Could Argo ever become a "real" movie?

[Morpheus 02]

Just had this thought -- so they made up a "real" sci-fi script, right?

Is there any reason why it can't be made into a real sci-fi movie?

This would be perfect for a SyFy Saturday Night movie...and they could definitely play the Oscar winning movie angle in there too...

Any thoughts? Or has someone talked about it already?

[Harvey]

I don't think the original "film" ever made it past the treatment stage, but the novel it was based on ("Lord of Light") is certainly still out there. I've never read it, but it won the Hugo and was nominated for a Nebula award.

[Reverend]

If I remember correctly they didn't make up the script themselves, they optioned one that had already been written. Indeed I think it had even been in preproduction already at some point. As to whether or not it could be made into a movie...probably. I mean just about anything can, no? However, from what I gather about the plot and quality of writing it probably couldn't be made into a good movie.

[Nagisa Furukawa]

Of course!

Lord of Light is one of my favorite sci-fi novels. Great use of non-linear storytelling and Hindu mythology. If they do, I hope they ignore the Argo connection all together (save for mentioning it in marketing and maybe keeping the Jack Kirby designs the pre-military operation team commissioned when it was meant to be an actual film) and make the best possible movie they can on a fantastic book by the brilliant Roger Zelazny (also known for the Amber series).

I haven't seen the Ben Affleck film, but it's ridiculously frustrating to hear people speak about one of my favorite books as "maybe they could turn it into a cheesy, no-budget SyFy original movie!" In the movie (from what I can gather), the Lord of Light connection is never made and they treat it like it was some random sci-fi script floating around and then the CIA and co. commissioned Jack Kirby, etc. to do the design work and the like. When actually, Kirby was hired when they were seriously going to make a Lord of Light movie, all the production artwork and all that stuff was done thinking it was going to be an actual movie. I understand where the OP's coming from, people often leave movies "based on a true story" with the impression that's what really happened, but it's just really hard for me to see a thread like this made, completely oblivious that the script they had was based on a genuinely wonderful novel.

[Morpheus 02]

i didn't now any of the backstory...or even the Affleck movie...i just heard the clips about it being "best Bad idea we have."
I was assumng it was a "serious" movie in the sense that a Roger Corman movie was...
but if it's a trulyserous book....with the Hindu theme...could India make it as a SERIOUS sci-fi movie? I have heard of Rama, but haven't seen it... could India pmake a good version of Argo (was that the name of the fictional movie)?

[Nerys Myk]

Why would it have to be made in India?

[Maurice]

You might find THIS SITE interesting if you have interest in Lord of Light aka Argo (the title Argo is itself a CIA joke).

Also, more about the project on a dead website preserved via archive.org.

[Alidar Jarok]

Maurice wrote:

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You might find THIS SITE interesting if you have interest in Lord of Light aka Argo (the title Argo is itself a CIA joke).

While I do find Trekbbs interesting, I'm not sure that's what you were going for

[Maurice]

Alidar Jarok wrote:

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While I do find Trekbbs interesting, I'm not sure that's what you were going for

Damned cut and paste!!! Fixed it.

[Australis]

Was reading this today before I came here. There is a script written by Barry Ira Geller. Never heard of him? Neither has IMDb, which I think tells you all you need to know. Okay it has heard of him, but only for appearing in a documentary about this.

Put it this way: he still wants to make the script he wrote over 40 years ago. I think it's time to move on.

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Lord of Light is probably too complex to allow it to be adapted into a film without serious butchering of its themes. For example, look what happened to Dune. In fact, several of the themes (such as the wheel of life and technological reincarnation) and Zelazny's use of "anachronistic myth" ended up in the new Battlestar Galactica. That might be the nearest you'd get without causing rioting in India for apparently insulting the Hindu and Buddhist religions.

[Gaith]

^ Yeah, my first thought - and I didn't know there was a book - was "sounds like Lynch's Dune."

[od0_ital]

Ben Affleck's Argo makes it look like a Star Wars ripoff.

[Admiral2]

od0_ital wrote:

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Ben Affleck's Argo makes it look like a Star Wars ripoff.

It would be, but I'd rather see it made than Lord of Light.

I've seen that web site with the orginal material. Lord of Light would suck as a movie. Trying to compact that much depth and gravitas into two and a half hours would be just like two pounds of baloney in a one pound bag. And there's no way in hell Kirby's production sketches could be built into a live action set without CGI or making the whole thing a cartoon.