Last week Syfy said they planned on producing more “serious” science fiction to try and draw viewers in, and one of those attempts is adapting Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End as a mini-series with Charles Dance. On Monday, THR reported that Syfy is doubling down on Arthur C. Clarke adaptations with a second mini-series based on the 1997 novel 3001: The Final Odyssey.
3001 is the final book in Clarke’s Space Odyssey series that began over 40 years ago with 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was released as a novel and a film at the same time. Or, it started 60 years ago with the short story “The Sentinel,” depending on how you’re counting. Reportedly the estates of Stanley Kubrick as well as Clarke fully support Syfy bringing 3001 to television.
This makes the only book in the Odyssey series to not be adapted 2061: Odyssey Three. Stuart Beattie, who has written all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, will be writing the script, with Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker producing.
3001 continues the story of astronaut Dr. Frank Poole, who is brought back to life and returned to Earth, blah blah blah dinosaur butlers. That’s pretty much all I’m concerned about. However, if you want some more “3001 trivia”, apparently Tom Hanks wanted to direct/star in a 3001 adaptation about fifteen years ago, and, Idiocracy was apparently first titled 3001. Oh, Yahoo archive. You are a goldmine of useless factoids.