Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

“Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

nwn.blogs.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 120 posts

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#61

Post by madrox »

My fear with any Snowcrash adaptation is that it will feel like John Carter of Mars (or Warhammer Online [1]). John Carter was a groundbreaking novel, but its ideas became so adapted and universally understood that revisiting them in a movie felt ironically like derivative work.

If I have to endure years of my non-cyberpunk friends talking about how Snowcrash feels like a rip-off of Ready Player One, then I will flip tables.

[1] https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/04/10/i-hope-you-lik...

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#62

Post by Zelphyr »

Keverw wrote: post #59
jasondclinton wrote: post #3

I'm glad to see this happen. Suspect that a network exec somewhere said: "Sci-fi! Dystopia! Rogue AI! Cyberpunk!" and then HBO went through the list of books meeting that criteria (copying the Game of Thrones formula) and picked a best-seller to make a screen play out of. The subject matter seems to fit quite well with the tech malaise we are feeling at the end of the 2010's.

Sounds like an interesting formula. Ready Player One is popular too, but I guess since there is a movie that's already been done... but I guess you can have a series and also movies... The Purge has a TV series now even though originally it was a movie.

While I really enjoyed Ready Player One as a movie, I couldn't help leave it feeling it would've been better as a mini-series.

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#63

Post by aasasd »

ryanSrich wrote: post #43

I support any network taking on more Sci Fi. I'd give almost anything to see a proper Foundation series done by HBO. Or culture series, or a Dune series, or you name it. Imagine a gritty interpretation of Fire Upon The Deep done by Christopher Nolan. There's not nearly enough Sci Fi movies.

I went through about half of ‘Foundation’ in my sci-fi binge, and discovered that it's all politics instead of robotics. Might not quite fit the wave―even though it could still be a different good show, of course.

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#64

Post by Zelphyr »

ascavalcante80 wrote: post #7
jasondclinton wrote: post #3

I'm glad to see this happen. Suspect that a network exec somewhere said: "Sci-fi! Dystopia! Rogue AI! Cyberpunk!" and then HBO went through the list of books meeting that criteria (copying the Game of Thrones formula) and picked a best-seller to make a screen play out of. The subject matter seems to fit quite well with the tech malaise we are feeling at the end of the 2010's.

I had the same feeling... We shouldn't be surprised if, after that, we see a Neuromancer series on Netflix or Amazon Prime (not Disney, pls God!).

While were confessing our wishlists for books-to-tv: I'd love to see "Rendezvous With Rama" made into a series.

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#65

Post by sandoooo »

jasondclinton wrote: post #3

I'm glad to see this happen. Suspect that a network exec somewhere said: "Sci-fi! Dystopia! Rogue AI! Cyberpunk!" and then HBO went through the list of books meeting that criteria (copying the Game of Thrones formula) and picked a best-seller to make a screen play out of. The subject matter seems to fit quite well with the tech malaise we are feeling at the end of the 2010's.

suspect the screening process actually goes like this:

"we have this story about a spunky action girl (who is not a mary sue since she's gonna be the actual main character) and her bumbling male companions, on a quest to impeach cybertrump by the power of fisticuffs. which IP will let us shoehorn it in?"

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#66

Post by ghaff »

gumby wrote: post #19
bduerst wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disney has Mandalorian . Amazon has The Expanse and recently picked up Ringworld for a tv-series too. Another unnamed network is supposedly currently considering Red Rising series as well. Sci-Fi dystopia is hot right now.

Is Ringworld really dystopian? I mean the ring world civilization(s) did fall, but Known Space and the puppeteers were pretty much doing OK.

Sort of a problem with a lot of Niven's novels more generally, but they became travelogues to a large degree. I agree not especially dystopian (or interesting).

I liked his short stories a lot more.

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#67

Post by michaelt »

omarhaneef wrote: post #44

While Snow Crash is one of the all time great sci fi novels, it famously has a huge plot hole: although Stephenson saw a lot of things about the future with remarkable accuracy, he did not foresee the ubiquity of the cell phone. A simple cell phone would have undercut the main plot. Now that we know what we know, how will they account for it?

Don't they have cell phones, though? I mean, YT is able to call Hiro from the Buy-n-fly?

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#68

Post by philipkglass »

ryanSrich wrote: post #43

I support any network taking on more Sci Fi. I'd give almost anything to see a proper Foundation series done by HBO. Or culture series, or a Dune series, or you name it. Imagine a gritty interpretation of Fire Upon The Deep done by Christopher Nolan. There's not nearly enough Sci Fi movies.

Amazon is adapting Consider Phlebas, the first book in the Culture series:

https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/consider-phlebas-iain-m-ban...

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#69

Post by erik_landerholm »

I hope it doesn't suck. It seems like every few years a network tries to make a sci-fi series, it bombs and then it's years before anyone tries again. I would love to see Revelation Space (by Alastair Reynolds) get the budget of the mandalorian or huge big screen budget, but alas, that will never happen.

Re: “Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers

#70

Post by Dowwie »

Science fiction is my favorite genre and have enjoyed a lot of Stephenson. I think that Snow Crash could be great as an HBO production and when it does well we can see Cryptonomicon, the Diamond Age, and others follow.

I can't wait to see the Raven character..

Post reply on HN