Metaverse: The Movie -- Snow Crash Back in Development

Will the metaverse finally get its movie? According to Deadline Hollywood, mega-successful film producer Kathleen Kennedy (E.T., A.I., and many more sci-fi/fantasy hits), has re-optioned Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash, with Joe Cornish, the guy who directed the cult movie Attack the Block, set to write and direct. This isn't the first time a movie has been attempted (Kennedy tried before, in the mid-90s), but somewhat ironically, in the succeeding years, a lot of ideas in the novel have already come to pass: Not only does something like the Metaverse from Snow Crash exist, but it's considered old news. (Above is my avatar at the official Snow Crash shrine for Second Life... made in 2006.) But that suggests another irony: If Snow Crash does finally become a movie, in the next few years, it would do a lot to restore mass market interest in Second Life.

So, who should play Hiro Protagonist?

The most likely candidate, Keanu Reeves, is probably too old by now; and anyway, that would just bring up bad associations with The Matrix.

Hat tip: Nyoko Salome.

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Comments

[robert]

keanu is not the right skin color or ethnicity...i liked The Matrix (though not its sequels) a lot, but i might boycott Snow Crash if he is cast for Hiro.

[DaniMagoo]

How about Masi Oka? He probably wouldn't want to be typecast as a Hiro.

[shockwave yareach]

Hate to break the facts to you, but few movies that are optioned ever get made. Movie companies write contracts that give them the sole rights to make the movie IF the movie company chooses to, and makes it so the option can be renewed everytime the movie company chooses -- the writer has no way to back out of it.

The objective of the options is to lock in creative works for Studio A and keep it OUT of the hands of studios B through Z. Thus studio A doesn't have to make the movie -- they just prevent anyone else from making the movie, eliminating competition. This costs the movie company very little money to pull off compared to actually making a film.

Ask the Pini's to tell you about their experience with movie studios and their options. They were so thrilled to be optioned for a movie... back in 1984. Of course, no "Elfquest" movie was actually made, because that wasn't the plan of the movie guys -- they just wanted to be sure nobody ELSE would make said movie either.

[Metacam Oh]

John Cho would be a good Hiro

[Pussycat Catnap]

It wouldn't revitalize SL, it wouldn't even know about SL. Some people would make sims where you roleplay in a 'Metaverse / Snow Crash' theme, and half of them would get AR'd for stolen content by merchants on MP resentful of their boost in sales. A quarter would get AR'd by each other for the same reason, and attempt to push out competition and rise to the top.
- Most of them would have only seen the movie, and not have any understanding of its underlying principles.

It'd grab a wave or two of newbies and alts.

But the mainstream would not care one dime about what goes on inside this aging MMO we all play.

A lot like what happened when the movie Avatar was out.

[Adeon Writer]

Hiro is half black, half Japanese. Keanu's a tad too pale to make that work. ;)

I'll be optimistically cautious about this movie.

Also on my list of movies I hope become a reality is film adaptation of The Book of Ti'ana, aka MYST novel #1.

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

What Shockwave said... even worse, once they have rights to the title, they could wreak the same sort of obscenity on it that was done with Asimov's short story anthology _I, Robot_.

[shockwave yareach]

@Melissa: Oh God, you had to mention that... Or "Starship Troopers", "Blood and Chocolate", and the tomes of other films that have nothing in common with their origianal stories except names and the story title.

[allfrog]

will smiths kid... trust us.

[Shadowen]

Adeon: Hiro is actually half black and half korean.

Keanu would be a terrible choice. John Cho as well since he's full Korean.

I would vote for Marcus Chong. I really like him in the Matrix. He's also half black and half Chinese - not the same but close.

[Lorelei Mission]

Hollywood is not going to care that Hiro was half black half Korean. Hollywood will cast a white actor. And they're going to totally screw up and change Y.T's age and what happens to her and what she does. Sigh. I still hope the movie gets made, though.

[Kim Anubis]

Lorelei, I was thinking the same thing about Y.T.

[Pussycat Catnap]

"Hollywood is not going to care that Hiro was half black half Korean. Hollywood will cast a white actor."

Half Korean or Half Japanese?

Cause getting those mixed up is like saying "he was half Jewish" when he was really half German. Same race; but two ethnic groups that have bad history - so not a good mistake to make.

But yeah, Hollywood makes any 'real' hero white. Black and hispanic is reserved for villains, 'The Magical Negro' (wiki it, that's the term), or comedies starring people like Martin Lawrence making fools of themselves.

Asian can be Ok, but not usually if there's a romantic part, cause Hollywood doesn't accept Asian men competing with whites in that space. I think one movie with Jet Li marks the only exception - in a low budget action film though. Which on the other hand, is likely what this will turn out to be.

[Arthur]

Pussycat Catnap: The book says Hiro's mother is "Korean by way of Nippon." He seems to think of himself as both Korean and Japanese in the book.