Morgaine, Childhood's End, Ringworld: Coming Soon (maybe)

[J-Sun]

C.J. Cherryh's Morgaine Saga
Clarke's Childhood's End and Niven's Ringworld.

I'm not much of a science fantasy fan and not much of a fan of belated sequels but I love the original trilogy and belated sequel of the Morgaine science fantasy series. I think it could make a great film series, too. But these guys have apparently only done one film and a "3D thriller film" that's rated 4.3 out of 10 doesn't inspire me. And casting of Morgaine (and Vanye, really) is absolutely essential to get right.

The latter two are technically not movies as they are Syfy miniseries and, given that it's that channel, that doesn't fill me with confidence either and I don't see how they're going to be able to spend the money Ringworld should require. Childhood's End should be pretty doable though - easy to screw up but also easy to make a good one. Anyway, not technically on-topic but close enough and definitely related.

Anyway - all of this is theoretical and I'd believe 'em when I saw 'em but I thought they were interesting announcements.

 

[EricWard]

All I will say about Syfy is this.

I have zero confidence in that channel to do anything right.

 

[Lenny]

To be fair to SyFy, they were responsible for Battlestar Galactica and Stargate: Universe - both very good SF programmes, with fantastic production values.

But then, SyFy are also responsible for Warehouse 13 and Haven - both not particularly good SFF programmes, with poor production values.

If their new series, Defiance, is any good, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I will admit that, Like J-Sun, my initial reaction when I saw the news was: Great, we're going to get two low-budget, poorly made adaptations of classic science fiction...

 

[EricWard]

I mean, I do watch SyFy movies. They don't really take themselves seriously (at least I hope to god they don't) and they're good for a laugh with a group of friends, but their batting average for actual good programming is pretty slim.

Whenever they make a mini-series based on classic sci-fi (Dune, Flash Gordon) they were somewhat amusing at best. Say what you will about the De Laurentiis adaptations of those, at least they had rockin' soundtracks!

 

[Gordian Knot]

SyFy (which I believe is properly pronounced SiFee) has a remarkable record. They have made dozens and dozens of made for TV movies. And every single last one of them has been either awful or Gawd Awful! Not a record to be proud of, but a record never the less!

 

[Timba]

Two classics being made into films

This should be fun http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/20...s-ringworld-being-adapted-as-syfy-miniseries/

 

[Connavar]

If it was another channel i would be excited to see these books adapted to TV. Current Syfy is just known for awful tv movies. Not like in Battlestar Galactica era when they had people who knew their SF working for them.

 

[Steve Jordan]

Childhood's End should be pretty doable though - easy to screw up but also easy to make a good one.

You're not kidding: NBC's first attempt at Childhood's End, back in the seventies, gave us the original V.

I think this movie can be great if filmed as-is: The surprise reveal of the Overlord's nature is only half the surprise of the story, and the only one most people who've never read the book know about. The rest of the story has an impact, IMO, unparalleled in cinema, and rare even in other SF literature.