The first novel is more than enough for a film, thank you.

The sequels, which were penned in part by Gentry Lee, were substandard to the
first work. They did not feel like Clarke's novels at all. And the idea SPOILER ALERT
**** that the giant space ark was designed to collect life forms from around the
galaxy takes away the whole idea of the first novel, which was that the giant
spaceship was just passing through our Sol system to refuel at the Sun - the ship's
designers had no interest or knowledge in humans, an analogy to the indifference of
the Universe in general. **** SPOILER ALERT ENDS.

And this quote from Mr. Freeman from the linked article:

"The story itself is the idea that we can be visited from outer space," Freeman said. "The idea
that we're the only living intelligent creatures is ... you can't really believe that. Well, you can,
but if you think about it for a while, what if there are other intelligent creatures--and I firmly
believe there are--what does that tell us? We're going to imagine that they're going to have to
look something like us, and if they don't look like us, what does that tell us about God?"

I wish people would not say whether they "believe" in alien life or not - it is not a
belief/religious system. The quote also makes me wonder if he gets the main idea of
the Clarke novel, that the ship was just passing through our system to make a fuel
run and ignored the existence of the little talking monkeys on Sol 3.

And the quote about God - is he saying that people can't imagine that a being who is
supposed to be all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present can't look like or make something
other than the human form?