Bryan Singer and 20th Century Fox are teaming up to bring Robert A. Heinlein's classic sci-fi novel "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" to the big screen. Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim will adapt the novel for the project, to be titled Uprising. While it is unclear if Singer intends to direct the film, he is attached to produce alongside Lloyd Braun (Alphas, Dig) and Thor Halvorssen.
The last of Heinlein's four Hugo Award-winning novels, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" chronicles a lunar penal colony's rebellion against the authority that controls it from earth. With production about to start on X-Men: Apocalypse, Singer likely won't have time to touch the project until X-Men hits theaters May 27, 2016, giving Guggenheim plenty of time to hammer out a solid script.
There have been two major attempts to adapt the book. One from DreamWorks, which had a script by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, and the other from Phoenix Pictures had Harry Potter producer David Heyman attached. Both adaptations ultimately failed, and the rights reverted back to Heinlein's estate.
Heinlein, a celebrated science fiction writer, is best known as the author of Starship Troopers. Of course, Paul Verhoeven's 1997 film adaptation, while only a losoe interpretation of the material, has earned cult status over the last decade. Most recently, Michael and Peter Spierig took on Heinlein’s story “All You Zombies” earlier this year with the Ethan Hawke vehicle Predestination.
Singer and Guggenheim seem a somewhat odd combination to take on Heinlein's work, if only because I've always considered him as a fairly sophisticated science fiction writer that slants more towards hard sci-fi than poppy entertainment. Already, the new title Uprising is a less inventive, lowest common denominator title, vastly inferior to "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". That is an exciting, evocative title. Uprising, not so much. That said, I've always loved what Singer does with the X-Men films, so this could turn out to be a lot of fun.
What do you guys think? Do you like the new title? Do Singer and Guggenheim seem a good fit for Heinlein's work? Sound off in the comments.
