Originalmente en
wikipedia:
Development on
WarGames began in 1979, when writers Walter F. Parkes and
Lawrence Lasker developed an idea for a script called
The Genius, about "a dying scientist and the only person in the world who understands him – a rebellious kid who's too smart for his own good". Lasker was inspired by a television special presented by
Peter Ustinov on several geniuses including
Stephen Hawking. Lasker said, "I found the predicament Hawking was in fascinating – that he might one day figure out the
unified field theory and not be able to tell anyone, because of his progressive
ALS. So there was this idea that he'd need a successor. And who would that be? Maybe this kid, a juvenile delinquent whose problem was that nobody realized he was too smart for his environment." The concept of computers and hacking as part of the film was not yet present.
[2]
The Genius began its transformation into
WarGames when Parkes and Lasker met
Peter Schwartz from the
Stanford Research Institute. "There was a new subculture of extremely bright kids developing into what would become known as hackers," said Schwartz. Schwartz made the connection between youth, computers, gaming, and the military.
[2] Parkes and Lasker also met with computer-security expert
Willis Ware of
RAND Corporation, who assured them that even a secure military computer might have remote access so users could work from home on weekends, encouraging the screenwriters to continue with the project.
[3]
Parkes and Lasker came up with several different military-themed plotlines prior to the final story. One version of the script had an early version of WOPR named "Uncle Ollie", or Omnipresent Laser Interceptor (OLI), a space-based defensive laser run by an intelligent program, but this idea was discarded because it was too speculative.
[2] Director
John Badham coined the name "WOPR", feeling that the name of NORAD's
Single Integrated Operational Plan was "boring, and told you nothing".
[4] The name "WOPR" played off the
Whopper hamburger, and a general sense of something going "whop".
[4]
The WOPR computer as seen in the film was a
prop created in
Culver City, California, by members of the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 44.
[5] It was designed by
production designer (credited as visual consultant)
Geoffrey Kirkland based on some pictures he had of early
tabulating machines, and metal furniture, consoles, and cabinets used particularly in the U.S. military in the 1940s and '50s. They were adapted in drawings and concepts by art director
Angelo P. Graham. WOPR was operated by a crewmember sitting inside the computer, entering commands into an
Apple II at the director's instruction.
[5] The prop was broken up for scrap after production was completed. A replica was built for a 2006 AT&T commercial.
[6]
David Lightman was modeled on David Scott Lewis, a hacking enthusiast Parkes and Lasker met.
[2][7] Falken was inspired by and named after
Stephen Hawking, with the appearance of
John Lennon, who was interested in the role, but was murdered in New York while the script was in development. General Beringer was based on General
James V. Hartinger (
USAF) the then-
commander-in-chief of NORAD, whom Parkes and Lasker met while visiting the base, and who, like Beringer, favored keeping humans in the
decision loop.
[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames
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