I Robot.

[flintorama]

I am living in Vancouver right now where they are hard at work filming I Robot. It stars Will Smith as Elijah Bailey. I am not sure what's going on as I am not too familiar with the story(I only ever read The Robots of Dawn), but I heard they really aren't staying true to the story. It would seem that Hollywood still hasn't learned the lesson, that Lord of the Rings taught them! It really is too bad. This is what one of my friends who works on the second unit told me anyways. Anyone have any opinions? How about other Sci Fi books that should be movies?

[Evil Agent]

I'm in Vancouver too!

As for I, Robot. I read it when I was 17 (7 years ago), but I seem to remember that it was a collection of short stories, not a novel at all.

[Lifino]

Amazon review of I, Robot... For your reference.

Yes it is a collection of shorts, each set within certain guidelines as prescribed by Asimov. And while each is independent of the other, the stories could be said to tie into each-other making the book work as a whole...

On the other hand, I doubt Hollywood has read any of the Amazon reviews, nor have they done much research into the purpose of I, Robot... That is partly how Smith ended out in this movie...

[flintorama]

I disagree fully with your view of Will Smith. He may not have made the best choices so far, but his acting skills are there. He has after all been nominated for 2 academy awards already.( i know that doesn't mean all that much but you generally have to pretty good to get a nod).

When coming up with Elijah Bailey roles, me and my brother could only think of two others that could pull it off. Denzel Washington and Chow Yun Fat. I also wanted an Indian actor to play him(can't remember his name) but he would have been great.

I heard that they are going to produce all the films in the series too, so they wanted Will over the next 10 years or so.

[trentdick2882]

I would hate to see Will Smith play any role in any movie associated with any author I enjoy. Whatever acting skills he has, his future movies will be tainted by his past errors.

[Shehzad]

Unfortunatelt what people fail to realize is that Elijah Bailey was not even a character in the I, Robot collection-- their central character was Susan Calvin.

Elijah Bailey was the protagonist of The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn; with a "flashback" role in Robots and Empire.

[Evil Agent]

PLEASE tell me Will Smith is NOT Lije Bailey.

It's like the last post says, Bailey was NOT in I, Robot. He was in the Robot Series, which is made up of 4 different books.

BTW Flint, I like the choice of Denzel or Chow Yun Fat. Interesting, though not what I pictured.

As for Smith, get this... I found out that he was apparently supposed to be cast as NEO in the first Matrix! UGH!

[flintorama]

All I know for sure is that the movie is not going to be exactly like the book. I believe Will Smith is playing Elijah Bailey(perhaps they've changed the plot or something) but there is a chance they could change it! The film is being directed by Alex Proyas( Dark City, The Crow) so maybe it won't be bad. I really don't know. It's so hard to tell what's going to be crap nowadays.

[Shehzad]

From www.scifiwire.com :

"Bridget Moynahan has signed on to star opposite Will Smith in I, Robot, the upcoming film adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic SF short-story collection, Variety reported. Moynahan will portray a psychologist in the distant future with a specialty in robot psyches, who must aid a detective (Smith) investigating a murder supposedly committed by a robot"

Doesn't sound anything like I, Robot to me...

[Kilroy]

I, Robot is the more famous title than the others in the Robots series. I, Robot was used to set up the robotic laws that became the centre points of the series thereafter. Will Smith as Bailey I think won't be so bad. You are all way to critical before you see something. So it won't follow the story exactly, they are following the exact premise of the Robots series. The synopsis for the movie is exactly like a brief description anyone would make of a Robots novel.
Again, just because its called I, Robot doesn't mean they can't use the Elijah Bailey. Its just the most well known title come on people, get with it.

Kilroy Was Here.

[Evil Agent]

My problem is that I don't like Will Smith. He's a COMEDIAN, ex-rapper. He's not very good at dramatic roles, and I've read the whole Robot series. He is NOT a likely Lije. However, I WILL give him a chance...

As for the title, well what's the story going to be based on? Why not call it Caves of Steel, that's a sweet name.

Anyway, wasn't 'Bicentennial Man' (with Robin Williams, based on an Asimov robot-novel precursor) supposed to suck?

I bet it will be good, but I'm just not keen on old Willy.

[Shehzad]

The problem is, that story is nothing like ANY of the robot novels. I am not excited. Bicentennial Man sucked, this one I am not holding high hopes for, either.

[Shehzad]

My worst fears are coming to pass.

From Sci Fi Wire:

"Among other things, the movie changes the stories' character of Dr. Susan Calvin into a young woman, played by Bridget Moynahan, and introduces a new main robot, Sonny, a computer-generated character..."

"...we took a bit of a side step, and we're very faithful to the spirit of the Asimov stories, but we've more or less constructed our own narrative."

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[Shehzad]

There's a feeling of impending doom...

"Cromwell plays Dr. Lanning, the creator of the most advanced robot ever built. Greenwood plays Lance Robertson, the top executive at U.S. Robotics, who tries to impede a murder investigation. Smith stars as Detective Spooner, a technophobe who suspects robots may be the perpetrators of a series of murders, though their programming prohibits them from harming people, the trade paper reported"

From www.scifiweekly.com

[flintorama]

"...we took a bit of a side step, and we're very faithful to the spirit of the Asimov stories, but we've more or less constructed our own narrative."

Here come the Hollywood one liners, and stupid narrow minded robot jokes for the average American hillbilly. That is soooooo unfortunate, I was hoping they would do better, but know we are just going to see Men in Black 3 complete with Robot's and Race based comedy. (something which viewers in every other country in the world are sick of).