This is one of my all time favourite books, but I don't really see how they could do a film of it. The breaks in the stories wouldn't work in a movie, I don't think. And just done one after another would take away a great part of the book.
The cast at least sounds excellent.

Sheri and Kath, I had a hard time with Cloud Atlas possibly because it was so unlike anything I have ever read before. I spent too much time wondering/trying to figure out where and when the various chapters were set and couldn't decide if the sum of its parts added up to a cohesive whole. But then my feet are so firmly on the ground I never even enjoyed fairy stories as a child.;-)

However many Big Names are in the film I think much of the content will have to be re-worked.
Some scenes are being shot in Glasgow (standing in for San Fransisco) a city better known in the past for razor gangs and deep fried Mars bars. With the final film being shot by three directors the outcome will certainly be interesting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Glasgow - San Fransisco

I saw the movie today and I thought it was brilliantly done. It absolutely helps to have read the book, but the screenwriters managed to pull the overarching themes from each story together in such a way that the hopping back and forth across the stories worked, at least IMO. They did take a few liberties with the ending, but it certainly worked well for the movie.

The movie hops around constantly from one story to another, rather than nesting the stories as they were in the book. Using each actor to play several characters worked very well, too. Some of them were completely unrecognizable. My only complaint was that in some cases the makeup was either not well done, or just plain distracting. But given the remarkable amount of prosthetic makeup used in the movie, I'd still count it impressive.

I saw it with my sister, who hadn't read the book, and she liked it, though she had a hard time understanding the futuristic pidgin English that was used in the Kona story.

Worth seeing, I think, especially if you liked the book.

I had exactly the same issues as Vee while reading the book. I may not go to see the film.

I saw the previews and I didn't have any interest in seeing the movie.
And this from someone who really enjoys quirky, unusual stories.

Here in the UK, the film doesn't actually come out until February 22nd 2013. Sigh.

And then the film companies wonder why people pirate movies.

I had the same issue with Never Let Me Go. It actually came out on DVD in the US significantly before it came out on the big screen in the UK. So I asked a friend of mine who was doing a trip to the US to bring me back a copy of the DVD, and saved myself the price of the cinema tickets - and saw the film a month before it came out in the UK.

I want to see Cloud Atlas a lot. I'll be happy to pay the inflated cinema prices. But if it comes out on DVD in the US earlier than February, I'll do the same again.

I seriously considering seeing it just for the cast alone.