News HBO is developing Michael Crichton's Sphere as an ongoing series

[The Nth Doctor]

Not only is my favorite Crichton novel finally getting a chance at redemption after the lackluster film (despite an excellent cast), the HBO series will be helmed by Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, and Denise Thé (of Westworld fame)!

While I would've preferred another crack at adapting the story as a film, I do see the potential of expanding the premise of the extraordinary novel into an ongoing series.

 

[JD]

I tried to read Sphere a few years ago, and didn't care for it, so I wasn't that interested, until I saw who is involved, that is enough to get me very interested.
Are there enough ideas in the book for it to be able to be expanded into a longer series?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Are there enough ideas in the book for it to be able to be expanded into a longer series?

Yes, very much so. I don't want to spoil them for you so I suggest giving it another try.

 

[JD]

I might, I've loved most of Michael Crichton's other books, but for some reason Sphere just couldn't hold my interest. This was at least a decade ago, and my tastes have changed a lot in that time, so I probably will try it again eventually.

 

[wayoung]

I actually really liked the 90's version.

Of course, I really liked The 13th Warrior too

 

[valkyrie013]

I read the book, was okay, the movie... What movie.. there was no movie.. if there was it sucked so hard that it created a micro singularity that collapsed time around it to make a permanent paradox.
And as I have read the book.. You could maybe push it to 4 hours, but there's not much to the book, simple concepts. Owell.

 

[JD]

They were able to able to turn a 2 hour movie into a 28+ hour TV, so I'm pretty sure they can find a way to 300+ page novel into a series too.
It just dawned on me that this will be the second Crichton adaptation that they've done, since he wrote and directed Westworld.

 

[valkyrie013]

There are a good number of Crichton books.. Why the worst one?? Le Sigh...

 

[wayoung]

There are a good number of Crichton books.. Why the worst one?? Le Sigh...

They're making a show on Sphere, not Timeline.

Seriously though, didn't he also write one that said climate change was fake?

 

[valkyrie013]

That movie was semi watchable, sphere was.. was.... crap..

 

[Cyrus]

I haven't read Sphere, and don't really remember the movie (is it the one with Samuel Jackson?). But Nolan and Joy already used a mediocre Chichton movie as a basis for a great TV series. So I definitely would check it out.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

There are a good number of Crichton books.. Why the worst one?? Le Sigh...

They're making a show on Sphere, not Timeline.

Seriously though, didn't he also write one that said climate change was fake?

Hey, hey! Them's fighting words! I love both of those books! The films are complete garbage, especially Timeline.

As for Crichton's actual worst book, that would be The Andromeda Strain. I've tried reading that thing three times and it's bored me to fucking tears. And I say that as someone who has read and enjoyed all of his books. Except State of Fear. Fuck that shit.

I haven't read Sphere, and don't really remember the movie (is it the one with Samuel Jackson?)

Yup, along with Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Peter Coyote, and Liev Schreiber (where I actually saw him first).

 

[CorporalCaptain]

As for Crichton's actual worst book, that would be The Andromeda Strain.

No, it's brilliant. It stands virtually alone as an instance of ultra-hard sci-fi. The premise alone is completely plausible; the presentation as a series of government reports makes it frightening, touching a nerve similar to that hit by The X-Files, but minus the crackpot angles. Wise's film does it justice, but even it falls short, particularly in that it fails to treat the origin theories of the organism that are presented in the book.

 

[wayoung]

Remember the miniseries from 2010 ish? I don't see it online anywhere. All I remember about it is a Millennial saying she only gets her news from Colbert

 

[The Nth Doctor]

No, it's brilliant. It stands virtually alone as an instance of ultra-hard sci-fi. The premise alone is completely plausible; the presentation as a series of government reports makes it frightening, touching a nerve similar to that hit by The X-Files, but minus the crackpot angles. Wise's film does it justice, but even it falls short, particularly in that it fails to treat the origin theories of the organism that are presented in the book.

Yeah, that's what I keep hearing. I agree the premise is great and was very grounded in reality. But that alone doesn't make for a great novel. The prose was so dry and unengaging that it was hard to care. If Crichton had written with the quality of prose of his later books, I would probably enjoy it more.

 

[JD]

Hey, hey! Them's fighting words! I love both of those books! The films are complete garbage, especially Timeline.

As for Crichton's actual worst book, that would be The Andromeda Strain. I've tried reading that thing three times and it's bored me to fucking tears. And I say that as someone who has read and enjoyed all of his books. Except State of Fear. Fuck that shit.

I really enjoyed the Timeline book, never saw the movie.
What was so bad about State of Fear? I started it once ages ag, but I ended up quitting for some reason I can't remember.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

What was so bad about State of Fear? I started it once ages ag, but I ended up quitting for some reason I can't remember.

Turns out Crichton was a climate change denier.

I didn't realize that at the time, I just passed it over because the premise sounded like crap. It wasn't until later that I discovered the extent of that book.

It's really weird that he was a climate change denier considering how much science most of his books were steeped in.

 

[JD]

Yeah, he was one of the last people I would have expected that from
For some reason I was confusing State of Feat, with the one with the murder at the Japanese company.
I think I read SoF, but I don't remember it at all.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Sphere was actually my favorite book (not just Chrichton book, but in general) in high school. It's been so long since I read it now, though, I can't remember it very well anymore. The movie certainly left no impression on me whatsoever.

Of course, I really liked The 13th Warrior too

I loved that movie.

 

[Skipper]

Seriously though, didn't he also write one that said climate change was fake?

Yes, it was the one where every one who believed in climate change was a terrorist or an idiot and who didn't were the wise ones and the heroes. I remember perfectly well that at the time I still didn't have a clear opinion on the climate subject, but still I found the book absolutely atrocious.

From Wikipedia:

Despite being a work of fiction, the book has found use by opponents of global warming. For example, US Senator Jim Inhofe, who once pronounced global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people", made State of Fear "required reading" for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which he chaired from 2003 to 2007, and before which he called Crichton to testify in September 2005.