Stories

Everybody likes to call their own shots, that prediction you just know is going to happen. And while some predictions are like shooting fish in a barrel, others reach for the implausible. Predictions take a little time to get there, but when you realize that someone called the thing no one saw coming, all you can do is slow clap. 1. John Brunner abovetopsecret.com Have you ever heard the one where Robert Kennedy predicted that Barack Obama would be president? Well, he didn't. He made an offhand comment that one day a black man would be president, but it's not like he said a black guy with his last name starting with a vowel and ending in a different vowel would be president in 2010. No, John Brunner did that. Stand on Zanzibar was a 1969 science fiction novel set in early 2010s America. The president at that time in his book is a man named Obami, who happens to be black. Haha! You got it wrong by one letter, Brunner! If that were the only thing Brunner learned from his obvious time travel … er, predicted, it would be amazing, but he also named China as the main rival of the US (not the Soviet Union), the European Union, terror threats in the US, satellite news, the DVR, and the decriminalization of marijuana. Also, he predicted avatars (the things on the Internet, not that movie — anyone could have predicted the movie). 2. Kevin Smith Kevin Smith is the kind of guy who takes predictions personally. When an ex-girlfriend's mom told him he'd never amount to anything, he saved the note as a little reminder that he could have had the worst mother-in-law ever. Later, during Smith's film Chasing Amy, Smith and Ben Affleck were joking around when Ben took a shot at Kevin's writing and remarked that he could play a doctor. Smith retorted, "But you couldn't be Batman." At the time, there wasn't another person on this entire planet who'd even consider whether the guy in the View Askew universe would ever be A-list enough to carry Batman. Affleck showed them, right? Right? 3. Tom Hanks Part of Tom Hanks's charm is that "aw shucks" humbleness to him. He's the kind of guy who genuinely gets excited to be on a kiss cam at a sporting event and plays along. You don't associate Tom Hanks with anything brash or cocky, but don't forget: Tom Hanks was once a teenager. After watching the movie The Sting, an 18-year-old Hanks wrote a letter to Oscar-winning director George Roy Hill, asking him to "discover" him as an actor. The letter continued, "My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can't even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films … They will pay to see me." Yep, they certainly will. Hanks's prognostication went a bit further: "Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford 'Bob.'" It's everything that makes Hanks the beloved actor he is today, written by a confident 18-year-old. Only thing he got wrong is he doesn't own a Porsche. Guess his tastes changed as he matured. 4. Justin Bieber Justin Bieber's voice isn't exactly great — he's probably a better drummer than singer, which isn't even as high a compliment as it sounds — but what the Biebs excels at is confidence. There's something to be said for determination and grit, and Bieber has that. From a young age, Bieber had a drive that propelled him into superstardom and bad haircuts. When asked in 2008 (before BieberFever infected the third rock from the Sun) where he saw his career going, he replied, "I see myself doing more, like, R&B, sort of like Usher or Justin like, an old Michael Jackson." He got the music right, and he even put himself in the right superstar grouping. 5. Arthur C. Clarke Arthur C. Clarke wrote more than 100 books, contributed greatly to the creation of satellites, and co-wrote the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, helping Stanley Kubrick fake the Moon landings, or something like that. The guy was busy. In his spare time, he did fun things like host an unknown mysteries show and predict every single thing you take for granted today. In 1976, Clark did an interview where he predicted the Internet in pretty great detail as the exchange of information — even pictures and graphics — via high-definition television. In 1976, people were still pointing their rabbit ears east to get Red Sox games, so the idea of HDTV was as absurd as the pope divorcing. He predicted Internet pages, specific places to get news or sports, and at the same time predicted the demise of the newspaper. He also took a shot at mobile communication, predicting the cellular phone and even the Apple Watch. So, Arthur C. Clarke predicted hipsters. 6. Colin Kaepernick Colin Kaepernick made headlines in 2016, and not for his on-the-field play. Kaepernick focused on social issues important to him, and football took a backseat in his life. But it seems that for a long time, football was all Kap wanted. As part of a fourth grade assignment, 11-year old Colin Kaepernick had to predict where he'd end up in life. Instead of shooting for ditch digger or what that customer did in Clerks, young Colin went deep. Kaepernick predicted an NFL career, going as far as to list his height (between 6 ft and 6'4") and his weight. He undersold his weight, but the height was spot on. As for his team? He predicted the San Francisco 49ers, the same team that grabbed him in the second round in the 2010 NFL draft. 7. David Prowse Despite playing one of the greatest bad guys in movie history, David Prowse is only a household name to people who have a "My other car is the Millennium Falcon" sticker on the back of their mom's station wagon. Prowse hid under Darth Vader's mask, and his voice didn't even make the film, so it's not like George Lucas was running plot points by the guy. Nonetheless, Prowse went ahead and spoiled the entire series, and he didn't even know it. A local newspaper interviewed Prowse in Berkeley, California, in 1978. He must've been thrilled that they'd even talked to him because he spilled the beans on the entire plot of Empire two years in advance. Vader was Luke's dad, Prowse mentioned nonchalantly. Except, Vader wasn't Luke's father in the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back. So seeing as how Dave Prowse didn't have "script pitchman" on his resume, he just lucked out on one hell of a guess. 8. Jimmy Fallon Laugh-In wasn't the only sketch comedy show in the futuring business. Saturday Night Live has taken a few stabs at what's coming up down the road as well. In 1998, one sketch featured Alec Baldwin and dealt with the ramifications if he didn't end up hosting the show that evening. Jimmy Fallon, then a bit player in his first season on SNL, took Baldwin on a journey to 2011, where, according to Fallon, he became "a big star." Fallon explained to Baldwin that he himself would come back and host SNL in 2011 — just like he really would go on to do. Baldwin's skit aired on December 12, 1998, and Fallon hosted on December 17, 2011. When you look at the 1998 SNL cast, the prediction seems more incredible. With big names like Will Ferrell and Tracy Morgan, they decided Fallon, a "featured performer" (which means a nobody) would host the show in 2011? Good call, SNL. 9. Dan Rowan Laugh In was way ahead of its time. Dan Rowan and Dick Martin's sketch comedy show featured a bevy of funny folks, including Goldie Hawn, and even had Richard Nixon in a skit saying their trademark line "Sock it to me." One of their regular skits told of News of the Future, which was exactly what it sounded like. They were often humorous, but occasionally, they were just straight-up predictions of real-life events. One such prediction mentioned Ronald Reagan as president. At the time, he was the governor of California but still primarily famous as an actor, so it was a said as a joke. But more impressive than the Reagan prediction was something that seemed impossible at the time. Rowan accurately predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany, getting the year exactly right. He made his prediction in 1969, 20 years before the fall. Not too shabby for a comedy show. 10. Kim Kardashian Kim Kardashian was born to be famous. Her maybe-godfather is a cut-up NFL Hall of Famer, and she seems willing to do anyone … er, anything to keep her name in lights, so long as it doesn't involve work or talent. See, Kim knew she'd be famous. An eighth grade graduation party is all the proof we need. Talking directly into a home movie camera, the precocious 13-year-old Kardashian told people to "remember me when I'm famous." As an eighth grader, she had that air of confidence to make it and to control a room. Another accurate prediction she mentioned is that she's "dope on a rope." Yep, she's dope, all right. 11. Alec Guinness James Dean's fatal car crash at age 23 took virtually everyone by surprise. One man, however, probably wasn't shocked since he somehow saw it coming: Alec Guinness. In July 2017, Hollywood Reporter (via its Heat Vision blog) discovered a long-forgotten 1977 interview Guinness gave the BBC's Parkinson Talk Show. He claims he met Dean on September 23, 1955, when Dean invited Guinness to sit with him at a Hollywood restaurant where the future Jedi Master couldn't get a table. Before they went inside, Dean showed Guinness his new car, which he bragged could go 150 mph. Guinness reportedly asked if he'd ever driven it before; Dean admitted he had not. At that point, according to Guinness, "Some strange thing came over me. … I said … 'Please do not get into that car, because if you do … by 10 o'clock at night next Thursday, you'll be dead'." What's spooky isn't just that Guinness was right — it's how completely on-the-nose he was. He said by next Thursday, Dean would be dead if he drove that car. Sure enough, next Thursday, September 30, 1955, James Dean was driving that car, got into his famous accident, and died immediately. So, is Alec Guinness a soothsayer? Or did he make everything up 20 years after the fact? There's no way to know for sure, but it is Obi-Wan Kenobi we're talking about here. Why would he lie? Credits: grunge.com Share this story on Facebook with your friends.