This may come as a bit of a shock to those of you who see me as a font of all things hip, trendy, and fashionable, but I have a confession to make. Growing up, I was, and still am, a science fiction fan.
I know, I spent a good part of my childhood literally consuming the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, HG Wells, Jules Verne, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, and of course, Isaac Asimov.
In Junior High I read just about all of the Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, a sweeping epic about the collapse of a mighty Galactic Empire, and a small community dedicated to building a new civilization from the ashes of the old.
I just read a piece that announced that a Hollywood studio was going to make a movie from Foundation, which piqued my interest, then I realized that they were going to screw it all up as usual.
The word is that Roland Emmerich, Hollywood's master of overwrought bombast will helm the movie version of Foundation.
If you listen carefully, you can hear Asimov spinning in his grave.
Now Foundation is a tricky thing to adapt. First, it's not just one book, it's a series of novels, the first ones are collections of stories illustrating episodes in Asimov's future-history, without a single character to portray as the "star" except for Hari Seldon, who, not counting the prequels, is an old man in a wheelchair and an intellectual, not an Emmerich style action hero.
As a director Emmerich is more interested in overblown special effects than telling a coherent story, which is why he's been doing so many disaster movies lately. His solution to creative problems is to bring in a bigger tidal wave.
Now it is possible to adapt Foundation, I think that it can be done. However, I do believe that its episodic structure and constantly shifting cast of characters means that a satisfying big-screen feature film is most likely an impossibility.
I've always viewed Foundation as a limited run television series like I, Claudius, where a top notch, but relatively unknown cast brings to life a compelling story, that despite what Hollywood may think, does have enough action and suspense, and doesn't need any big tidal waves. With today's technology, it could even be done pretty cheaply if you don't blow it on stars that can't carry the weight of the project. Then you'll have fans buying the DVD box-set, watching the reruns on cable, and generally keeping it a perennial favourite that will keep it a money-earner well into the future. And then there's the merchandising, I know that may sound crass, but geeks will buy merch that they feel honours the original instead of mangling it.
This is Asimov's I, Robot, all over again. What was a fascinating and compelling drama about the nature of machines and humanity, transformed into just another over-loud, gun-blasting action fest that although profitable, was pretty much forgotten within 15 minutes of the film's release.
Now I'm having nightmares of Will Smith, or Tom Cruise as a gun toting Hari Seldon, blasting bad guys left and right while tossing off catch-phrases designed to sound cool to a 12 year old.
Please Hollywood, step back from the book. For your own good, please step back from the book.
What do you readers think of this revolting development, and how would you adapt Foundation, and with whom?
I know, I spent a good part of my childhood literally consuming the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, HG Wells, Jules Verne, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, and of course, Isaac Asimov.
In Junior High I read just about all of the Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, a sweeping epic about the collapse of a mighty Galactic Empire, and a small community dedicated to building a new civilization from the ashes of the old.
I just read a piece that announced that a Hollywood studio was going to make a movie from Foundation, which piqued my interest, then I realized that they were going to screw it all up as usual.
The word is that Roland Emmerich, Hollywood's master of overwrought bombast will helm the movie version of Foundation.
If you listen carefully, you can hear Asimov spinning in his grave.
Now Foundation is a tricky thing to adapt. First, it's not just one book, it's a series of novels, the first ones are collections of stories illustrating episodes in Asimov's future-history, without a single character to portray as the "star" except for Hari Seldon, who, not counting the prequels, is an old man in a wheelchair and an intellectual, not an Emmerich style action hero.
As a director Emmerich is more interested in overblown special effects than telling a coherent story, which is why he's been doing so many disaster movies lately. His solution to creative problems is to bring in a bigger tidal wave.
Now it is possible to adapt Foundation, I think that it can be done. However, I do believe that its episodic structure and constantly shifting cast of characters means that a satisfying big-screen feature film is most likely an impossibility.
I've always viewed Foundation as a limited run television series like I, Claudius, where a top notch, but relatively unknown cast brings to life a compelling story, that despite what Hollywood may think, does have enough action and suspense, and doesn't need any big tidal waves. With today's technology, it could even be done pretty cheaply if you don't blow it on stars that can't carry the weight of the project. Then you'll have fans buying the DVD box-set, watching the reruns on cable, and generally keeping it a perennial favourite that will keep it a money-earner well into the future. And then there's the merchandising, I know that may sound crass, but geeks will buy merch that they feel honours the original instead of mangling it.
This is Asimov's I, Robot, all over again. What was a fascinating and compelling drama about the nature of machines and humanity, transformed into just another over-loud, gun-blasting action fest that although profitable, was pretty much forgotten within 15 minutes of the film's release.
Now I'm having nightmares of Will Smith, or Tom Cruise as a gun toting Hari Seldon, blasting bad guys left and right while tossing off catch-phrases designed to sound cool to a 12 year old.
Please Hollywood, step back from the book. For your own good, please step back from the book.
What do you readers think of this revolting development, and how would you adapt Foundation, and with whom?
