Sonnenfeld Brings Tom Swift Into the 21st Century

Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, The Addams Family) will develop a new film based around the Tom Swift novels, which were first published in 1910. The new movie version will reimagine the ahead-of-his-time Swift as part of a father-son inventing duo. The idea seems to suit Sonnenfeld, or at least when he's not the Barry Sonnenfeld directing RV. The science fiction tales have been in publication for nearly 100 years, with the most recent adventure arriving in 2007. Each one is credited to Victor Appleton, a nom de plume for the collective of writers who hash out the stories. There was a great documentary TV show on how Star Trek changed the world technologically, and the same thing is true for the Tom Swift books. Among the inventions first pioneered in the series: The fax, the portable movie camera, the taser, the motor home, and the diesel electric locomotive. Also, Tom Swift is commonly referred to as the inventor of the phrase "manscaping." OK, maybe not. Curiously, though the series is still identifiable by name all these years later, there has never been a completed film version of Tom Swift. It's been attempted a couple of times, but it never materialized until now.

Comments

[Chompa]

I read the Tom Swift books as a kid. This could be good, but I'd love to see it set in the 50's with a dry mix of the era and the sci-fi ideas.