After a ship meets disaster in deep space, its lone survivor is left drifing aimlessly through the galaxy. Eventually a nearby craft comes along but ignores the emergency stress call being sent out by the damaged spaceship and continues on without investigating. The survivor’s rage at being ignored begins to consume him as he plots revenge but along the way uncovers a secret that will alter the course of galactic history.
This is the premise of “The Stars My Destination” a literay work penned by Alfred Bester 41 years ago. This novel has been optioned by Universal Pictures and is in pre-production.
No No No No No! We have to find a way to make Hollywood leave classic sci-fi masterworks alone! Heinlein and PK Dick (among others) have had their work butchered in the past few years. Now somebody has discovered the treasury of Alfred Bester. Unless they are going to stay true to the story (and that would be most difficult) they should leave it alone.
I’m with Lisa – they’ll want to “update” it, which means lots of action and no thought. They’ll do away with the jaunting – too difficult to explain to audiences – dump the Radioactive Man – too difficult to explain to audiences – eliminate Gully Foyle’s jauntes through time – too difficult to explain to audiences – and leave… exploding buildings. Add in lots of gunplay. They’ll cast Vin Diesel as Gully Foyle. Ugh.
Uhh, what the hell is the problem with Vin Diesel as Gully Foyle? Physically at least, he’s perfect. He’s got the size, the physique, the coloring, and the voice. We might wonder about his acting chops, but I would honestly rather have a mediocre Vin Diesel over a better actor who looks nothing like the Gully Foyle as written in the book.