The Vampire Academy film, which was released February this year, was a flop. It had a budget of $30 million but only earned a gross of $15 million. But until today, producers still think that the story, which was based on a popular book series by Richelle Mead, could be a potential box office franchise film.
Reports revealed that the producers were able to secure funds for the sequel that could cost around $8-12 million. However, the film would not materialize without one huge consideration - the go signal and support of the fans. The producers have to make sure that the fans want to see Frostbite, the second book, in big screen.
On Wednesday, they launched Indiegogo campaign that aims to raise $1.5 million from the fans. If this is met, they will push through with the shoot. If not, contributions will be returned.
There is hope and another noteworthy reason why Frostbite should be filmed. Unlike Vampire Academy that is dialogue-heavy, the second book is packed with more romance and action. This makes the book a lot superior and worthy of big screen viewing. Screenwriter Piers Ashworth said, "There was too much exposition (in the first movie)." For the second film, they plan to stick as close as possible to the tone and story of the book. Also, they don't intend to do voiceovers when presenting new characters and new worlds.
As it seems, the second book is worthy of translating into moving pictures. But then again, it is the fans who have a huge say whether we will see the sequel or not. If we ask producer Deepak Nayar, he'll probably say that we have to listen to the 33,000 people who sent letters in support of the sequel. Add to this the book series' 8 million fans who want to see any of the books be made into a film.