What great questions! I don't keep up loads with industry news except for my Whedon fetish and related stuff, and I always wondered what became of that adorable and compelling kid in Stand By Me, a movie where the kid actors could actually act. My conservative mom took me to the theaters to see it as a youngster despite the unjust R rating -- paving the road to PG-13. And didn't follow Trek either. I'm thrilled he's done so much other work and American Gods would be a freaking awesome movie (given the right artists and key players, of course.)

April | June 28, 23:08 CET

Wil Wheaton is truly a great guy. His blog is incredibly candid, and he's a very witty and open-minded writer. This is one of the best /. interviews I've read in awhile.

ringworm | June 28, 23:11 CET

I'm also an admirer of Wil Wheaton's blog. He comes across as shockingly genuine and he's a remarkably clear-headed writer. And definitely agree that classics of geekdom are a treasure trove of possible great movie/TV ideas waiting to be harvested by talented filmmakers. When "Star Wars" came out, a lot of us SF geeks ("Sci-Fi" was a term to be denigrated at every turn!) naively thought, "well, next comes 'Dune' and then 'The Foundation Triology' and then 'The Forever War' and then 'The Left Hand of Darkness' and then....

What have we got so far...the only really great Science Fiction adaptations to come down the pike in all that time is probably the loosely adapted "Blade Runner" with one or two other honorable mentions. Not horrible, but far short of geek cinema utopia we all imagined. (Not that we neccessarily should have gotten our wish. I can barely remember "The Foundation Trilogy" now -- these days I'm a film geek while my SF geek membership card and decoder ring lying decaying in some box in my parent's garage -- but I suspect it might not make a great movie...I didn't even bother to see "I, Robot.")

bobster | June 28, 23:30 CET

I just had an additional thought -- does anyone wonder why he mentioned Firefly but not the upcoming Serenity film? If even Big Damn Geeks like Wil Wheaton don't know about the movie, it's a sure bet Universal better start cranking the publicity engine.

chickenbird | June 28, 23:35 CET

I've always liked Wil Wheaton and I'm glad to see he didn't fall into that "child star" trap and have a horrible life. He seems like a level headed and happy guy! Loved reading that bit about pissing off the Star Wars fans who were waiting at the wrong theater and when they found out the movie wasn't even playing there, they decided to stay in protest!. I didn't read it all but what I read was quite funny!

Firefly Flanatic | June 28, 23:38 CET

I've been waiting a long time to see Wil Wheaton mentioned on the front page :). I do enjoy his blog.

Simon | June 28, 23:39 CET

Yeah, it is a bit odd that he didn't mention the Serenity movie. Huh.

I chuckled over and agreed with most of what he had to say. Fun read.

phlebotinin | June 28, 23:44 CET

Geek Universes that appear to be completely separate nonetheless inevitably collide!

chickenbird | June 28, 23:48 CET

I gotta say that was a very interesting and entertaining read! I knew next to nothing about Wil Wheaton but apparently he and I have a lot in common when it comes to taste and geek-knowledge.

And you gotta love the sarcasm in his comments on tinseltown....

EdDantes | June 29, 00:31 CET

Bobster, I didn't see I Robot because the preview looked like it was the opposite of everything that Isaac Asimov's robot stories were about. If I remember correctly, it was also only "inspired by" Isaac's story(s), not even "based on." If that was wrong impression, I'll rent it. Anybody care to say yea or nay on that one?

The "Foundation Trilogy" is pretty convoluted since he wrote it as a continuing series of magazine articles. The general story and concepts could make for some interesting film or could bog down and sink by its own weight like any other epic story. There are some great concepts out there but it would take a lot of finesse and courage to get them on to the screen successfully.

I look forward to reading this whole interview when I get home.

newcj | June 29, 00:45 CET

newcj, what I've heard is someone wrote a script for a movie about robots. Then, a studio got the rights to I, Robot. So, they made some minor changes to the script and tacked the title on.

I love sci-fi, and I frequently enjoy Will Smith, but I couldn't keep my interest in it. I ended up dozing off partway through.

kishi | June 29, 01:46 CET

Wil was sitting in the audience for one of the last performances of Tom Lenk's one-man "Will You Be My Special Friend" back in January. In fact, he was at the same show that also had Joss, Alyson, Alexis, et al in the audience.

Oddjob | June 29, 01:49 CET

WWDN has always been one of my favorite reads. Wil has been funny and gracious and just plain fun for as long as I've been reading (many moons now, many moons). Even when I disagree with him (which isn't often), I can't help but respect the hell outta the guy. Always fun when the geekness of different spheres intermingle.

zeitgeist | June 29, 02:06 CET

I did see I, Robot on DVD and was actually quite surprised. The trailer made it look like a no brainer action 'when robots go bad' movie, so I was happy when a watchable movie with some requirements to think came out. Of course, it has nothing like the depth of the book (although I have to admit to not having read the book - this probably helped). It doesnt do nearly as badly cliched holywood style as I expected.

Plus, Alan Tudyk voices the robot! what more do you want?

vera | June 29, 02:10 CET

I'm with you Vera. I was very surprised when I finally saw I, Robot. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.

Angela | June 29, 02:26 CET

Maybe it was because I did read enough Asimov when I was a kid that I was so disappointed in it, then.

Oh, god. I just typed that. I'm becoming an old man, and I'm barely 25! Noooooo!

kishi | June 29, 05:14 CET

Just finished reading the whole thing. A very good read. Does anyone know if anyone has asked him if he has gone to a preview of Serenity or is looking forward to the movie?

Vera and Angela, I guess before spending my time and money on "I Robot" I would just want to make sure it is not the old Frankenstein story told with robots. Not that I don't think the Frankenstein story is worthwhile in its own right. It's just that that is what Isaac always said he created his robot stories and the laws of robotics to avoid. He had seen enough of the mad scientist creating a monster that gets out of control.

Admittedly his stories were often about robots gone wrong, but always within the framework of the laws of robotics designed so robots could not knowingly hurt humans. Inevitably in those cases scientists stopped them by reasoning out what was causing the problem. Yeah I know, sounds like exciting movie material. ;-D

More broadly however, they were often about the fear humanity can have about science and what that fear can lead to. Bottom line: Isaac was on the side of science being a very good but a complex thing that should be respected rather than feared. I would hate to see his name attached to something that used his work to say the opposite of what he created it to do.

I didn't mean to make this this long about something not Whedon, except for AT of course. I know it's silly, but when I saw that trailer I found myself feeling a little protective of Isaac, though that's hardly my job. I am sure his family can protect his legacy just fine without me. ;-) (He was just such a lovable dirty old man, and I miss him sometimes. We met when I was 16 and were casual teasing buddies for many years whenever we used to run into each other.)

Kishi, I just read your post before hitting the "post" button. It is never too early to start feeling old. Little kids do it, so can a 25 year old...or a mumble mumble year old who has a BDB (Big Damn Birthday) in less than a week.

newcj | June 29, 05:34 CET

ha its almost newcjs bday! happy birthday mumble mumble year old :)

zeitgeist | June 29, 05:38 CET

Thanks zeitgeist. July 4, I'm told there is going to be a big party for me...fireworks and everything.

Hey, you have an Asimov quote in your profile. (smile)

newcj | June 29, 05:45 CET

oh, yeah, I heard about that :)) its a big, shiny shindig all for you! and yep, one of my fave quotes

another is:

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ...'"

[ edited by zeitgeist on 2005-06-29 03:56 ]

zeitgeist | June 29, 05:49 CET

I always had pervy lusts after the young Ensign Crusher...

Wil Wheaton still rocks me socks. Luff him. *little cartoon hearts appear, swirling about Bad Kitty's head*

Bad Kitty | June 29, 18:51 CET

Just wanted to add a thanks to chickenbird for posting this link. It made for a very interesting read. I particularly liked his answer regarding the piracy issue, given the just released Grokster decision by the Supreme Court.

yourlibrarian | June 29, 20:07 CET