[JEff Edsell]

It's been a while since I read it, but isn't "I, Robot" a collection of short stories, most of which take place on other planets, where a couple of techs try to figure out the reasons behind seemingly odd robot behavior? Meanwhile, the life of Susan Calvin (inventor of the positronic brain, I think) unfolds alongside the further development of the robot.

"The Caves of Steel" was a murder mystery in a domed New York of the future, where a human detective is partnered with a "humaniform robot" to solve a murder that may have been committed by a robot.

Is this new movie based on "Caves," or one/several of the stories in "I, Robot"? Or a completely new story that only shares a title with Asimov?

I'm interested in seeing it regardless. To my knowledge, there's never really been a good film or TV adaptation of any of IA's work.

[Githerax]

100% correct, Jeff. The fact that this director/producer/whatever is screwing around with the Asimov's work is troubling. We remember the debacle of Bicentennial Man.

[Quint]

Obviously, this is all in fun, but if I'd had my druthers, I'd have cast the three Asimov prinicipals as follows:

Lanning - Paul Newman
Bogert - James Cromwell
Calvin - Gillian Anderson

I'm a bit wary of this movie, especially because I enjoyed the Robot and Foundation novels, and because of the absolute treacly "Bicentennial Man." Ugh.

Still, one can always hope, right?

[sboog]

I think the movie is exactly in the style of Asmiov. The short stories were not designed too tell one long story, like the life of Dr. Calvin, they were designed to show a world, and to talk about the various ethical problems with artificial intellgience. I think it would be very hard to make a movie of the book, but makng up a story inside the world Asmov created will be very eexciting.

[Bukama]

The summary of the plot here at RT certainly sounds like Caves of Steel. It would have been fun to see a movie based on I, Robot, with a bunch of little fairly humorous chapters, but that is not a vehicle for a big star like Will Smith. Still, if they do a good job, Caves of Steel should make a good movie, and they can always go back and do the short stories as a prequel.

[Starmage]

Originally Posted by JEff Edsell

It's been a while since I read it, but isn't "I, Robot" a collection of short stories, most of which take place on other planets, where a couple of techs try to figure out the reasons behind seemingly odd robot behavior? Meanwhile, the life of Susan Calvin (inventor of the positronic brain, I think) unfolds alongside the further development of the robot.

Is this new movie based on "Caves," or one/several of the stories in "I, Robot"? Or a completely new story that only shares a title with Asimov?

I'm interested in seeing it regardless. To my knowledge, there's never really been a good film or TV adaptation of any of IA's work.

Actually, Susan Calvin was the former Chief Robopsychologist of US Robots.
(Just some grungy nitpicking there!)

From what I've read so far, it seems that "Caves" is the main inspiration for the screenplay. One story in "I, Robot", 'Runaway Robot', deals with a robot with a weakened First Law that becomes unstable and possibly capable of harming a human.

I saw one pretty good TV adaptation years ago of Asimov's story "The Ugly Little Boy". It starred actress Kate Reid, best known to SF fans as Dr. Ruth Leavitt in "The Andromeda Strain".

I also had the misfortune of watching what has to be one of the worst adaptations of a well known SF author's work, "Nightfall".
One of Asimov's best and most-anthologized stories reduced to utter garbage.