MovieChat Forums > The Andromeda Strain (2008) Discussion > An e-mail from the screenwriter!

An e-mail from the screenwriter!

posted 15 years ago by loveistheonlyway
19 replies | jump to latest

Hey all,
I was upset with the differences between the book and the miniseries, as were some of you. I found the screenwriter's web site and wrote him an e-mail addressing some of the biggest problems I had with the miniseries. To my complete and utter surprise, I got a reply, which I will share here:

Dear [my name],

Thank you for your concerned email regarding ANDROMEDA STRAIN. It's a tricky business, isn't it, adapting a classic? Especially a book. When we read a book we always imagine what we are reading and that version in our heads is always perfect. Almost by default, a film translation falls short. The other problem that always crops up is the degree of change you attempt. If one is utterly faithful to the original, you usually get trounced for being "slavish" and the question (legitimate, I think) is, why bother to do it at all? On the other hand, If you make any changes, then just as often you get accused of "ruining" the work.

Obviously, we decided to update the novel. It was written in 1969, almost four decades ago, and the world of science, indeed the world itself, has changed enormously. We felt our version had to reflect those changes. For a lot of people we did so successfully. Not so much for others. But I want you to know, I take my viewership seriously. Even if we disagree I hope we can do so respectfully. Just so you understand a little bit more about my role and my powers as the writer, while I create the initial blueprint for a work, it is always the director, and ultimately the producer/studio who has final say. They can, and do, change things and over these changes, even if I disagree, I have no control. I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating that might be at times.

It would be wonderful if, as you suggest, we could go back and make changes after the initial airing but alas, that's not the way television works. Once the picture is "locked", it is never changed. Sometimes, in a DVD of a feature film, you will see what's known as a "director's cut" - this would be the version the director edited and frequently it is longer then the released version. What you will never see is the "writer's cut". I believe the DVD of ANDROMEDA has some extra features but we will not be able to allowed to alter the aired version.

Thanks again for your note. My next TV release will be THE PACIFIC for HBO (Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg producing) - a ten part miniseries about WWII in the Pacific for which I wrote four episodes. I hope you will enjoy that.

Best wishes,

Robert Schenkkan

I was honored and surprised to get such a thorough and honest response. I hope it will give y'all some perspective on the remake/miniseries of Andromeda Strain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Choose happiness"
~Anne Hathaway

[–] k_m_simpson 15 years ago

A lovely email, but the movie still sucked wind.

[–] ronc-5 12 years ago

Agreed, but what he says about "producer/studio" is interesting. See Lathe of Heaven (1980) and then try (I dare you!) to watch the A&E remake from 2002. That movie fails in almost identical fashion as this one, up to and including having only visual cues (for the most part) in common with the original, misinterpreting the point of the story, and blowing the ending.

It may not have been the writer, or even the director, who were at fault. It might have been the studio.

This is actually good news, because it's a lot easier to track and avoid studio releases than try to track and avoid directors or writers. (Although I still avoid anything directed by Verhoeven or written by Neumeier, just to be safe.)

But yeah, the movie really did suck wind, didn't it? It was almost like they made it for tax reasons.

[–] stefan899 15 years ago

Great to get a response from the writer. I guess he can't be blamed then for that boring ridiculous climax scene with Benjamin Bratt climbing up ladders. But still, he cant blame the director for everything. It was the writers fault for the stupid reporter subplot!

[–] pulps_suede 15 years ago

What a polite and honest person! :)

Wherever, whatever, have a nice day...

[–] benjtsang 15 years ago

Really the Pacific? I had really high hopes for that, but if this guy has a part in writing it I better lower my expectations.

"Even my parents called me Mulder" -Fox Mulder

[–] df_az 14 years ago

God, I know. I was just thinking the same thing! :o

[–] CGSailor 12 years ago

Then both of you are being idiots. I too found Andromeda Strain (2008) somewhat lacking.

But "The Pacific" was top notch, of the very same quality as "Band of Brothers".
that you would sell a show short without having seen it based on nothing more that what you are going on here shows that neither of you have any business judging films period.

I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!

[–] HorrorElf 12 years ago

Nah...The Pacific sucked.

[–] CGSailor 12 years ago

Thus cementing the view that you have no business judging films....

I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!

[–] Suestonto 15 years ago

I don't know why people dislike the mini series. I just finished part 1. I found no script writing error.

**spoilers***

The only minor thing that irk me was experts
1. Could have find out the organism is not DNA based earlier
2. Not using microscope (if they actually do that earlier, they could have ID the organism as extraterrestrial earlier)
3. No culturing (Culturing organism is basic to microbiology. It was not shown.)

One last thing, how does the nuke rearm itself? It doesn't make sense.

[–] ToolsAndCorpses 14 years ago

I didn't think the series was that horrible... Granted, it was full of cliches and irrelevant backstories, but I found it to be worth a watch late at night with a few beers. If you go into it expecting a masterpiece, you'll certainly be disappointed. However, I've definintely seen worse.
As far as the writer responding: that's pretty sweet. And The Pacific is freakin awesome. I'm glad he got to be involved in something with a little more significance.
** Oh, and I really liked the scene where the sheriff goes into the diner and shoots the customers and then offs himself. That was the best part of the whole series haha. "Marty, you're hurting me!" BAM BAM BAM...... BAM! Thump.

[–] cokoholicar 14 years ago

You are insane, and as far as the 2008 series goes, I found it a fresh look on the Andromeda strain story. It has setbacks plus there are some problems (well some even major) with the plot hell, I'll mention a few; What was the oil platform terrorists thing about, How could a local fire chief open a NASA closed container, when falling to the earth the container was clearly open, such satellites as shown are used to collect particles of comets and no such satellite would be anywhere near earth let alone orbiting it. Also, a singularity and future, come on but hey it went along fine with the story, however it still does not explain in the end how the Andromeda strain got back to earth, why a singularity when it had obviously been stored as a virus.... also as has been mentioned the nuke rearmed itself, nice, possible however there are many safety devices which is then explained by the possibility of Andromeda to communicate and think for itself... how can a crystal based structure think, let alone conceive plans on such grandeur scale, this is obviously an omission of the writer. While watching this I also encountered a lot of differences between the original such as many left out scenes per say the scene where they search for Andromeda inside the satellite in the first place and they find it's such a small piece that can only be seen under microscope, here it's huge and black and visible right away, which is a little weird but still it's writer's freedom... Now that I've pointed out most of the ridiculous things about this I will say it is really enjoyable piece of movie history and I am glad that they did change it because I would probably not have watched through the whole thing had it been the same. I commend the writer for his work and applaud the series made and hope his future work will be better but still this is a good cinematic job well done. That's about it. Wrap it up people, let's go home. :D

[–] Soju King 14 years ago

I had a harder time accepting the dead dried out grass becoming green again rather than the nuke re-arming itself. But there were just too many silly occurrences such as these.

The premise is a good one and I kind of like the time-loop concept, but I just couldn't get over all the other silly subplots (reporter, oil rig terrorists and as mentioned, the awful lapses in logic) to enjoy this as much as I'd hoped. And I'm not one who demands 100% authenticity. I like a little "cheese" with my wine but this one just had too much cheddar.

An admirable attempt, but it missed the mark. Nice letter from the writer though. I'm glad he found success with The Pacific.

[–] madsic 12 years ago

does anyone really read these Wall of Text posts?

[–] Agnelin 13 years ago

That's really nice of him to write such a long and informative reply. For me, as a viewer who has no idea how the movie/fiction TV industry works, it's very interesting.

I cannot live without the thrill of the macabre

[–] SoccerIsLove1989 12 years ago

That's awesome that he took the time to respond and was so honest. Instead of being defensive he remained humble and open to suggestion. I really respect that about him.

[–] madsic 12 years ago

yeah, me too. I wish more writers/directors/producers did this.

Instead, most of the time, the company hires a marketing firm to come onto imdb and flood the movie/series page with a ton of fake 10/10 reviews.

[–] ladysolo 11 years ago

Mr. Schenkkan has just won several awards for his new play, ALL THE WAY, which is about LBJ and the year between Kennedy's assassination and his re-election. It was a very powerful, gripping play, and deserves everything it has won! He is currently writing a follow-up play, THE GREAT SOCIETY, outlining the darker parts of LBJ's presidency (including Vietnam). I really cannot wait!

I'm not surprised he wrote back to you, and I'm not surprised he is interested in what you have to say. Workshopping a new play is all about collaboration and feedback in the process of perfecting it. I don't work in TV/film so I can't say for sure, but it seems like there isn't the opportunity for feedback like there is in theatre with a new play. But because he (so successfully, now and in the past with THE KENTUCKY CYCLE) is a playwright, it makes sense that he would value viewer feedback.

[–] walking_bread 11 years ago

Thanks for posting Schenkkan's informed and humble reply.

I cautiously enjoyed the 2008 Andromeda, but with caviats (obviously). Without Andre Brauer and Benjamin Bratt (and the other recognizable actors), I would think this film would not fare well.

It has that Sharkubus Sci-Fi channel, made for TV feel in some areas. I like the idea of the singularity (worm-hole), time-loop, and the naturally occuring fungus/bacteria being the cure. However, there was a scene where a field military officer was on the phone and in the background were people in biohazard suites scrubbing down others in biohazard suits. The assumption was that the area wasn't suitable for breathing without the suits. Why was the officer not wearing a bio suit? Crazy ..