 years since the work first appeared, so it's no surprise that excitement is high. With a protracted production history that has seen several major contenders (notably Austin Powers' director Jay Roach who now retains a producing credit) briefly sit in the director's chair, the eventual adaptation fortunately landed in the hands of British creative outfit Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith, previously best known for their music videos. It's fortunate because the talented duo retain both Adams' unique humour and his very British point of view. Not an easy feat when the creator's untimely death in 2001 threw yet another spanner in the works.

Adams' memory was at the forefront of everyone's mind during production as producer Robbie Stamp explains. 'After Douglas died most particularly I talked to his family and they wanted it to happen, they thought it would be a vindication of all of his work.' When Stamp got the thumbs-up from Adams' ten-year-old daughter after seeing a preview, relief set in.

Director Garth Jennings admits to being wary when the topic was first discussed. 'Initially I thought it was too daunting a task. But once I started thinking about how to design Marvin or do a Vogon poetry scene it became the greatest job in the world', explains the affable 32-year-old, who makes his debut with a cinematic hot potato. Jennings was very much aware of the pressure on him to succeed, but his confidence didn't prevent him from adding his own style to proceedings. 'All the editing had been done by the time we got the script', he says. 'Douglas' draft had just been revised by Karey (KirkPatrick, the film's co-writer). What we did was add more stuff, like the scene where the whale falls out of the sky and has to come to terms with who it is and what's it's doing here. We're still amazed things like that made it to the final version.'