I have been a great fan of the Victorian-era science fiction role-playing game Space 1889 since 1990. My gaming group has experienced more than a hundred dramatic adventures on the Red Planet in the service of King Oscar, Tsar Alexander, or the French Republic. And now a group of enthusiasts want to make a Jules-Verne-esque Space 1889 movie, called The Secret of Phobos. They have launched a crowdfunding at Kickstarter — link >>>
“This is a project of a bunch of German authors and video-journalists around Nico Mendrek and Mháire Stritter. They are RPG experts and have a lot of experience with no- or low-budget film productions. They are also extremely well connected within the German roleplaying and fantasy scene and are therefore able to gather a lot of resources like manpower, costumes of cosplayers and indie-musicians to get this film made for very little money.”
I salute these chaps for their moxie and hope that they accomplish their goal, i.e., sending the protagonists Edison and Armstrong to the jungles of Venus and the deserts of Mars. Here is a teaser that explains what they are about to do:
If they did it in Flash-Gordon-style black and white, it would make many of their challenges easier…
I have no way of predicting how successful they will or will not be. But I wish them luck, and I’d be interested in watching their movie if it gets made.
So am I. Interesting that the Germans want to portray American explorers. In our S1889 campaign, there are plenty of German activities on Mars. The Kaiser wants his country to be at the top, as always.