Denis Villeneuve took the world by storm with his epic Dune franchise, which will eventually see the release of a third iteration. However, the director in himself is not staying put and is already working on another potential fantasy franchise which is bound to excite fans. The director revealed in a recent interview that he has an adaptation based on Arthur C. Clarke’s 1973 science-fiction novel, Rendezvous with Rama, in the works.
The novel, which focuses on an interstellar object that enters the solar system in 2131, revolves around Jimmy Pak, an explorer aboard the spaceship The Endeavor. Pak and his team is sent to investigate the 50-km-long spaceship that has entered the solar system.
The novel in itself includes everything a space fantasy series might need. Humungous-spider-like alien creatures, large spaceships akin to Star Wars, the existence of cultural and religious notions that were also apparent in Dune, and well, plenty of interesting characters.
So much so that Villeneuve can extend his partnership with Zendaya by including her real-life partner, Tom Holland. Holland’s experience makes him ideal for the starring role in the project, with respect to his role in Uncharted, and as Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Denis Villeneuve can exceed even his Dune success with Rendezvous with Rama
While work on the adaptation is already underway, fans can expect a long waiting time with respect to further updates, considering Denis Villeneuve is currently busy with his HBO series, which is based on Jo Nesbø’s novel, The Son. However, fans can be excited simply because of the kind of content that Villeneuve will have to work with, with respect to Rendezvous with Rama.
The novel itself is set in the 22nd century, with has a range of stellar narratives dealing with religion, interstellar travel, and war between different alien species. The first book, which the initial movie is set to be based on, itself delves into the first time that the Rama spaceship enters the solar system, prompting human beings to investigate.
The novel sees the initial crew conclude that the spaceship is in truth the modern equivalent of the Noah’s Ark, which falls in line with their interpretation of modern space Christianity. The belief is that following the destruction of planet Earth, human beings will have the opportunity to board the spaceship which is set to orbit the sun, in a bid to save themselves.
However, as it turns out, the spaceship is in truth created by a biologically and technologically advanced sect of The Ramans, who had created the spaceship in a bid to perform a gravitational slingshot maneuver around the sun to aid quick interspace travel. However, the experiment is shown to have failed in the series, as the spaceship itself becomes a battleground for other alien species and eventually human beings, who all see the ship as some sort of a threat to their existence.
Why should Tom Holland star in Denis VIlleneuve’s Rendezvous with Rama adaptation
The novel series sets up the director perfectly. It has obvious similarities with the Dune franchise, and in some ways exposes the unjustifiable importance human beings allot to themselves with respect to space and time when in truth they are as insignificant as they can be.
The book sees human beings quickly conclude that the spaceship that enters the solar system is a direct threat to their existence, and the Mercury government is even seen firing a nuke at it, towards its conclusion. However, rather than having some relationship with religion, or human beings in general, the spaceship is merely a result of a scientific experiment by the Ramans, who wish to upgrade their capabilities of interstellar travel.
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Well, Tom Holland, who has found limited success in his career apart from Spider-Man and projects such as Uncharted, might actually be the ideal actor for this role. Holland’s incessant experience with green-screen acting, and the fact that he has already been in space with respect to his characters means that he is going to be an obvious choice for a starring role.
Furthermore, with Villeneuve set to team up with Zendaya in the upcoming HBO series as well, one can expect the actress to be involved too. Her chemistry with Tom Holland means that roping him in as well seems to be an obvious choice.
Of course, the novel series in itself appears to have everything Villeneuve needs to create a visually brilliant, conceptually sound interstellar universe, which seems to fall right in his ally.
