# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/61 "2016-01-22T19:47:25Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Ones I would love to see: > The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein > > Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle Very talky, quite political, little action. Maybe a mini-series, sure, but a bad choice for a film. Was optioned, but likely too big for a film, would make a great mini-series. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/62 "2016-01-22T19:50:23Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Tunnel in the Sky would be relatively easy to film and has the right demographics. Have Spacesuit Will Travel would be more fun, and The Rolling Stones would be good also. > > . Yes, those would all work. Glory Road would be a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/63 "2016-01-22T19:51:50Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > _The Rolling Stones_ or _Space Cadet_ by Robert Heinlein. > > Edgar Rice Burroughs: Mars, Venus, Pellucidar. > > Michael Moorcock’s “Eternal Champion” stories. > > Flash Gordon. > Buck Rogers. > Doc Savage. Yes. Tried and failed, even tho a not bad film. There’s a whole book about the most recent film. Sure. Already films of those. ---
**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, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/64 "2016-01-22T19:53:57Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > 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!) If you think that the point of a movie is to definitively answer a question, then perhaps you’re right. On the other hand, **2001: A Space Odyssey** didn’t answer any questions, either. It wasn’t a flop. Some folks think that a film is a combination of elements, including interesting and beautiful photography, Not to mention seeing how people react to different situations, and the way the filmmakers visualize the reality they’re trying to depict. ---
**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 22, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/65 "2016-01-22T19:58:08Z")
If you did _Space Cadet_, you’d have to add some female cadets. I read it not long ago with my teenage son and it’s remarkable what a late-Forties sausage fest it is. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/66 "2016-01-22T21:02:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > If you did _Space Cadet_, you’d have to add some female cadets. I read it not long ago with my teenage son and it’s remarkable what a late-Forties sausage fest it is. Isn’t that one of the ones that was serialized in _Boy’s Life_? Not too surprising… ---
**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 22, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/67 "2016-01-22T21:06:36Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Isn’t that one of the ones that was serialized in _Boy’s Life_? Not too surprising… It appears not: [Heinlein juveniles - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinlein_juveniles#Scouting_stories_for_boys) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/68 "2016-01-22T21:26:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > If you did _Space Cadet_, you’d have to add some female cadets. I read it not long ago with my teenage son and it’s remarkable what a late-Forties sausage fest it is. Not all all remarkable, after all the Navy was mostly a all male thing in the late-Forties . Mind you, sure, let’s changes some of the roles to female, good idea. ---
**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 23, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/69 "2016-01-23T02:21:50Z")
It is definitely a book of its times in many ways - but also not, as Heinlein was progressive on race. ---
**Author:** ![Scytheria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Scytheria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scytheria)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/70 "2016-01-23T05:38:28Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > 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. From the same pages, the Ballad of Halo Jones - one of Moore’s less known (but very wonderful) creations. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/71 "2016-01-26T19:18:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, those would all work. > > Glory Road would be a good choice. I wonder how they’d change Seeth from a mid-80s punk, and what would they change him into? Still, good choice. And I agree with whoever said that Niven’s “Draco Tavern” stories would make a good series, especially on one of the pay cable channels. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/72 "2016-01-26T19:25:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I wonder how they’d change Seeth from a mid-80s punk, and what would they change > him into? > > Still, good choice. Dont remember him? Yeas, it’d be easy, and attract non-Heinlein fans too. Love story, action-adventure, not much talking (they could cut off most of the end), etc. ---
**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 26, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/73 "2016-01-26T23:20:40Z")
> [@Scytheria](#): > > From the same pages, the Ballad of Halo Jones - one of Moore’s less known (but very wonderful) creations. Oh yeah, but I’d make that a TV series. Maybe cast Brea Grant. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/74 "2016-01-27T00:24:16Z")
Galactic Patrol or Skylark of Space ---
**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 27, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/75 "2016-01-27T01:35:52Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 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. Why in particular, do you think? ---
**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 27, 2016, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/76 "2016-01-27T12:01:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Why in particular, do you think? Because it involves someone flying a plane into a building. I’d like to see Philip Reeve’s _Mortal Engines_ (not to be confused with that “Mortal Instruments” rubbish) made into a film (or rather four films as it’s a tetralogy, alhtough the first film could stand alone if needed). The prospect of seeing entire cities on wheels rumbling across barren plains attacking each other on the big screen in a steampunk extravaganza is an exciting one. In fact the idea has been under discussion since 2006 [with the possibility of none other than Peter Jackson at the helm](http://mortalengines.wikia.com/wiki/Mortal_Engines_(film)), but no idea if any of this will actually happen. IMDB merely lists it as “in development”. ---
**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 27, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/77 "2016-01-27T13:09:41Z")
Despite some naysayers, even on this Board, I’d like to see Harlan Ellison’s script of **I, Robot** filmed. The script manages to adapt Asimov’s book without being an anthology (it’s structured very much like _Citizen Kane_). It’s intelligent and literate and had Asimov’s own blessing. Since it was written (and first published) CGI filmmaking has come of age. You could do a helluva job with this. And, no, it would not be over the heads of the audience, or boring. The only problem is that everybody still remembers that other film called “I, Robot”, which started out as a completely original script set in Asimov’s universe, but not intended to be an adaptation of any of his works, But the Powers That Be bought the rights to the title and changed the names to those in Asimov’s book, without changing the plot (as if that’s the way to adapt a book), and ended up with a movie that was philosophically 180 degrees from Asimov’s work. It’s kinda like what happened with Heinlein’s _Starship Troopers_. So they might have to change the name, but it’d be worth it to have the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/78 "2016-01-27T13:26:17Z")
I love the Heinlein “juveniles” but there’s a problem with the ones set in the Solar System. We now know that there are no jungles on Venus & no wise old Martians tending their canals. S M Stirling wrote two novels set in an Alternate Solar System–in which a contest to explore our very interesting neighbor planets had diverted Cold War budgets into a very real Space Race. [The Sky People](http://smstirling.com/books/the-sky-people/) is set on a Venus with jungles, pterodactyls, saber tooth cats & at least one fur-clad warrior princess. [In the Courts of the Crimson Kings](http://smstirling.com/books/in-the-courts-of-the-crimson-kings/) gives us a beautifully decadent Red Planet–with yet another warrior princess. Either one would make a feature film or perhaps a big-budget miniseries. ---
**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 27, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/79 "2016-01-27T13:44:58Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I love the Heinlein “juveniles” but there’s a problem with the ones set in the Solar System. We now know that there are no jungles on Venus & no wise old Martians tending their canals. Ever since the 1970s writers have been “rehabilitating” their earlier works set in the Solar System by re-setting them in other solar systems. This Robert Sheckley, when he rewrote his 1950s short story “The Humours” into the novel **Crompton Divided** (1978) he changed the settings fro Earth, Mars, and Venus to Earth and two extra-solar planets. Or the way Leigh Brackett, when she wrote three new John Stark novels started in 1974, changed the setting from Mercury, Venus, and Mars to extrasolar worlds. You could re-set Heinlein’s stuff similarly, although it would wreak havoc with the believable tech of Heinlein’s period, which assumed we could reach the planets in the solar system using projected techn ology that didn’t break the laws of physics. But it’s not as if Heinlein’s own novels – including some of the juveniles – don’t include such super-scientific Star Drives or teleportation devices. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692/80 "2016-01-27T16:27:45Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Because it involves someone flying a plane into a building. But also and mainly because _The Running Man_ portrays an aging Baby Boomer’s vision of a dystopian American society caused by runaway **capitalism.** Not just TV entertainment culture, but capitalism as such. In the book, the contestants on the “Running Man” show aren’t convicts, they’re volunteers risking their lives for a cash prize, and there are many similar TV game shows, that’s how bad things have gotten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-big-science-fiction-movie-should-be/743692.md?page=5)