John Scalzi’s best-selling novel novel “Old Man’s War” has been optioned for a movie according to Deadline.
The story is set in the future and follows a 75-year-old man who trades in is old body for a younger one. In order to do it, the man must complete several years of military service.
Paramount Pictures purchased the screen rights to the novel and has assigned director Wolfgang Petersen to the director’s seat. The novel will be adapted by David Self, who wrote “The Wolfman.”
Scalzi himself commented on the news at his blog, saying he’s excited about the team behind the film and adding, “The movie that is eventually made of Old Man’s War will be an adaptation of the book—not the book itself. The filmmakers are going to have to make changes and alterations and cuts and additions and so on and so forth, because that’s what they do when they make movies … this is part of the reason why I chose to be picky about who I optioned the work to: Because I wanted filmmakers I felt could best adapt what I wrote so that it would work on the big screen. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do.”
Ugh,
Another screenwriter/”adapter” who thinks he knows better than the author how the story should be told. I’m seeing an adaptation about as close to the novel as the original Dune movie was to the novel! Or maybe how close the Legend of the Seeker show was to the novels (although the show was decent). Need I even mention Battlefield Earth? *shudder*
Screenwriter = editor! Come up with an idea by yourself and let the authors tell their stories! I think the author of the novel should be integral in the move adaptation.
@notme: I hope they don’t butcher this too, but I think Scalzi knows what he’s done here in terms of selecting the right team (I hope anyway). There’s really no way they could put the entirety of Old Man’s War on the big screen and have it work page for page, it has to be modified for the visual medium
If HBO pulls off another hit with A Game of Thrones, like they have for other shows on their network I’m starting to wonder what writer would not rather have them produce and adapt their books.
I’m not a huge Harry potter fan but could anyone deny that those butcher jobs in the books would have translated %1000 better in they were built around the HBO model?
Even if An Old Man’s War is not a multi-book epic like A Game of Thrones. I believe a single season 10 or 12 episode story arc would work here.
I guess it all depends on if HBO thinks they can make a truck load of cash on it or not.