Madeleine McCann: Not A Film, A Book And The McCanns Making Money
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “Madeleine’s parents planning Hollywood blockbuster movie”
“Kate and Gerry sparked outrage after it was revealed they have held negotiations with leading producers over the movie rights. The couple – who are prime suspects in the case – are also considering book and TV deals in a package worth an estimated £10million”
A book? Like the Daily Express book? That sick..?
Kate McCann: Michelle Pfeiffer
Gerry McCann: James Caan
Madeleine McCann: Macaulay Culkin
And what of this £10million, and the money earned from any film? “The windfall would help finance the search for Madeleine after concerns were raised that a special fund set up by the family was in crisis”
Page 5: The Find Madeleine fund is down to its last £400,000. More money is needed. So why the “outrage”?
Says the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell: “We need money to search for Madeleine and that is the most important thing. Nothing has been decided yet. A film would be made on a percentage basis, with part of the profits going to the fund. None of the money would go to Kate and Gerry. They are not trying in any way to profit out of her name’’
And how many films ever make a profit? It would be a film, perhaps, like that about 15-year-old Amy Smart, abducted in the US and found eight months later. “Several movies were made about her while she was missing including The Amy Smart Story”
The “WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPER” does not say if the Amy Smart story made any money. But it does trawl the web and see blog comments like:
“Angry” Pamela Blears, from Oldham, posts: “From the day little Madeleine disappeared I have felt sympathy and compassion for the McCanns but this beggers belief. How can they think about making a film out of the tragedy when the poor child hasn’t even been found yet? How low can you get?”
The Daily Express costs “ONLY 40p”
“McCANNS FEAR CHARGES SOON” – “A source close to the family” tells us: “Kate and Gerry insist they are innocent but they fear they will be charged. Naturally Kate and Gerry are concerned that if this line of inquiry continues to its natural conclusion, charges are always a possibility and they know that’s entirely wrong”
He added: “The Portuguese police seem to be blinkered in their approach and it feels like they want to find the McCanns guilty regardless.”
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE: THE £10M MOVIE – Skint parent to sell film rights”
Skint? The Find Madeleine Fund is dwindling, down to its last “£200,000”. But Gerry McCann is going back to work. He is, as the tabloids never tire to telling us, “a heart consultant”. She is a “GP”
Says the Star: “The couple – who are prime suspects – are in negotiations with the world’s biggest talent and entertainment agency IMG”
IMG – International Management Group– has produced the films Touching the Void, Assault on Waco, Seconds from Disaster, I Shouldn’t be Alive and Kevin and Perry Go Large. Naomi Campbell is on the books
Any film would be an “observational documentary following the on-going search for Madeleine,” says IMG
Pages 4 and5: “Thousands blast ‘sick’ plan”
A poll: “WOULD YOU GO AND WATCH MADDIE: THE MOVIE?” Yes? No? Or I’ve already seen tonight With Trevor McDonald, thanks?
“Ester out in crisis” – TV presenter Esther McVey has resigned her post as a director of the Find Madeleine fund
DAILY MAIL front page: “MADDIE’S PARENTS PLAN £2M FILM DEAL”
“Kate and Gerry McCann could make £2million from a film deal over the story of their daughter’s disappearance, it has been claimed”
Not £10m? Such are the perils of showbiz?
Says the paper: “So far the McCanns, both 39, have turned down offers from big-name chat shows and television dramas as they were anxious to avoid being seen as celebrities”
But we watching the parents. So why not make profit, if it will help?
“Disgraced banker Nick Leeson earned a reported £450,000 when he sold the rights to his autobiography, Rogue Trader. Offers to Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch were said to have topped £1million”
And: “But Gerry McCann was quick to deny the story”
COMMENT: “Maddie the movie: One step too far – Ever since their daughter Madeleine disappeared, Kate and Gerry McCann have ridden a wave of public sympathy. True, there are some (including the Portuguese police) who have aired deeply hurtful suspicions about the couple since that terrible evening in May. But the overwhelming public mood - particularly among parents of young children - has been one of compassion. Today, however, the McCanns risk losing much of that goodwill. Incredibly, it emerges that they are discussing a possible multi-million pound deal to turn Madeleine’s disappearance into a film. To be blunt, isn’t this pushing the boundaries of taste too far?”
But it is already the subject of a media circus. So why not a DVD – we’ve had the T-shirt, the song, the billboards and the trailers..?
ALISON PEARSON writes in her column: “What CAN Kate and Gerry be thinking? Critics who have never forgiven Gerry and Kate for leaving their kids alone in their holiday apartment will be confirmed in their view that the couple have truly terrible judgment. They will be accused of bad taste; of lacking respect for Madeleine’s memory. Kate will be charged with wanting to swan down the red carpet, even though in this case it is sorrow, not vanity, that has reduced her to a Hollywood Size Zero”
How did it become a story about Kate McCann’s looks?
DAILY MIRROR front page: “Maddy THE Movie”
The McCanns also met with ITV about making a documentary. Maddy A Movie…
THE SUN front page: “Maddie hunt ‘to be film’”
Page 9: “ They pary that movie will help find Maddie”
Gerry McCann is a “cardiac specialist”. The McCanns are “doctors”
“IS THIS THE RIGHT DECISION?”
“YES,” says Lorraine Kelly, GMTV presenter.
“NO,” says the Sun’s Jon ‘Guanty’ Gaunt - “I guess the title of the McCann’s proposed film has to be Home Alone”. Or not…
THE GUARDIAN: “McCanns deny reports of Madeleine film”
Writes Gerry McCann on his blog: “We can categorically deny that we are considering a movie about Madeleine’s disappearance. This is simply untrue. We are approached by a huge number of media outlets regarding a myriad of projects, only a tiny proportion of which we agree to. Each proposal is considered on whether it is likely to have a positive effect, either directly or indirectly, on the search for Madeleine”
ON the Guardian website: “Madeleine’s parents consider film - The parents of Madeleine McCann are considering giving the go-ahead to a film about their missing daughter following an approach by a major entertainment firm”
THE TIMES page 3: “Parents may turn Madeleine McCann story into a Hollywood movie”
“On-screen child horror stories:
A Cry In The Dark
Gone Baby Gone
Honour Thy Father And Mother: the True story of the Menendez Brothers
Menenedez: A Killing in Beverly Hills, 1994
The Amityville Horror series
Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure”
Says Clarence Mitchell: The media are making money out of the situation themselves and we feel it is only fair and right that some aspect of that should come to the fund to help find Madeleine”
DAILY TELGRAPH: “McCanns in talks to make a film about AMdldine’s disappearance”
“Do you think a Madeleine film should be made”
Well, we;’ve had the sop opera, and who wants to watch EastEnders: The Movie?
THE SCOTSMAN: “McCanns eye Madeleine film”
BOSTON HERALD: “Missing Madeleine story could become feature film”
The speculation, media hype and sensation so far
Posted: 9th, January 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,585) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
January 9th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
633 Ian
I am not in a good mood today so I am doing some plain-speaking. Hideki went on and on about the ice-cream cones, the ice-cream on M’s face et etc. How can you be so dishonest as to say you didn’t know anything about it?
January 9th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
644 Carman
“….learn the difference between attacking the argument and attacker the poster.”
This morning i made an obvious personal attack on the poster coolandcalm simply because i don’t like her/him/it and in doing so maybe i was wrong. The strange thing was that when she replied she accused me of attacking her argument which to be honest i hadn’t noticed.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
643
Matt. Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
637…chenier
The new names on the Board will let us know who the other
deserters were.
If any new ones are actually co-opted, that is.
Wonder why the meeting is at Dr G P’s…..surely they can afford an
office somewhere.
And him being present suggests the Agenda is certainly not about Film-making.
——————————————————–
It is distinctly odd that a company should hold a meeting of the directors in the home of someone who isn’t even a director of the company.
Yet another oddity which has been slid over by the media …
January 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
635 rockhopper:
“Why have have you not appealed the application citing the ‘98 convention?”
REPLY: Anyone can go to a Magistrate at any time and ask for a summons to be issued if:
a) they have evidence of a crime being committed and
b) they know who the perpetrator is.
I think the better route than appealing would be to take a top barrister’s opinion on both the jurisdiction point and on the evidence. If I get support from others, that would be my main recommendation for further action on the child neglect issue, which I hope IS tried either in Portugal or here.
A fresh application for a summons can be made at any time. There is no time limit
January 9th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
570 Carmen
The Mods and Admin line is disgusting - although it is repeating what another poster said, Im sure that would not be a defence.
Yes - we are childish and petty - sometimes we are bullied into being like that (Will surreptitiously threatening me, for example) but the line posted by mods and admin in 570 is in a different league.
—————————-
Mods and Admin
Ian, it was there all the time in Hideki’s posts, why didn’t you complain then?
January 9th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
641
Logic Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
599 Rockhopper
It is only necessary to google the name and loads of info comes up. It is quite clear that the pair were found guilty of murder and received life sentences. They were actually accused of conspiracy to murder with others and also of murder.
I can take a horse to water but I cannot make it drink. If you will not be wrong, you will not be wrong. Preserve your ignorance at all costs!!
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What is the point of your last para???
As I said I googled it, I only found what I previously posted, I’m quite willing to read and accept what you insist to be correct, if it’s there wouldn’t it have been more productive to use your last para to give me a link rather than attack me? Or did you have to write the last para because you can’t give me a link?
January 9th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
648
Anonymous Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Where has all the money gone?
………………..
wouldnt be surprised if its paid there mortgage off ???? bastards :mad
January 9th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
640
jo Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
637
chenier Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
*********
proper lifeboats or pateras???? a marruecos!
—————————————
Frankly, I think they’d settle for a ride on the back of the rats fleeing the ship…
But I must admit ignorance of the second part of your post
January 9th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
596 Matt. Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
588…Totje
You think that Mr Payne might agree to take Mr Murat’s part if a Film
is ever comtemplated?
*****
Only if he agrees to wear a wig and buy more fashionable glasses.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
June J
I am not afraid to say that I thought Hideki was disgusting. I am surprised though that you took so long to kick them out. They were obviously well educated in the way they wrote but inevitably nearly every post ended up describing some sort of paedophilia & often graphically.
I ignored not wishing to endure an attack. Some may call that cowardly. Probably true. But I don’t have the need to want to involve myself with that.
I for one am glad that ‘he’ has gone & also mildly relieved that he is not a she.
————————
Mods and Admin
He was kicked out fairly quickly , but had access to other computers with different IP’s
We are almost certain it was a ‘he’, agree hope it was.
Its possible it wasn’t just one poster though, although the style and user name were the same.
But reading the posts in detail was gut churning, even though others claimed to ‘miss’ him as a good ‘miss’too.
I wasn’t actually intending offence at posting what he said, just to shock people into awareness, which I think is what reasonable people realised
January 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
592 Karen “To think I missed Hideki.”
******
Weeks ago I got suspicious about motives. Attacked [I admit because of lack of time not very diplomatic formulated]. Since then skipped his/her posts, so I’ve missed it too. Glad too!
Couple of days ago I said I use to like to read his/her posts [or something similar].
I regret I wrote that. I wholehartedley agree with agw’s and other mods/admin comments and decision about this poster/subject.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
599 Rockhopper
Furthermore, why keep making up statements about legal principle when you know nothing about it? You stated that the killing took place in India which meant that no-one in this country could be guilty of murder. Please, please!! If someone orders a murder, they are guilty of it whether they pull the trigger or not. That is an elementary point.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
644 Carmen
Will you please remove the post by junejohnson which is far more serious than my petty debating.
Remember that judges, like doctors, should be beyond reporach.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
644
Carmen Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
MODS AND ADMIN
……………………
thats told you then ian you naughty boy
January 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Where has all the money gone?
We do not know how much was donated, by well-meaning people, to find a little girl, now suspected to have been dead; dead possibly before the funds were opened. Perhaps £1.5million was donated, perhaps more.
We do not know how much is left, perhaps £400 000, perhaps less.
But if we say a million pounds has evaporated over eight months, we would not be far wrong.
That’s £125 000 each and every month, gone in a puff of smoke.
Gone where, on what, for whom?
Serious Fraud Office, pick up the phone, please.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
641
Logic Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
599 Rockhopper
It is only necessary to google the name and loads of info comes up. It is quite clear that the pair were found guilty of murder and received life sentences. They were actually accused of conspiracy to murder with others and also of murder.
I can take a horse to water but I cannot make it drink. If you will not be wrong, you will not be wrong. Preserve your ignorance at all costs!!
——————————————————————————————————-
What is the point of your last para???
January 9th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
637 chenier
I agree
Will there be enough lifeboats or - like the Titanic - only enough for the first class.
Richard, Gordon and Comical Clarrie.
IMO
January 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
597
PeterMac Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
And, No, I am not on the square, though I was invited several times.
————————————————
I can recall my first boss telling me that, whilst it was a very unusual job for a woman, I had one wonderful advantage; a total absence of funny handshakes…
January 9th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
637…chenier
The new names on the Board will let us know who the other
deserters were.
If any new ones are actually co-opted, that is.
Wonder why the meeting is at Dr G P’s…..surely they can afford an
office somewhere.
And him being present suggests the Agenda is certainly not about Film-making.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
639
RedRooster Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
**********************
and a few handful of rotting seafish paella…..
Bye…must go to f….work.NOW
January 9th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
599 Rockhopper
It is only necessary to google the name and loads of info comes up. It is quite clear that the pair were found guilty of murder and received life sentences. They were actually accused of conspiracy to murder with others and also of murder.
I can take a horse to water but I cannot make it drink. If you will not be wrong, you will not be wrong. Preserve your ignorance at all costs!!
January 9th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
637
chenier Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
*********
proper lifeboats or pateras???? a marruecos!
January 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
635
jo Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
###
the sooner the better - id love to be there when it happens with a handful of rotton tomatoes
January 9th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
580 Fair Says:
to
556 June J
“Perhaps you could put that message up every few hours for anyone just arriving that hasn’t already seen it?? Just a suggestion?”
*********
And perhaps you could “hand” the yellow card in a new post, instead of adding it to the post that caused it? As it seems typing/sending a new post and reading mods comment to the old post could overlap eachother in “the heat of the fight”?
Thanks btw!
———–
Mods and Admin
We aren’t always here to do that,and most scroll back, and those who have posted in an inflammatory way do scroll back to see their effect. It isn’t only fights we have to stop, there are other more dangerous aspects which need intervening with as soon as we see them.
If we had about 8 or 9 mods we could, but there are just 3 parttime…..
January 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
629
Matt. Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
620…chenier
So…take out M3 and an even bigger hole appears.
Leaves about £823,629.31…give or take a penny.
—————————————-
I do consider that potential misuse of funds, together with the PJ showing no signs of throwing the towel away, to be the most likely explanation for the directors trampling each other to death in the rush for the lifeboats…
January 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
630 Junejohnson
I never said that hideki was amusing and never read any posts like that or Id have complained immediately.
I regret that you chose to repeat such a disgusting line - as Karen said - evoking a vision in ones head that one certainly does not want!
I know Mods and Admin are empowered to kick the asses of posters like myself who have childish spats with equally childish (and sinister - e.g. boxers using their physical ‘presence’ in an attempt to intimidate) posters. But repeating that line was as unpleasant as you could have been.
_______________________
Mods and Admin
As you have said earlier you skim over, its always been there in Hideki’s posts and you CHOSE TO IGNORE IT, so ignore mine or complain fairly. Don’t move goalposts Ian, we have enough to do on here from childish outbreaks to serious libellous posts and disgusting posters such as Hideki.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
628
RedRooster Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
lets hope gerry kate and pinky fall down it
*************************
they surely are doing their best!!!!!
January 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
577
Tony Bennett Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
411 (ws 409) rockhopper says (January 9th, 2008 at 1:44 pm):
“I”ve found it difficult at times to understand TB’s motives, especially his trying to bring the neglect action, I have no legal training at all, yet instantly thought the action was doomed because if any crime had taken place it happenned outside the UK and therefore would be beyond the UK courts jurisdiction. I wonder what the motive was for bringing the action? (TB by all means enlighten me)”
REPLY:
1. I thought that a crime (child neglect) had been committed and I observed that the authorities were doing nothing about it. The McCanns’ own admissions in writing (’we left the kids on their own in the evening six nights in a row) was IMO suffiicient evidence of a crime under the 1933 Act
2. The 1998 Hague Convention, which came into effect on 1 January 2002, explicitly states that child protection issues will be dealt with in the country of residence, i.e. where the parents normally reside, not where the child neglect actually occurs (if abroad)
3. When I began taking a really serious interest in this case (September) I had to make up my mind whether this was:
a) a genuine abduction, as claimd, OR
b) one of the most brazen hoaxes ever conducted, and that the parents at the very minimum know what had really happened to Madeleine.
I could see no other realistic possibility.
Eventually I decided it must be (b) and felt I had to do something about the situation.
I first realised there was a McCann-sceptic public out there when I happened almost by chance to stumble on ‘Anorak’ last September. I post in my own name and if anyone is bothered they can chart the development of my ideas on the case on this forum.
I have been accused of writing a book on Madeleine (not true), wanting to make money out of the case (not true) and of seeking publcity and being vindictive and cruel to the McCanns (for others to judge)
————————————————————————————————————-
1 I totally agree, leaving children alone is wrong, my ex did it alot (when they were 4 & 6), I have sat 50yds away from their house for hours to try and ensure their safety while she was out. All parents who behave in this neglectful manner should be prosecuted. IMO and experience Social Services are worse than fucking useless in these situations
2 If you are correct, I bow to your superior knowledge.
3 I concurr, B it is (IMO)
Re no 2. Why have have you not appealed the application citing the ‘98 convention?
January 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
619 Logic
I didnt see Hideki posting things like that, but then I dont tend to read the longer posts, just skim them.
However, I now know what Hideki said because Mods and Admin JuneJohnson kindly said it again!
January 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
627
Ian Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
###
oh right ok then if thats whats they said, who am i to question king gerry???