Bryan Singer adapting Heinlein's classic sci-fi novel THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS

It seems classic science fiction is popular in Hollywood at the moment, what with Isaac Asimov’s Foundation recently being given the adaptation treatment. Now X-Men director and producer Bryan Singer has been tapped by Twentieth Century Fox (via THR) to produce an adaption of the classic Robert A. Heinlein sci-fi novel The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, with Mark Guggenheim (Arrow executive producer) adapting the novel; not a bad team I’d say.

The new movie will unimaginatively be re-titled as Uprising though, because Hollywood is of course a firm believer in homogenous sounding movies that lack any flair in their names (Here’s looking at you Edge of Tomorrow, based on All You Need Is Kill). Here’s the synopsis for the original book via Amazon:

It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people–a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic–who become the rebel movement’s leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution’s ultimate success.

Fun fact: Mike’s actual name is HOLMES IV (“High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor, Mark IV”), and he’s nicknamed Mike after Mycroft Holmes, brother to Sherlock Holmes, and the smart one in the family. Originally released in serial form in If magazine between December 1965 and April 1966 the novel was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1966 and won the Hugo Award in 1967 for best science-fiction novel. Heinlein’s other works that have been adapted include the recent Predestination (based on the short story -All You Zombies-) and of course, Starship Troopers (very loosely based on the novel of the same name).

This is the third attempted adaption of the work, following a Dreamworks Pictures attempt off a script by Pirates of the Caribbean writer duo Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio and a Phoenix Pictures attempt with Harry Potter producer David Heyman attached. Both previous attempts got stuck in developmental limbo until the rights eventually reverted back to Henlein’s estate.

Now, can someone PLEASE adapt Joe Haldeman’s Forever War – or do we still need to figure out how to make an anti-war sci-fi novel work?

Last Updated: March 4, 2015