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AMC is developing Red Mars!!!

Temis the Vorta

Temis the Vorta

Fleet Admiral
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YES! The award-winning channel that brought us Mad Men and Breaking Bad is now tackling a sci fi classic that needs to be brought to TV, and thank goodness it isn't Skiffy doing it. :rommie:

AMC's Red Mars.
"This fits in with our bigger vision of wanting series that feel like cinematic one-hour movies," said Christina Wayne, senior vp original series and miniseries at AMC. "We're always looking for big genres but to do them in slightly different ways so they feel fresh and new," she added, noting as examples the network's Western mini "Broken Trail" and crime-themed series "Breaking Bad."
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Also of note - not strictly sci fi, but these both sound good:
The "Mars" news comes on the heels of AMC announcing two other projects in development: "Ice," about a family in New York's diamond district, and "Carter Beats the Devil," based on Glen David Gold's book about magician Charles Carter and his role in President Harding's death.
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So this will be a 72 part series then because the book/tome is very thick with very small writing. How do you something this epic on a television budget?

And if you can, why is no one even thinking about a Foundation series?

Good news though, if very unexpected.
 
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So this will be a 72 part series then because the book/tome is very thick with very small writing.
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Maybe even longer - why not tackle Green Mars and Blue Mars in the same series? (Personally I love the title Blue Mars for the whole epic story, or maybe they can change the names.)

I wonder if they'll worry about associations with Mission to Mars and The Red Planet - poorly received movies - and change the name anyway?

How do you something this epic on a television budget?
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Maybe CGI has advanced to the point where this story can be presented realistically and cost-effectively on TV.

And if you can, why is no one even thinking about a Foundation series?
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From the same article:

Wayne said AMC also is close to a deal to develop a third novel as a series project.
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Dare we hope? Although they probably would have said "novels."
 
"AMC is developing Red Mars, a series based on Kim Stanley Robinson's 1982 novel, from writer/executive producer Jonathan Hensleigh (Armageddon)"<< I've got a bad feeling about this.

If I was casting Red Mars (Not on an AMC budget;) )

George Clooney as Frank Chalmers
Viggo Mortensen as John Boone.
Jodie Foster as Anne Clayborn
Paul Giamatti as Sax Russell.
Joan Allen as Phyllis Boyle

I'd find non-American actors for the non American roles.
 
George Clooney as Frank Chalmers
Viggo Mortensen as John Boone.
Jodie Foster as Anne Clayborn
Paul Giamatti as Sax Russell.
Joan Allen as Phyllis Boyle
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And for their TV-level analogues, we have...

Ben Browder as Frank Chalmers
Nick Stahl as John Boone
Clea DuVall as Anne Clayborn
Michael Emerson as Sax Russell
Elizabeth Mitchell as Phyllis Boyle

I could also see:

William Fichtner as Michel Duval
Yunjin Kim as Hiroko Ai
Kari Matchett as Nadia Chernyshevski
Clancy Brown as Vlad Taneev (he could play a role a bit older than his actual age)
David Nykl (aka Zelenka on SG:A) as Arkady Bogdanov
Christopher Judge as Desmond "the Coyote" Hawkins

I'd like to see what Judge and Nykl can do with really meaty, well-written roles for a change, like they'd never get on Stargate.
 
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Fantastic news! Sci-Fi Channel has had the rights to it forever, but I'm so very glad they're not doing it.

*flashes back to hideous adaption of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea*

INCREDIBLY happy they're not doing it.
 
well they'll likely take liberties with the material like all productions but hopefully they'll make a quality show. I've never read it but I too am glad scifi is not doing it as they have a tendency to fund crap projects.
 
Temis the Menace said:
George Clooney as Frank Chalmers
Viggo Mortensen as John Boone.
Jodie Foster as Anne Clayborn
Paul Giamatti as Sax Russell.
Joan Allen as Phyllis Boyle
Click to expand...
And for their TV-level analogues, we have...

Ben Browder as Frank Chalmers
Nick Stahl as John Boone
Clea DuVall as Anne Clayborn
Michael Emerson as Sax Russell
Elizabeth Mitchell as Phyllis Boyle

I could also see:

William Fichtner as Michel Duval
Yunjin Kim as Hiroko Ai
Kari Matchett as Nadia Chernyshevski
Clancy Brown as Vlad Taneev (he could play a role a bit older than his actual age)
David Nykl (aka Zelenka on SG:A) as Arkady Bogdanov
Christopher Judge as Desmond "the Coyote" Hawkins

I'd like to see what Judge and Nykl can do with really meaty, well-written roles for a change, like they'd never get on Stargate.
Click to expand...
I've always thought of Coyote as a smaller person.
 
Temis the Menace said:
George Clooney as Frank Chalmers
Viggo Mortensen as John Boone.
Jodie Foster as Anne Clayborn
Paul Giamatti as Sax Russell.
Joan Allen as Phyllis Boyle
Click to expand...
And for their TV-level analogues, we have...

Ben Browder as Frank Chalmers
Nick Stahl as John Boone
Clea DuVall as Anne Clayborn
Michael Emerson as Sax Russell
Elizabeth Mitchell as Phyllis Boyle

I could also see:

William Fichtner as Michel Duval
Yunjin Kim as Hiroko Ai
Kari Matchett as Nadia Chernyshevski
Clancy Brown as Vlad Taneev (he could play a role a bit older than his actual age)
David Nykl (aka Zelenka on SG:A) as Arkady Bogdanov
Christopher Judge as Desmond "the Coyote" Hawkins

I'd like to see what Judge and Nykl can do with really meaty, well-written roles for a change, like they'd never get on Stargate.
Click to expand...


Awesome choices!

I really hope they do the books justice, been hoping for this since I read them.
 
Thats the one, not seen the wire though.

I always picture Desmond as thin and wirery though.

The fall of the space elevator will be a great scene to watch if they can pull it off ok.
 
Wow. I just hope they don't screw it up; there are few books I've re-read more than the Mars trilogy.
 
Caleuche said:
So this will be a 72 part series then because the book/tome is very thick with very small writing. How do you something this epic on a television budget?

And if you can, why is no one even thinking about a Foundation series?

Good news though, if very unexpected.
Click to expand...

Because "Mars" is in...and with new missions prepping to go, it makes marketing since to latch on to real news with RED MARS..will be interesting..

Rob
 
Cool. I had been waiting and waiting...Sci-fi HAD the rights for SOOO long...and they used to...USED TO do good mini-series work.

AND...Carter Beats the Devil! Great novel! A fantastic read! My wife will be thrilled to hear the news.
 
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