10 Biggest Changes Spaceman Makes To The 2017 Book

Warning! Spoilers for Netflix’s Spaceman and Jaroslav Kalfař’s Spaceman of Bohemia.

Adam Sandler’s latest film, Spaceman, made some drastic departures from its source material, resulting in a mixed critical response. Based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia, written by Jaroslav Kalfař, the Netflix film played fast and loose with its adaptation. Striving to add another more dramatic feather to Adam Sandler’s cap, branching the beloved comedian further out into more thoughtful roles, Spaceman‘s all-star cast of distinguished performers wound up telling a remarkably different story from the original book.

Spaceman of Bohemia was a heady exploration of corruption, political upheaval, and relationships with a science fiction bent, revolving around the fallout of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. For his film adaptation, Swedish director Johan Renck mostly focused on the relationship angle of the story, putting Jakub and Lenka’s troubled love life at the center of the narrative while glossing over the novel’s heavy political themes. This retooling came with some dramatic changes to the plot, which may have ultimately been to the film’s detriment, considering Spaceman‘s mixed reviews.

Spaceman

Director

Johan Renck

Release Date

March 1, 2024

Distributor(s)

Netflix

Runtime

107 Minutes

10 Jakub Was Saved By Russians Instead

In the book, Sandler’s character went from one danger to the next

In Renck’s film, Jakub’s close brush with death in the mysterious Chopra dust cloud ended when he was saved by the South Korean space mission, pulling him from the cosmic debris after Hanuš’ tragic passing. However, the original book saw Jakub instead picked up by a Russian shuttle, flown as a top-secret mission to the Chopra cloud out of the public eye. This blessing turned out to be another danger for Jakub to overcome, as he realized on the journey home that the Russians planned to interrogate him upon returning to Earth.

9 Jakub Didn’t Hire Someone To Spy On Lenka

In the book, Jakub wasn’t content with simply waiting around for a message

Loneliness was a big theme of both Johan Renck’s film and the original novel, as Jakub struggled to maintain the ultimate long-distance relationship with his wife, Lenka. Their already-strained marriage was pushed to a breaking point thanks to Jakub’s twelve-month-long space mission, and in the book, the two officially split over the course of the journey. Wracked with despair, Jakub ended up hiring a spy to report back to him on Lenka’s activities while aboard the ship. The film omitted this particular story beat, likely in the service of making Adam Sandler’s Jakub more likable.

8 The Film Added A South Korean Mission

Netflix introduced a space race element not present in the original novel

In Spaceman of Bohemia, the Czech Republic’s mission to the Chopra dust cloud was considered far too dangerous to publicly attempt by other countries, and the Eastern European nation was alone in their journey to the astronomical oddity. In the Netflix film, the mission was instead treated as only one half of a tense space race, with a South Korean mission flying only days behind the Czech voyage. This was likely done to give Adam Sandler’s character an escape route home without the grim implications of the book’s Russian “rescue.”

7 Spaceman Didn’t Include The Shoe Man

The closest thing the book had to a central antagonist was nowhere to be found in Netflix’s adaptation

Netflix’s Spaceman was far less politically inclined than its source material, only touching on aspects of Jakub’s past, which were far more heavily explored in Spaceman of Bohemia. Because of this, one of the book’s most important characters, Radislav Zajic, a.k.a. The Shoe Man, was nowhere to be seen. The Shoe Man was a poet who was tortured by Jakub’s father after accidentally creating work that resonated with Velvet revolutionaries, getting his nickname from the brutal method Jakub’s father used. To get revenge, Zajic evicted Jakub’s family from their home with his newfound status in the Czech Republic’s government.

6 The Actions Of Jakub’s Father Weren’t Felt As Much

Jakub’s motivations for being an astronaut were less concrete in the film

After their reputation was ruined by The Shoe Man, Jakub’s family was left destitute and disgraced. The consequences of their newfound poverty and social ostracization led to the early deaths of Jakub’s grandparents in the book, sparking Jakub’s desire to become an astronaut and restore his family’s name as a national hero. The actions of Jakub’s father in Spaceman, which led to his drive to become an astronaut, weren’t explained nearly as well, making the central conflict between his own desires and his marriage to Lenka harder to explain.

5 Jakub’s Commanding Officer Intercepted Lenka’s Message

In the novel, Jakub wasn’t left wondering as to Lenka’s feelings towards him

To preserve Jakub’s mental health throughout the dangerous mission, his commanding officer, Commissioner Tuma, intercepted Lenka’s message breaking up with him. Thus, Jakub was left in the dark, and the radio silence from his wife slowly sowed seeds of doubt into his mind. In the novel, Lenka’s message was received loud and clear. The film’s Commissioner Tuma was proven right as Jakub fell into a deep well of depression and alcoholism, only brightened by his new buddy Hanuš, an alien spider played by Paul Dano.

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4 Lenka And Jakub Weren’t Speaking At The Beginning Of The Mission

Jakub’s marriage started out far rockier in the Adam Sandler movie

Spaceman made the decision to anchor the plot more on Jakub and Lenka’s relationship, reversing their arc in the book. At the beginning of the film, Lenka was so distraught by Jakub’s decision to undertake the mission to space that she stopped speaking to him, leaving Jakub heartbroken and lonely during his long months traveling across the cosmos. In the novel, the pair actually started off the mission on better terms, video calling every day before the strain became too much. Considering how the film fundamentally changed the couple’s relationship by the end of the narrative, this tweak made sense.

3 In The Novel, Jakub Faked His Own Death

The circumstances of Jakub’s rescue called for drastic measures

In Spaceman of Bohemia, Jakub was rescued by a secret Russian mission rather than the relatively friendly South Koreans, which took him out of the cosmic frying pan and into the oven of state-sanctioned torture and interrogation. After finding out what the Russians had in store for him upon touching back down on Earth, Jakub sabotaged their vessel’s re-entry into the atmosphere, killing the crew and escaping with the help of a fellow cosmonaut who claimed to have met Hanuš. No one initially knew about Jakub’s narrow escape, which left him presumed dead by the world.

2 Jakub And Lenka Reconciled

The ending of the original novel was far more bittersweet

The biggest change the film made from the source material came from Spaceman‘s ending, which saw Adam Sandler’s Jakub reconcile with his wife. Rather than this happy ending for the pair’s marriage, the novel had the two stay split up, even after Jakub’s incredible near-death experience. Instead, Lenka was left believing Jakub was dead, and though the protagonist considered revealing himself to her one last time to say goodbye, he ultimately decided against it. In the novel, Jakub concluded that both of them were better off on their own and allowed Lenka to move on and live her own life.

1 The Entire Last Arc Of The Book Was Left Out

Cutting The Shoe Man meant that the book’s last chapters were off the table

In the novel, Jakub learned The Shoe Man became a close advisor to the Czech Prime Minister. Jakub tracked him down and confronted him, believing that Zajic was behind his assignment on the dangerous space mission. The two eventually made peace, as The Shoe Man decided to forgive Jakub for the sins of his father, and Jakub learned of his innocence in his assignment. Jakub ultimately lived a simple life alone on his family’s old farm in the novel, and Spaceman missed out on this poignant final sentiment.