# Can they make a good Niven movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679 "2005-07-15T17:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/1 "2005-07-15T17:46:37Z")
Larry Niven, that is. David Niven isn’t up to much movie-making these days. Inspired by [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=325631) thread. Larry Niven is my favorite sci-fi author, but I’m on the fence regarding the filmability of his stories. I know that the Sci-Fi Channel is planning a four-part miniseries of **Ringworld** , and I’m hopeful it will be decent, but I recognize the problems the story will present. But LN has written a batch of stuff. Most of his best stuff, IMO, is the “known space” material, all of which would require backstory to be filmed. **Gil the Arm** stories are kind of promising, especially **Death by Ecstasy** , but would need to be fleshed out somehow. His later works might be more filmable, but I don’t like them half as well as the early stuff. Can any of them be done? And why the delay in filming any of the works of one of science fiction’s most popular authors? ---
**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, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/2 "2005-07-15T18:10:15Z")
the new **Outer Limits** did an adaptation of **Inconstant Moon** that was pretty good. The animated **Star Trek** adapted **The Soft Weapon** as "The Slaver Weapon, shoehorning Niven’s "Known Space mythology into the Star Trek Universe. They _ought_ to be able to adapt some of Niven’s stuff, but I suspect that anyone would screw up **Ringworld** – too much backstory needed. ---
**Author:** ![Pythian\_Habenero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Pythian\_Habenero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythian_Habenero)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/3 "2005-07-15T18:27:25Z")
I want to see a movie made of “Survivor” - the Man-Kzin Wars novella with Eater-of-Grass. No backstory needed; it’s the most accessible kzinti story I know, and wonderfully creepy. As a bonus, it would be a perfect lead-in for any other Known Space story involving kzinti. A less pleasant alternative would be the story of the Angel’s Pencil or Happy Gatherer… some movie about the beginning of the Man-Kzin Wars. Also, very little backstory needed; if they stick to the events and dialogue of the actual story, it’s its own backstory. But I didn’t like those nearly as much as I did Survivor. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/4 "2005-07-15T18:36:11Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > the new **Outer Limits** did an adaptation of **Inconstant Moon** that was pretty good. What? Where? How? Is it on DVD? For the love of Og man, tell me!!! > [@](#): > > The animated **Star Trek** adapted **The Soft Weapon** as "The Slaver Weapon, shoehorning Niven’s "Known Space mythology into the Star Trek Universe. Yea, this one I remember. Yech. I think a number of his older short stories, particularly the ones concerning the societal implications of the introduction of teleportation technology, would make excellent movies. Plus, Will Smith’s a natural to play “Jerryberry Jansen”! ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/5 "2005-07-15T18:37:37Z")
I realise it was a collaboration with Jerry Pournelle but what about Footfall? I always thought that was a very filmable novel. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/6 "2005-07-15T18:40:02Z")
I thought David Niven made quite a few good films. ---
**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, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/7 "2005-07-15T19:03:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by CalMeacham > the new Outer Limits did an adaptation of Inconstant Moon that was pretty good. > What? Where? How? Is it on DVD? For the love of Og man, tell me!!! Well, a quick search turns up these: [http://movies.channel.aol.com/movie/main.adp?mid=1222843&ovchn=INK&ovcpn=SiteMatch&ovcrn=SMX&ovtac=PI](http://movies.channel.aol.com/movie/main.adp?mid=1222843&ovchn=INK&ovcpn=SiteMatch&ovcrn=SMX&ovtac=PI) [http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000057SWF/202-3962269-7908606](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000057SWF/202-3962269-7908606) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/8 "2005-07-15T19:13:32Z")
I could see **Patchwork Girl** working–it’s just a moonbase set, and life in a high-tech environment. They wouldn’t have to explain too much; it’d probably fit into an Outer Limits episode. ---
**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, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/9 "2005-07-15T19:21:27Z")
I admittedly haven’t read much Niven, just **Ringworld** , and that was so long ago I don’t even remember the basic plot, just snippets of things here and there. What I do remember would suggest it might not translate to the screen so well. However, I could see a movie _inspired_ by **Ringworld** ; one that takes the concept of the Ringworld and constructs a new plot around it. It worked for _I, Robot_, after all. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/10 "2005-07-15T19:28:57Z")
I can imagine Niven’s Gil the Arm stories as the basis for a TV series. If they had some imaginative scriptwriters and a terrific actor as Gil, this could be very good indeed. The Spaceport Bar stories might also make a good TV series. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/11 "2005-07-15T19:30:13Z")
FWIW, I think **A World Out Of Time** would make a nifty movie. Not a lot of backstory necessary, plenty of actions sequences, lots of cool special f/x opportunites… it could be fun if it was done right. I’ve also twice started to work on a screenplay of **Dream Park** , just for my own amusement. I love the book, and it’s got some great movie elements, but every time I get into it, I find that it’s just too freaking long (my screenplay, that is). I can’t seem to simplify it enough without feeling like I’m walking into serious B-movie-dom. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/12 "2005-07-15T19:38:18Z")
_Footfall_ and _Hammer_ could make terrific miniseries (although the disaster flick’s been done to-ha!-death lately). Most of the ARM stuff would work fine as a film, although there’s always a risk when a short story or novella gets turned into a feature. I like **Bo** ’s idea of _AWooT_ as a feature. I’d also put in a vote for _The Magic Goes Away_ (possibly incorporating “What Good…?”) or _Burning City_. I could see _Legacy of Heorot_ as a solid feature as well, provided a good CGI firm gets the grendel assignment. Finally, I’ve always wanted to make “For a Foggy Night” as my short film directorial debut. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/13 "2005-07-15T21:04:04Z")
> [@andros](#): > > _Footfall_ and _Hammer_ could make terrific miniseries (although the disaster flick’s been done to-ha!-death lately). Heh. I was going to say that the film version of _Footfall_ would have been a lot better if they’d stuck with the real ending instead of having Jeff Goldblum upload a computer virus into the alien mothership. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/14 "2005-07-15T21:45:11Z")
I met Niven at a book signing about 15 years ago and asked him if he envisioned a Ring World movie. He said that the technology was not good enough yet. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/15 "2005-07-15T22:03:02Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > I met Niven at a book signing about 15 years ago and asked him if he envisioned a Ring World movie. He said that the technology was not good enough yet. I’m sure we have the technology now, but I’m not sure how good the movie would be. Niven was so economical in his writing, leaving so much to the imagination. In a movie, they’d have to actually portray everything that Niven just kinda leaves up to you. I still can’t imagine what a puppeteer would actually look like. I’d love to see the Ring World itself, though. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/16 "2005-07-15T23:14:56Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I still can’t imagine what a puppeteer would actually look like. from the absolutely indispensable [**Barlowe’s Guide To Extraterrestrials**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0894803247/qid=1121469197/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-9333229-2313701), here is a [Puppeteer](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/snowboarderbo/Puppeteer.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/17 "2005-07-15T23:20:23Z")
Y’know, the more I think about it, the more I think that the **Gil the Arm** stories would make a terrific movie. You could easily combine the two main organlegging ones ( **Death by Ecstasy** and **The Defenseless Dead** ) in order to have enough substance to make one movie. And what’s not movie-licious about these stories? You got your tough, cynical gumshoe, a nicely complex mystery or two, organized crime, potential horror scenes as regards donor dismemberment in the organ banks, shootouts, and cool futuristic L.A. cityscapes. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/18 "2005-07-15T23:22:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > from the absolutely indispensable [**Barlowe’s Guide To Extraterrestrials**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0894803247/qid=1121469197/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-9333229-2313701), here is a [Puppeteer](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/snowboarderbo/Puppeteer.jpg). Hee hee. It looks like what Dr. Venture might come up with if he got a contract to remake _Dr. Doolittle_ (the Rex Harrison version) and created a pushmepullyou. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/19 "2005-07-16T00:37:11Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > from the absolutely indispensable [**Barlowe’s Guide To Extraterrestrials**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0894803247/qid=1121469197/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-9333229-2313701), here is a [Puppeteer](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/snowboarderbo/Puppeteer.jpg). I owned that guide so many years ago. Fantastic book. I remember that image of the Puppeteer vividly, and it’s partly what caused me to go read Ringworld in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679/20 "2005-07-16T01:43:29Z")
> [@bryanmaguire](#): > > I realise it was a collaboration with Jerry Pournelle but what about Footfall? I always thought that was a very filmable novel. Ditto. _Mote in God’s Eye_ by them, would also work, I think. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-they-make-a-good-niven-movie/312679.md?page=2)