The SyFy Channel is set to develop a mini-series adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's novel "3001: The Final Odyssey," which is the sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey." The series will be written by Stuart Beattie ("Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Collateral"). He will also serve as executive producer alongside Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker ("Numbers," "The Good Wife").
"3001: The Final Odyssey" is the fourth and final book in Clarke's legendary quadrilogy; it tells the tale of Frank Poole, the astronaut who was deceived and ultimately killed by HAL 9000 in "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Here's a plot breakdown of "3001" from the publisher, Del Rey Books:
"One thousand years after the Jupiter mission to explore the mysterious Monolith had been destroyed, after Dave Bowman was transformed into the Star Child, Frank Poole drifted in space, frozen and forgotten, leaving the supercomputer HAL inoperable. But now Poole has returned to life, awakening in a world far different from the one he left behind - and just as the Monolith may be stirring once again..."
According to the story description on Wikipedia, Poole's body is "discovered in the Kuiper belt by a comet-collecting space tug named the Goliath, and revived. Poole is then returned to Earth in the year 3001, where the world is very, very different from when he first left it. Some of its notable features include the BrainCap, a brain-computer interface technology; genetically-engineered dinosaur servants; a space drive; and four gigantic space elevators located evenly around the Equator. Human beings have also colonized the Jovian moons Ganymede and Callisto. TMA-1, the black monolith found on the Moon in 1999, has been brought to Earth in 2006 and installed in front of the United Nations Building in New York City."
Scott this to say in a statement to TVLine: "I have always been a fan of Clarke's extraordinary 'Odyssey' series, and certainly Kubrick's adaptation of '2001.' I am thrilled to be part of bringing that legacy to audiences and continuing the great cinematic tradition that this story and its creators deserve."
It is all well and good that Scott is producing this opus, but wouldn't a feature film with Scott at the helm be better suited to this heady material? It seems as though a SyFy min-series will have to do in this case. Clarke fans everywhere, try your best not to feel slighted...
