Asimov fans can start sharpening those pencils (who needs pens that write upside down?) for the hate mail they’ll be writing or, depending on their level of affection, to gouge out their eyes.
Isaac Asimov’s well loved and respected “Foundation” series, which spans about 500 years and tells of the story of a humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy and living under the rule of the Galactic Empire, has been optioned for the big screen.
In and of itself this could be fantastic news. Though I’ve yet to read the series, I understand it’s a fairly complex story which requires some care and attention to detail and with the right director, this could turn into an excellent and lucrative franchise but when I say the right director, I mean someone of Peter Jackson calibre. Sadly that’s not going to happen because the project is apparently being picked up as a directing vehicle for none other than Roland Emmerich.
So the guy is known for big budget effect pictures (at least we know it’ll look good) but story never seems to be too much of a concern for his films and I’m afraid that this series and Asimov’s message will get trampled and bogged down, if not entirely disappear, under Emmerich’s direction and that would be a great shame. The last thing we need is another I, Robot.
This discussion currently has 3 responses.
January 16, 2009
While I always enjoyed Asimov’s nonfiction, I just couldn’t get into his fiction. I read both I Robot and The Foundation Trilogy in high school (they’re required reading if you’re a sci-fi fan) and was thoroughly bored through both. I hate saying it, but Roland Emmerich might well improve upon it!
January 17, 2009
I’m just going to have to totally disagree with Mercurie. I loved the Foundation series (it actually ended up being a quintology (pentatology?) – after the trilogy there was “Foundation’s Edge” and “Foundation And Earth” – and there were some preludes as well)/ I haven’t read them in years, but what I remember about the books is that they had subtlety, grand ideas and lots of terrific little reveals. Not exactly Emmerich’s strong suit…
My first thought was “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…”, but I guess however Emmerich screws it up (and he will screw it up) it won’t affect the books. They will remain classic pieces of sci-fi.
January 17, 2009
Still waiting for the “Rama” adaptation.
I have an audio version of The Foundation series, but haven’t listened yet.