2005 – Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze turn in their first script...
…Which retained the spirit of the original book, whilst making the changes necessary to expand a ten-sentence story into an 111-page screenplay.
Max now has an absent father, an older sister who’s outgrowing him, and a mother who’s too busy to spend time with him. Combined with a difficult school-life, Max’s frustrations cause him to remove himself further and further from reality, until, eventually, he steps into the woods of the Wild Things and becomes their king.
The script is packed with powerful imagery, like the moment when Max falls asleep against a squirming pile of Wild Things; intense set-pieces – two words: tornado wrestling – and parts that are pure Spike Jonze, like the tiny city made out of sticks which has rivers for streets.
When we read the script we thought, if it gets made untouched, it'd make a truly incredible movie. Having seen the trailer, which has so many glimpses at scenes we remember from this early draft, we’re pretty sure Spike’s early vision is totally intact.
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