''2001: A Space Odyssey'' is a 1968 science fiction novel written by Arthur C. Clarke and the

1968 film The year 1968 in film involved some significant events, with the release of Stanley Kubrick's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', as well as two highly successful musical films, '' Funny Girl'' and ''Oliver!'', the former earning Barbra Streisand the Ac ...

directed by

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

. It is a part of Clarke's ''

Space Odyssey The ''Space Odyssey'' series is a series of science fiction novels by the writer Arthur C. Clarke. Two of the novels have been made into feature films, released in 1968 and 1984 respectively. Two of Clarke's early short stories may also be co ...

'' series, the first of four novels and two films. Both the novel and the film are partially based on Clarke's 1948 short story " The Sentinel", an entry in a BBC short story competition, and "

Encounter in the Dawn "Encounter in the Dawn" (also known as "Expedition to Earth") is a short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1953 in the magazine ''Amazing Stories''. It was originally collected in the anthology ''Expedition to Eart ...

", published in 1953 in the magazine ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...

''.

Resources

After deciding on Clarke's 1948 short story "The Sentinel" as the starting point, and with the themes of man's relationship with the universe in mind, Clarke sold Kubrick five more of his stories to use as background materials for the film. These included "

Breaking Strain "Breaking Strain", also known as "Thirty Seconds - Thirty Days", is a science fiction short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1949. It was adapted into a movie in 1994 under the title ''Trapped in Space''. Plot ...

", "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting...", "Who's There?", "

Into the Comet "Into the Comet" is a science fiction short story by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was originally published in the literary magazine ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'' in 1960. It is one of several stories by many science fiction authors in which ...

", and "

Before Eden "Before Eden" is a science fiction short story by the British author Arthur C. Clarke, first published in June 1961 in ''Amazing Stories''. It was included in '' Tales of Ten Worlds'', a 1962 collection of stories by Clarke, and has been translat ...

". Additionally, important elements from two more Clarke stories, "

" and (to a somewhat lesser extent) "

Rescue Party "Rescue Party" is a science fiction short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in ''Astounding Science Fiction'' in May 1946. It was the first story that he sold, though not the first one published. It was republished in Clarke ...

", made their way into the finished project.

Film

The film was written by Clarke and Kubrick and featured specialist artwork by Roy Carnon.

Score

Novel

Arthur C. Clarke wrote the novel. He developed it concurrently with the film version and published it in 1968, after the film's release. '' The Lost Worlds of 2001'' (1972) elaborates on Clarke and Kubrick's collaboration.

Comics

The ''Space Odyssey'' series

References

{{reflist hard science fiction Space Odyssey