Watch: ‘Science-Fiction Land’ Is the Kinda-Sorta Prequel to ‘Argo’

Hollywood loves a story within a story, and we’ve goot a doozy for you. In the Ben Affleck-starring and directed political thriller Argo — based on the true story of a rescue mission to save six American hostages in Iran during the 1980s — the covert operation worked under the guise of a fake movie production. The screenplay was dubbed Argo — hence, Affleck’s title — but in reality, it was called Lord of Light. The name comes from award-winning writer Roger Zelazny’s book, which was optioned for a screenplay by inventor Barry Ira Geller. He was intent on creating a blockbuster, and enlisted a team of who’s who of creative visionaries, including famed comic book creator Jack Kirby, Hollywood makeup and special-effects gurus John Chambers and Maurice Stein, world-renowned architect Paolo Soleri, iconic author Ray Bradbury, and futurist Buckminster Fuller. Geller also had aspirations to transform the sets of the movie into the first sci-fi theme park in Aurora, Colorado. The entire project collapsed amid a huge scandal. Later, Geller learned that the CIA had swiped his screenplay for their cover and renamed it. So basically, this is the kinda-sorta prequel to Argo, but… not really. Got all that? Ok, let’s move on.