Movie deals are long in the making and quick in the unmaking. According to this SFF Chronicles article, one possible deal in the works is EE Doc Smith's SF classic "Lensman" series, which perhaps defined "space opera." This would be a Good Thing, especially since Ron Howard may be involved.

There was speculation about this as far back as January '08 in this Sci Fi Wire article about Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment's and Universal Pictures' negotiation with the Smith estate. Here is some background on the Lensman series from the arbiter of Internet knowledge, Wikipedia.