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Roland Emmerich May Have His Sordid Way With Asimov

post #1 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:28pm
Thread Starter 
http://chud.com/articles/articles/17...MOV/Page1.html
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post #2 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:30pm
No.
Please, God.
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post #3 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:31pm
Well, shit.

This is going to suck.
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post #4 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:32pm
Fuck.
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post #5 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:39pm
Oh for fucks sake.
I can't believe I'm actively disappointed that Alex Proyas isn't directing this.
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post #6 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:45pm
I have a hard time seeing how a talented director could pull off Foundation, but Roland Emmerich? Fuck.
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post #7 of 40
1/16/09 at 8:50pm
It would take some skill to make a movie out of Foundation and not radically alter it to the point that is Foundation in name only. So this is like a gut punch. And a hot poker in the eyes. I really hope this fails to materialize as an actual movie, since that is one horrible director. I do not want to imagine what he would do to the story to 'make it work'.
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post #8 of 40
1/16/09 at 9:16pm
I don't know who would be RIGHT to bring 'Foundation' to the screen, but I know who would be WRONG. This sucks.
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post #9 of 40
1/16/09 at 9:20pm
If Asimov wasn't already dead, this would do the trick.
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post #10 of 40
1/16/09 at 9:41pm
I have an odd feeling that this isn't going to happen. Or maybe that's just what my cerebellum screamed before it reduced itself to a charred cinder on reading this news.
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post #11 of 40
1/16/09 at 9:48pm
Well, this sucks. A lot.

Not sure there's a director out there who'd be perfectly right for this film, but Emmerich is the complete opposite of right in this case.
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post #12 of 40
1/16/09 at 10:01pm
For fucks sake. 2009 is only two weeks old and we have already a very hard to beat contender for the worst announcement of the year.

Fuck that guy. Everything he has done that smells sci-fi is the exact opposite of anything closely Asimov.
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post #13 of 40
1/17/09 at 12:19am
The more I think about this, the more wrong it appears. He does not even make dumb movies, he makes dumb movies that he thinks have ideas. They are about as bankrupt of intelligence as it gets, and not in the B movie fun way. Just shitty all around. Damn, I never thought I would join the ranks of people hoping projects never get off the ground, but I hope this never gets of the ground with him at the helm (or involved in any capacity).
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post #14 of 40
1/17/09 at 12:39am
Jeez. Guys. Emmerich might be your favorite punching ball but remember that Emmerich has made pretty good Sci-Fi In 1984 "The Noah's Ark Principle" back in Germany and Moon 44 isn't that bad also or is it? So we should maybe give him a chance.
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post #15 of 40
1/17/09 at 12:47am
Yes, because he hasn't been given enough chances.
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post #16 of 40
1/17/09 at 12:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saint G View Post
It would take some skill to make a movie out of Foundation and not radically alter it to the point that is Foundation in name only.
Which is basically what they did to I, Robot.
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post #17 of 40
1/17/09 at 2:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueharvester View Post
Jeez. Guys. Emmerich might be your favorite punching ball but remember that Emmerich has made pretty good Sci-Fi In 1984 "The Noah's Ark Principle" back in Germany and Moon 44 isn't that bad also or is it? So we should maybe give him a chance.
Yeah, because we should ignore pretty much EVERYTHING ELSE HE'S DONE in the last twenty years because his senior thesis project in college wasn't all that bad.
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post #18 of 40
1/17/09 at 5:22am
Fuck this.

If this goes ahead I'm issuing a fatwa for everyone involved. At least an internet one.
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post #19 of 40
1/17/09 at 5:47am
John Hammond has something to say about this.
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post #20 of 40
1/17/09 at 10:06am
I can't wait to see Will Smith as Hari Seldon.
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post #21 of 40
1/17/09 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark View Post
Yeah, because we should ignore pretty much EVERYTHING ELSE HE'S DONE in the last twenty years because his senior thesis project in college wasn't all that bad.
I'm not suggesting we shouldn't worry because of that, but I once had the opportunity to participate in a rather intimate chat with Roland and he basically admitted that Hollywood threw him into the "epic disaster-sci-fi movie" genre after ID4 and that he was content with that. (Emmerich's gotta eat)
All the scripts he received (and wrote) tended towards that direction because he knew that such a project would be "easily" greenlit with his name attached.
He seemed somewhat ready to alter course again but mentioned that it is very difficult in Hollywood to break out of that typecasting. (and you know satisfied men in their 50s tend to loose their edge to fight)
So who knows maybe he will pull a 180° Lucas and redeem himself with a film that's more in the Sunshine reign than the ID4 one.
The original Stargate wasn't that bad and he IS a big Sci-Fi concept lover, so I have hope
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post #22 of 40
1/17/09 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueharvester View Post
So who knows maybe he will pull a 180° Lucas and redeem himself with a film that's more in the Sunshine reign than the ID4 one.
The original Stargate wasn't that bad and he IS a big Sci-Fi concept lover, so I have hope
Lucas redeemed himself?

And there's two levels of sci-fi being discussed here. If Emmerich on his best day fifteen years ago managed to squeak out the fun but brain dead Stargate, that's the lower level. Foundation is on the top shelf of sci-fi. Pulling it off right is going to be a Peter Jackson-like feat. There's not a stepladder in existence that'll help Emmerich reach it.
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post #23 of 40
1/17/09 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueharvester View Post
I'm not suggesting we shouldn't worry because of that, but I once had the opportunity to participate in a rather intimate chat with Roland and he basically admitted that Hollywood threw him into the "epic disaster-sci-fi movie" genre after ID4 and that he was content with that. (Emmerich's gotta eat)
All the scripts he received (and wrote) tended towards that direction because he knew that such a project would be "easily" greenlit with his name attached.
He seemed somewhat ready to alter course again but mentioned that it is very difficult in Hollywood to break out of that typecasting. (and you know satisfied men in their 50s tend to loose their edge to fight)
So who knows maybe he will pull a 180° Lucas and redeem himself with a film that's more in the Sunshine reign than the ID4 one.
The original Stargate wasn't that bad and he IS a big Sci-Fi concept lover, so I have hope
Even if I would give him the benefit of doubt, which I won´t since even Stargate is essentially a merely nice concept that got drained into braindead popcorn territory and a movie I despise with every fiber of my being, he will be still essentially making this movie in the very realms of Hollywood that allegedly broke him.

So I don´t see any reason to ease my doubts even with these informations in the back of my head.
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post #24 of 40
1/17/09 at 3:02pm
Is it too much to hope for that this might fall through when 2012 fucking bombs?
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post #25 of 40
1/17/09 at 3:21pm
My heart is sinking with this news. I didn't even bother to see "I Robot". How horrible can this be? Very, very, horrible indeed.
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post #26 of 40
1/17/09 at 5:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark View Post
Lucas redeemed himself?
No I meant a reverse Lucas, wherein you make shitty movies first and then surprise everyone with a deep and good film. Kind of what McG tries with Terminator:Salvation.
Listen I think 2012 will not be a good movie and who knows what Emmerich would do to Foundation, I just kind of like the guy on a personal level. I found him to be a really nice guy so I'm biased that way :-)
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post #27 of 40
1/17/09 at 5:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham View Post
I can't wait to see Will Smith as Hari Seldon.
Hari Seldon, shouting "Aw hell no!" and firing a laser rifle into a horde of oncoming robots.

Then he gets into a hovercar chase with some buff villian who is tagged as "The Mule" that ends with The Mule screaming "Nooooooooooooooooo!" before his car crashes into a domed building or something

Yeah, that's the way it'll probably go.
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post #28 of 40
1/17/09 at 5:48pm
Ok, Blueharvester thinks Terminator: Salvation is going to be deep. Silly me, I thought I was arguing with a rational mind.
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post #29 of 40
1/17/09 at 6:30pm
McG wants this film to stand beside films like "The Matrix," "Children of Men," and "Alien." He noted that the great thing about the first "Matrix" film is that you can both marvel at its action and effects and then sit down and discuss its deeper meaning at length

That's an experpt from one of the most recent press screenings with McG.
I never said Salvation will be deep, but McG seems to try his best to heap it onto that deep Sci-Fi pile he calls deep. If Salvation turns out to be 50% of what Children of Men is, I'm happy
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post #30 of 40
1/17/09 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueharvester View Post
[I]McG wants this film to stand beside films like "The Matrix," "Children of Men," and "Alien."
What's wrong with this picture?














I'll say to thee,
It is 'McG'.
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post #31 of 40
1/17/09 at 10:45pm
McG's intentions don't enter into it. It's his talent and ability that are in question.
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post #32 of 40
1/18/09 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BHWW View Post
Hari Seldon, shouting "Aw hell no!" and firing a laser rifle into a horde of oncoming robots.

Then he gets into a hovercar chase with some buff villian who is tagged as "The Mule" that ends with The Mule screaming "Nooooooooooooooooo!" before his car crashes into a domed building or something

Yeah, that's the way it'll probably go.
DON'T GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS!!!!

But you're probably not far off.
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post #33 of 40
1/18/09 at 6:59pm
You would think that the studios would learn from the adherence to the story, attention to detail, and general respect for the readers and material that made Peter Jackson's LOTR a massive success (despite relatively minor modifications).

Im not interested in anything other than a faithful representation of the books so Proyas wouldnt work for me either... Id rather they left it unmade rather than remake ID4 and title it Foundation.
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post #34 of 40
1/18/09 at 7:12pm
Faithfulness to the original material is not what made Lord of the Rings successful. Anybody who thinks that was a factor is lying to themselves. He could have diverged wildly, and if he'd made an equally entertaining and crowd-pleasing affair of it, the general audience wouldn't have given a damn. Only the die-hard Tolkien fanboys would have put up a fuss, and they don't count for shit in box office numbers.
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post #35 of 40
1/18/09 at 7:20pm
Normally I do not care if they change the material too much on an adaption, the original story I love is still there unchanged. But Emmerich has made dumbed down movies his specialty, many of them so dumb that it boggles the mind. He is the complete opposite type of director to even try this story. The Foundation is a talky sci-fi with almost no action, its a story about ideas. People used to say (and some still do) that Watchmen was unfilmable, but at least that story had some action beats. Something to sell it mass audience in a trailer (or to the suits), but Foundation almost has no action beats.

I never read I, Robot (yeah I have read tons of Asimov but not that one) so while I can tell while watching it that it was not his story, I can not tell if it was completely changed. The changes Emmerich would likely do (based on his history) would be a complete abandonment of the original.
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post #36 of 40
1/18/09 at 7:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post
Faithfulness to the original material is not what made Lord of the Rings successful. Anybody who thinks that was a factor is lying to themselves. He could have diverged wildly, and if he'd made an equally entertaining and crowd-pleasing affair of it, the general audience wouldn't have given a damn. Only the die-hard Tolkien fanboys would have put up a fuss, and they don't count for shit in box office numbers.
All he had to do was play up the big action sequences (which the original story had tons of), and mass audience would enjoy it. Foundation lacks those type of scenes. So faithfulness makes it a smaller movie, not blockbuster material.
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post #37 of 40
1/18/09 at 7:39pm
I'm willing to give the guy a chance but needless to say I would feel a helluva lot better with this particular project in someone else's hands.

But if the movies he's done so far have been nothing but paychecks and a chance to live out his destruction fetish on a grand scale then maybe he has more to show for when given an opportunity. I agree that some other property might have been a better way to prove himself with, but I still have a feeling he could surprise us.

Like I'm sure McG will surprise us this year
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post #38 of 40
1/18/09 at 8:14pm
Since 2012 is looking to be The Day After Tomorrow with different character names, I've lost interest in anything Emmerich.

I don't know if I'll ever forgive him for 10,000 BC.
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post #39 of 40
1/18/09 at 8:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saint G View Post
I never read I, Robot (yeah I have read tons of Asimov but not that one) so while I can tell while watching it that it was not his story, I can not tell if it was completely changed. The changes Emmerich would likely do (based on his history) would be a complete abandonment of the original.
I, Robot was actually a collection of short stories loosely linked by the conceit of Asimov's Rules of Robotics. So yeah, the Proyas film had nothing to do any of them outside of using those rules.
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post #40 of 40
1/20/09 at 6:51pm
Roland Emmerich must die. End of story.
Asimov delibertely had the battles in the Foundatation novels happen offscreen to concentrate on the politics and the economics. You fucking KNOW that Emmerich will turn it into a Shoot Em Up space opera.
And to have a promoter of woo like Emmerich ("Day After Tommorow" and "2012") film Asimov insults the memory of a skeptic like Asimov.
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