I have pretty much given up hope for Stranger In A Strange Land to ever see the light of day, either on screen or on television. Maybe they should focus on another character of his: Woodrow Wilson Smith aka Lazarus Long. Now that there are so many t.v. venues that are uncensored, it would be perfect for multi-episode arcs of various sizes, and the stories wouldn’t have to be shown in any order(Methuselah’s ChildrenWould make for a great arc, in my opinion).
I like the idea. Perhaps you could do like they did with The Martian Chronicles, and re-write a bunch of stories, replacing the lead character with Lazarus. Or just insert Lazarus as a minor character, somewhere in the background.
I have long thought that The Rolling Stones would be the easiest to turn into a film. The actors would have to spend a lot of time in flying harnesses for the zero-g scenes, but other than that, the special effects would be pretty modest.
I had a similar idea some years ago about doing a mini-serious based loosely on Time Enough for Love, with several vignettes into Lazarus’ past (e.g. The Tale of the Twins That Weren’t) and incorporating “Methuselah’s Children” into the narrative. I just don’t know how it would all play on television. Starship Troopers, it ain’t.
Heinlein wrote a lot of short stories. Maybe they could give it the same treatment as Phillip K. Dick’s “Electric Dreams”.
Tunnel in the Sky feels doable. And the new media manipulations of the students at the end seems pretty timely.
I think this would work better as a movie, but I think it’s a great idea.
Who would be the best actor to play LL?
This. I wouldn’t trust Hollywood with any of the novels, but they could go nuts with some of the short stories.
I was just coming back to post that question. 
I’m thinking maybe Neal McDonough.
I don’t think this is the right time for a dirty old man like Lazarus Long.
Well, that doesn’t fit my mental image of LL.
Needs somebody on the craggy side but raffishly handsome, and maybe a redhead (or would look good as a redhead). And must have a deadly stare…somebody like Clint Eastwood but younger.
I dunno…Ed Harris, maybe?
Never was a big fan of LL. Pretty creepy guy - didn’t he go back in time and boink his Mother?
How about Glory Road?
From the first time I saw this image, this is what LL looked like to me.
Predestination worked pretty good as a movie in my opinion. From the 12 page “All you zombies …”, they didn’t really pad it much to get 90 minutes. Didn’t have to leave anything out. Didn’t change the story. In the right hands, I think many of Heinlein’s short stories would work well.
But all in all you had to admit,
that he loved his mother.
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That would be a good one, with the advantage of using young actors to appeal to the Hunger Games audience. Not so many special effects also.
Magic, Incorporated might be fun also.
I’ve seen two versions of “Jerry was a Man,” one with an ape like in the book and one with an android.
Tunnel in the Sky was always one of my favorites of the juvies. I feel like the pacing would work better as a TV series than as a movie, though. Not because you couldn’t necessarily fit it into two hours, but because it has to feel like several years between start and finish.
I’d like to see The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag. At novella length it could make a solid mini-series.
Yes! And Glory Road and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Time for the Stars, please.
And Starship Troopers with powered armor, dammit.
No, gentlemen.
It starts and ends with “Have Space Suit Will Travel”.
You’ve got the lesson in education, the fun montage of building the suit. You’ve also got the ‘lonely kids vs the aliens’ and in the end you have that dramatic reveal of the Milky Way.