Morgan Freeman has had a love for sci-fi for years and one of his favorite authors is the legendary Arthur C. Clarke, the man behind the classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
There is one Clarke story that Freeman has been trying to get off the ground for quite sometime, but like “2001,” its cerebral content makes it a difficult story to translate onto film, but just as Kubrick pretty much succeeded in capturing the essence of “2001,” Freeman feels he can do the same with “Rama.”
The actor recently told MTV Movies Blog that his big screen vision of Clarke’s novel is still on track to happen with “Fight Club” director David Fincher at the helm. Production is just taking a little while longer than expected.
“It’s a very intellectual science fiction film, a very difficult book to translate cinematically,” Freeman said. “[At least] we have found it very difficult to translate, to get ready for film.”
“Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, ‘Rendezvous’ poses difficulties because it’s about thoughts,” insisted Freeman, “not actions.” There are no guns, no explosions,” he said. “Although it’s fiction, it’s all based on pure science. But it’s worth doing! We’re still at it.”
The story centers on a thirty-mile-long alien spaceship with mysterious origins that is found adrift in our Solar System and was sent there by an unknown intelligence. The task of the characters involved is to find out what it is, why is it here in our neck of the cosmic woods and who sent it?
“I play the captain of the spaceship Endeavor that is charged with rendezvousing with this thing from outer space to find out what it is [and] what its intentions are,” Freeman said of his role in the film.
Freeman admits that he hasn’t been this excited about a new project of this size and scope in quite some time and is really looking forward to rolling up his sleeves and diving headlong into it in front of and behind the camera.
Source: David Fincher’s Sci-Fi Film Rendezvous with Rama Starring Morgan Freeman
Not sure I agree that “it’s about thoughts….” My recollection is that the story is pretty much ‘this happened, then this happened, then….’ But I’ll be glad to see Rendezvous on the big screen. Clarke is my favourite of the classic SF writers, and IMHO his The City and the Stars would be much more of a challenge to film. I think we’re more likely, however, to see an adaptation of Childhood’s End before City.
Incidentally there’s an audio dramatization of Rendezvous that the BBC aired a few years ago (and one of Childhood’s End, as it happens).
I agree with Paul J. Rendezvous with Rama reads like a travelogue to me. It was an entertaining travelogue but not something that contained Deep Thoughts.
Rendezvous might make a fun movie or it could be slow and tedious. Here’s hoping its fun.
It’s as much an adventure story and a mystery, as it is a travelogue.
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The big problems are that:
Rama is uninhabited, at least not in the classic sense;
I don’t remember us ever finding out (in Rama 1, at least) where Rama is headed, since it only stopped here for re-fueling and a course correction.