[ad_1]
Sometimes, being a rock god isn’t enough, you have to be a sci-fi god, too. That must have been Paul McCartney’s reasoning when he contacted Isaac Asimov in 1974, looking to partner up and develop a new sci-fi movie. That’s right, we almost had a collaboration between two of the greatest artists of the 20th century, as Alan Kozinn‘s book The McCartney Legacy, Vol. 2: 1974-80 reveals. A few different treatments of the story have been unearthed, written both by Macca and Asimov separately, giving us a taste of what would definitely have been a banger of a movie.
The Movie Involved a Group of Aliens Posing as McCartney’s Band, Wings
In 1974, Isaac Asimov was already the sci-fi legend we know him to be. The Foundation trilogy and other iconic works, like I, Robot, had already been blowing minds for a while, and, apparently, Paul McCartney was among such minds. Asimov didn’t like flying, however, as McCartney tells Kozinn: “He can imagine himself into far-off galaxies, but he wouldn’t get on a plane.” If Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammed, so Paul went to New York to meet with Asimov.
Paul’s first treatment of the story, called Five and Five and One, had around 400 words and incorporated Wings songs, making it a sci-fi musical. It follows a group of aliens from a dying planet who come to Earth in a flying saucer looking to take over the Blue Marble. To do that, they decide to shape-shift into the hottest band in the world at the time — no, not Kiss, but Wings. Meanwhile, in Britain, the real Wings continue their lives as the alien doppelgängers carry on their attempt to take over the world.
Related
Isaac Asimov Was Actually a Star Wars Fanboy
The science fiction pioneer loved ‘Star Wars’ just as much as we do.
This initial version was eccentric and rather quirky, with comedic bits even referencing Laurel & Hardy amidst the depressed aliens’ lines. Adrian Sinclair, Kozinn’s co-author, described this initial treatment as “something Paul and Linda cooked up while they were smoking something particularly potent.” Aliens disguised as a band is an interesting premise, as Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto‘s space epic Insterstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem now proves, but it seems like Macca didn’t have the sauce (or the saucer?) at the particular moment he wrote the story of Five and Five and One to make it a good one right off the bat.
Asimov Greatly Expanded McCartney’s Original Concept, but the Project Was Abandoned
Getting Asimov on board the Five and Five and One project was a no-brainer, the best way to make it the epic McCartney wanted. Even among sci-fi authors, Asimov’s mind was unique, and he greatly expanded McCartney’s original treatment, changing some of the concepts and adding a more nuanced approach to the alien characters. From the original 400 words, the next treatment grew to five pages.
While McCartney saw his version of the aliens as shape-shifters who become doppelgängers of the Wings musicians, Asimov envisioned them as “energy beings” who communicate through “thought waves.” Also, they intended on possessing the rock stars, and were incapable of understanding human emotions like love. Unfamiliar with music (which is also made of waves), it “strangely affects” them, leading to the decision that “they must use the musical key to unlock human emotion.”
Even without the whole story, this premise feels more complex and elaborate than McCartney’s original one. Unfortunately, as Kozinn writes, the correspondence between Macca and Asimov shows that the former didn’t really like the latter’s concept, and the project was eventually abandoned. It does seem like Asimov saw potential in it, however, as he wrote on the first page of his draft that “nothing ever came of this because McCartney couldn’t recognize good stuff.” Right there with you, Mr. Asimov.
‘Five and Five and One’ Being Dropped Was a Huge Missed Opportunity
Paul McCartney is certainly one of the greatest (if not the greatest) musical minds of the 20th century, and the 1970s were a time when he would come up with classics as if on a whim — he released his iconic album Band on the Run just a year before meeting with Isaac Asimov, for example. Writing a novel is a different thing, however, and sci-fi requires even more sophistication, of which Asimov was a master, so turning down Asimov’s treatment seems ludicrous even for a genius like Macca.
What the whole Five and Five and One project teaches us is that, sometimes, two geniuses may be too big to make something together. McCartney seemed to at least have some knowledge of sci-fi at that time, otherwise he wouldn’t have known Asimov at all, but his vision of what would’ve rocked on screen was different from Asimov’s, who certainly understood sci-fi, but, maybe, not necessarily rock. As Kozinn puts it: “What’s interesting is seeing what McCartney’s original idea was and how a science-fiction master like Asimov would try to improve it – and the fact that McCartney turned it down.” Both of them gave us so much, we can’t help but wonder what this awesome collaboration could have looked and sounded like on the big screen.
[ad_2]
Source link
