I know something similar to this has been done but let's see if I can throw a little twist to it. The Lord of the Rigs have been done and now we wait for the Chronicals of Narnia to begin this December (why start with book 2 doesn't make sense)
But my question is what series of books would you love to see made into movies.
I myself would like to see the Dragonlance books in film. And I'm refering to the core series by Weise and Hickman. My fears with that would the budget and then way too much CGI.
What about the rest of you?
Another stab at Dune could work. Maybe with Ridley Scott or David Fincher this time. With the Sci Fi channel version it might be overkill though.
How about the Hardy Boys?
The previews of the Chronicles of Narnia, that I have seen, have given me the willies so far. Am I unusual in that reaction?
I see the troops on the battlefield, and it makes me think that the fields of Pelennor have been brought to Narnia. (I know it's the same crew as from LoTR.) It feels weird and wrong to have Lewis' work being about a huge war -- which was part of it, but not nearly the emphasis of it. But maybe the spin of the preview is just that, spin. Shall see... but I'm worried that the adaptation will be ghastly.
If Dune got the same treatment as LOTR, that would be amazing.
Of course, Erik's typo has me thinking of an even better movie. Lord of the Rigs! Basically, Lord of the Rings as a trucker movie. Wow!
Seriously though, there are loads of SF&F stories I'd love to see in movie form. Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series is one of those epic stories offering human drama, breathtaking visuals and lots of cool critters. Of course, only the last three books function as a single story. The first, which sets it all up, was written years earlier, is set decades earlier, and is really a different story. Kind of similar to the relationship between LOTR and The Hobbit. Mind you, the Rama series wouldn't work nearly as well without the first book.
Also wouldn't mind seeing movies of Ender's Game (although Hollywood could seriously mess that up), or Man Plus, or the Foundation series. Oooo, that would be a good one.
Post Edited (07-05-05 16:15)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first Chronicles of Narnia book. There was a book written that set before the events in that book, but it was written long after the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
One publisher or other foolishly ordered the books into order of events rather than order of writing, and some folks have been confused by it.
Not exactly a group of books that follow with the same characters, but I would love to see the various short books by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) see the light of day on film.
It might work better as a TV show with a different book taken on each week, but it would make an interesting anthology film as well. Consider the work that the guy did in his early years:
Rage
Long Walk
Running Man
Roadwork
Rage is one that I would ESPECIALLY like to see made into a film. My wife got me to read it shortly after we got married, and I absolutely loved it. I do think that it would have some trouble during production due to the fact that it's about a school shooting...well a school hostage situation at least.
Running Man and Roadwork would both be at the top of my list as well. Sure the Arnie Running Man was decent, but I'd love to see one that followed the book more closely. And Roadwork.....wow.....I can only imagine what a skilled actor would be able to do with this screenplay. The plot goes as follows - Guy gets told that his house is being demolished in order to make an overpass (Douglas Adams anyone?). He then goes to a gun shop, spends all of his money on weapons and fights with everything he has until his death. Fantastic, nihilistic work.
Foundation would be a tough one to make into a movie. Still I'd go see it. After what they did to "I Robot" however I'd be very weary.
Doc Savage. They tried it once with Ron Ely, but the movie was pretty silly. I have almost all of the Doc Savage books (there are well over 100 of them, reprinted from Doc Savage Magazine, which was published in the 1930s and 40s). This is far-fetched pulp fiction at its best. The correct writer and director team could make a nice series out of some of the books.
One thing I've learned from this board recently is that short stories adapt better to movies than novels (sorry, but I forget who said it). The Thing is a notable example.
We (the viewers/readers) are almost always disappointed in movie adaptations of novels. But, I have come to believe that short stories can be done much more faithfully to the original work.
With that out there, I'd like to see more FAITHFUL adaptations of solid short stories. The Hotter/Hottest Blood anthologies are collections of sexual horror (there's also The Shudder collections I Sudder at Your Touch and Shudder Again); some of these stories would make wicked movies.
Take, for example, Llama by Bentley Little. This is one c-r-a-z-y story. Basically, the 'narrator' sees numerical patterns and meaning in everything around him. Here's an excerpt from the opening section:
Measuring:
The leg of the Llama was three feet two inches long.
And everything fell into place.
Three feet two inches was the precise length of space between the sole of my lynched father's right foot and the ground.
By the time my wife's contractions were three minutes and two seconds apart, she had only dilated 3.2 centimeters and the decision was made to perform a Caesarean.
My wife was declared dead at three-twenty.
The date was March 20.
Imagine that as the set-up for a whole movie taking place in a cop interview room (a la Usual Suspects type scenes?). Or perhaps in the disjointed clues left by a Serial Killer per Seven?
Another I remember is from a LONG time ago in a collection of short stories called The Beserkers. The name of the story was Draumaturge (sp?) I THINK. Anyway, the story was that this couple wanted to have a baby but could not. Through a friend, they met this guy who could make it happen, but his fee was their first born. Halfway into the pregnancy, they decide they don't want to give up the baby, so they plan to 'disappear.' The rising action follows their desparation to find a place that this dude cannot catch up with them, real psychological thriller stuff. The climax is the very last sentence, in an Emily Dickinson-esque sort of way. Great story that I have read once and not forgotten for twenty-five or so years.
There is a LOT of potential material in short stories, with fewer characters and single directed plot (no subplots) driving the action to a clear pinacle. Again, I cite The Thing for just how well this can work.
I agree with Ulthar, short stories are a very good resource for movies, especially when new novels have a hardcore fan base.
I don't know how many people may know him, but I am a big fan of Matthew Reilly's work. He's an Australian author and his novels are full of action aplenty. It reads much like an action film script and they are very entertaining. They'd translate really well onto the big screen and have enough plot twists and action scenes to make it different to usual action flicks.
His second novel, 'Ice Station' is a particular favourite of mine. Its about a group of marines sent to a station in the antarctic to protect a discovery made by scientists there: they have discovered a spaceship in the ice. If you are a fan of action in general, I'd say that these books would satisfy anyone's action needs.
But that being said, I'd personally prefer that Hollywood comes up with more original stuff instead of the endless adaptations and sequals.
How about Larry Niven's "Ringworld" or "Integral Trees"?
Maybe some of Elric from Micheal Moorcock?
Well, my suggestions are really based on the books getting into the hands of somebody with some respect for them.
Ringworld would be sweet. Loved the first book. Found that the later ones blurred the line between science fiction and fantasy a bit more than I like, but that could be good too. It certainly is a vast world offering lots of different adventures.
The Mote in God's Eye would be great too, but it would be really tough to adapt.
Lucifer's Hammer, although the idea has been used plenty, would be great if it were adapted faithfully. Might work better as a TV miniseries though.
Getting out of Larry Niven and into alternate history, I would love to see a series of movies based on Harry Turtledove's Worldwar trilogy. Overconfident aliens who haven't seen Earth since the middle ages land their invasion force in the middle of WWII. That would rock on the big screen.
They Thirst
It's a vampire novel and has the distinction of being the only book I've ever read twice. If that could be made true to the book, the movie would be awesome. It's probably best that it doesn't get touched.
Ur-viles, waynhim, Drool Rockworm, the Staff of Law--Hellfire! What about the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever? Probably a lot of CGI would be involved, but the seige of Revelstone would be kick-ass. The Ravers gave me nightmares when I was younger. The books were well recieved critically and popularly, so I think it's high time for some big screen treatment of these neoclassics.
I was thinking that any of Donaldson's series would be good. Either the Covenent books, the Mirror books, or the Gap series would be really cool
I'm a broken record but here goes. Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat, which would have to star Bruce Campbell before he gets too geriatric to play the part.
Post Edited (07-06-05 11:04)
The last time they remade The Hardy Boys it was for a short-lived 1995 syndicated series. (There was a Nancy Drew one as well.) Both were fair time-passers (but still a lot of fun), although I prefered HB because Colin Gray (now a documentary filmmaker) and Paul Popowich were very well cast as Frank and Joe. In this version Joe is in college, Frank is either a PI or a newspaper reporter (I can't remember which - it has been 10 years since I've seen the show), and their dad is now with either the CIA or INTERPOL or something (he's in at least 2 eps).
http://epguides.com/HardyBoys/
I just needed an excuse to complain about "I Robot" again. : )
trek_geezer wrote:
> I'm a broken record but here goes. Harry Harrison's The
> Stainless Steel Rat, which would have to star Bruce Campbell
> before he gets too geriatric to play the part.
Oh yeah, I remember you've suggested that before. I love those books, and Bruce would be the man to play Slippery Jim.
Ender's Game has sort of been in the works for a while. It's listed on the IMDB as being directed by Wolfgang Peterson.
Myself, I'd love to see a film of the Bazil Broketail series. Even in the current atmosphere though, I doubt it would get made. Not popular enough, and it would damage the storyline if it was cut down to a PG-13. Lots of extreme violence in the books, as they take place in a period of war (imagine if the LOTR books actually were 1/3 fighting, like the movies) - not to mention sex elements. I love the characters and such though.
Too bad the last book of the seven is such a disappointment.
Jim H,
I'm with you about Ender's Game. That is still to this day, from my childhood, one of my favorite books of all time. I read it atleast twice a year and it absolutely never gets old.
"I'm with you about Ender's Game. That is still to this day, from my childhood, one of my favorite books of all time. I read it atleast twice a year and it absolutely never gets old."
Yep. One of my favorites as well... I have no idea if a movie will work. It will be very hard to make it marketable, since the storyline is mature but the characters are not (I still don't understand why Ender's Game is listed at book stores as "youth" book). Casting will also be hard.
I do have to say I found all the other books in the Ender's Game universe a disappointment, ranging for big disappointment (Speaker for the Dead), to gigantic disappointment (Children of the Mind). Ah well.
Jim,
I've heard in the past that the other books aren't that good, so I've stayed away from them. It's probably just that Card wanted to cash in on Ender's Game and wrote a whole bunch of novels following it.
If I'm not mistaken, there's even one that follows Bean. I have a feeling that wouldn't be too good of a book. lol
I liked Speaker for the Dead, although it is a different kind of book from Ender's Game. Found the toughest part was pronouncing all the Portuguese names. Haven't read the rest of the series yet.
"I've heard in the past that the other books aren't that good, so I've stayed away from them. It's probably just that Card wanted to cash in on Ender's Game and wrote a whole bunch of novels following it.
If I'm not mistaken, there's even one that follows Bean. I have a feeling that wouldn't be too good of a book. lol"
Speaker for the Dead is actually a good book. My expectations were just very high, and it doesn't stand up to Ender's Game. Xenocide is still readable, though far too long, and Children of the Mind enters "bad" territory. I also found the behavior of the colonists ludicrous and unbelievable in their treatment of the piggies in Xenocide (people who've read it will know what I mean).
I own both Ender's Shadow, and Shadow Puppets (but not the third book, Shadow of the Hegemon). I haven't read Shadow Puppets, but Ender's Shadow was decent. Just, again, not even close to Ender's Game. Probably the best part of the book is Bean's character development, which is done quite well. About half the book is completely seperate from Ender, so there isn't as much retreading as you might think.
I think two things really made Speaker for the Dead work for me. There is the basic idea of a futuristic travelling "preacher" of sorts, who takes decades to arrive and then conducts a lot of detective work to piece together the truth about someone. Even the idea of the speaking as a celebration of somebody's life, warts and all, is a cool idea.
The other thing that made it work is that Card had Ender travel enough to get really far into the future, so that we can fully see how history has judged him. I loved the way he had become both the greatest man in history and the most despised man in history to the same people, who had never even considered that they might be the same guy (or still alive). And he had to listen to comparisons of the two from people who had no idea who they were talking to. That was brilliant, and it just got better as characters started to piece together clues to the real identity of Andrew Wiggin.
We're really getting off topic here.
Ridley Scott was attached to the first version of "Dune" at one time, but went on to make "Blade Runner". This was after the notorious failed Alejandro Jodorowsky version fell through. You can Google around and find a couple of sites with info on all the early attempts to make "Dune". It's a shame all the Chris Foss designs for the Jodorowsky version nenver made it to the screen. But the planned film had little to do with the book.
I'd also love to see film version of Elric, but it would probably have to be anime to include the scale of things, the look of the people, the sense of doom, and the sheer violence of it all.
Cambell's an interesting choice of Slippery Jim, I usually suggest George Clooney, but that's just because he can play charming, cocky, criminal roles in his sleep. Harry Harrison said in a Starlog interview years ago, that his first choice for the role was Steve McQueen. So that should give you an idea how long the book has been getting optioned and film versions have been falling through.
I would love a TV miniseries version of Kim Newman's "Anno Dracula" books, or just the first one. The mix of real historical figures and major and minor characters from all kinds of pop culture, some quite obscure, would make for great cameos. All thrown into a story about what if Dracula had won in Stoker's novel, and Newman's ideas about what Drac was really up to coming to England.
On a more literary front, I wish someone would make a film of Cormac McCarthy's "Blodd Meridian". A brutal, dark, nightmarish take on westerns and white/Indian/Latino relations at the time. Ever since I saw "Reign of Fire" I decided that Matthew McConaughey would be perfect for the role of the Preacher when he gets older and if he lets himself go a bit for the role.
http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/
The most informative link I've found so far on the subject. HR Geiger was attatched to the project as well. All the design work looks amazing. I think the Mobius designs for the characters were dead on even though the plan was'nt to follow the novel.
I think that's the site I found before. The mind reels at the thought of all the people who were going to be involved with that film. Jodorowsky, Geiger, Chris Foss, Mobius, Salvador Dali, Pink Floyd, David Carradine, etc. Probably would have been a huge self-indugent train wreck. But what a beautiful train wreck it could have been. Ah well, just a cult movie pipe dream in the end.
I would love to see a well-done movie of Fred Saberhagen's original Sword trilogy.
Or of _The Empire of the East_, also done by Saberhagen.
But no movie would be done as well as Saberhagen wrote those books, so I would inevitably be disappointed.
(But I said that about the Lord of the Rings, years ago, and was proven wrong.)
They should put the storyboard and script together. If nothing else it'd make a hell of a comic.
I'd also love to see film version of Elric, but it would probably have to be anime to include the scale of things, the look of the people, the sense of doom, and the sheer violence of it all.
That would be really cool...
Before I get going, just to make sure I actually make a comment that has something to do with the topic of the thread, I would love to see a decent big screen treatment of The Hobit; I'm not hopeful that it will happen, but one can dream. I also wouldn't complain about seeing a properly low budget treatment of "The Navidson Record" from Mark Z. Danielewski's brilliant and atmospheric House of Leaves. Glen Cook's Black Company series would be absolutely wonderful if done right - great storytelling in a consistant and facinating fantasy world. I'd camp out for tickets.
That having been said, I feel the need to jump in here to defend the Enderverse.
Ender's Game is a brilliant novel, and I don't think I'm going to get a lot of arguement out of anyone for that. Although it was based on a short story, however, the novel was actually written as a set up for Speaker for the Dead (which I didn't much care for) - Speaker wasn't any kind of attempt to cash in on Ender; if he were going to do that, wouldn't Speaker and the rest of the later books at least bear a passing resemblance to Ender's Game?
The Shadow series is a harder arguement to make, but I found that Ender's Shadow, if taken as a companion piece to Ender's Game, is actually an excellent story. It also helps explain Bean's attitude, and it even poses the question of what it means to be human, and handles it without cop-out, simplistic answers.
I loved Ender's Shadow and I read it every year right after I finish Ender's Game, usually some time in January. I also enjoyed Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets (two more books about Bean after the Bugger Wars), but they aren't as good (althought they do for Petra what Ender's Shadow did for Bean in a lot of ways). Shadow of the Giant (the most recent book, published earlier this year) is pretty much crap, and a lousy way to end the Shadow Series.
Anyway, yeah, theoretically there'll be an Ender's Game movie in 2008, and one of the reasons it's taken so long is that OSC flat out refuses to let them age the characters to provide more mass appeal. Personally, I always found it kind of disturbing having 5 year olds killing people, but, hey, what can you do, right?
Man, I just can't wait until they make a movie of that great book "Battlefield Earth". Hm? They already did and it sucked? John Travolta? Oh man...
Don't forget he threatened to make a sequel based on the other half of the book, even though the first one bombed......