# Can they make a good Heinlein Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602 "2005-07-15T02:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/21 "2005-07-15T09:29:51Z")
I agree that most of the juveniles would work, and I’d put “Have Space Suit…” on the top of the list. But I’d make it a period piece. Kids now aren’t space happy, the way they were in the 50’s (and I think there was a feedback loop, in which RAH was a major factor in making them space happy). The Iron Giant was set in the 50’s and then there’s Back to the Future. Lessee… Granddad telling young spuds about an adventure he had as a kid… Princess Bride sorta… Never clear if it’s just a fantasy or could really happen. As for casting TMiaHM: Manny could be any sub-intelligent hunky Hollywood male, with a vage latino look. His job is to be kinda stupid. Mike should be a voice, whereas Adam Selene could be played by Alec Baldwin (creepy and crappy, he may be, but with age, his gotten some gravitas and would look right). Prof - Morgan Freeman? Wyoh - Sadly I can’t come up with a tall powerful, strong blonde in the right age working in Hollydumb right now. Stuie - Only one choice (and I dislike this guy too, but he does look right): Jude Law. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/22 "2005-07-15T09:33:55Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > It’s the FX that worry me. No, not that they’d screw them up, but that they’ll concentrate more on blowing crap up, than getting the story right. It all depends on the director. Who would have thought that the newest Batman movie (while having a few explosions) would spend what seemed like 90% of the movie looking at the psychological motives of the main character? Besides, a lot of Heinlein could be done on a modest budget since there are no explosions and those kinds of films seem to attract interesting and interested directors the most. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/23 "2005-07-15T09:43:10Z")
When I was in college, I wrote a treatment and part of a script for “Time Enough for Love.” Just sayin’s all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/24 "2005-07-15T11:48:39Z")
Yes, it’s possible, but that doesn’t mean that it will be done. I mean, heck, even Heinlein couldn’t really do it. There’s much to admire in **Destination Moon** , but today it’s a pretty dull flick. **Operation Moonbase** has much to admire, too, but that’s overshadowed by the abysmal way it treats its female characters, Briteis especially. MST3K duid tghis as one of their oldest shows, and it gets a stinging rebuke in their book on the series. For what it’s worth, I think **Stranger in a Strange Land** would make an awful movie, even if they didn’t screw it up (which they very definitely _would_). (And I seriously doubt that **Dave** was based on **Double Star**. The idea of politicians switching places with doubles has been around at least since “Prince and the Pauper”, and probably well before.) But I could see good films cioming out of Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Double Star or one of his juveniles. Or maybe one of his short stories. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/25 "2005-07-15T11:49:10Z")
Isn’t Wyoh a redhead? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/26 "2005-07-15T12:52:52Z")
Wyoming Knott: Geena Davis Professor de la Paz: Morgan Freeman Manny Davis: George Lopez Mimi: Olympia Dukakis Grandpa: George Gaynes Sidris: Kim Cattrall Hazel Meade: Jenna Boyd Greg: Ed Begley Jr. Stuart Rene La Joie: Gérard Depardieu ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/27 "2005-07-15T12:55:03Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > I’d **love** to see Stranger done. But it’d probably never happen with the religious right wielding so much power. ROFLMAO! As IF Hollywood would not make a movie because of the alleged “power” of the “religious right!” What a crock of shit! ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/28 "2005-07-15T12:57:24Z")
To answer the OP, the only way it could happen is if, in a LOTR-like scenario, some quirky director managed to come up with the right timing and the right studio to take it to the house. It’s possible, but not likely. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/29 "2005-07-15T13:06:10Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > Isn’t Wyoh a redhead? Yes but she dyed her hair for a good portion of the action. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/30 "2005-07-15T13:10:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Wyoming Knott: Geena Davis > Professor de la Paz: Morgan Freeman > Manny Davis: George Lopez > Mimi: Olympia Dukakis > Grandpa: George Gaynes > Sidris: Kim Cattrall > Hazel Meade: Jenna Boyd > Greg: Ed Begley Jr. > Stuart Rene La Joie: Gérard Depardieu Wyoh: Geena is too old, I would go with Miranda Otto or someone else in young 30’s. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/31 "2005-07-15T13:17:39Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I’d love to see a well-done version of **Podkayne of Mars**. I bet at least one other Doper would agree. 🙂 I think they’d have to make it interstellar, or else the jungles on Venus would be an unfortunate anachronism. But, yes, a reasonably faithful version would be nice. I agree with other posters that _A Door into Summer_ and _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ could be done quite well without clashing with modern sensibilities. (I’d pick Russel Crowe for Manny. Mostly because I want to see him oiled up in tights. _ROWR_!) IMHO, as regards _Stranger_: Do. Not. Go. There. It would suck ass as a movie unless it was mangled beyond recognition. I like the ideas of juvies as animated features—or stepping-off points for a series. There’s a fine precident there, as _The Red Planet_ was adapted reasonably well as a CBS Storybreak, and the execrable Verhoeven _Starship Troopers_ at least paved the way for [Roughnecks](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190198/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8c291cmNlaWQ9bW96aWxsYS1zZWFyY2h8cT1yb3VnaG5lY2tzfGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;fc=3;ft=20;fm=1), which was marginally better than a sharp stick in the eye and _at least had freakin’ powered armor._ [sub]I also liked _The Puppet Masters_.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/32 "2005-07-15T13:23:26Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > Wyoh: Geena is too old, I would go with Miranda Otto or someone else in young 30’s. Wyoh married two brothers, got pregnant, had a baby that “was a monster,” divorced men, lived on her own, had EIGHT children as a host mother, before she met Manny the night of the riot. Let’s say she married at a Loonie-respectable fifteen, divorced at 20. Three or four years of living on her own as a Free Woman, plus eight children with a year’s rest between each child (unhealthy to plop them out consistently faster). Wyoh is at LEAST 40. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/33 "2005-07-15T13:58:11Z")
No mention of _Something Wicked This Way Comes_? The Japanese animated Starship Troopers had powered suits and everything. It was kind of OK. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/34 "2005-07-15T14:00:28Z")
> [@RAH](#): > > She was “little” only to Shorty. I’m not short, 175 cm, but she was taller -180\*, I learned later, and massed 70 kilos\*\*, all curves and as **blonde** as Shorty was black. I decided she must be transportee, since colors rarely stay that clear past first generation. \*5’11"\*\*154lb I like Geena Davis for the part but she’s 49 and showing it. Sigourney Weaver has the right build and charisma too, but she’s 56. There aren’t many very tall statuesque blondes between 35-40 (I agree on the age, Rick) working in Hollywood. I’m one of the few Dopers who like Ncole Kidman, but she’s not _zaftig_ enough. I’m sticking with Jude Law. The French sounding name doesn’t mean anything, and I’ve always perceived Stuart as quite the playboy, with a casual, laissez-faire attitude. GD is wrong for that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/35 "2005-07-15T14:02:57Z")
Another vote for _The Door Into Summer_. It’s a tight and interesting plot that doesn’t require a great deal of exposition, with enough gadgetry, suspense, and action for a movie. It’s not his deepest book by any means, but it’d make a great transition to film. _Job_ would also fit well, but I expect there would have to be a lot of scenes cut to make it film-length, as well as some creative rewriting to translate the important parts of the protagonist’s internal narration, something that’s always struck me as very hard to do. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/36 "2005-07-15T14:03:05Z")
> [@](#): > > No mention of Something Wicked This Way Comes? I suspect it’s hit you by now (I never notice these things until after _I_ post), but SWTWC was by Ray Bradbury. Good flick, though. Bradbury hasn’t generally fared very well in adaptation, either, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/37 "2005-07-15T14:19:10Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Wyoh married two brothers, got pregnant, had a baby that “was a monster,” divorced men, lived on her own, had EIGHT children as a host mother, before she met Manny the night of the riot. > > Let’s say she married at a Loonie-respectable fifteen, divorced at 20. Three or four years of living on her own as a Free Woman, plus eight children with a year’s rest between each child (unhealthy to plop them out consistently faster). Wyoh is at LEAST 40. But in Heinlein Uni. you age slower on the Moon. I would go for an actress in her 30’s. Wyoh was suppose to be quite stunning. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/38 "2005-07-15T14:26:07Z")
I love Door into summer but I see Follywood destroying the story. - Not enough action, lets add a goverment agency hunting him down. - The Leonardo ref. is too far over the heads of our fans, cut that. - Cats are too hard too work with, lets not even try, he’s not that important - Can’t have the nudist, lets go with a hippie commune - Lets not forget the robot, it should be Lucaslike. - Lets cast Keanu in the main role - etc. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/39 "2005-07-15T14:26:11Z")
I agree that Wyoh is probably 35 or a bit over that. Remember that when Mannie travels back to earth with the Prof, people are _shocked_ at how old he is. I think the line was that he’s been married for longer than they guessed he’s been alive? It was mentioned a few times in the book that Loonies don’t age as quickly, due to the lower gravity on the moon, and that it’s not at all uncommon to live longer than 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602/40 "2005-07-15T14:27:22Z")
:smack: Should have previewed. **jrfranchi** beat me to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-heinlein-movie/312602.md?page=3)