# The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
**The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising** is a 2007 American fantasy adventure film directed by David L. Cunningham, adapted from [Susan Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-cooper)'s 1973 novel *The Dark Is Rising*, the second book in her five-book sequence of the same name.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64463-THE-SEEKER--THE-DARK-IS-RISING?cxt=filmography) It follows Will Stanton ([Alexander Ludwig](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-ludwig)), a boy who learns he is the last of the Old Ones, immortal warriors who fight the forces of the Dark, and must find the signs hidden through the ages to restore the balance between Light and Dark.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising) The film was a critical and commercial failure, and commentators have credited it with ending screen adaptations of the rest of Cooper's sequence.[3](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/author-terry-pratchett-film/687253/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Based on the novel *The Dark Is Rising* by Susan Cooper (New York, 1973), the second of five books in the sequence[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64463-THE-SEEKER--THE-DARK-IS-RISING?cxt=filmography) |
| Release | October 5, 2007, wide, by 20th Century Fox; 99 minutes; rated PG for fantasy action and some scary images[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Seeker-The-Dark-is-Rising-The-%282007%29) |
| Key crew | Director David L. Cunningham; screenwriter John Hodge; producer Marc Platt; music Christophe Beck[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64463-THE-SEEKER--THE-DARK-IS-RISING?cxt=filmography) |
| Principal cast | Alexander Ludwig (Will Stanton), Ian McShane (Merriman Lyon), Christopher Eccleston (The Rider), Frances Conroy (Miss Greythorne), Amelia Warner (Maggie Barnes)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64463-THE-SEEKER--THE-DARK-IS-RISING?cxt=filmography) |
| Box office | $8,794,452 domestic, $23,058,167 international, $31,852,619 worldwide, against a $45,000,000 production budget[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Seeker-The-Dark-is-Rising-The-%282007%29) |
| Critical reception | 13% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 92 reviews; Metascore 38 (generally unfavorable) on Metacritic[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) |
| Filming | Produced at Media Pro Studios in Bucharest, Romania, with sets and locations there standing in for an English hamlet[6](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/20418-the-dark-is-rising-set-visit-preview) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
In the film, Will Stanton's family moves from the United States to England, where Will feels out of place until he discovers he is the last in a line of warriors known as the Old Ones, who protect the world from the forces of the Dark.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising) As the Seeker, he uses special powers, including time travel, to find the signs hidden throughout the ages and restore the balance between Light and Dark, opposed by the black-caped Rider ([Christopher Eccleston](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-eccleston)).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/2007/10/05/the-seeker-pg-98-minutes/d97de1b2-4452-446f-a343-49ecbb9acbe1/) The Washington Post's review describes him retrieving six signs that will help good triumph over evil.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/2007/10/05/the-seeker-pg-98-minutes/d97de1b2-4452-446f-a343-49ecbb9acbe1/)
## Production
The film was the first release of Fox Walden, a company formed by [Walden Media](https://www.edgepedia.org/walden-media) and 20th Century Fox, and was shot at Media Pro Studios in [Bucharest](https://www.edgepedia.org/bucharest), Romania.[6](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/20418-the-dark-is-rising-set-visit-preview) Producer Marc Platt and the new company chose *The Dark Is Rising*, Cooper's second book in the series, as the first film because it also works as an introduction to the concepts and characters of the sequence.[6](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/20418-the-dark-is-rising-set-visit-preview) The screenplay was by John Hodge, known for his work with [Danny Boyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-boyle) on *Trainspotting* and *The Beach*.[6](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/20418-the-dark-is-rising-set-visit-preview)
**Visual effects.** Although the film relies on visual effects in many sequences, the shot count was about 350, including wire removals, which overall visual effects supervisor Jamie Price called low by modern standards. The work was split among nine different vendors to take advantage of each vendor's specialties on a fairly modest budget.[8](https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/vfx-venturing-seeker-dark-rising) Cunningham, who came from a documentary background, covered scenes with multiple cameras and framed effects shots so they would not draw attention as effects, which meant the effects team could not use previsualization except for a handful of tricky shots and had to wait for a first cut to know which takes would be used.[8](https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/vfx-venturing-seeker-dark-rising) One of the largest effects centered on the Rider's power to command a flock of supernatural rooks, including a scene in which the flock explodes into a wall of water that floods a mansion.[8](https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/vfx-venturing-seeker-dark-rising)
## Departures from the novel
The adaptation took liberties that drew sustained criticism from fans and reviewers. Alexander Ludwig, who played Will, said in a promotional interview that he avoided reading the books because of the drastic differences between the screenplay and the novel, giving as an example that Will is eleven in the book and fourteen in the film.[9](https://www.cinema.com/articles/5233/seeker-the-dark-is-rising-the-alexander-ludwig-interview.phtml) The Guardian's film blog noted that the makers changed the nationality of the hero and his family to American, retitled the film *[The Seeker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-seeker-film)* for release outside the United States, excised much of the back story of the town and its inhabitants, and reduced the original narrative to what the reviewer called a find-the-treasures video game.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2007/oct/09/thedarkisrisingsoavoidit) Reviewers also noted that the Arthurian legend and British folklore underpinning the book's magic were stripped out,[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) and that the role of main antagonist was given to the Rider, while Maggie Barnes, a side character with a minimal role in the book, was instead a character whom the Rider targets.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising) • [13](https://childrenandmedia.org.au/movie-reviews/movies/seeker-the-dark-is-rising-the)
Cunningham defended the adaptation in interviews, saying that any book adaptation is difficult, especially Cooper's layered and rich work, and that his hope was to make a film that honors the spirit of what she had done.[11](https://cinema.com/articles/5235/seeker-the-dark-is-rising-the-david-l-cunningham-director-interview.phtml)
## Reception
The film opened fifth at the domestic box office on the weekend of October 5, 2007, with $3,745,315, about 42.6% of its eventual $8,794,452 domestic gross, and played in 3,141 theaters at its opening.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Seeker-The-Dark-is-Rising-The-%282007%29) Worldwide receipts of $31,852,619 reached only 0.7 times the $45,000,000 production budget.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Seeker-The-Dark-is-Rising-The-%282007%29) Estimated domestic DVD sales added $11,004,550 after the March 18, 2008 video release.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Seeker-The-Dark-is-Rising-The-%282007%29)
Critics were largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 13% Tomatometer from 92 reviews, with the critics consensus reading, "The magic of the book is lost in translation with *The Seeker*, due to its clumsy plot and lack of heart."[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 38, generally unfavorable, based on 21 critic reviews.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) Variety called it a slick, good-looking, cluttered picture that would not please fans of Cooper's original sequence, aimed squarely at tweens,[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) and The New York Times found it passé and lacking a charismatic lead.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) Some reviews were warmer: the Baltimore Sun praised the sets and locations built in Bucharest and Ludwig's performance,[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/) and The Washington Post judged the film different and well-enough made to engage children 8 and older and perhaps send them to the original books.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/2007/10/05/the-seeker-pg-98-minutes/d97de1b2-4452-446f-a343-49ecbb9acbe1/)
## Aftermath
The film's failure is widely treated as having foreclosed further adaptations of Cooper's sequence. A 2026 Atlantic essay on [Terry Pratchett](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-pratchett)'s unfilmed works describes *The Seeker* as the ham-fisted movie version of Cooper's novel that killed the idea of adapting the rest of her five-novel fantasy series.[3](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/author-terry-pratchett-film/687253/) Susan Cooper herself wrote an unproduced screenplay based on her own novel, held in her archival fonds at the Toronto Public Library.[12](https://tpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/164/2025/09/susan-cooper-fonds-updated-may-2014.pdf)
## References
1. [The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64463-THE-SEEKER--THE-DARK-IS-RISING?cxt=filmography)
2. [The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seeker_the_dark_is_rising)
3. [I Am Begging You to Read Terry Pratchett, The Atlantic (2026)](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/author-terry-pratchett-film/687253/)
4. [The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Seeker-The-Dark-is-Rising-The-%282007%29)
5. [The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-seeker-the-dark-is-rising/)
6. [The Dark is Rising Set Visit Preview, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/20418-the-dark-is-rising-set-visit-preview)
7. [The Seeker (PG, 98 minutes), The Washington Post (2007)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/2007/10/05/the-seeker-pg-98-minutes/d97de1b2-4452-446f-a343-49ecbb9acbe1/)
8. [VFX Venturing into 'The Seeker: Dark is Rising', Animation World Network (2007)](https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/vfx-venturing-seeker-dark-rising)
9. [Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, The: Alexander Ludwig Interview, Cinema.com](https://www.cinema.com/articles/5233/seeker-the-dark-is-rising-the-alexander-ludwig-interview.phtml)
10. [The Dark is Rising, so avoid it if you can, The Guardian (2007)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2007/oct/09/thedarkisrisingsoavoidit)
11. [Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, The: David L. Cunningham Director Interview, Cinema.com](https://cinema.com/articles/5235/seeker-the-dark-is-rising-the-david-l-cunningham-director-interview.phtml)
12. [Susan Cooper Fonds, Toronto Public Library](https://tpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/164/2025/09/susan-cooper-fonds-updated-may-2014.pdf)
13. [Movie review of Seeker: The Dark is Rising, The - Children and Media Australia](https://childrenandmedia.org.au/movie-reviews/movies/seeker-the-dark-is-rising-the)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 2000s › Fantasy films of the 2000s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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