Space opera needs to be revived!

[NSFfan78]

I was never interested in space opera until earlier this year when I played the first Mass Effect under the recommendation of a friend. I thought the Battle for the Citadel scene was epic! Why don't we see space opera on TV anymore? No one likes space opera anymore? Did the network execs decide the genre was dead? Do you think this genre should be revived? I think our generation could use a epic space opera.

http://io9.com/5837047/why-we-need-more-space-adventures

[YankeyMCC]

1. It's alive an well in print

Often called "The New Space Opera" in the late 90's and aughts lots of good New Space Opera novels came out from the likes of Reynolds, McDonald, Reed, etc...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Space_Opera

Not so much in TV beyond BSG. But it seems like more is coming on syfy, The Expanse, Ringworld

[Tom Kitten]

2. There's a lot of classic SF that has never been adapted for film or TV

As far as I know... "Cities In Flight" by James Blish comes to mind. Also Fred Pohl and Jack Williamson's Starchild Trilogy. Books that are well written, engaging, and have storylines that could be continued in a series.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

3. Space operas are expensive...

I think that's the bottom line, especially for TV; you need sets, makeup effects, CGI shots and backgrounds, production design, etc. I think that most production companies are weary of investing that kinds of money and prefer stuff you can shoot on a simple apartment set or on any anonymous street.

"Defiance" is pretty cool; With what it must cost to produce I'm amazed it has lasted so far...

[hunter]

7. These days adequate CGI probably costs less than location shots or generic sets.

Actors, artists, writers, musicians, foley, are required for any movie.

What does it matter if it's a green screen?

[NSFfan78]

4. Finally!

http://io9.com/syfy-is-turning-james-s-a-coreys-books-into-game-of-t-1562411885

SyFy finally got their heads out of their asses! What our generation needs is a epic space opera in the vein of BSG not another crappy reality show or B movie! I just read Leviathan Wakes and it was kickass!

[ReverendDeuce]

5. Babylon 5 was good if you overlook the corny episodes and severely dated effects... n/t

n/t

[sakabatou]

6. Wasn't Guardians of the Galaxy a space opera?

[temporary311]

11. Yes.

Very good movie, too.

[sakabatou]

13. Agreed

[Odin2005]

8. I want to see Poul Anderson's "Dominic Flannery" books turned into a TV series.

Anderson was a Libertarian doofus, but DAMN he was a brilliant writer, tying good plots together with a greater theme of the fall of civilizations.

[cemaphonic]

9. Iain Banks "Use of Weapons" would be pretty awesome

Great space opera backdrop to a compelling human story that the right actor could do really great things with.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. 'Consider Phlebas' would be even better, I think

And that was Banks' opinion too:

No Culture novels have ever been filmed. This is a travesty. Only Banks’ Culture novel ‘Player of Games’ has been optioned (by Pathé).

Interestingly, Banks has said that the book he would most like to see on the big screen would be Consider Phlebas, but admits that it would almost certainly have to be a very big budget project.

Considering his position of science fiction Grandmaster, isn’t it time that Hollywood started to take notice? What with reboots, prequels, sequels and painfully thin blockbusters saturating the marketplace, Banks entire Culture back catalogue should be snapped up immediately. If Prometheus is your thing, then Consider Phlebas would blow you away.

“They could cast Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis as Horza… I wouldn’t mind as long as they just did it… I want to see the big action sequences! I want to see the gigantic ship hitting the even more gigantic iceberg! I want to see the fight underneath the hovercraft, which I’ve always imagined being lit by strobes! I want to see the big train- wreck stuff at the end and the firefights!” Iain M. Banks.

http://www.deathbyfilms.com/books-that-would-make-awesome-movies-2

[petronius]

12. +1! I was actually going to post this same idea last night, but then I grabbed

CP off the shelf and started rereading that Damage game chapter, up through the hovercraft fight.

Don't know about Arnold as Horza though - maybe as Kraiklyn...

Player of Games could be quite good as well I think, in the right hands.

[NSFfan78]

14. A new golden age

Luc Besson, the director of The Fifth Element has a new project called Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets which will be based on a French graphic novel called Valerian and Laureline.



With Valerian, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and the Mass Effect movie still in planning are we in a new golden age of sci fi?