fujiJuice wrote on Dec 16, 2021, 08:34:

eRe4s3r wrote on Dec 16, 2021, 03:59:
Rama #the old game# makes it pretty obvious why it does in fact translate really well to a movie, it's just total crazy whack insanity. Make it happen

The Sierra one? I actually have it sitting on my desk could never get it to work, next to Dune which I need to try.

Anyway, I remember the Rama rumors when Morgan Freeman became involved years ago, then nothing happened. Hopefully something comes about this time, but like everyone else has said, probably more unfilmable then Dune, but hey if anyone can give it a go it's Denis Villeneuve. Probably difficult with just one movie as well.

If you want to see it for yourself
Ross's Game Dungeon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu4n5YXPaMQ

And let's just say, if they adapt it 1:1 it will be TOTALLY WILD

VaranDragon wrote on Dec 16, 2021, 09:36:

The Flying Penguin wrote on Dec 16, 2021, 09:30:

I just hope they stick to the novel closely, and don't try to 'Hollywoodize' it. I think Freeman respects the IP enough to do it justice. The problem is that the book ends with a LOT of questions, and the Hollywood bean counters don't like screenplays like that.

Unless they drastically change the ending this will not sell well with the studio big-shots. I'd love to see a faithful adaptation, but this isn't Dune. It's not an epic space-opera fantasy. This is hard sci-fi, and is mostly an exploration of the "what if" realistic first encounter scenario. I liked this book far more than I did 2001, but there is no way in hell that this is going to get a proper treatment by hollywood, and if it does, it's gonna tank hard at the box office.

Well there IS some Hollywood type suspense near the end of the first book, if you remember, and that might be enough to keep the bean counters happy. Spoiler: Some faction sends a nuke to destroy Rama, and the crew of the expedition has to defuse it.

The Flying Penguin wrote on Dec 16, 2021, 09:30:

I just hope they stick to the novel closely, and don't try to 'Hollywoodize' it. I think Freeman respects the IP enough to do it justice. The problem is that the book ends with a LOT of questions, and the Hollywood bean counters don't like screenplays like that.

Unless they drastically change the ending this will not sell well with the studio big-shots. I'd love to see a faithful adaptation, but this isn't Dune. It's not an epic space-opera fantasy. This is hard sci-fi, and is mostly an exploration of the "what if" realistic first encounter scenario. I liked this book far more than I did 2001, but there is no way in hell that this is going to get a proper treatment by hollywood, and if it does, it's gonna tank hard at the box office.

Very stoked about this. This is probably one of my top ten all time favorite books (like Star Wars, though, the sequels don't exist in my universe, the first book was the ONLY book).

Morgan Freeman's production company has owned the rights for a long time, and he's been waiting for the right director. I think Villeneuve is the one. He is a master of perspective cinematography, and perspective is what Rama is going to be all about - how to properly capture the scale of the interior of the ship.

I don't know why some of you think this is anywhere near as difficult as Dune to bring to film. Rama (the first book) is not a dense read - maybe you guys are thinking of the later books? It's a very simple story, it's just the scale that's involved, and the massive reliance on CGI that will be necessary to make it work (I am so looking to their vision of tri-legged cleaner bio-bots!), but all that is totally doable now with today's CGI technology. What will make it or break it will be the artistic design choices.

I just hope they stick to the novel closely, and don't try to 'Hollywoodize' it. I think Freeman respects the IP enough to do it justice. The problem is that the book ends with a LOT of questions, and the Hollywood bean counters don't like screenplays like that.

eRe4s3r wrote on Dec 16, 2021, 03:59:
Rama #the old game# makes it pretty obvious why it does in fact translate really well to a movie, it's just total crazy whack insanity. Make it happen

The Sierra one? I actually have it sitting on my desk could never get it to work, next to Dune which I need to try.

Anyway, I remember the Rama rumors when Morgan Freeman became involved years ago, then nothing happened. Hopefully something comes about this time, but like everyone else has said, probably more unfilmable then Dune, but hey if anyone can give it a go it's Denis Villeneuve. Probably difficult with just one movie as well.

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Dec 15, 2021, 21:43:
Ugh. Good luck, yet another novel that doesn't translate well at all to a movie.

I should re-read the Rama novels, but I swear they are mostly just sci-fi teases, where there is no big story payoff until like the third or fourth novel or whatever. Good luck once again, gathering a billion dollars to make the four movies.

Rama #the old game# makes it pretty obvious why it does in fact translate really well to a movie, it's just total crazy whack insanity. Make it happen

Ugh. Good luck, yet another novel that doesn't translate well at all to a movie.

I should re-read the Rama novels, but I swear they are mostly just sci-fi teases, where there is no big story payoff until like the third or fourth novel or whatever. Good luck once again, gathering a billion dollars to make the four movies.

Blue wrote on Dec 15, 2021, 7:04 pm ET:
"...Rendezvous with Rama is probably more unfilmable than Dune..."

Yeah, somewhat. IIRC there a far bit of internal thinking by main character going on -- that's always hard to do in film. It has been a long time since I read those novels.

Oh, that's a good novel. I have some vivid imagery still in my mind from that book, so I'm interested to see what they come up with.

In an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson in February 2012, Freeman indicated an interest in playing the role of Commander Norton for the film, stating that "my fantasy of commanding a starship is commanding Endeavour". Tyson then asked, "So is this a pitch to be ... that person if they ever make that movie?" to which Freeman reaffirmed, "We ARE going to make that movie." In response to a plea to "make that come out sooner rather than later", Freeman reiterated that difficulty in authoring a high quality script is the primary barrier for the film, stating "... the only task you have that's really really hard in making movies, harder than getting money, is getting a script ... a good script".

Huh, whoda thunk Morgan was a sci-fi geek.

First pic in the article - Denis Villeneuve (right) and some unknown actors on the set of Blade Runner 2049.

Yeah, who were those guys.