from the there-ain't-no-such-thing-as-a-free-movie dept.
Hollywood Reporter reports that Twentieth Century Fox recently picked up the movie rights to "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," based on the classic sci-fi book by Robert A. Heinlein and will retitle the movie as 'Uprising'. Heinlein's 1966 sci-fi novel centers on a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth and the book popularized the acronym TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch), a central, libertarian theme. The novel was nominated for the 1966 Nebula award (honoring the best sci-fi and fantasy work in the U.S.) and won the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel in 1967. An adaptation has been attempted twice before — by DreamWorks, which had a script by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and by Phoenix Pictures, with Harry Potter producer David Heyman attached — but both languished and the rights reverted to Heinlein's estate. Brian Singer, who previously directed X-Men: Days of Future Past, will adopt the screenplay and reportedly direct. Several of Heinlein's novels have been adapted for the big and small screen, including the 1953 film Project Moonbase, the 1994 TV miniseries Red Planet, the 1994 film The Puppet Masters, and — very loosely — the 1997 film Starship Troopers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 06 2015, @08:24PM
I can hardly wait, since they did such a great job on "Starship Troopers"
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bob_super on Friday March 06 2015, @09:34PM
Well, they did plan a movie called "Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine" until some marketing guy got the "starship troopers" rights, making them change the characters' names. So it's not like they were trying very hard to be accurate.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by zeigerpuppy on Saturday March 07 2015, @12:18AM
Starship troopers is awesome, as long as you view it as satire;
One of the best statements on modern militarism.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by tibman on Saturday March 07 2015, @04:32AM
I actually liked how the government was organized. You can't be a politician and send people to war unless you've been to war yourself. You also have zero say (voting rights) until you've served the Country in some way. Just because you're born there doesn't mean you get to take a hand at the steering wheel.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 08 2015, @01:28AM
> You also have zero say (voting rights) until you've served the Country in some way.
> Just because you're born there doesn't mean you get to take a hand at the steering wheel.
Which is exceptionally authoritarian. It's the worst possible interpretation of, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
The fact that we are all people, living our lives ought to mean that we have agency in saying how we are governed. Government is for the people, not the people for the government.
(Score: 2) by VortexCortex on Sunday March 08 2015, @02:58AM
If you liked these in the movie(s), then you would love Heinlein's written work even more. [7chan.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by snick on Friday March 06 2015, @08:27PM
TMIAHM is a novel full of ideas. I'm not sure that it will translate to the big screen without turning into something very different.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by tibman on Friday March 06 2015, @08:32PM
Who wants to bet they don't keep the polyamorous family structures. Shooting at the earth with giant cannons will be the easy sell.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Friday March 06 2015, @08:47PM
If it's the book I am thinking about... it *wasn't* giant cannons.
They were taking huge pieces of the moon, taking advantage of the low gravity to launch into orbit, and essentially letting gravity slam it back down into the Earth. That's something I think could actually be *far* cooler on the big screen :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday March 06 2015, @08:56PM
Don't forget about the computer.. it was a really smart ballistic computer : ) Earth smashed the launch-site and killed it. I recall there was a smaller secondary launch site though.
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(Score: 4, Touché) by mechanicjay on Friday March 06 2015, @09:31PM
Is it really Heinlein without polyamory though?
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by archfeld on Friday March 06 2015, @08:43PM
I liked this story but would really like to see 'A stranger in a strange land' made into a movie by some one with decent artistic vision and integrity. I grok it would hard in Hollywood but one can always hope.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 06 2015, @09:10PM
I bet Michael Mann would do a good job of it.
(Score: 1) by vux984 on Friday March 06 2015, @09:12PM
The Man Who Fell to Earth -- not a movie based on Stranger; and in fact based on another book entirely; but I always thought it has a striking resemblance to Stranger.
(Score: 1) by archfeld on Sunday March 08 2015, @03:38AM
thank you for the info, I missed that one somehow. I'm going to go check Netflix tonight and check it out....
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 1) by mechanicjay on Friday March 06 2015, @09:33PM
Agree, Stranger in a Strange Land would be pretty epic. I'd be interested to see an adaptation of "Time Enough for Love", but there are some pretty controversial sex stuff in that one, so I doubt it would ever fly.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday March 06 2015, @09:17PM
I'll foresee a interplanetary Moon tea party. :D
Send us nice gifts or forget getting any nice minerals. In fact they may be delivered directly to your roof at high speed..
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Friday March 06 2015, @09:44PM
But I think it will make a terrible movie. It could be good as a miniseries, if the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural aspects, as well as the intricate conspiracy and civilian underground are addressed appropriately.
Sadly, given that one of the main characters is a sentient computer, it's more likely to be something like "Her" with explosions. Sigh.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Friday March 06 2015, @09:52PM
This year I spent a lot of driving time listening to most of the Heinlein books in audio form.
I'm truly amazed that so few of his books and stories have been adapted for the screen.
Ultimately I guess that Heinlein's work has been somewhat forgotten, even within fandom, or is assumed to be too old-fashioned, or too sexist, or just plain too idiosyncratic.
That's a shame, because a lot of his work is absolutely still timely, and he really was a master story-teller - everything that he wrote grabs me immediately and carries me through to the end.
"Have Spacesuit - Will Travel" - that's made for Dreamworks.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 06 2015, @10:33PM
> "Have Spacesuit - Will Travel" - that's made for Dreamworks.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686463/ [imdb.com]
Not much happening with it though.
I know the guy who has the rights for it. He was the guy who got the "swiftboat" political commercials off the ground. I know the guy, just don't like him all that much. He mainlines fox news like heroin.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 06 2015, @10:45PM
He mainlines fox news like heroin.
That can't be healthy. Did anyone ever see Heinlein and Ayn Rand together at the same time and place? Just asking.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Friday March 06 2015, @11:43PM
I'm truly amazed that so few of his books and stories have been adapted for the screen.
THre have a been a number of Heinlein stories that have had TV and movie [imdb.com] treatments.
They did an okay job with The Puppet Masters [imdb.com].
I think movies of stuff like The Door Into Summer [wikipedia.org] or Glory Road [wikipedia.org] or even Friday [wikipedia.org] could be workable. I could even see Coventry [wikipedia.org] or Methuselah's Children [wikipedia.org] being done as features or as miniseries.
Speaking of Glory Road, it would be great to see a two or three movie series from Zelazny's [wikipedia.org] The Chronicles of Amber [wikipedia.org] too.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by tibman on Saturday March 07 2015, @04:27AM
Teen movies are usually popular. It seems like Tunnel in the Sky [wikipedia.org] could be a popular movie. Not a thick book either. They could pretty much cover the entire thing in an hour an a half.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by bryan on Friday March 06 2015, @11:29PM
Don't forget Heinlein's short story All You Zombies [wikipedia.org], recently adapted to movie format with Predestination [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday March 07 2015, @10:27AM
I heard Morgan Freeman was going to do it for the big screen, then never heard any more of it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]