Is 'The Tomorrow War' based on a book? Here are a couple of novels with similar storyline
There has been a massive influx of movies based on popular book franchises in recent times. From ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to ‘The Hunger Games’, Hollywood has done its best to capitalize on the young adult book genre by adapting numerous book series for the big screen. The formula of adapting books into movies has worked really well for many as it attracts a lot of young adults, which makes it easy to earn big bucks at the box office.
And it seems Amazon Prime Video is also joining the bandwagon. The streaming platform’s upcoming movie, titled ‘The Tomorrow War’, is rumored to be based on a book by Joe Haldeman. Fans are really confused if the movie is based on ‘The Forever War’ written by Haldeman or ‘Old Man's War’ penned by Scalzi.
RELATED ARTICLES
'The Tomorrow War': Air time, how to watch and trailer of Amazon's sci-fi epic
'The Tomorrow War' Full Cast List: Meet Chris Pratt and other stars from Amazon movie
But, is the movie really based on one of the aforementioned titles? Let’s find out.
What is the plot of 'The Tomorrow War'?
The entire world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrives from the year 20151 to deliver an important and urgent message. According to them, mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species and the only way they can survive is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight.
A high school teacher named Dan Forester (Chris Pratt) joins the fight in order to save the world for his daughter.
The storyline of ‘The Tomorrow War’ seems to be similar to Haldeman’s ‘The Forever War’. The novel tells the contemplative story of human soldiers fighting an interstellar war against an alien civilization known as the Taurans. Several of the recruits die during training due to the extreme environments and the use of live weapons. The new soldiers complete training and immediately depart for action via interconnected “collapsars” that allow ships to cover thousands of light-years in a split second. The novel won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1976.
Another book that features a similar kind of story is none other than John Scalzi's 'Old Man's War', a science fiction novel that was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006. The book chronicles the journey of John Perry, a 75-year-old advertising writer, who joins the Colonial Defense Forces, to protect human interplanetary colonists. Following a series of sometimes bizarre psychological and physical tests, Perry's mind is ultimately transferred to a new body based on his genetic material. His new body is a younger version of himself, but genetically engineered with enhanced musculature, green skin, and yellow cat-like eyes.
Perry enters the CDF space ship and is given various assignments where he and the team has to alien species who are trying to annihilate different planets because of their valuable resources.
The similarity of premise between the movie and the book can be found in the trailer as well where we see Pratt being transported to future for fighting a war against dangerous alien species.
However, it has been revealed that the movie is based on an “original script” written by Zach Dean. In a recent interview, Dean also revealed that the movie’s central threat is quite similar to the horrors of the past year.
Fans confused if the movie is based on a book
A certain section of social media flooded Twitter with a similar kind of question. They believe that the movie was an adaptation of various books, but it turns out that it is not. One of the users said, “Just got really excited when I saw a notification for the movie ‘Tomorrow War’. Then, suddenly felt disappointed when I realized I was thinking about the book ‘The Forever War’. Oh well, back to waiting.”
Just got really excited when I saw a notification for a trailer for the movie 'Tomorrow War' then suddenly disappointed when I realized I was thinking about the book 'The Forever War'. Oh well. Back to waiting.
— chrismarinari (@chrismarinari) May 27, 2021
Another one stated, “Unrelated to these updates. I just saw Chris Pratt is in ‘The Tomorrow War’, and I got it mixed up with ‘The Forever War’, which is an excellent book. The trailer looks cool anyway.” Meanwhile, another user confirmed that that the movie is not based on a book and is entirely different.
Unrelated to these updates I just saw Chris Pratt is in The Tomorrow War, and I got it mixed up with The Forever War, which is an excellent book. The trailer looks cool anyway, not that I particularly trust it
— Jeff Gentile (@NiftyJeffG) May 26, 2021
No. It's not that book. That book is just called Tomorrow War. No time jumping. This movie is different
— Kenneth Seward Jr (@Kennyufg) May 26, 2021
‘The Tomorrow War’ stars Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, JK Simmons and Betty Gilpin in pivotal roles. The movie will be premiering exclusively on Friday, July 2.