Starlog and Argo/Lord of Light

Cafe Society
1

I watched Argo last night, and was wondering about the film the CIA appropriated for the cover story.

Argo was supposed to be this huge ($50M) production based on a Hugo winning novel. The trade papers all reported on it. It was a big deal. So I thought, did Starlog magazine have any preproduction info, or articles? They covered anything SF related, even if the connection was tenuous at best. Like, if the guy that played Ensign Noname in a Star Trek episode was now being cast in a movie about corn farming in Yemen, it got a mention. Starlog had tons of blurbs (and some long articles) about movies that never got out of the planning stage - surely they had something on Argo, right?

I checked my back issues from late 1979 until mid 1981 (to allow for the time lag in printing). I found all of two mentions, and both of them were related to the scandal of “Sci-Fi Land”, the theme park that was supposed to be based on the sets left over after Argo had finished. It seems the people behind the theme park were running a con and stole people’s money.

So, my question - as I was surprised by the lack of coverage, I ask, does anyone remember any talk of the movie in late 1979? I never read the book, so I might not have noticed, but did any fans out there hear about the movie and were eagerly awaiting it? If so, were you disappointed that it never got made?

And I wonder why it never got a mention in Starlog.

2

Probably because the majority of the stuff in Starlog was sent in by publicists or the people involved. It’s not like they had a crack squad of investigative journalists ready to swoop down on every rumor. The CIA probably figured that nobody in Tehran read the rag and didn’t bother to plant anything there.

3

If it had been made, it would have been the best Zelazny book ever turned into a movie.

Instead, we get “Damnation Alley.”
I guess that really doesn’t answer your question, though.

4

Think what someone creative (insane) could do with Doorways In the Sand.

5

Or for that matter, Creatures of Light and Darkness.

6

It’s my dream to make that into a movie!

7

I tried to get the Dope to cast the movie a few years back, but not much interest…