Some More Original Sci-Fi Brewing at Summit Entertainment
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Newsstand
In a post a few weeks back celebrating Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore's plans to kickstart a new sci-fi trilogy, I lamented the lack of original science-fiction at the movies -- that is to say, films that aren't adaptations, remakes or sequels. Now, in addition to Moore's project (which remains shrouded in mystery), we can look forward to Arena from Summit Entertainment and first-time screenwriters Toby Wagstaff and Darren Howell. The movie is being overseen by the same guy who brought us last year's godawful War, but the concept sounds a lot cooler. Paraphrasing from the Variety squib announcing the project, it's about a group of modern-day soldiers who are suddenly transported to a terrain-shifting battlefield where they must face all the best armies and warriors from the past "in a gladiatorial fight to the death," or else be immediately killed by the omnipotent forces behind the "Arena." Having now spent ten minutes searching in vain for something to which I can compare this idea, I'm forced to conclude that it's legitimately original. (Am I missing something? The best I've been able to come up with is Cube meets Stargate, which is still way off.)
Which is not to say the resulting movie, if it materializes, won't suck. Indeed, it's precisely the kind of concept that can easily produce a C-grade film (think Stay Alive or Virtuosity). If the screenplay obsesses on the gory details of the "gladiatorial fight to the death" without giving any actual thought to the notion of a bunch of soldiers being mysteriously transported to an otherworldly Arena run by all-powerful beings, then we're in trouble. On the other hand, if the movie recognizes how weird and literally awesome an idea that is, we could be in for something very cool.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-27-2008 @ 7:31PM
LastJedi said...
Other than the terrain shifting elements, it kind of sounds like a different take on Marvel's Secret Wars and/or Planet Hulk. My buddies and me have been having a similar contest with all the top action heroes battling it out. Arena has a good concept, hopefully it will translate to a good movie.
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4-27-2008 @ 8:05PM
lrs62 said...
...or it's a slightly bastardized version of the short story by Fredric Brown and then the Star Trek episode based on it?
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4-27-2008 @ 8:31PM
doug said...
This sounds very similar to Contest by Matthew Reilly
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4-27-2008 @ 9:33PM
Eugene Novikov said...
You see, this is why I love blogging here. Not only did folks immediately come up with examples, but now I have new reading material.
4-27-2008 @ 8:50PM
WARBRINGER DOOM said...
Kinda a little bit of Futurama in there. The episode "where no fans gone before" were Melvar is the force that pits them against each other. Just not through all the warriors of the past. Well kinda. Star Trek is set 800 years in the past by that time!! This was just the first thing that poped in my mind after i read this.
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4-27-2008 @ 9:44PM
colin said...
Time bandits Bro... Time bandits.
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4-28-2008 @ 12:15AM
Fred Philbie said...
Yeah, I thought of a STAR TREK episode too, but not "Arena". In "The Savage Curtain" Kirk, Spock and Abe Lincoln have to fight Genghis Khan and some evil historical baddies. Still, it sounds like a cool idea for a movie.
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4-28-2008 @ 12:56AM
Mr. R said...
Engaging with armies from different times and a master mind behind it? Somehow it sounds like that remote control movie with John Ritter...:P
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4-28-2008 @ 8:33AM
Mark said...
It also sounds a little like the short story of the same by Frederic Brown, from 1944.
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4-28-2008 @ 9:32AM
Matt said...
also sounds like an episode of red dwarf (although i think the different groups were robots) and a board game called heroscape.
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4-28-2008 @ 11:39AM
Brian Jacks said...
The concept was also partially used for the old arcade game "Time Soldiers," where soldiers were sent to different time periods (roman times, world wars, etc.) to rescue their comrades.
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4-28-2008 @ 7:35PM
EatingPie said...
Um, original? You are KIDDING, right? You even name the story it was stolen from!
Arena. By Fredric Brown.
Okay there wasn't shifting terrain in Arena, but the "fight to the death" and "killed by omnipotent forces behind the Arena" are straight out of that '50s classic. And the aforementioned Star Trek episode of the same name came from that story as well.
If Ronald D. Moore thinks there's no originality in Science Fiction, he's proving it.
-Pie
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4-29-2008 @ 1:36AM
ajameswaite said...
I can't remember the name but there's a book by Arthur C. Clarke with a similar idea, Genghis Kahn ends up fighting Alexander the Great.
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4-29-2008 @ 8:47AM
davenix said...
Nice writing Writer. Writings hard huh? None of that pesky fact checking for you - eehhh Writer?
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4-29-2008 @ 12:23PM
Eugene Novikov said...
Oh yeah, some real hard facts came out in this discussion.