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Jonathan Nolan developing Asimov's Foundation to HBO

Yes, of course, as long as the original flavor and reflection of the time of what came to be the first three books were written is not lost!

Not sure why you consider that important. It's being made for a modern audience, and it's set thousands of years in the future. Gearing it for 1950s nostalgia would be a recipe for disaster, since the majority of the target audience members would be new to the work and wouldn't understand why something set so far in the future felt like some creaky old 1950s story. As I said before, the established fanbase for something like this is far, far too small to be the sole target audience. The goal of a screen adaptation is to introduce the work to an entirely new, much larger audience, some of whom will then be curious enough to seek out the original books.

Besides, you will find very, very few science fiction writers who want their work to feel dated and tied to a specific decade. What we want to do is convey a sense of the future. We can't avoid filtering our futurism through the biases and limitations of our own time, but that's a bug, not a feature. Given the chance to go back decades later and revise our work, the dated, period aspects would almost always be the first parts we'd want to get rid of. Because they represent the failure of our attempt to create a plausible future. That's why Asimov's later Foundation novels weren't written as pastiches of his 1950s style. The dated elements were not the parts he would've wanted to preserve.

And really, what is there about 1950s prose-SF sensibilities that's worth preserving? The rampant sexism? The exclusion of nonwhite characters? The giant computers based on vacuum tubes and punch cards?
 
My picks for Seldon would be Victor Garber and Christopher Plummer.

Oh, as for transportation, at least aesthetically speaking, I'd go with something like this:

http://www.toxel.com/tech/2009/10/28/air-board-personal-hovercraft/

But that isn't very practical, so for the sake of the series, I'd not so much make it hover as to make it fly several feet above the surface, like 15ft maybe, and ditch the skirt.

I hope we get some form of the the Dors Venabili character. I felt she was an awesome character in the prequels.

Btw, here's a good primer for the entire series:

http://io9.com/what-absolutely-everyone-needs-to-know-about-isaac-asim-1660230344
 
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And really, what is there about 1950s prose-SF sensibilities that's worth preserving? The rampant sexism? The exclusion of nonwhite characters? The giant computers based on vacuum tubes and punch cards?
I don't know how much of this is "50s prose-SF sensibilities", per se. But it seems like recently there's been a tendency to shift towards either more realistic approaches to storytelling (near-future, and/or avoiding tropes like FTL), or towards military SF. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of SF "adventure stories" anymore.

Don't get me wrong: there's some good near future stuff out there, you can do great things without FTL (see Alastair Reynolds), and I enjoy quite a bit of mil-SF. But asides from the Trek tie-ins (and you could argue whether or not Starfleet qualifies as military ;)), there's not much with the same feel as Asimov or Herbert.

If I'm wrong, I'd love to know what books I'm missing! :)
 
How do you make something look like the fifties?

Slap some fedoras on all the blokes.

(That's it.)

Christopher: Space Station 76 from a couple months back and the upcoming Ascension.

"The audience" even if most of them were laughably born after Return of the Jedi are not dim witted rubes. We all grow up immersed in what our parents like/d, which means that as children we are all (there are exceptions?) "aware" of music and movies from the last 20 to thirty years that rung mum and dads bells, and couldn't fricking escape it as much as we tried.

Can't rebel against the unknown.

Okay, maybe you can rebel against the unknown, but that should be another definition of insanity.
 
I don't know how much of this is "50s prose-SF sensibilities", per se. But it seems like recently there's been a tendency to shift towards either more realistic approaches to storytelling (near-future, and/or avoiding tropes like FTL), or towards military SF. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of SF "adventure stories" anymore.


My take on it is that while it will very likely be revamped to be more modern, the core themes, characters and tone will be present, so I don't think there's really anything to fear. They very much likely will be replacing some of the outdated notions with more modern ones, and I don't think that's a bad thing as I think Asimov would have done the same, as we could see him distancing himself from that in his later books. Instead of smoking, people will likely be addicted to their phones or whatever communication device they have...


On the other hand, I kind of wish I had psychohistory in order to be able to predict what really will happen ;)
 
Designers often look tothe past to inspire their designs. They could easily look at the fashions and architecture of the 40s and use it as a springboard for something futuristic that is not necessarily retro.

What an incredibly horrifying and excellent idea!
It is pretty surreal. To make it even weirder, they could base his wheelchair on the one used by Captain Pike in "The Menagerie."

If I'm wrong, I'd love to know what books I'm missing! :)
I don't think you're wrong, but I think you'd like Jack McDevitt's books. He's got two series-- Alex Benedict and Priscilla Hutchins-- that are very modern, but still carry the feel of those old sense-of-wonder space adventures.
 
I do hear what Christopher has been saying about the tone and look and feel of the potential series, and I guess my wishes and desires for how "Foundation, the Series" should look are a really good example of why emotion and impression should not be part of a venture like this. I am just too wedded to the images and "sounds" of what the series should be. Though, I am encouraged to read that some of my fellow posters have similar hopes, and have similar impressions of what they would like to see.
 
An excess of 10,000 years into the future.

No aliens, sure, but what about genetically modified humans and non humaniformed robots... No, that was part of the plan, to subtract Robots from the Equation because Robots eroded the Spacers (The First 50 colonies of man who were modified and given spare parts biological and robotic with life times numbered into the centuries commanding endless legions of obedient robots) sense of enterprise and wonder...

R. Daneel Olivaw decided that man couldn't handle (virtual) immortality or impossibly powerful, hopelessly loyal servants. So he put a stop to it.

However if, Daneel needed the Empire to flounder, and the Foundation to prosper, genetic modification and robots might exactly be the tools he would give them to seed their own slowboiled slothful demise.
 
Yes, of course, as long as the original flavor and reflection of the time of what came to be the first three books were written is not lost!

Not sure why you consider that important. It's being made for a modern audience, and it's set thousands of years in the future. Gearing it for 1950s nostalgia would be a recipe for disaster, since the majority of the target audience members would be new to the work and wouldn't understand why something set so far in the future felt like some creaky old 1950s story. As I said before, the established fanbase for something like this is far, far too small to be the sole target audience. The goal of a screen adaptation is to introduce the work to an entirely new, much larger audience, some of whom will then be curious enough to seek out the original books.

Besides, you will find very, very few science fiction writers who want their work to feel dated and tied to a specific decade. What we want to do is convey a sense of the future. We can't avoid filtering our futurism through the biases and limitations of our own time, but that's a bug, not a feature. Given the chance to go back decades later and revise our work, the dated, period aspects would almost always be the first parts we'd want to get rid of. Because they represent the failure of our attempt to create a plausible future. That's why Asimov's later Foundation novels weren't written as pastiches of his 1950s style. The dated elements were not the parts he would've wanted to preserve.

And really, what is there about 1950s prose-SF sensibilities that's worth preserving? The rampant sexism? The exclusion of nonwhite characters? The giant computers based on vacuum tubes and punch cards?

Its becuase some sci-fi fans have trouble getting that some of their tastes would be unprofitable niche stuff and studios are all about making money. Even at times when the people who made the damned work their gushing over updated the crap out of it the first chance they got.

the upcoming Ascension.

Is about a spaceship built in the 1960s or so. Meaning yeah it looks technologically outdated becuase it kind of is.
 
Designers often look tothe past to inspire their designs. They could easily look at the fashions and architecture of the 40s and use it as a springboard for something futuristic that is not necessarily retro.


Now you know, that's a really good point. That happens quite often with cars. Retro is all new again. Except for the really bad ideas ;)
 
Blue screen or a 40 million dollar set?

What happened to that man made atoll from Waterworld?

I think it was a theme park for a while but I have no idea how long that lasted.
 
Blue screen is fine with me. I would have been happy with a Masterpiece Theater shot on videotape. :rommie:
 
Did you watch Dominion?

I'm assuming that's what SYFY does with no money.

Wait.

What's Nolan going to pay himself?

The more he pays himself, the weaker the final product.

Is the budget more interested in effects or actors?

They say that HBO is not TV, but lets be serious, this has to be made for under ten million? Depending on the size of it, $5-million for each hour of finished product is the most they could spend, and that's pushing it.

If this is a vanity project for Nolan, it's possible that he is being paid in vanity, or "scale" + vanity... And even if they do pay him scale, if he's not a dick, most of that money will be spent on a party for the cast and crew after wrap.

Batman III had a budget of 225 million, where from Nolan paid himself 20 million, and then got bonuses and #### based on box office returns. Selfworth means that he needs to be paid, but unless something stupid happened, he's set for life and doesn't have to be a scrooge.
 
Batman III had a budget of 225 million, where from Nolan paid himself 20 million, and then got bonuses and #### based on box office returns.
That $20 million sounds more like what Christopher Nolan's payday was for that movie, not Jonathan Nolan's.
 
Hmmm...I did not think of that...a TV budget. See, I keep having this in my brain as feature films with a commensurate budget. Damn! No way this gets done right for a shitty 10 Mil. Please, someone that knows, tell us the budget will be bigger. :$
 
Okay, I have had a huge glaring error in all my thinking so far... Who the fuck is Jonathan Nolan?

Younger brother, writing partner, made Person of Interest.

Good.

This make more sense.

Sick of living in big brothers shadow.

Got it. Sweet.
 
Blue screen or a 40 million dollar set?

What happened to that man made atoll from Waterworld?

I think it was a theme park for a while but I have no idea how long that lasted.

As a theme park, I imagine it was more successful than the movie. I also remember Dennis Hopper being pissed off that he acted his heart out playing a version of his Blue Velvet character for that piece of s**t.
 
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