Steve Heronemus

2001: A Space Odyssey

Production on 2001: A Space Odyssey began in 1965 when Stanley Kubrick contacted author (and legitimate scientist) Arthur C. Clarke with the idea of collaborating to create “the proverbial good science fiction movie”. Using Clarke’s short story “The Sentinel” as a foundation, the idea was to release film and a novelization in tandem. The collaboration went well at first,  but Kubrick soon grew impatient with Clarke’s need to flesh out concepts in detail while Clarke complained about Kubrick’s endless revisions and outward disorganization,  commenting that Stanley used a black hole for a filing system. In the end,  the story is mainly Kubrick’s even though the credits list also Clarke. The novel differs from the film in a couple
major ways.