On Dec 13, 9:48 am, Joseph DeMartino  wrote:   
   > But current book sales aren't exactly the way to measure the potential   
   > audience for something like this.   
   True - past sales are important.   
   False - the "heat" is no longer there.   
   They aren't a good guide because the can prove things either way.   
   > "Lensmen" is one of the seminal works of SF.  It has influenced   
   > everything from "Star Wars" to "Babylon 5".  Even people who have   
   > never heard of it have seen works created by people who were "Lensman"   
   > fans.   
   Great, but what does it mean to the box office?  "One of the   
   inspirations for Star Wars" may get a few thousand people into the   
   cinema, but you'd want a lot more than that.   
   > Seeing a trailer for   
   > a "Lensman" film would get people interested in that kind of thing   
   > fired up, if only because of its resemblance to other films that are   
   > actually derivative of *its* source material.   
   That could hurt it, too.  Just because something is based on something   
   older, doesn't mean people aren't going to get that "seen it all   
   before" feeling.   
   After all, Flash Gordon was also one of the inspirations for Star Wars   
   and that doesn't stop the 1980 film having the second rate knock off   
   feel.   
   > BTW, as a point of comparison, here are how some other classic novels   
   > - which have been repeatedly been put into development, or been   
   > adapted for the big or small screen - are doing on Amazon:   
   "Repeatedly put into development" is that good or bad?   
   > "The Foundation Trilogy"  Sales rank - 66,045   
   > "Childhood's End" Sales rank - 14,855  (higher than I would have   
   > expected.  The current "V" series may be goosing sales.)   
   They're talking about doing them.  Like they're talking about doing   
   Lensman...   
   > "I, Robot" (adapted - badly - not too long ago) 9,408   
   Another film that was being planned which they grabbed the name of.   
   That was a "Will Smith" film, it would have done the same Asimov refs   
   or not.   
   How's Princess of Mars doing?  They keep planning and putting off a   
   Jon Carter film.   
   A good comparison would be a recent film, based on an older novel that   
   did well.   
   LotR... maybe, but it had a much bigger fan base, hard to say since   
   the films, I guess, but I'd say it was still out-selling all of the   
   above.   
   Narnia fell flat because of LotR/Harry Potter and has a smaller   
   fanbase than either of those.   
   Avatar may hurt or help Space Opera, ATM.   
   ===   
   = DUG.   
   ===   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32   
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