As the film begins, the following information appears onscreen: “Mission Background: Year: 1999. Location: The Moon, Sea of Tranquility. A black, rectangular object found by American expedition. Composition … unknown. Origin … unknown. Given name … Tycho Monolith. Signal sent from monolith towards Jupiter. Reason … unknown. Year: 2001. Location: Vicinity of Jupiter. Spacecraft: U.S.S. Discovery. Flight crew: Commander—David Bowman. Co-pilot—Frank Poole. Scientific crew of three in deep hibernation to be awakened when Discovery reaches Jupiter. Logic circuit: HAL-9000. As spacecraft approached Jupiter’s two major inner moons … Europa and Io … HAL-9000 computer malfunctioned. Scientific crew killed while in hibernation when life support systems were shut off by HAL-9000. Co-pilot Frank Poole killed by HAL-9000 while outside the spacecraft. Commander David Bowman disconnected logic circuits of HAL-9000. Commander David Bowman encountered object between Jupiter and Io. The object identical to monolith found on the moon … except in size. Monolith near Jupiter is two kilometers long. Commander Bowman left Discovery to investigate. Last transmission from Commander Bowman: ‘My God, it’s full of stars.’ Reason for malfunction of HAL-9000 … unknown. Meaning of last Bowman transmission … unknown. Location of Bowman … unknown (presumed dead). Composition of second monolith … unknown. Position of second monolith … La Grange Point between Jupiter and Io. Position of U.S.S. Discovery … orbit around Io. Condition of U.S.S. Discovery … unknown. End mission report filed by: Heywood Floyd … Chairman, National Council of Astronautics December 9, 2001.”
       Intermittent voice-over narration by Roy Scheider in the role of “Heywood Floyd” is heard in the film. The narration begins once the Leonov departs for Jupiter, and is presented as if Floyd were dictating an electronic transmission to his wife (or, in one instance, son). He describes various aspects of the mission, as well as the goals the team hopes to achieve.
       2010 follows on events established nine years earlier in Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, see entry). Around the time of that picture’s release, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) secured a written agreement to the rights to film a sequel, even though science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke had no immediate plans to further explore or resolve the interstellar mysteries posed in his 1982 source novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Years passed, until a 28 Jul 1981 HR news brief indicated that Del Rey Books had offered Clarke a $1 million advance to begin work on a follow-up novel titled, 2010: Odyssey Two. News that Clarke had accepted the deal fueled reports of an impending film sequel. However, an 11 Dec 1982 Screen International news item noted that MGM had not actually paid for the film rights those many years ago, and that the studio, which had since acquired United Artists (UA), was looking at spending a purported “seven-figure sum” for the property. Various contemporary sources, including 11 and 12 Sep 1981 HR and LAHExam news briefs, predicted that Stanley Kubrick was sure to direct 2010: Odyssey II.
       Over one year later, on 16 Dec 1982, DV and HR announced that Julia Phillips planned to produce 2010 for Twentieth Century-Fox. MGM/UA responded with a 20 Dec 1992 press release, stating, “We are shocked.” Phillips, recently associated with MGM/UA through her independent production company, Ruthless Productions, claimed that 2010 was one of “about twenty” projects she had arranged to bring with her on leaving MGM/UA for Fox. MGM/UA refuted that claim, insisting that all properties assigned to her were to remain at their studios. Phillips also asserted that, in 1980, Clarke had given her a “treatment” for a sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which she in turn showed MGM/UA. Clarke corroborated at least one part of her story, acknowledging, in a 17 Jun 1984 NYT interview, that he had, at some point, written an “eight- or ten-page” movie outline. However, his agent had dismissed the brief synopsis, demanding a full-fledged novel. Clarke did not mention showing the outline to Phillips. MGM/UA maintained that 2010 was not brought to them by Phillips, nor was it ever one of her assigned development projects. Although entertainment industry publications dramatized the dispute in various articles throughout Dec 1982 and Jan 1983, the conflict was resolved by Jun 1983. A 6 Jun 1983 news item in New York magazine stated that Fox had been premature in announcing their involvement in the project, and that MGM/UA was the definitive owner of the film rights to 2010: Odyssey Two. DV confirmed the report on 15 Jun 1983, while also noting that Kubrick would not be directing the picture.
       Five months later, a 23 Nov 1983 Var brief noted that Peter Hyams was set to direct the $25 million film from “his own script.” Articles in the 17 Jun 1984 NYT and Dec 1984 Los Angeles magazine clarified that Hyams’s screenplay adaptation, which he began in mid-1983, benefitted tremendously from Clarke’s input. The author, who lived in Sri Lanka, corresponded daily via computer with Hyams, answering questions and approving changes. Hyams was obliged to work quickly, given that MGM/UA, setting their sights on a Christmas 1984 release, had slated principal photography to begin 6 Feb 1984. The writer-director (who also served as producer) cited the tight schedule as the primary reason he took the additional role of director of photography.
       In addition to the aforementioned articles in Los Angeles magazine and NYT, studio production notes and press releases in AMPAS library files provide a comprehensive overview of the making of 2010. Under a strict closed-set policy, production took place primarily on two soundstages on the MGM/UA lot in Culver City, CA. Interiors of the Russian spaceship, the Leonov, were built on Stage 15, the largest soundstage in the world at the time. The body of the ship was constructed in and above the empty swimming tank on Stage 30, where actress-swimmer Esther Williams once filmed MGM’s extravagant “aquamusicals.” Several sources noted the stark contrast between the bulky, tugboat-inspired Leonov, and the sleek design of various spacecraft in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hyams felt that the public had “come to know” that spaceships were not clean and futuristic in appearance. Rather, quarters tended to be cramped and littered with cables and other functional devices. Much of 2010 was conceived with this desire for verisimilitude. A 5 Oct 1984 article in the UCLA Daily Bruin described Hyams’s use of the Louma Crane to send the camera down narrow corridors, creating “more claustrophobic” shots. And in a departure from typical on-set lighting, which is usually highly controlled, the interior of the Leonov was lit practically, using the fluorescent and incandescent light from the ship’s monitors and colored plastic switches. The Daily Bruin noted that Hyams used “fast film” to compensate for irregular or low-light conditions.
       Stage 30 also housed the recreated Discovery sets. Because Stanley Kubrick had asked that all models, blueprints, and drawings from 2001: A Space Odyssey be destroyed, 2010’s designers studied frames from the 1968 film, measuring and plotting dimensions and reconstructing portions of the spacecraft entirely from scratch. Actor Keir Dullea, reprising his role from 2001: A Space Odyssey as astronaut “Dave Bowman,” remarked that walking onto the meticulously recreated Discovery set was like “going through a time machine.” The actor, whose scenes appear in the final third of 2010, spent only one week on the MGM/UA lot. Douglas Rain, the voice of “HAL 9000” in Kubrick’s film, likewise returned to provide voice-over narration for 2010, completing the recording session prior to the start of production so that actors could react to his lines during filming. HAL’s female counterpart in 2010, “SAL 9000,” is credited onscreen as being voiced by Olga Mallsnerd. However, as revealed by the 20 Nov 1984 LAHExam and 7 Dec 1984 HR, the name was a pseudonym used by actress Candice Bergen, who had starred in Hyams’s first produced screenplay, T. R. Baskin (1971, see entry). Various contemporary sources pointed out another hidden homage in the cast credits: The last name of Helen Mirren’s character, “Tanya Kirbuk,” is an anagram of “Kubrick.” In addition, Arthur C. Clarke appears in an uncredited cameo role as a man sitting on a park bench in Washington, D.C., feeding birds.
       Prior to filming on location in Washington, D.C., a reduced company traveled to the Southwest U.S. to shoot the movie’s opening sequence, which takes place at the Very Large Array, a group of massive radio telescopes located fifty miles west of Socorro, NM. Filmmakers then headed to the nation’s capital for the brief scene in front of the White House, before returning to Los Angeles. According to production notes, the final days of filming were spent at the outdoor “saucer tank” on the MGM/UA backlot. The living room of Heywood Floyd’s ocean-adjacent residence was constructed over the water-filled tank, allowing two dolphins to appear to swim directly from the “ocean” into a pool inside the house. A studio press brief stated that filming ended 25 May 1984. Los Angeles magazine, which acknowledged Hyams’s success in sticking to the studio’s three-and-a-half month production schedule, listed an alternative completion date of 24 Jun 1984.
       Although onscreen credits list Entertainment Effects Group (EEG) as the team behind 2010’s visual effects, a 14 Nov 1984 HR article indicated that the project was handled by Boss Film Corporation (BFC), a company formed in 1983 by visual effects supervisor, Richard Edlund. Seeking a facility in which to work, Edlund partnered with effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, who ran EEG out of a vast campus in Marina del Rey, CA. As a result of the joint venture, BFC’s first two films, Ghostbusters (1984, see entry) and 2010, were completed under the EEG company name. In the fall of 1984, Trumbull’s desire to pursue other areas of cinematic research motivated Edlund to acquire the entire EEG facility for BFC. EEG subsequently dissolved, and all future projects were credited to BFC. At the time, BFC was the only visual effects studio to film in 65mm. Edlund noted that the “pristine” quality of the effects shots often surpassed the live-action footage, which had been captured on 35mm film stock.
       BFC contracted Digital Productions to assist in creating the simulation of the planet Jupiter. Various sources, including a 21 Dec 1984 Back Stage article, recounted the technical processes involved: “Raw data” from photographs taken by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft in 1979 was compiled by a supercomputer, creating a stream of digital information that “animated” Jupiter’s surface into a fluidly moving palette. Digital Productions continued to manipulate the data, devising variations in the speed and direction of the various layers of swirling clouds. After artistically enhancing and retouching the resulting image, the team projected it onto a large sphere, and BFC filmed it in detail (in 65mm). The digital Jupiter simulation receives a single onscreen credit to Digital Productions. However, Back Stage indicated that the following individuals were involved with the project: President John Whitney, Jr.; vice president/technology Gary Demos; vice president executive producer Sherry McKenna; producer Lee Dyer; assistant vice president/software development Larry Yaeger; assistant vice president/software development David Ruhoff; software developer Mitch Wade; research technical director Craig Upson; research technical director Mary Ann Morris; technical director Jim Rygiel; designer/encoder Dom Smith; and designer/encoder Jack Green.
       Los Angeles magazine cited an effects budget of “close to $8 million.”
       A 26 Mar 1984 DV news brief indicated that Tony Banks, the founding member of the rock band Genesis, would compose an “electronic score” for 2010. HR published the same story two days later. However, Banks was at some point replaced by composer David Shire. Los Angeles magazine noted that, in addition to the music, Hyams wanted the sound design to convey outer space as “lonely … dangerous … and frightening.” Recordings of whales, in particular, were manipulated by the sound effects team to achieve a loud, visceral soundscape. The two classical music compositions, “Also Sprach Zarathustra!” by Richard Strauss and “Lux Aeterna” by György Ligeti, were selected because they had been used in 2001: A Space Odyssey. To not include the pieces would have been “a conceit,” Hyams declared.
       Following a Nov 1984 press screening of 2010, DV and HR published reviews on 20 Nov 1984. The LAT reported, on 28 Nov 1984, that the early assessments violated MGM/UA’s “decreed review date” of 3 Dec 1984. The studio was reportedly “furious” over the situation, particularly given that both trade papers described the picture as a disappointment in comparison to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
       2010 opened nationwide 7 Dec 1984 in “close to 2,000 theaters,” according to Los Angeles magazine. For the release, “more 70mm prints [were] made … than for any film in history.” The second wave of criticism echoed the tepid early reviews, faulting the film as “mundane” and lacking in mystery. However, technical contributions were generally commended.
       The film was nominated for Academy Awards in the following categories: Art Direction (Albert Brenner); Costume Design (Patricia Norris); Makeup (Michael Westmore); Sound (Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Carlos deLarios, and Gene Cantamessa); and Visual Effects (Richard Edlund, Neil Krepela, George Jenson, and Mark Stetson).
       Sometime after the film’s theatrical release, the title was expanded to become, 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Whether or not the change in title coincided with the picture’s home video release could not be determined. The print viewed for this record reflected what was presented in theaters in 1984: The title 2010 appears three minutes into the film, following the recapitulation of events from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
       End credits include the following acknowledgements: “The producers gratefully acknowledge the following for their assistance: The Very Large Array radio telescope, an operating activity of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation; Marineland, Rancho Palos Verdes, California; Panasonic; Sheraton Hotels; Pan American Airlines; Ford Motor Company; Sanyo; 3M Company; Adidas; Physio Control; Mag Instruments; Yamaha International; Lightning sculpture by Bill Parker; Huffy; Carrera; Apple Computers, Inc.; Convergence Corporation; Calma G.C. Co.; Heartrate Incorp.; AT&T Systems; Aquarium World.”
       End credits contain the following dedication: “For Chris, John and Nick.”