Posted on 12/31/2020 12:45:48 PM PST by Red Badger
Years in the making, 2021 will finally see the first adaptation of Issac Asimov's seminal sci-fi classic, Foundation Apple TV
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The next 12 months promise a huge assortment of treats for fans of science fiction. Here are our picks for the most anticipated upcoming projects, including new TV adaptations of classic oft-told stories and a long-awaited new cinematic entry in a classic sci-fi franchise.
It is probably no surprise that many of our entries on last year’s list have been delayed due to the 2020 pandemic. To avoid repeating ourself, check out last year’s list to get a reminder of some strong titles that are still to come (Dune is perhaps the most anticipated holdover).
TEASER VIDEO AT LINK...................
We first flagged this big-budget TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov's seminal book series two years ago. And after a long production path a trailer finally appeared a few months ago, offering the first look at what is clearly a super expensive series.
All signs suggest this could be a strong adaptation, however, it is always challenging to make something out of classic stories that have been picked apart and pillaged by countless modern classics. From Star Wars to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, countless modern sci-fi stories have borrowed from Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Can this adaptation avoid feeling too familiar? Sweet Tooth (Netflix)
Sweet Tooth, based on a graphic novel series of the same nameNetflix
Based on a graphic novel series that has been succinctly described as “Mad Max meets Bambi,” this post-apocalyptic story follows a half-human/half-deer hybrid named Gus who “joins a ragtag family of humans and animal-children hybrids like himself in search of answers about this new world and the mystery behind his hybrid origins.”
It is difficult to predict exactly what the tone of this very weird project will be, but Netflix bizarrely describes it as a “family-friendly storybook adventure.” Despite being co-produced by noted horror filmmaker Jim Mickle, the project is produced by Beth Schwartz (of DC television shows such as Arrow) and co-written by Christina Ham (a writer on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), so it is unlikely this will go into super strange or surreal territory.
The Last of Us (HBO)
The Last of Us is a TV series based on a the popular video gameHBO
It is entirely fair to say film and TV adaptations of video games do not have a good track record. But The Last of Us is not just any video game. This is one of the most popular narrative-driven video game series of the past decade.
And there are plenty of signs this could be a successful adaptation. HBO certainly has a strong track record at shepherding genre adaptions into prestige TV (at least until their creators make a number of terrible decisions ... I'm looking at you Game of Thrones) and the team assembled not only includes the original game writers but many of the creators involved in 2019’s thrilling Chernobyl mini-series.
Halo (Showtime)
Halo is one of several big video game adaptations hitting TV screens in 2021Showtime
Another big-budget TV adaptation of a very popular video game on its way in 2021 is Showtime’s Halo. The project has been in development since 2013 at Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Television, and despite production being mostly completed in early 2020 before the pandemic hit, reshoots have delayed the final cut.
As with The Last of Us, this project is at risk of the video game adaptation curse, but perhaps most concerning is the fact that the original Halo game was itself a mash-up of sci-fi influences, from James Cameron’s Aliens to a number of iconic sci-fi novels. Hopefully a strong creative team has found a way to present this familiar material in exciting and fresh ways.
The Sandman (Netflix)
After literally decades of attempts a Sandman adaptation will come to Netflix in 2021DC, Vertigo, Netflix
Many have tried, and all failed, to mount a film or TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s iconic graphic novel series. There has been talk of a Sandman adaptation since the early 1990s but it wasn’t until 2019 that actual money was put on the table to move this thing into production.
Gaiman himself has been close to the development of this project into a TV series and production only recently kicked off after COVID-19 delays. Despite Gaiman’s promising involvement, the show will be primarily run by Allan Heinberg, an experienced TV producer with credits as diverse as Party of Five, Sex and the City and Gilmore Girls.
The Lord of the Rings (Amazon)
A message from the Twitter account for the new Lord of the Rings TV seriesAmazon
Amazon spent US$250 million in 2017 just to acquire the rights to Tolkien’s classic series so this is going to be as big as blockbuster television gets. At least five seasons are planned, and each season will cost more than $100 million to produce.
It is still unclear exactly what stories this series will tell, but it has been revealed it will be set thousands of years before the events of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Whether this reaches Game of Thrones level popularity or crashes and burns as a costly failure is almost irrelevant. This is going to be a big 2021 event.
The Matrix 4 (Warner Bros.)
Keanu Reeves returns as Neo in the Matrix 4Warner Bros.
It is always risky revisiting old franchises years later, and the last two Matrix films were certainly a case of diminishing returns after the instant classic of the first. But if anyone can pull it off it is Lana Wachowski, one of the two siblings behind the original trilogy, who returns with star Keanu Reeves.
All we know at this stage is the film is not a remake or reboot but rather it will continue the story from the first three movies. The original films were notable for a landmark reinvention of action filmmaking. Here’s hoping Lana Wachowski can deliver that same thrill of the new.
Reminiscence (Warner Bros.)
Lisa Joy's debut as writer/directorWarner Bros.
Best known as co-creator of the HBO sci-fi series Westworld with her spouse Jonathan Nolan, Reminiscence will be Lisa Joy’s debut as a solo writer/director. Although Westworld was by no means a creative success, it certainly was full of thoughtful sci-fi themes and musings.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Reminiscence tells the story of a near-future world where people are able to re-experience key memories … for a fee. Joy certainly has the ability to tell exciting stories with a big budget, and her husband came up with the story for one of the best cinematic games of memory ever made (Memento) so there are high hopes for this one.
Dual (XYZ Films)
Karen Gillan (seen above in Jumanji) will fight a clone of herself in DualColumbia Pictures, Sony
With two small but impressive feature films under his belt, Riley Stearns is a filmmaker on the cusp of something truly great, and Dual just may be that breakthrough work. Shot in Finland during the pandemic this sci-fi film stars Aaron Paul, Jesse Eisenberg, and Karen Gillan.
Playing with the classic sci-fi trope of clones, the story follows a terminally ill woman who creates a clone of herself to help her family deal with her upcoming death. Of course, trouble ensues when she miraculously recovers from her illness. In this future world there can legally be only one iteration of a person alive ... meaning the solution is a court-ordered dual to the death.
Battlestar Galactica (Peacock)
The TV series will tell new stories in the same world as the 2004 seriesNBC Universal
Considering it hasn’t been much more than a decade since that last TV version of Battlestar Galactica concluded it is fair to say this is a pretty unnecessary and redundant remake. But what is promising about this reboot is the involvement of Sam Esmail (the creator of Mr Robot and director of the first season of Amazon’s Homecoming).
Not all of Esmail’s work is successful, but he always swings for the fences with bold creative choices (like setting half a Mr Robot episode within a perfectly recreated episode of the 80s TV show Alf). Instead of telling the same story, this new series will simply be set in the same universe as the 2004 series and Esmail has already suggested each episode will be dramatically different in style, tone and even duration.
Cowboy Bebop (Netflix)
The live-action remake of the cult anime stars John ChoFunimation
Anyone familiar with the cult Japanese anime will immediately understand how excitingly insane the idea of a live-action remake is, but this could be one of the more incredible surprises of 2021. Starring John Cho, the project shares a similar space western sensibility to The Mandalorian, although things certainly get a little more wacky in the Cowboy Bebop universe.
With Jeff Pinkner co-producing (from Lost and Fringe), and Christopher Yost co-writing, the project also recruited the original anime’s director as creative consultant. Shooting in New Zealand started back in 2019 but was halted for more than six months after Cho injured his knee. Production recently kicked off again so this one should pop up on your Netflix homepage at some point towards the back of 2021.
Sci-Fi Ping!......................
No dune?
I’m taking bets that “Foundation” will be based upon a climate change apocalypse.
As a Tolkien family, I’m dreading Bezos’ LOTR. Pretty much expecting a contrived Game of Thrones clone nominally featuring characters from the LOTR appendices. I’d love to be wrong.
*fan, not family.
Patience Grasshopper..................It is coming...............
The best scifi yet to come will be Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem from Netflix - better yet if they go on to serialize the other books in the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” series: “The Dark Forest” and “Death’s End” as well as the fan novel “The Redemption of Time” by Bau Shu.
I just finished rereading the Foundation series. It is amazing the things you don’t remember reading after 35 years. They should do Eon by Greg Bear.
Well, I really like “the Expanse”; although the F-word and GD and the gay themes get a bit old. The stories, the adventure, technology, and special effects (especially in 4-k) is amazing.
How many books?
Asimov wrote prequels and sequels after the original trilogy. And they weren’t written in chronological order, so there are a few inconsistencies, to which Asimov said to his critics, “Get a life!”................
Somebody please translate for me. In re to “Dual,” it says...
Dual (XYZ Films)
and...
Karen Gillan (seen above in Jumanji) will fight a clone of herself in Dual Columbia Pictures, Sony
So, it’s on Sony? Where does one access “Sony”?
Help, please...
I expect abject garbage. Hollywood had completely lost its way. If I can tolerate even one of these coming movies or shows, I will keel over in shock.
I heard nothing but praise for the 2 shows “Lost in Space” and “Westworld”.
Westworld was terrible. I didn’t make it through 2 episodes before I could take no more of the stupidity. It was bad enough that the androids animated and had their own “lives” when no customers were within miles of them (since when do businesses operate attractions without customers???), but the androids became VIEWPOINT CHARACTERS. I am sorry, but that is crazy. The original Westworld, the malfunctioning gunslinger is always kept at a distance. You aren’t in his mind or have to understand his thinking. He is simply malfunctioning. And that is just 2 of the obvious problems with Westworld. There were 20 problems straight off the bat.
Lost in Space was far worse. OK, I will give them the black daughter in the white family. I never got to the backstory there. Maybe she was adopted. Maybe they are her Godparents and her natural parents died. Maybe the mom had a torrid affair with a black guy and it is his baby? I will give them that. Beyond that, the writing was absolutely childish. Your average high school daydreamer could write better material. The continuity problems alone were idiotic. One example. They abandon their sinking spaceship and scramble out onto the ice in their space suits. Like magic, they have tents, winter coats, tools, and gear. Gee, how convenient. I love the lush green forest being 200-feet lower than the glaciers. Really? REALLY????
The sad thing is, the production value was wonderful with both shows and I expect they both cost a significant amount, at least these early episodes.
Hollywod is lost, never to be found. It is nothing but trash. Even when the social justice wokeness has not crushed the life out of any realism, sense, or entertainment, the writing is so dispicable, these things are flat unwatchable.
I have no clue how Game of Thrones was so well written in the current Hollywood climate. I know Tom Sellick is largely responsible for the superb writing for Blue Bloods.
All of the above are likely to be complete and utter putrid sewage. If even one of the above pans out for me, I will keel over in complete and total shock!
In a theater..............at some point in the future..............
I totally expect them to RUIN FOUNDATION...........................
It’s probably going to be Dune or Foundation, obviously, since those are the 2 best sci-fi book series ever written, so if they are adapted even semi-competently, they are guaranteed to be entertaining.
No Wheel of Time?
By the time Foundation starts, humans have left Earth long behind and colonized the whole galaxy, so I don’t see how they could even start to work “climate change” in.
“I have no clue how Game of Thrones was so well written in the current Hollywood climate.”
Because all the good seasons were based on the books. Once they ran out of books and hired Hollywood writers to finish the story, the quality dropped off dramatically.
(Ironically though, the author of the books started out as a Hollywood writer himself, so go figure.)
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