# The Next Big Science Fiction Movie Should Be... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692 "2016-01-20T18:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/41 "2016-01-21T07:30:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 3.) Alfred Bester’s _The Stars my Destination_. I think this one could be done, too. It has a KILLER opening, if nothing else, as Gully Foyle, thinking he is about to be rescued, is abandoned by the _Vorga_, and finds his Purpose in Life. It’s a [possibility](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=750656). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/42 "2016-01-21T07:32:28Z")
From the UK comic 2000AD, _Rogue Trooper_, _Strontium Dog_, and _ABC Warriors_ would all rock. But more likely than not, because of the failure of _Dredd_ will never get a look-in. Though _Rogue Trooper_ would be cheap to make, and would be ideal for a few current B-movie action stars like Jason Statham, Daniel Wu, or Luke Goss, with Gina Torres as Venus Bluegenes. ---
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/43 "2016-01-21T13:54:01Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > _The_ _Caves_ _of_ _Steel_, Isaac Asimov. > > Follow up with _The_ _Naked_ _Sun_, if desired. > > Some fella wiser than myself once said that, when you sit down and think about it, the _Foundation_ Trilogy is actually mostly people talking to each other - no action, so I guess that would be a nonstarter. On the contrary, I think a good screenwriter could make FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE into a very good movie. Or how about Andrei Norton’s “The Stars Are Ours”? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/44 "2016-01-21T14:38:24Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Niven’s _Dream Park_ I think it’s time for a _Dream Park_ series, to be honest. The CGI is finally good enough and cheap enough, and there’s enough material to do season-long arcs with some single-episode stories woven in. You’d just have to find someone better than Niven and Barnes to actually write it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/45 "2016-01-21T17:36:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Someone mentioned The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress upthread, but how about one of Heinlein’s juvenile novels? Have Spacesuit: Will Travel is one possibility but I always also liked Time for the Stars. Agreed as to both. Depending on tone, language and added action, either could be scaled up to a PG or even an R film, if the studio insisted. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/46 "2016-01-21T19:04:29Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > The politics and racial discourse in _Lucifer’s Hammer_ are cringetastic today. True, but all that could be taken out of the screenplay without losing much. I think some of Robert L. Forward’s stuff is screen-adaptable, e.g., [_Saturn Rukh._](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Rukh) Likewise, anything in Ben Bova’s [Grand Tour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour_(novel_series)) series. No ETs, just humans spacing around the Solar System – which makes for lots of plain old human-vs.-human conflict. And anything in [Allen Steele’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Steele) Near-Space series. At present, we’ve got films like _Gravity,_ featuring present-day astronauts using present technology. And we’ve got films with far-future galactic-scale settings and interstellar states. But we don’t have much set in the near future we or our grandchildren might actually live to see, with the Solar System being explored and near space being colonized and industrially exploited. It would be thought-provoking. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/47 "2016-01-21T19:05:34Z")
Larry Niven’s Draco Tavern would make a good TV series. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/48 "2016-01-21T20:05:50Z")
I want to see [Runner](http://www.patrickleefiction.com/runner.php). Unfortunately, the single sci-fi element doesn’t lend itself well to translation to screen and is more of a hook for an amazing chase story. Even the primary relationship story is an unromantic father daughter story. I’m not really a good judge, though, since Patrick Lee’s work is the only of the genre I’ve read in years. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/49 "2016-01-21T23:22:11Z")
While it’s only marginally SF, more in the nature of dystopian fiction, I would really, really like to see a straight, faithful-to-King’s/Bachman’s-book remake of _The Running Man._ And I’m quite certain we never, ever will see it. If you’ve read the book, you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/50 "2016-01-22T00:45:18Z")
Haruki Murakami’s Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/51 "2016-01-22T02:28:25Z")
The one’s I love most can’t be done in two or even three hours. I would love to see John Steakley’s _Armor_ done, but without narration a lot of the good stuff will be lost, Felix psychology is really interesting. Also, _Legacy of Heorot_ by Larry Niven is basically _Alien_ without the rape. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/52 "2016-01-22T02:28:31Z")
This is a really long shot, and should (at least from our present viewpoint!) perhaps be labeled alternate history rather than science fiction, but I would love to see [War with the Newts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_with_the_Newts) made into a movie. (If you haven’t read the novel, do it!) ---
**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:** [January 22, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/53 "2016-01-22T05:52:43Z")
I think the next one that will actually be made and be huge is _Steelheart_ by Brandon Sanderson; it’s also the 1st book the _Reckoners_ trilogy, so that’s a big plus to Hollywood. The one that I’d most like to see that will never happen is David Weber’s _Safehold_ series. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/54 "2016-01-22T13:06:57Z")
I again realize that no one reads Cordwainer Smith anymore. I don’t think either Norstrilia or The Ballad of Lost C’Mell are visual enough for a film adaptation, but The Crime and the Glory of Commander Sudzal or The Game of Rat and Dragon could both make good space shoot-em-up movies. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/55 "2016-01-22T13:20:31Z")
_This Perfect Day_, by Ira Levin. A 1984ish tale of escape from an authoritarian dystopia. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/56 "2016-01-22T13:29:45Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I again realize that no one reads Cordwainer Smith anymore. > > I don’t think either Norstrilia or The Ballad of Lost C’Mell are visual enough for a film adaptation, but The Crime and the Glory of Commander Sudzal or The Game of Rat and Dragon could both make good space shoot-em-up movies. Norstrilia not visual enough? It’s _filled_ with wonderfully outlandish SF images. In fact, I’ve wondered if the Wachowski’s **Jupiter Ascending** might not be an attempt to co-opt a lot of Cordwainer Smith’s imagery and concepts into a movie. Think about it – animal-based “Underpeople”. A Battle over control of a drug that prolongs human life. A protagonist who ends up “owning the Earth”. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/57 "2016-01-22T14:11:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Norstrilia not visual enough? It’s _filled_ with wonderfully outlandish SF images. > In fact, I’ve wondered if the Wachowski’s **Jupiter Ascending** might not be an attempt to co-opt a lot of Cordwainer Smith’s imagery and concepts into a movie. > Think about it – animal-based “Underpeople”. A Battle over control of a drug that prolongs human life. A protagonist who ends up “owning the Earth”. My lasting impressions are of a computer manipulating the economies of worlds to make the protagonist the richest person in the Galaxy, and a lot of talking. But a CGI giant mutant sheep would be awesome. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/58 "2016-01-22T14:56:09Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > My lasting impressions are of a computer manipulating the economies of worlds to make the protagonist the richest person in the Galaxy, and a lot of talking. > > But a CGI giant mutant sheep would be awesome. What about all the travelling between worlds, the built-up supercity that the Earth has become, and the Underpeople – The Doctor Chimp (who’s really a bird), the cat-woman C’mell, the Eagle guy E-Telli-Kelli, Rod being disguised as an Underperson, the chase through the maze of the city… Go back and re-read the book. You’ve forgotten a lot. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/59 "2016-01-22T19:01:49Z")
I do not think that “Rendezvous with Rama” would be any kind of a hit, once people who have seen it report that there are NO questions answered AT ALL! The only point to the entire story is revealed at the last moment when the scientist that wanted to go but could not (can’t remember why) suddenly realized that “Ramans do everything in threes!” (Sequel!) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/60 "2016-01-22T19:32:12Z")
One I forgot; James White’s _Hospital Station_ series; a huge, multi-species space station dedicated to medicine for all the sapient races (of wildly varying sizes and habitats), with your basic squared-jaw hero-doctor, beautiful nurse, enigmatic (and frightfully capable) boss… I think special effects may be up to the challenge by now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692.md?page=4)