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The Next I, ROBOT?? Former New Line Execs Shaye & Lynne To Produce Asimov’s FOUNDATION For Warner Bros.!!
I am – Hercules!!
It kinda feels like Hollywood has been trying to make Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” trilogy into a movie or movies since bits of it were first published during World War II.
The latest to tackle the epic sci-fi tale is “Last Mimzy” mastermind Robert Shaye and longtime lieutenant Michael Lynne, who together ran New Line until 10 minutes ago.
The Hollywood Reporter describes the trilogy's premise:
… centers on a society that has figured out how to predict the future based on a method called psychohistory and sets up a foundation devoted to scientific research to protect itself and ensure its survival. The politically inflected work, which features such characters as the prophetic Hari Seldon and a villain called the Mule, spans hundreds of years, essentially tracking the rise and fall of civilizations. Each book contains a new set of characters, which has in the past prompted some development execs to say they consider it a difficult work to adapt for the screen.
The idea, presumably, is the New Line vets can oversee the sci-fi epic because they did such a bang-up job giving Peter Jackson money to make the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
"I, Robot," an Asimov collection of stories also conceived during World War II (and set in the same universe as the "Foundation" trilogy) finally (sort of) hit the big screen in 2004.
Will Brett Ratner, who made a vault full of money for New Line via his "Rush Hour" series, find himself hired to turn the tale into a CGI-happy actioner? Will Chris Tucker be recruited to assay a fast-talking Hari Seldon?
Neither question is answered in the Reporter’s story on the matter here.
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But keep hearing about them. Should be cool.
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just can't imagine where you'd begin.
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"Good One!"
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If my experience with the books has been any indication, I'll probably re-watch the first ten minutes about 12 times and never make it to the end.
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I don't see them becoming movies unless extreme liberties are taken with the stories. If they are looking for a science fiction series that would make an interesting set of movies, they should try Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn series.
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There's a certain tone and charm to the literature of Isaac Asimov. These are stories that are primarily dialogue-driven and to enjoy them is to enjoy the sheer logic of debate. In my opinion.
So, are these going to be action-packed blockbusters like "I, Robot" or what? -
it was actually a series of short stories. maybe they could make one of the stories, there is enough plot in them
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if they get the exact right people to do it. otherwise it will be dumb. like stupid "i, robot" was.
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Foundation was the best adaptation ever of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It was everything about what led to the fall of Rome, boiled down into a great story that the average reader could take in and understand without having to wade through volumes of Gibbon's meticulous notes (much of which was in Latin and Greek). How does that get adapted into a movie and still retain the stuff about how a society ultimately grows stale and breaks down? If done right, it could be brilliant commentary on the modern state of things. But I'm not hopeful that it would be done right... or that it could be done at all.
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but a movie would have to be so far removed from the books as to make it look like....I don't know..."I, Robot"
(Will Smith version)?
Anyone who loves the books will most likely hate any movie with the same name. -
I don't see why you'd want to make Foundation into a big film trilogy. It just doesn't seem like the kind of work that suits it. A miniseries maybe but a series of films? Of course these are the people who thought making The His Dark Materials books, which featured the death of God, was a good idea. I imagine they'll centre the story around the quest for the Second Foundation before the Mule finds it and that the first book will be cannibalized for portentous flashbacks.
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please please please respect the material, and don't turn into a hoaky CGI fest. I, ROBOT could have been so much better without all the computer action sequences that really rob the book of its heart.
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Jul 29, 2008 12:49:15 AM CDT
~~~and also, you should stop doing cocaine too~~~
by the marquis de side 3
Hollywood producers, please pay attention. you'd probably do higher quality work if you just stop shooting up, snorting up, etc...
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There is not enough people who want pure sci-fi...and if you pervert it into making it more fantasy (like Harry Potter bullshit), then you might as well just start from scratch.
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Maybe I'm short sighted, but I really don't see them doing the stories justice. While I admitedly enjoyed I, Robot, it did not feel like Asimov's world *at all*. Bi-Centenial man was a merely o-k movie but at least it felt a little more like Asimov's world.
If anything I would want the first movie to be solely the first short story from "Foundation." But That might be too slow and talky for the powers that be to greenlight.
What I fear would happen would be that they would decide to center the movie on the Robot characters since they're sort of the only ones that run through each novel (although they weren't really introduced until Asimov's later foundation novels... I kind of felt the final foundation novel to be a let-down actually).
Idealy, for now I'd like to see them stick to the original three novels, for now. -
That is all.
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I would have assumed they'd centre in on the quest for The Second Foundation in order to make it a more scholarly version of Star Wars. But Shaye wants to start from Foundation apparently. An interesting choice at least. I'd imagine then it would be a kind of "Cassandra" tale. Seldon trying to create the Foundation before the looming collapse of civilization, while no-one believes him. The destruction of the empire being the big finale of the first film. I can't imagine anyone wanting to pony up $100 Million+ for it though. And with Shaye's reputation. I would have downplayed any explanations of Psychohistory myself, since Seldon's genius would be hard to define in a future that must have computers infinitely smarter than any man. The books have become quite dated from that point of view.
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watchmen may not be unfilmable....this is....if not done as a mini-series, they will ruin it...god, please let this project end up in development hell
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Think about what you just wrote. Peter Jackson had been trying to get the films made for ten years... until New Line HIRED HIM TO DIRECT THEM and thus allowed him to do so... dumbwit.
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Every act jumps to the future with new characters.
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insisted that he was going to bring foundation to the screen...guess that didnt work out...has he worked at all since i, robot? fucking hack...
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...the guy has a knack for directing films out of properties thought to have been unfilmable.
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how do you presume to know what and what is not filmmable? Many thought the LOTR trilogy was unfilmmable as well. You're the type of person who only sees walls, where the truly brilliant see ways to crush through them. I actually kinda feel sorry for you.
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"The idea, presumably, is the New Line vets can oversee the sci-fi epic because they did such a bang-up job hiring Peter Jackson and his team to write and direct the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy."
This is absolute nonsense. Please get your facts correct. They did not hire Peter Jackson to write anything. This was bid to New Line and other studios. In the past it was regarded as "unfilmable". If anything the kudos really go to Fran. Peter didn't have that much to do with LOTR apart from become a focal point, a replacement for the missing Tolkien. The main reason this was made was Michael De Luca, (who also at the same time green lit "Town and Country") wanting to make 3 films for the price of one. -
and was proven so twice....some walls are not meant to be broken through....but what the fuck, guess its ok to shit on classics, at least once....and i want the firing of the shire back in return of the king...thank you
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Next to '2001, A Space Odyssey' this the scifi holy grail and they're going to fuck it up with their dirty paws. Just look already at this description of how Hollywood sees this classic:
"...centers on a society that has figured out how to predict the future based on a method called psychohistory"
Society? Society has figured out zip; a man called Hari Seldon has developed a new science called Psychohistory, which is to extrapolate future events on a large scale by analysing social and economic change within large groups. It's not some fringe supernatural talent mankind has developed.
"... The politically inflected work, which features such characters as the prophetic Hari Seldon and a villain called the Mule"
Seldon is not prophetic, he is a genius scientist, nothing flaky about him. The Mule is not some stupid comic book villain, it's way more complex than that.
All this already spells "DUMB DOWN" indeed in capital letters. Americans are way too dumb to be able to appreciate a true translation of this most famous of all scifi trilogies (I never cared much for all the sequels and the prequel written since).
I guess it was just a matter of time.
I guess Hollywood knows no bounds anymore in trying to wring a quick buck from any piece of treasured literature. A sad day for true scifi lovers -
This truly shouts a Mini-Series. If you get the proper production and writing team and direction to get at the soul of these stories, then you will have done this justice. It really needs to be done the right way for both fans and others to truly understand what these stories are about. Otherwise, it's a wasted effort.
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That you can shoot anything with the CG tools available, but I'm not sure they can cram this story into a 2 hour movie... unless they are planning to do a LOTR back to back shoot.
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It's on ... wait, false alarm.
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Hollywood will rape every SF classic book ever written, I tell ya !
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a brilliant alternative history story...one of dick's best...perfect for adaptation to the screen
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the first 110-120 pages are rough and hard to get through, but after that initial hump, you get to the traders, and there's where things pick up. It's easy sailing from there, and a VERY enjoyable sci-fi tale. One of the best in fact.
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I read this trilogy while I was in Saudi Arabia in 1999, doped up on Endocet. I really can't imagine how this could be reliably done. Perhaps if they used it as a basis and not literally. They could base it in a not to far future, solely on Earth, having the Foundation be a secret society that is being hunted because of the socio-political impact psychohistory has, but this would probably be derivative of things like Pi and Wanted. My main concern if they try to adapt the trilogy as it stands is the issue of space travel... it takes too long, and if you have to show the passage of time like they did in let's say "Bicentennial Man" I'll gouge out my own damn eyes. The subject matter is so serious, if they tried to film it like the actual books you'd end up with (thematically speaking) some kind of amalgam of "Gattaca," "Bicentennial Man," "Da Vinci Code" and "Casablanca."
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I think the narrative of the books will be rediculously hard to adapt to a film, in particular foundation as it is dealing with 3 seperate time periods and the joy of the book is that you have no idea where the plot is going until everything clicks into place and the next phase of the seldon plan is realised. So this will probably mean that they will I,Robot it and make a conventional hollywood movie..
There are some startling images from the book however that I've always wanted to see on film. Here's hoping -
...and that was a while ago, but my impression is only the story with The Mule would make a good movie by itself. BTW, TroutMaskReplicant, be careful with spoilers. I've only read The Golden Compass and plan on reading the other two.
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Holla!
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if anything, it needs to be an HBO mini-series. Just too much going on to limit to a movie or two.
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magda's mango tits are the source of bale's anger.
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that have yet to be turned into movies. but rarely does anyone succeed making a solid movie from Asimov.
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this will make me popular.
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this will make me popular.
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Damn You Michael Bay
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= Won't happen.
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Rome & the Wire both did a nice job of portraying larger societal issues. That's how to tackle Foundation.
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This wil be tough to make into a good movie and you need someone like PJ who did LOTR right to step up and take on Foundation. If it is a tool like Ratner who will bastardize Hari Seldon with explosions every time he is on screen, this will be a hairy turd of shitfest proportions
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..."Awww HELL Nawwww!"
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The ones with the human and robot cop/detective partners? Seems that subject matter would be way more adaptable than the Foundation series.
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Unless they're published differently in the US. The Foundation series was 7 books long or something like that with last being published by a different publisher. Seems to me it would be better suited as a TV series, if you want to stay true to the source material.
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The stories work as books. Just leave them that way. There are numerous other wonderful sci-fi stories far more suited to movie adaptations than this.
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New Line should find a way to produce a compelling series of short films that would get people to read the books. They might even be able to find a way to make money off that, but if they're really interested in Foundation, an ad campaign would serve it better.
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Foundation directed by Michael Bay, the movie will star Will Smith as Hari Seldon who uses his mad psychohistory skills to take on the Mule and his gang of bad guys. Look out for Shia LaBeouf as his wisecracking side kick. -
Enough of this pussyfooting around, Hollywood... just dig up Issac's corpse, pour gasoline over it and drag it flaming and smoking down Hollywood Blvd.At least then you'll be honest about the amount of respect you have towards his life's work. In other words: YOU HAVE NONE!Hollywood should be sued for even THINKING about touching another Asimov property. >:(
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YOU'RE THE BEST!(crashing sound) AROUND! NO ONE IS GOING TO BRING YOU DOWN!
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you know, like they did with Watchmen.
oh, wait. -
...otherwise, I have nothing constructive to contribute. Apologies.
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They won't fuck this up like I, Robot was.
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while i'd love to see the books brought to life on the big screen, i just don't see how they are going to do it.
The foundation saga alone covers about a dozen books. Will Giskard and Daneel play any role, I would hope so... there's just so much to cover, that breaking it into 3 parts, or less just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. -
Jul 29, 2008 9:19:08 AM CDT
Here's a few science fiction books better suited to adaptation
by successor
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell
Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
Ringworld by Larry Niven
The Clone Republic by Steven Kent
Or barring that, Hollywood could try coming up with their own original ideas. But then I wouldn't want to suggest something so radical. -
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. Or Robert Heinlein's Farnham's Freehold for some time-travelling madness.
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Man in the High Castle would be sweet. Probably too much thinking required for a Hollywood studio to make it. And right you are about the Robot/Detective trilogy. Those are perfectly paced for a movie adaptation.
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Jul 29, 2008 10:01:06 AM CDT
Bob Shaye - destroyer of studios - soon to consume Asimov
by jackrabbitslim
Hey congratulations Bob - you've joined Michael Cimino in the rarified air of sinking a studio - and a mere 5 years after ROTK grossed over 1 million ... errr ... 1 BILLION dollars. You da man now, dawg!!!
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oops, I almost forgot they already have destroyed his Riverworld books
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I cannot even slightly imagine how they would attempt this without some radical "reimagining" on the part of the filmmakers and nobody wants to see that. I really just think it's unfilmable. They shouldn't even try.
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Brett Ratner & Chris Tucker ARE THE last thing this movie needs!
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But, like Dune, the reason they are beloved books is because of the political discourse. And, as George Lucas has shown, filming political discourse is akin to filming the drying of paint.
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John Rogers, who wrote the first draft of Transformers and Catwoman (so he has to be good pfft), mentioned on his blog that he was working on Foundation as well. But this may have been under Fox. Also I wonder if Shekar Shepur is still attached to direct? http://tinyurl.com/5wp7ky //////////
Yeah, my apologies for that, it was before I went to bed (so sleepy) and I wanted to prove a point. IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THE TALKBACKS HAD A SPOILER CODE THAT MADE TEXT INVISIBLE. On the other hand hearing that particular spoiler would make me want to read the books. The New Line film of Northern Lights/The Golden Compass made the stories seem a little too poncy. That particular story element is anime style crazy. -
The Will Smith "I, Robot" was a completely different screenplay that they just happened to change the name of. Somehow implying that it has anything to do with Asimov other than stealing a few terms and character names does a disservice to Asimov.
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Jul 29, 2008 11:29:46 AM CDT
Also, Foundation could never work as a film. Make Caves of Steel
by ar42
While I would love to be proven wrong, I seriously cannot imagine how a story about successive groups of white male scientists sitting around and discussing things can be turned into an action-packed sci-fi Hollywood extravaganza. I used to listen to the old BBC radio play adaptation to help fall asleep at night. It's really structured like a series of one-act plays, at any rate, a format which hasn't proved conducive to successful adaptations in the past.
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Hollywood just keeps raping and pillaging Heinlein and Asimov. 'I, Robot' was such a big piece of shit that I hope SOMEONE does Harlan Ellison's screenplay and reboots it ala Hulk and Batman. If the assclowns and crackbabies in TinselTown fuck up 'Foundation', this post will serve as evidence at my future trial for murder. One of the GREAT lines from the original trilogy was "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent", which, being a ninja and all, has been kind of a life motto for me. Then again, as RAH would say, "you have to fish or cut bait", meaning I will go on a personal mission to punish those responsible if they fuck this up. You read it here first.........
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If Hollywood has proven anything, it's that it cannot distill complex ideas (or novels) into anything approaching the source material. Not as long as things pass through people like Jon Peters' hands. Could they work a giant spider into Foundation ya think? Asimov has been raped enough by Hollywood, thank you very much.
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Good dialogue covers a multitude of sins. With well written dialogue I imagine even political or philsophical discourse could be made watchable. But the "people talking in rooms" sequences in the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix sequels are really low points for sci-fi cinema.
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a big screen adaptation of the Brian Aldiss Helliconia trilogy.
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Jul 29, 2008 11:57:58 AM CDT
why not hand this to the writers and producers of galactica?
by bacci40
they have proven to be successful in dealing with sociopolitical concepts and making them palatable to the general public...allow them to turn foundation into a mini series...not a film...that will work
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I can think of about fifteen other science fiction novels or series of novels I'd like to see made into movies, but I understand why they're going for "Foundation". It's Asimov, and "I, Robot" made money. Makes sense.
Hari Seldon is a compelling character who could be tweaked into a more movie-friendly character, though his large scale psychohistory (kind of a silly word, isn't it? Asimov could've done better) would have to be pushed into the background of the story. And almost buried, actually, just like the three laws of robotics were in "I, Robot".
We'll see. Depends on who they grab to write, produce, and direct. -
This film or films will bear very little resemblance to Asimov's novels, just like 'I,Robot'. The Foundation novels are not unfilmable but there's no way the studio could make films out of them that masses of people would want to see.
Just do what I do when watching films that piss all over the source material: laugh your fucking cocks off at the shit then go and read the books again. -
There are any number of Heinlein novels that would take less work to make into profitable movies than the Foundation series would. My money would be on "Stranger in a Strange Land" but then they'd probably give the part of Michael Valentine Smith to Jim Carrey or Jack Black.
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I always kind of thought that the prequel books would make better movies than the original trilogy, but even then too much trimming would be needed. Just make it a TV show. Hell, just make the whole fucking series (Robot/Empire/Foundation) into one long-running TV show. That would be incredible (never gonna happen).
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With that one robot whose name I can't remember (Daneel?) as the main character, but he can be played by lots of different actors for the different eras. That way there's one character who unites the whole series.
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would the visual style. Let's say they worked out a singular script and plot - could they give it an old-timey scifi look that I'm imagining?
Foundation is old-school scifi, and should be treated as such. Don't think it should be modernized. -
los angeles just hit with a 5.6 earthquake
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Now there is a trilogy waiting to be adapted.
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But Isaac Asimov was an atheist.
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Impossible, impossible, impossible. Maybe as a 14 part miniseries...and THAT would be the cliff notes version...
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Really. One of the greatest sci-fi works of all time is going to be dumbed down into a three sentence movie pitch. Comic relief, love interests, and linear plot will be added. Oh the humanity.
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"I Robot" was first an original script by Jeff Vintar called "Hardwired" - it had a few homages to Asimov's work as lots of robot stories do bu wasn't supposed to be a adaptation. Fox then realized it'd make more money if they sold it as an adaptation, so they hired Akiva Goldsman to emphasize the Asimov parts o the story, and also to make the script more in line with Will Smith's sensibilities. So, I don't see how Vintar can be blamed for the movie not being faithful to Asimov's stories.
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Also, I agree this "Foundation" thing might work better as a miniseries or something, unless it's greatly altered. Also, does anyone know whether they'l start at the first novel, or with the prequels ("Prelude to Foundation", etc.)?
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because "I robot" wasn't that cool.
second, that cover art, for foundation is AWFUL. Its the same as on my edition. What is the deal with classic sci-fi novels having crappy covers?? Every edition of Childhood's End is so incredibly ugly... -
higher standards please.
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Another screenwriter mashed up. Hollywood eats them like peanuts.
But I doubt he was much good to begin with. -
It's too big and to dry for regular people. If the go through it these guys will turn it into some kind of cheap star wars with ship fights and catch phrases. They'd be best to skip it or make it a TV mini-series.. either way, it's just to big for US Audiences.
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This cannot be filmed as written. Either make it a mini series and try to do your best, or leave it the fuck alone.
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isn't it The Scouring of the Shire? I don't they ever filmed it
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you heard it here first!
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Jul 30, 2008 3:50:37 AM CDT
"I sucked your milkshake dry" greatest movie quote of 2000s
by jackrabbitslim
Look in your heart - you know this to be true.
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