War of the Worlds Remake

subtropolis writes "The Guardian has an article about a remake of the classic. Spielberg directing, T. Cruise acting. The guy who did Jurassic Park I & II did the screenplay. Anyone else think Bruce Sterling would've been a good choice for that? Quoth the article: 'While HG Wells was an enthusiastic supporter of many of the film adaptations of his work, the likely attitude that Orson Welles might have had to another director taking one of the works with which he became most closely associated, can only be a matter of conjecture.'"

Comments

Save Money, Skip the Movie, Read the Book

[ackthpt]

If you look at the bright side, if someone enjoys the movie, they'll be more encouraged to read the book. I read Heinlein's Starship Troopers after I saw the movie and thought "Wow, they hacked the crap outta something that really doesn't translate well to the movie media at all." (And I also am reading the Bourne Identity cause I enjoyed the movie a ton. And the book is VERY different than the movie, and much better, might I add).

Better idea: Skip the movie and simply read the books. When I've read books and seen movies I'm often disappointed, because someone went along with the philosophy "this book won't translate into a movie", usually wrongly. I think lots of books would make great movies, but Hollywood has a few things in mind, like Marketing and Merchandising. They don't believe a good story can be sold, but an bunch of vapid acting, CGI and action can make up for depth.

Probably one of the most memorable movies of all time, Star Wars: A New Hope challenged that attitude, but Hollywood is a creature of habit and goes back to what it considers "Tried and True"