### Author:  [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/1 "2006-10-15T21:00:18Z")
Does anybody know if _SIASL_ will ever be made into a movie?
Which actors would you like to see play Michael Valentine Smith, Jubal Harshaw and the other characters?
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/2 "2006-10-15T21:17:08Z")
I recall hearing a few years ago that Tom Hanks was interested in it- I hope to God NOT as MVS!
It’s been years since I’ve read it but I seem to recall thinking that either Harlan Ellison or Dabney Coleman (about 20-30 years ago) would be a good Jubal.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/3 "2006-10-15T21:20:06Z")
I can’t see it being made now without changing it beyond recognition. The novel was very much a child of its times. Now, it just seems…quaint. Besides, the whole [Man From Mars founds a religion thing](http://www.xenu.net/) has been done to death. 😃
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/4 "2006-10-15T21:24:02Z")
If you\* read the book and liked it, why the frak would you want to see a movie that will deliver new levels of suckitude? If they botched Starship Troopers, which is a pretty straight forward action tale, imagine what SiaSL would be like.
And if you’ve never read the book or read it and disliked it, why would you go see it?
\*general you.
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### Author:  [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/5 "2006-10-15T23:49:55Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan]
And if you’ve never read the book \… why would you go see it?
[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen lots of movies based on books I haven’t read. It never occurred to me that I was doing anything irrational. (In some cases I’ve read the book afterwards.)
I wouldn’t see a SiaSL movie though. I can’t imagine anyone making a watchable movie of that book.
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### Author:  [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/6 "2006-10-16T04:02:01Z")
One half of the book takes place inside the characters’ thoughts, one half is exposition (post-WWIII culture, etc.), and one half is dialogue (much of it of the “talking head” variety). Not a good mix for a “cinematographic representation.”
As **Charlie Tan** indicated, a standard Hollywood version of **SiaSL** would make **Starship Troopers** look like **Schindler’s List**.
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/7 "2006-10-16T04:23:47Z")
While I agree that Hollywood would fubar the book beyond all recognition, I think that Jude Law would make a good MVS.
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/8 "2006-10-16T04:33:00Z")
Didn’t the project that ended up as [_The Man Who Fell to Earth_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074851/) start off as intending to make a move of _SiaSL_? Or did I just imagine hearing that somewhere back in the 70s?
BTW I can’t believe they are bothering to remake [this SF classic](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486859/) next year.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/9 "2006-10-16T06:06:23Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends]
I’ve seen lots of movies based on books I haven’t read. It never occurred to me that I was doing anything irrational. (In some cases I’ve read the book afterwards.)
[/QUOTE]
Well, in this particular case… Think about how they would package it, promote it, for those not in the know. :shudder:
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/10 "2006-10-16T11:55:09Z")
The story itself hasn’t aged all that well. To be honest, I found myself more interested in the implications of communicating and teaching/learning from a man completely divorced from human culture than all the hippy stuff.
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### Author:  [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/11 "2006-10-16T12:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan]
If you\* read the book and liked it, why the frak would you want to see a movie that will deliver new levels of suckitude? If they botched Starship Troopers, which is a pretty straight forward action tale, imagine what SiaSL would be like.
[/QUOTE]
True, though this specific example is weak (it doesn’t matter how easy or difficult it would be to do a faithful adaptation when the director sets out to subvert the original concepts).
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/12 "2006-10-16T12:04:05Z")
I _could_ imagine someone filming a movie version of Stranger in a Strange Land that was a pretty good interpretation of the book. What I can’t imagine – especially after seeing **I, Robot** and **Starship Troopers** and **The Puppet Masters** – is Hollywood even attempting to make a good version of it. The subject matter – Religion! – would scare them away from anything approaching a decent adaptation. (I’m convinced that it’s fear of Catholic backlash that has prevented even a halfway decent version of Twain’s **a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court** from being made)
Heinlein hasn’t translated well into film, even with people who know and love his work at the helm. Heinlein himself wrote the screenplay for **Destination Moon**. You can read his description of how it got turned into a film, and weep. He wrote the teleplays for what was supposed to be a TV series but got turned (against his wishes) into **Operation Moonbase**. Both are pretty hard to watch nowadays. The film **The Puppet Masters** was made by Heinlein lovers. They wrote up their own account of how the had to labor to keep it close to true, and it’s been published on the internet. But it’s still not true enough – and my complaint isn’t that of a FanBoy that they’ve dared tamper with the words of the Master, it’s the complaint of a moviegoer that the writing and plotting doesn’t ring true, and makes me cringe. It would’ve done better to stick closer to the book, but I suspect they thought that throwing too many new things at the audience would alienate them. As long as _that’s_ their attitude, they’re going to have a hard time filming Heinlein. Or any good SF.
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### Author:  [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/13 "2006-10-16T16:18:11Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan]
Well, in this particular case… Think about how they would package it, promote it, for those not in the know. :shudder:
[/QUOTE]
What really scares me is how would they create a tie-in for Happy Meals ™! “McDonalds, I’m grokking it!”
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/14 "2006-10-16T16:57:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What really scares me is how would they create a tie-in for Happy Meals ™! “McDonalds, I’m grokking it!”
Collect all the toys – **Underwater Hiding Michael** – place him in the water and he goes down to the bottom, and his eyes roll up!. **Fair Witness Jill** – with Robe! \*\*Martian Old One \*\* – with Kung-Fu Grip!
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### Author:  [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/15 "2006-10-16T19:02:59Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
Collect all the toys – **Underwater Hiding Michael** – place him in the water and he goes down to the bottom, and his eyes roll up!. **Fair Witness Jill** – with Robe! \*\*Martian Old One \*\* – with Kung-Fu Grip!
[/QUOTE]
Oooh, I want a Fair Witness Action Figure!
I went to a Hallowe’en party in the early 70’s dressed in my idea of what a Fair Witness robe looked like. (BTW, it was Anne who was the Fair Witness. Jill was MVS’s nurse.) None of the other guests got it. I was asked if I was supposed to be a vestal virgin, a member of the Klan, or a ghost. Philistines!
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/16 "2006-10-16T19:13:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> BTW, it was Anne who was the Fair Witness. Jill was MVS’s nurse.)
Yeah, I knew it wasn’t Jill, but couldn’t remember her name, so I used Jill instead.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/17 "2006-10-16T19:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends]
I wouldn’t see a SiaSL movie though. I can’t imagine anyone making a watchable movie of that book.
[/QUOTE]
Quentin Tarentino?
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/18 "2006-10-16T19:21:16Z")
[QUOTE=OttoDaFe]
One half of the book takes place inside the characters’ thoughts, one half is exposition (post-WWIII culture, etc.), and one half is dialogue (much of it of the “talking head” variety). Not a good mix for a “cinematographic representation.”
…
[/QUOTE]
That’s three halves!
I have no interest in seeing a movie of this since I had to finish the book only by sheer strength of will due to my lack of interest when I was about half way through.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/19 "2006-10-16T19:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E]
That’s three halves!
[/QUOTE]
Well, that’d be the other big problem with a SIASL movie.
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### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566/20 "2006-10-16T20:15:59Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed]
I recall hearing a few years ago that Tom Hanks was interested in it- I hope to God NOT as MVS!
[/QUOTE]
> [@TuckerFan](#):
>
> I think that Jude Law would make a good MVS.
Valentine was his _first_ name, wasn’t it?
I think that Donald Sutherland could make a good Jubal. After seeing him in _The Puppet Masters_, I think he can play Heinlein’s “old man” characters well. But I agree with those who say that any movie of _Stranger_ would be disastrous.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land-movie/376566.md?page=2)