Flick Bits: Tad Williams’ Otherland + Warner Bros. = Feature Film (Your Thoughts?)
If you haven’t heard already, Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to Tad Williams’ science fiction series (Otherland). From Variety: Warner Bros. is heading to “Otherland,” acquiring feature rights to Tad Williams’ sci-fi book series and setting it up with Dan Lin to produce. Studio has tapped John Scott III to script the film, based on the four books published by DAW-Penguin USA between 1996 and 2001 as “City of Golden Shadow,” “River of Blue Fire,” “Mountain of Black Glass” and “Sea of Silver Light.” Good news? You bet. Some of the folks attached to this project have been involved in Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, Gangster Squad, Terminator Salvation, The Departed, etc. John Scott III is currently penning an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel, which better turn out great if he knows what’s good for him… The good thing about this is that it shows how valuable SF/F has become to the Hollywood community. There have been so many announcements for pending or currently-being-produced adaptations in the last five years that it’s rather surprising there are any properties left to snatch up (hyperbole police, anyone?). And if we’re really lucky, maybe Philip K. Dick won’t be the only classic SF/F author to have over 10 of his works adapted for the small or big screen (I’ve intentionally taken H. G. Wells and Jules Verne out of the equation because, from a generic standpoint, they are only SF/F authors in retrospect; science fiction was not codified as a generic tradition until decades after Well and Verne had released their most popular genre works. But you can ignore me on this point and include Wells and Verne as high contenders for the SF/F-author-with-the-most-film-adaptations Award.) In any case, Tad Williams is a fairly recent author. I haven’t read any of his work, but I’m told he’s quite good. Have any of you readers/listeners read the Otherland series? Do you think it will make a good movie? Why or why not? More importantly: what do you all think about all these film adaptation announcements?
? of the Week: The Next Doctor (Who)?
Blastr has listed 11 actors they believe would make great Doctors in the Doctor Who feature film set to come out…sometime in the future. But what we want to know is this: Which actor or actress do you think should play the Doctor in the movie? And why? Let us know in the comments!
? of the Week: What are the new gateway scifi/fantasy films?
It’s about time we drag this segment up from the depths! Every Friday, we will have a new ? of the Week feature. And we want you to get involved! This week’s question as a fun one. There are plenty of films we older folks remember from our youth. They were the films that got us into SF/F, or helped foster a burgeoning interest. But what are the new gateway flicks? Which films would you give to your children to get them into SF/F? Which would you suggest for those who want to get into the genre via film, but aren’t sure where to go? The comments are open. Have at it!
Aliens: Will They Come For Us (in the Dark)?
If you haven’t been paying attention to science lately, then you might have missed out on a lot of talk about why aliens might visit us. Not to say hello and give us warp drives and all that fun stuff. No. They’ll show up to get rid of us, because we’re too dangerous to exist in the Milky Way. I have reservations myself (about the study, not humanity), but it’s a question we should really ask ourselves: do aliens have a reason to get rid of us? And what can we do to make ourselves less a threat to the galaxy (let alone our galactic neighbors)? So the question comes to you: what do you think?
Dear Publishers: Call for Books by Women to Review
If you haven’t heard, there’s this thing called the Russ Pledge making the rounds in the science fiction and fantasy community. This SF Signal Mind Meld, which features an entry by one of our venerable hosts, is quite illuminating. Having looked through our interviews in the last few weeks (and in the coming weeks), we realize that we’ve been hit with an extraordinary number of menfolk. Don’t take that the wrong way, though. We love the menfolk just fine, but only three of our ten interviews in the history of this podcast were with women, and all of our upcoming interviews are with men. So, we want to know: where are the female science fiction writers (or fantasy, for that matter)? If you’re out there and would like us to review your book (and possibly have you on the show), send us an email (skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com). We want to hear from you, or your publisher (or both)! Bring it on, ladies. We’re ready for it. (P.S.: If you’re curious, the three women we’ve interviewed are Celine Kiernan (part one; part two), Lauren Beukes, and Mary Ann Mohanraj.)
Question of the Week: What do you think about the Hugo Nominees?
We’ve talked about the 2011 Hugo Nominees in Episode 3.5, but now we want to know what you think. Do you think it’s a good list? Why or why not? What would you put there instead? Let us know what you think about the list in the comments or on Twitter. And stay tuned for Monday’s episode, which will feature Andy Remic, author of Serial Killers Inc and Kell’s Legend (among other novels).
