The ads for "Red Riding Hood" show Amanda Seyfried dramatically cloaked in a cape, the better to see her in the snowy woods that serve as the backdrop for a story loosely based on the classic fairy tale. But, as the trailers hint, everything is not as it seems.
The movie is also a print novel that was being written even as the filming progressed. It is also a multimedia e-book that leverages the latest technology to enhance the story of a teenage girl torn between two male suitors, one of whom may be a werewolf.
The book debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times children's paperback best-seller list when it was released in late January, serving as a sort of multimedia prequel and pump-primer for the film, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. As an e-book, "Red Riding Hood" includes video interviews with Hardwicke and her collaborators, an animated short film, audio discussion about the set design and props, costume sketches and Hardwicke's hand-drawn maps of where "Red Riding Hood" takes place, among other things.
"I was realizing as we were prepping for the movie that I felt sad for the back stories of these characters. I wanted to know more about those people," Hardwicke said of her decision to transform "Red Riding Hood" into a book.
Hardwicke was inspired by her own success as an author. Her "Twilight: Director's Notebook" was a best-seller when it came out in 2009, four months after the hit film she directed based on the megahit book by Stephenie Meyer.
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