Film Adaptation/Fan Made Trailer

Will There Be A Movie?

Yes. In January 2007, it was announced that a film would be created based on the Maximum Ride series. James Patterson will be the executive producer. Avi Arad, one of the producers of Spider-Man, X-Men and other Marvel movies, will also produce alongside Steven Paul. In an interview with James Patterson, it was revealed that Arad has already planned out the first two movies. On August 7, 2008, it was announced that Columbia Pictures bought the screen rights to the franchise. The film was slated for an early to mid 2010 release. Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) will direct the first movie, with Don Payne (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) writing the script. In January 2010 it was announced that the film will go into pre-production as the film's director Catherine Hardwicke asked for a script rewrite as she wanted more action in the film, delaying the film's release until 2013.

(wikipedia.org)

Above is a fan-made movie trailer to the book. 

Summary

Synopsis 

Max and the Flock—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman (Gazzy), andAngel—are the results of a genetic experiment inflicted upon them from birth that made them recombinant DNA life-forms. Grafted with avian DNA, gifted with wings, and enhanced with the ability to fly, they are on the run from the scientists who made them. They are constantly tracked by lupine-human hybrids (Erasers) designed by the scientists to hunt them down with a childhood acquaintance of the Flock's, the newly-turned Eraser Ari, at their head. When Angel is kidnapped by the Erasers, it is up to the Flock to rescue her. As they embark on their mission, fleeing from Erasers at every point, they are also faced with the question of their origins. Ultimately, an even larger and more important mission emerges for Max alone to face—saving the world itself. They are betrayed by Jeb Batchelder, and in the end they escape with Angel--though not after rescuing another set of hybrids and Max killing Ari.

(http://themaximumride.wikia.com/wiki/The_Angel_Experiment)

Other Characters

A full list of other characters in the book can be found here. 

The Flock - Total

Total

Total is a black Scottie, who joined the Flock after their visit to the Institute of Higher Living. Total seems to know more about recent history than the Flock does; he can identify Brad Pitt in Madame Tussauds, and opines that there were two shooters in the JFK assassination. He is refined, expressing disgust when Max refuses to stop and enjoy the sights of Paris. Total is devoted to Angel at first, gravitating towards Max as the series progresses. Angel never leaves Total behind; in the second book the Flock returned to Anne's house for Total, although it was swarming with Erasers.

(read more here.)

The Flock - Angel

Angel

Angel is the youngest of the flock, a 6-year-old avian-human hybrid ( has a birthday, her seventh, with the rest of the Flock in Fang, but said that she turned seven in Max ). She has curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and white wings that make her look angelic. Despite this, she frustrates the rest of the Flock. Angel "hit the genetic jackpot", developing a variety of powers throughout the series. She is a telepath, and can influence most people to do her will. Angel can breathe underwater, talk to fish, send animals mental messages, and change her appearance at will.

Some characters have been able to block Angel's mind control; in The Angel Experiment, she notices that Jeb is able to block her mind-reading abilities. In Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, she tries to play mind games with Ter Borcht and some Chinese scientists, but tells Max that she can't get into their heads.

(read more here.)

The Flock - Gazzy

Gazzy

Gazzy is an 8-year-old avian-human hybrid ( turns nine in Fang ). His wings resemble a barn owl's in color, and his wingspan is 10 feet (3.0 m). He earned his name because he frequently passes gas. Gazzy is Angel's older brother; they are the only members of the Flock who are blood relatives. When Angel told him that their parents had sold them to the School for $10,000 each he was horrified, complaining for hours that they were "sick jerks". Gazzy has a fear of spiders. His code at the School was F28246eff and while the Flock attends school in Virginia, he is known as Zephyr. Gazzy is skilled in mimicry and ventriloquism. He can pass gas at will, giving off a mushroom cloud of green gas.

(read more here.)

The Flock - Nudge

Nudge

Nudge is an 11-year-old avian-human hybrid ( turns 12 in Fang ). She is fairly tall with curly brown hair, mocha colored skin, and dark-brown eyes. She is partly African American, or so Max says. Nudge is a "motormouth" which Max says repeatedly, the flock calls her the Nudge channel because when she's awake it's all Nudge all the time. Nudge's wings are a tawny russet, similar to those of a hawk. She doesn't like rats. Her real name is Monique; Tiffany-Krystal is her alternate name (she likes it better than her real name) , and her code is N88034gnh.

(read more here.)

The Flock - Iggy

Iggy

Iggy is a 14-year-old avian-human hybrid ( turns 15 in Fang ). He is blind, but has adjusted well. In Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel, Iggy is described as six feet tall and skinny. He has really pale skin, reddish-blonde hair, and light blue eyes. He is sarcastic by nature.

Iggy is blind because the School tried unsuccessfully to enhance his night vision. As a result, his other senses are enhanced; he develops the ability to feel color, and "sees" contours when snow-blind. He can distinguish the Flock members by their footsteps, fingerprints and feathers; they tap his hand to communicate silently. In Fang, he can make out shapes and identify cars from pictures in magazines. He is also described as being a good cook. He loves explosives and is a skilled bomb-maker, usually working with the Gasman to destroy a target.

(read more here.)

The Flock - Fang

Fang

Fang is a 14-year-old avian-human hybrid (turns 15 in Fang), and second-in-command of the Flock. He is tall, with olive skin, dark eyes and black hair. Fang has black feathers, and a wingspan of 14 feet (4.3 m). He is generally quiet, rarely showing his emotions (the "strong and silent type"). Fang has the ability to seemingly "disappear" by blending in with dark backgrounds as long as he stays quiet and makes no sudden movements. His perfect face and perfect body help Max to fall in love with him. (This happens in Max)

Fang has no romantic feelings for Max but they kiss a couple of times which makes Max confused. Max keeps pushing Fang away but he never gives up on her. Finally Max kisses Fang before she goes under water to ave Dr. Martinez but it is not romantically intended, she is a sister to him. Fang's mother was a teenager, who was told he had died when he was taken... 

(read more here.)

The Flock - Max

Maximum "Max" Ride

Maximum "Max" Ride is a title character and the main protagonist of the series. She is a 14-year-old (15 in Fang) avian-human hybrid and the leader of the Flock. Max is described as a tomboy, with a witty and sarcastic attitude but with a soft side. She has brown hair with blond streaks and brown eyes. Some fans think it might be because Angel and Gazzy already have blonde hair yet only Nudge has brown hair. On Fang's blog, it described her hair as darker than blonde but lighter than brunette. Max has an ability to fly "faster than the speed of light". Max is five feet and eight inches tall and weighs 98 pounds as described in The Final Warning, Max has a 14 foot wingspan. In MAX Max has an affair with Fang in the desert after talking to him about Nudge wanting to cut her wings off, she holds her fear and stays. Later the Flock meets Dylan who, according to Dr. Gunther-Hagen, is Max's "perfect other half". Max begins to feel an attraction for Dylan. In Angel she and Dylan grow closer, confusing her feelings about Fang who begins to grow closer with Maya, who is essentially Max's clone.

Max is one of the two members of the Flock who found her parents; Iggy is the other. Yet she is the only one to love her parents, Iggy leaving his after only a week or so. She was stunned when she learned that Jeb Batchelder (a "white coat" who helped them escape from the school and then raised them) is her father. Dr. Valencia Martinez is her biological mother. Max trusts Dr. Martinez completely, but remains wary of Jeb. She is also close to her half-sister, Dr. Martinez' daughter Ella. Max first meets Ella while trying to save her from some bullies. Max dislikes and somewhat likes Ari (Jeb's son), with whom she is constantly fighting until he joins her "mini-flock" that was created in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports for a short time after rescuing them from the School. A short while after Ari is rescued from the School, he expires ("white coat" word for died). After Ari's "death" the two mini-flocks created by Max and Fang come back together. Max has a Voice in her head, which gives her cryptic messages that she sometimes disregards. She initially feared that it was an enemy inside her, or someone from the School tracking the Flock. At one point Max believes the Voice to be Jeb Batchelder's; she is later disappointed when he assures her he is not the voice, but he can be. In Nevermore, it is revealed that Angel is Max's voice.

In Angel, Max lets Dylan replace Fang. She was angry that Fang replaced her with her clone, and she figured out the clone's name was Maya. Also Fang created a new "flock" with all kinds of new talents. This deeply pains Max. There is also the doomsday group. They put a strange spell-like hypnosis on people so they act like zombies and believe in nothing but the "One Light". So, Max's flock and Fang's flock are forced to work together. Max and Fang fight almost nonstop, so this plan was not a success. In the end, Angel goes missing after a huge explosion. Max can fly incredibly fast, hitting speeds over 300 miles per hour, unlike any other member of the Flock. And in MAX, it turns out she has gills like Angel. Her bird DNA is from a hawk, as confirmed in the excerpt from Nevermore, found in the Deluxe paperback of ANGEL

(read more here.)

Maximum Ride

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment  

 

                                                                                 The first edition United States cover

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is the first book in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. The book was released in the US on April 11, 2005 and in the UK on July 4, 2005. The book is set in the near future and centers around the 'flock', a group of human-avian hybrids (98% human, 2% bird) on the run from the scientists who created them. It focuses on Maximum Ride (Max), the leader of the 'flock', and the first-person narrator of the story.