The 1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage was novelized before it ever hit theaters.
In short: When a submarine crew is miniaturized to repair a scientist's brain, they face a ticking clock and a hidden saboteur. While the film became a landmark of visual effects, its novelization—written by Isaac Asimov—actually hit shelves six months earlier, leading many to wrongly assume the movie was an adaptation.
The 1966 film Fantastic Voyage follows a team of specialists who are shrunk to microscopic size to remove a life-threatening blood clot from the brain of Dr. Jan Benes. Directed by Richard Fleischer, the production was a massive technical undertaking, featuring elaborate sets that simulated the interior of the human body. The film's signature submarine, the Proteus, was constructed in various scales, including a 42-foot full-size mockup for interior shots and an 18-inch miniature for fluid-based sequences. The production was so ambitious that it required $3 million just for sets and $1 million for test footage, pushing the total budget to $6 million.
Isaac Asimov was brought in to write the novelization after Bantam Books acquired the rights. Initially, Asimov dismissed the project as beneath his dignity, but he eventually agreed after reading the screenplay. He famously identified significant logical flaws in the plot, most notably that the miniaturized submarine would revert to its full size inside the patient, potentially killing him. To fix this, Asimov altered the ending for his book, having the crew successfully guide the vessel out of the body. His novel was published in March 1966, half a year before the film's release, which caused widespread confusion regarding the story's origins.
Despite its technical acclaim and two Academy Award wins, the film struggled to break even initially, requiring television and home video sales to move into profitability. Over the decades, the concept of a submicroscopic journey has inspired numerous adaptations, including a 1968 animated series, a 1982 Atari video game, and various attempts at a remake by directors like James Cameron and Guillermo del Toro. While the film's special effects are now considered dated, it remains a touchstone for science fiction, praised for its imaginative production design and the seriousness with which it approached its impossible premise.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Fantastic Voyage
- Also: Wikidata — Fantastic Voyage · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Fantastic Voyage · CC0
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