Old Man's War

February 23, 2011 10:59 PM

(Metafilter's own) science fiction author John Scalzi potentially has a movie coming out. It's to be based on his work Old Man's War. Wolfgang Petersen is apparently set to direct.

Congratulations, man. Can't wait to see it.

posted by converge (40 comments total)

Whoa. I've been pondering picking that up for Kindle for about a week now. Here goes!
posted by lumensimus at 11:06 PM on February 23, 2011

I'm pretty sure you didn't mean to say that his book is "based on coming out." Although, y'know, I don't know otherwise and congratulations to him if I somehow missed that theme.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:11 PM on February 23, 2011 [3 favorites]

Oops. Some help mods?
posted by converge at 11:13 PM on February 23, 2011

Uh oh. I sense an impending orphaned wisecrack.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:15 PM on February 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

Awesome about the movie! We need all the real science fiction films we can get.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:25 PM on February 23, 2011

Someone does come out to their new friends in OMW, but it's hardly the focus.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:33 PM on February 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ha.
posted by converge at 11:34 PM on February 23, 2011

Awesome! I just finished re-reading the OMW series.
posted by Runes at 11:35 PM on February 23, 2011

He's going to be totally insufferable after this.

I kid! John, baby, pal, love ya work. Call me!

Seriously, call me. I have a script.
posted by Ritchie at 11:38 PM on February 23, 2011

It's never too late.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:38 PM on February 23, 2011

the Scalz is one of the few Mefites with whom I had online dealings before MeFi even existed. He was working for AOL as a 'content editor' and I failed miserably to sell him content. (and I LOVED his response to the latest AOL antics).

And I acquired "OMW" back when I was staying with my father, a very Old Man, to have something to read while he was watching his sitcoms on the only TV. Explaining the book's title was one of the more awkward scenes in a relationship filled with awkward scenes. I wonder if there will be some pressure from Hollywood to retitle it, but hey, Wolfgang Petersen had success with a movie everybody thought was about shoes... (btw, where were the landmines in "Enemy Mine"?) But I don't know, maybe "Starship Geezers"? But please, make sure the en-young-ened CDF soldiers still have greenish skin, NOT BLUE.

Seriously, congratulations and THANKS for trying to raise the level of scifi movies...
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:39 PM on February 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

John Scalzi is coming out? See ... i knew there was something more to that C. Doctrow love-hate relationship. The tension was killing me too.
posted by Poet_Lariat at 12:03 AM on February 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

The OMW series could really translate well to movies, I think, especially if they get the casting right. Really, the casting shouldn't even be that much of a challenge, provided they find quality people who are willing to do it and if the powers that be stay true to the well-drawn characters. I realize the major challenge of Hollywood is box-office sales. A bit of makeup and CGI, though, would totally handle the transformation as seamlessly as it is handled in the books.

Best of luck, John Scalzi! Part of why I have loved the series is because of the well-written characters. The additional Hollywood glitz, if it is handled properly, can only serve it well.

The thing about the folks in the OMW series for me is that I understand them. Including the non-human characters. The books were also an engaging and easy read that helped me de-stress from some work and life stuff, so I'm very likely biased.

Although I don't consider them juvenile fiction at all, including the book about the girl, they are on the list of books to recommend to my early teen kids (who have already read Dune and several other SF classics). That is not an easy compliment.
posted by lilywing13 at 12:35 AM on February 24, 2011

The Old Man's War movie is going to do for Scalzi what the Starship Troopers movie did for Heinlein.

I made myself sad.
posted by TypographicalError at 12:44 AM on February 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

If they don't cast Wil Wheaton for SOME part, even a cameo, I will be deeply disappointed.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:48 AM on February 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Good for you, man, all the best.
posted by Wolof at 3:05 AM on February 24, 2011

The Old Man's War movie is going to do for Scalzi what the Starship Troopers movie did for Heinlein.

I assume you mean "make him totally awesome". Old Man's War would make a great film, I wonder how much they will stress the war-is-hell aspect of the plot.
posted by AndrewStephens at 3:05 AM on February 24, 2011

It's going to be interesting to see what changes get made in the process of adaptation. Will the soldiers still have green skin and slitted pupils? Or will that be dropped because of concerns the audience won't relate to a green-skinned, cateyed protagonist?
posted by Ritchie at 3:17 AM on February 24, 2011

This seems appropriate.
posted by converge at 3:23 AM on February 24, 2011

So we can be assured that there will be a bunch of green-skinned sex scenes early on, and then lots of CGI aliens getting gibbed?
I think the books would make a better FPS than anything else.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 4:08 AM on February 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

This and the adaptation of The Forever War might just manage to entice me to go to the movie theater for the first time in 15 years.
posted by cmonkey at 4:13 AM on February 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

This and the adaptation of The Forever War might just manage to entice me to go to the movie theater for the first time in 15 years.
Ditto.
Two of my favorite stories. Would it be too much to hope that the studios leave some reasonable and recognizable semblance of story and character in the films? It would be a shame if they both simply became just another action-and-CG extravaganza.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:45 AM on February 24, 2011

The first thing Hollywood will do is drop the green skin.
posted by zardoz at 4:46 AM on February 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Then comes the re-writes...
posted by Molesome at 4:49 AM on February 24, 2011

I can see OMW working really well as a movie. I wonder if the studio bought it because of the success of Avatar? "Blue skinned warriors made a billions dollars, we need a space movie with green skinned warriors. We'll make even more."
posted by octothorpe at 5:36 AM on February 24, 2011

I really hope the green skins stay. I really enjoyed the book. The scene with the miniature civilization would be quite something on the big screen.
posted by dazed_one at 6:32 AM on February 24, 2011

Wow that's cool news, ain't it?
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:43 AM on February 24, 2011

I hope we're all ready for the comments from Hollywood types who "haven't read the book, but heard it's fabulous."
posted by 1adam12 at 7:05 AM on February 24, 2011

Firefly back on TV, a John Boehner sex scandal, and now this? I don't know if I can handle this much good news.
posted by Ber at 7:11 AM on February 24, 2011

So I'd often heard about this book. Had decided I'd read it "someday". The link to Mr. Scalzi's metafilter account shows his last post is nearly 5 years old. But it's about Carl Sagan. So, I ordered his book. Right the Eff Now. I hope the movie works for him!
posted by DigDoug at 7:59 AM on February 24, 2011

I really enjoyed OMW, I have to get that out right away. The sequels were basically terrible though, I didnt even bother to read the one he wrote about his daughter though so I probably should shut up now.
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:07 AM on February 24, 2011

Bravo John Scalzi! Woot!
posted by nickyskye at 9:03 AM on February 24, 2011

DigDoug: "The link to Mr. Scalzi's metafilter account shows his last post is nearly 5 years old."

True. But his last comment was only four days ago.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:06 AM on February 24, 2011

I hope the production team is kind to the source material.

Along with Iain Banks' Culture novels and Reynolds' Revelation Space books, OMW did a lot to get me reading and exploring SF again. Scalzi's writing feels better crafted than a lot of the stuff I found after reading OMW. I'm glad he was among the first SF writers I encountered when I got back into the genre: I expect more from writers and feel better about what I end up reading.

We'll see about the movie, but I know I'll use any interest it evokes to recommend the book to my friends.
posted by mph at 9:32 AM on February 24, 2011

That's some wonderful news. I look forward to seeing it on the silver green screen.
posted by Gelatin at 10:30 AM on February 24, 2011

Well, best of luck to Scalzi on this keeping its traction, but let's remember "Batman vs Superman" had Wolfgan Peterson on board to direct, a screenplay by the guy who wrote "Seven," and was within a month of casting ... in August of 2002.

Basically, I'll believe this is actually coming out when I see pre-production stills.
posted by Amanojaku at 11:02 AM on February 24, 2011

let's remember "Batman vs Superman" had Wolfgan Peterson on board to direct

He probably dropped the project when he realized it was a foregone conclusion that Superman can beat PlutocratmanBatman just by waving at him.
posted by cmonkey at 11:13 AM on February 24, 2011

Well this is cool news.
posted by nola at 11:38 AM on February 24, 2011

If this movie wins an Oscar, I will personally give jscalzi his weight in Coke Zero.

Again.
posted by eriko at 5:56 PM on February 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is ridiculously good news, and even if Hollywood butchers the story as much as they did with Starship Troopers, I hope it's still as much fun to watch.

I would happily go see EVERY jscalzi book, were it brought to the big screen. Next up, Agent To The Stars?
posted by antifuse at 11:11 AM on March 3, 2011