Here’s your open channel challenge of the weekend. Take favored science fiction or fantasy novel, and imagine that it’s been picked up for a film. Who would be the best director (living or dead) to helm the project?
For my money, I’d love to see Linda Nagata’s Red trilogy (The Red: First Light, The Trials and Going Dark) picked up for some sort of film or television series, with Neill Blomkamp at the helm.
Nagata’s trilogy focuses on some pretty relevant stuff: cybersecurity, cybernetics, emergent AIs, and a whole host of action. I’ve really loved Blomkamp’s movies - District 9, Elysium and Chappie, and they cover some of the same ground as Nagata.
Moreover, his visual style meshes really well with the novels: Blomkamp’s tendency to drop the action into different viewpoints and screens would work really well here, but the production design and his particular way of framing the world’s surroundings would make him the perfect fit. Plus, he’s done stuff with mechanical exoskeletons in the past.
So, who would you tap to direct your favorite book?