Asimov's "I, Robot" Gets Movie Treatment

sdimbert writes "Isaac Asimov's classic collection of short stories about the role robots play in humankind's future is being made into a movie set to release on July 16, 2004, starring Wil Smith. The most notable part of the release build-up is the fact that the movie's trailer, most often seen before screenings of The Returnn of the King plays more like a product commercial (like Apple's flat-panel iMac ads) than a movie trailer. Suffice it to say that most of the audence that saw it with me had no idea they had just seen a movie trailer; they actually believed that someone was going to start selling a "fully automated domestic assistant" some time next year."

Comments

Actually Believed?

[GeekLife.com]

Did you take a poll? The big green screen that stated "THE FOLLOWING PREVIEW..." made it pretty clear to folks in our theater.

It was a good preview, but give RotK fanatics more credit than that.

Re:Actually Believed?

[filth grinder]

Samething happened when I saw the trailer. It was just tacked in with the other trailers so i thought, "oh, funny, a trailer to look like an ad, cute", and then at the very end they had, "three rules safe" and I said, "oooh, I see what you're doing there, very tricksy".

But, it looks like it'll be a mess. It'll turn into a Will Smith and CG robot cheesefest.

Target Audience

[Amarok.Org]

Suffice it to say that most of the audence that saw it with me had no idea they had just seen a movie trailer; they actually believed that someone was going to start selling a "fully automated domestic assistant" some time next year.

Something tells me that these people probably aren't the target audience of the film anyway.

The good and the bad

[zhrike]

The good: Directed by Alex Proyas, who also directed a couple of top-notch films in The Crow and Dark City. Basing on Asimov certainly qualifies as "good" in my book as well.

The bad: Will Smith.

I thought it was a product

[Stile 65]

My friend and I were watching ROTK and saw the ad. We both thought it was a product, and the name idea was swiped from Asimov. iPod, iPaq, iRobot - maybe like an inside joke for those who get it.

The website also makes it look like a commercial and like you can start ordering those robots starting in the summer of next year.

How exactly do they expect people who have never read anything by Asimov to catch on that this is a movie? I've seen people I know linking to the website in their journals and saying something like "I want one of these."

Re:Battery debacle

[Junior J. Junior III]

It's too bad the 3 Laws of Robotics don't apply to Corporations.

Re:Shitty Trailers and shittier commercials

[Anomalous Cowbird]

Why does it seem that movies are making trailers look more and more like commercials?

I hate to disillusion you, but . . . movie trailers are commercials!

I'm not sure it'll work.

[Unknown Kadath]

I, Robot is largely a series of short stories centering around logic puzzles...Susan Calvin and Powell and Donovan figuring out what's wrong with robots by reasoning from the Three Laws. The only story in the book with a real human element is Robbie, and the robot in that one can't even talk. I think the only relation this movie is going to bear to an Asimov work is the title. That's not necessarily a bad thing. (And then I remember Bicentennial Man. Well, kind of, because it was utterly forgettable.) Anyway, much as I like his books, I don't think any of them would transfer well to the screen. Too much brain, not enough gut.

-Carolyn

U.S. Robotics and Mechanical Men, Inc.

[Rupert]

Do 3Com still own the USR trademark, or did it go to Palm?

Re:Apple ads?

[the Man in Black]

Asimov does not make any mention of black characters in I Robot. Why does film-whore-house need to include a black character?

So if race isn't specified, the casting should default to white?

Here you go, troll. Here's a cookie. Do you like cookies?

Re:I thought it was a product -- Bingo!

[Hollinger]

I think you've stumbled onto the reason why we're seeing movies like this, Minority Report, and the rest of them. Asimov, Dick, and others of yesteryear wrote about our time. We're catching up to their future every time Intel releases a new processor that ticks along how many billions of times per second, or IBM creates a new mainframe capable of processing how many millions of transactons per minute, or L&H release a speech interpreter capable of handling how many thousands of word, or Sony releases a robot capable of understanding how many hundreds of commands -- you see my point?

We're getting there. It's helpful to take a step back and just look around at the world we're building. What's so intriguing about these concepts is that it no longer takes a huge leap of faith to imagine these things happening... just a little nudge in the right direction...