# What Heinlein Book Should Be Made a Movie?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 5, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748 "2010-01-05T14:55:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/21 "2010-01-05T17:41:02Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> _JOB: A Comedy of Justice_ would likely draw mobs of fundie protesters.
No more so than other comedies about religion/the afterlife, I think. (Dogma/Wristcutters/Cold Souls/etc). And this would be an _excellent_ addition to that genre - for one thing, it has zeppelins! Zeppelins!
---
### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/22 "2010-01-05T17:51:00Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> [_The Rolling Stones_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones_(novel)) would be fun though people would think the flat cats were a ripoff of Tribbles.
Funny thing is, the writers for _The Trouble With Tribbles_ knew that their idea was quite similar to Heinlein’s, and they wrote him to ask his permission. The only thing he wanted in payment was a copy of the script signed by the writers.
_The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress_ would be a great movie, with good action sequences, funny characters, and snappy dialogue, but only if it were cut down to a reasonable length in a very careful way. Cutting it badly would either leave out important parts of the novel or make it a frenzied mess.
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/23 "2010-01-05T18:32:50Z")
_The Rolling Stones_ would make a dynamite Anime flick.
---
### Author:  [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/24 "2010-01-05T18:34:49Z")
Another vote for making a movie based on the text of (as opposed to the dust-jacket of) _Starship Troopers_.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/25 "2010-01-05T18:40:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Funny thing is, the writers for The Trouble With Tribbles knew that their idea was quite similar to Heinlein’s, and they wrote him to ask his permission. The only thing he wanted in payment was a copy of the script signed by the writers.
Not true, according to David Gerrold, who wrote the script. As he recounts it in his book about this, _The Trouble with Tribbles_\*, he wrote the script without recalling the Martian “flatcats” from _The Rolling Stones_ (which he’d read). “I thought I was retelling the case of the rabbits in the Australian Outback,” he recalled. It was a shock when they received a letter from Heinlein pointing out the similarity. Heinlein, IIRC, didn’t legally press the issue, or demand payment, even in the form of a script.
\*duh
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/26 "2010-01-05T19:25:03Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#):
>
> No more so than other comedies about religion/the afterlife, I think. (Dogma/Wristcutters/Cold Souls/etc). And this would be an _excellent_ addition to that genre - for one thing, it has zeppelins! Zeppelins!
I’d love to see it, or for that matter, perform in it, even if I wasn’t cast as the lead. I could do the Devil part, Odin, or even Loki…🆒
---
### Author:  [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/27 "2010-01-05T19:27:42Z")
Orphans of the Sky is my favorite Heinlein book. When I was in High School I wrote a book report about how superstition and religious devotion developed over the years on the ship. I got a perfect score on that one.
Though I think Stranger in a Strange Land would probably be the most suited toward a film. It wouldn’t require a lot of expensive effects, but would still be epic. It’d also fulfill a lot of pop-culture archetypes and would be kind of a sexy movie if done right.
---
### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/28 "2010-01-05T19:38:15Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#):
>
> Another vote for making a movie based on the text of (as opposed to the dust-jacket of) _Starship Troopers_.
I’m on the wagon with this one, too. While I appreciate the notion of jackbooted aryans from all over South America stomping on giant meteor-farting space bugs, the best part of the book is the armored suit. Doing things on the “bounce” and tossing around nuke grenades just can’t be done the way they did it in the movie.
---
### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/29 "2010-01-05T23:35:28Z")
Another vote for _Glory Road_.
I have no idea who would play the roles, but they better have a drop-dead, total knockout beauty for Star.
---
### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/30 "2010-01-06T00:05:26Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> [Tunnel in the Sky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_in_the_Sky)
I agree, this is where to start. If you are going to get people interested in movies made from Heinlein you are going to need a big box office draw to start . Tunnel in the Sky has elements that will accomplish that. Although the stargate idea has been ripped off (or Heinlein ripped it off from someone else, don’t side track) the idea of college students passing a performance test by being placed on an alien world is great. You can have a large ensemble cast of Hollywood’s current young darlings. Incorporate elements of everything from Jurassic Park to Lost to Survivior. It’s a gold mine if done right.
> [@slime](#):
>
> Just posting another vote for _Glory Road_. I will usually read this book at least once if not twice a year. My wife still can’t understand how I can read the same book that often.
Fantasy, adventure, sword fights, beautiful smart, powerful woman, bravery, discontented youth, and a frivolous sense of humor, it has it all.
You need a story that can be started and finished in 2 hours tops. Move fast and not be connected to some larger mythology. Because it will need to be a commercial success before you will get any more Heinlein ideas past marketing.
My favorite Heilein character is Lazarus Long. If you would like new audiences exposed to Heilein and you start with any Lazarus Long story you are going to bore the socks off the kids who buy movie tickets, long before you can even begin to tell part of his story. For this reason, most ‘time line’ or future history stories will not work as a commercial success.
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/31 "2010-01-06T00:14:44Z")
> [@ghardester](#):
>
> My favorite Heilein character is Lazarus Long. If you would like new audiences exposed to Heilein and you start with any Lazarus Long story you are going to bore the socks off the kids who buy movie tickets, long before you can even begin to tell part of his story. For this reason, most ‘time line’ or future history stories will not work as a commercial success.
They could work as a television series or mini-series, though. SyFy, are ya listening?
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/32 "2010-01-06T01:28:56Z")
Hush, you! SyFy fucks up everything they touch, movie-wise. And they are batting less than .250 series-wise. Plus, they don’t do nudity. The Lazarus saga has to be HBO, at the least.
---
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/33 "2010-01-06T01:34:28Z")
Another vote for _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_.
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Another enthusiastic vote for _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_. I think the line-marriage stuff could be jettisoned without too much trouble.
No, I think it should be kept.
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> I think that the line marriage is an essential part of the story. It shows how the lunar society adjusted to the severe sex imbalance, and that imbalance affects all of lunar society.
For example, the part where Manny meets Stu makes no sense without the sex imbalance, and if it’s there, having marriages with only one man and one woman being the most common implies a large population of unmarriageable men, with all kinds of tension that is not in the book.
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> And yes, Mistress would be great as a movie. There’s plenty of action scenes in it that would be a lot of fun to watch, for instance, throwing rocks at the Earth.
[quote=]
Likewise _Friday_ as a futuristic espionage thriller. I liked the early Nineties version of _Puppet Masters_ well enough, but a version truer to the original book would just kick ass.
[/quote]
Yes. I was so disappointed that they eliminated the flying cars, as just one example.
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I think [_Citizen of the Galaxy_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_of_the_Galaxy) could be great. It does not suffer from the retro view of the solar systems alien life that is so key to so many of RAH’s stories. It could translate well.
That’s another one that could translate well. Though I fear that the slave society would be portrayed as _stereotypically_ Arabic. If I were doing it, I would work hard to avoid that–maybe set it in a Seattle-like environment.
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> [Tunnel in the Sky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_in_the_Sky)
That’s interesting. I think that it might work really well as a movie. Once the students are through the gate and on the planet, it becomes a more conventional survival story. And we know that we can do the alien animals now.
But I wouldn’t try to make the high school and society the same as ours. I’d retain all the anachronistic detail that Heinlein added, and make it a period piece.
> [@ghardester](#):
>
> My favorite Heilein character is Lazarus Long. If you would like new audiences exposed to Heilein and you start with any Lazarus Long story you are going to bore the socks off the kids who buy movie tickets, long before you can even begin to tell part of his story. For this reason, most ‘time line’ or future history stories will not work as a commercial success.
But there are plenty of stories within _Time Enough for Love_ that would make great movies. That episode with Lazarus pioneering and taking wagones over Hopeless Pass, for example.
---
### Author:  [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/34 "2010-01-06T01:39:37Z")
> [@picker](#):
>
> I would love to see the adventures of Lazarus Long done in an epic, multi film series.
>
> Methusaleh’s Children
> Time Enough For Love
> To Sail Beyond the Sunset.
>
> I’d love to see Nathan Fillion play LL, but I’ve always pictured him somehow as looking like (pre-bald) Robert Urich. Don’t know why.
Yes to \*Methuselah’s Children \*and _Time Enough for Love_. (I wrote an unauthorized screenplay for the latter back in college.) I don’t recall being enamored with _To Sail Beyond the Sunset_. (Nathan Fillion? Robert Urich? Really? Wow. I’m not seeing it.)
And another BIG vote for _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ from me and all the girls down at the Cradle Roll Creche.
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/35 "2010-01-06T01:41:16Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Hush, you! SyFy fucks up everything they touch, movie-wise. And they are batting less than .250 series-wise. Plus, they don’t do nudity. The Lazarus saga has to be HBO, at the least.
Good point. HBO would be a better choice to make it. Somebody get **Skald** working on a way to clone Alyson Hannigan to play Lapis and Lazuli…
---
### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/36 "2010-01-06T01:52:37Z")
If This Goes On would do nicely in this political climate
---
### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/37 "2010-01-06T01:55:24Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> But there are plenty of stories within _Time Enough for Love_ that would make great movies. That episode with Lazarus pioneering and taking wagones over Hopeless Pass, for example.
Oh I agree. There are at least 5 good movies within ‘Time Enough for Love’.
---
### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/38 "2010-01-06T02:25:07Z")
> [@mswas](#):
>
> Orphans of the Sky is my favorite Heinlein book. When I was in High School I wrote a book report about how superstition and religious devotion developed over the years on the ship. I got a perfect score on that one.
But they already made **Space Mutiny**. 😃
> [@](#):
>
> Though I think Stranger in a Strange Land would probably be the most suited toward a film. It wouldn’t require a lot of expensive effects, but would still be epic. It’d also fulfill a lot of pop-culture archetypes and would be kind of a sexy movie if done right.
I remember seeing an ad in the Village Voice looking for someone to write a script for Stranger. In 1967. Clearly people have been thinking about this for a long time. I’m afraid that most of it would be seen as very outdated today.
I’m all for Mistress, and Glory Road being made. I think Tunnel would be an excellent starter, since your average scriptwriter might do a reasonable job on it, since most of it is survival and character interaction. I think Have Spacesuit Will Travel would be an excellent juvenile. Something either not mentioned or mentioned very little, The Star Beast, might be good also.
---
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/39 "2010-01-06T02:32:28Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#):
>
> I’m on the wagon with this one, too. While I appreciate the notion of jackbooted aryans from all over South America stomping on giant meteor-farting space bugs, the best part of the book is the armored suit. Doing things on the “bounce” and tossing around nuke grenades just can’t be done the way they did it in the movie.
My favorite line: “I am a ten-second bomb! I am a ten-second bomb! Ten… nine… eight…” Clears any room in a hurry. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748/40 "2010-01-06T03:34:37Z")
I agree with _Double Star_, _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, _Job: A Comedy of Justice_ and _Door Into Summer_
Time Minear (writer for _Angel_, _Firefly_, _Wonderfalls_, _Dollhouse_, and other shows) wrote a screenplay of _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_. (["]Downloadable pdf available on this page]([http://socalbrowncoats.com/?p=28](http://socalbrowncoats.com/?p=28)), and [direct link to pdf here](http://socalbrowncoats.com/images/moonfriday.pdf)) I think it’s a pretty good adaptation for a feature length film - inevitably you have to cut some stuff out.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748.md?page=1)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-heinlein-book-should-be-made-a-movie/523748.md?page=3)