Books that should be made into movies

[Jason Menard]

Thought I'd try to steer the conversation to something a bit lighter. The question: What books would you like to see made into movies? I suppose I should narrow the focus to fiction, but non-fiction books based on dramatic events would be acceptable as well. While I'm sure we would all like to see a movies based on "Head First Java", or "Jess in Action", we can probably leave that for another day. To be fair, I think there might be a movie called "Jess in Action", but it has nothing to do with the book of the same name.
My list:
- The Hobbit. JRR Tolkien
- Ender's Game. Orscon Scott Card
- Desperation. Stephen King
- Lucifer's Hammer. Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Space Cadet. Robert Heinlein
- Imajica. Clive Barker
- Red Storm Rising. Tom Clancy
- Neuromancer. William Gibson
Movies based on Ender's Game and Desperation are being talked about, but that doesn't mean too much I guess. I'm sure with the success of the LOTR movies that they'll eventually make The Hobbit.
[ February 12, 2004: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Oliver Sacks' childhood autobiography "Uncle Tungsten" could be made into a cool movie. I'm sure it never will, however.
Early Barbara Kingsolver: The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, Pigs in Heaven.
Early Louse Erdrich: The Beet Queen, Love Medicine.
I understand there's a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" movie in the works.

[Bear Bibeault]

The Mote in God's Eye, Niven, Pournelle
[ February 12, 2004: Message edited by: Bear Bibeault ]

[Jim Yingst]

I've got several favorites that might make good miniseries (i.e. series, in UK terminology) rather than movies. E.g.
    Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons
    Startide Rising - David Brin
    The Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin (one full TV season per book)
For regular movies - hm, one that comes to mind is
    The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
Can we ask for good remakes of movies already made from books (but poorly)? I have two in particular in mind:
    Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
    League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Alan Moore

[Davy Kelly]

all terry pratchet discworld books
Davy
[ February 12, 2004: Message edited by: Davy Kelly ]

[Don Stadler]

Has anyone heard about the upcoming sequel the Something about Mary? Working title Jess in Action....

[paul wheaton]

I think Disney should do a first class animation of Jahnny Appleseed.

[David O'Meara]

Ender's Game definitely, Imajika I'm not convinced of. I didn't enjoy it that much, but it's been about 10 years since I read it. I enjoyed Cryptonomicon more than Neuromancer. Quite an intense but enjoyable book.
Not sure about Pratchet. The books are good, but I don't think much of the description-based humour would translate. Some of them have been adapter to TV series. (Wierd Systers, I think)
The only addition I'd make at this stage is Reymond E Feist's Magician, but not the rest of the crappola he's cranking out.
Oh, maybe the Belgariad from David Eddings, but likewise not anything since that. The problem is that it would take at least 3 movies, and the books are nowhere near as good as Tolkein's.

[Jessica Sant]

To be fair, I think there might be a movie called "Jess in Action", but it has nothing to do with the book of the same name. and nothing to do with the girl of the same name either (although... last time I typed in jessica.com it was a porn site :roll: my little sister, gets wedding rings: diana.com. Me? a porn site.... nice...)
anyway, I digress...
I'm a huge fan of Clive Cussler. One of his first books Titanic was made into a brutal movie (they didn't follow the book at all). So Cussler refused to sell the rights to any of his other books unless he got full control/approval. Crusader Entertainment got the rights to Sahara, and its been in "pre-production" for a couple years now. Who knows if it'll ever make it to a theatre at this rate. At least they have actors assigned to it. But Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt? maybe.
Hobbit would be cool, for some reason Peter Jackson has this obsession with doing King Kong first, plus I guess the copyrights are all complicated for the Hobbit.
I just read the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown - that was a good book, would be interesting as a movie I think.
[ February 12, 2004: Message edited by: Jessica Sant ]

[Joe Pluta]

Along the cyberpunk lines, I think Snow Crash would kick some serious butt. That book was sooooooooo out there. Then I'd like to see someone try to do one of the Baxter Manifold books. Those would be so sweeping in scope, they might not fit into a single movie, but it would be fun.
Joe

[Richard Hawkes]

Neuromancer is top of my list. Supposedly in production with Chris Cunningham as director, its been stalled since 2000 so who knows if it'll ever be made
Iain Banks books, Consider Phlebas, Excession (too long perhaps), and Canal Dreams (great anime material).
The League - remade by Terry Gilliam maybe? He could do the Gibson/Sterling "Difference Engine" too.
Comic, Preacher filmed as a TV series, though I doubt anyone would touch it without watering it down to the point where I'd lose interest.

[Damien Howard]

Hobbit was already made into a movie, unless we are only counting live-action here.
Hobbit was an animated movie
I'd like to see more movies based on works by Philip K. Dick (the guy who did do android dreams of electric sheep [which was turned into blade runner] and minotity report)

[Mani Ram]

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

[Jim Yingst]

Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
I like that sig, Mani.
Ender's Game - I suppose I should publicly add a vote here, too. Though Jason already knows I'm a fan. Speaking of sigs...
The Hobbit - yeah, there was already a movie (animated), but if we can get a live-action one with the talents of Peter Jackson, Ian McKellan, and Howard Shore, that should be much cooler.
I, Claudius - the BBC miniseries was wonderful. Few movies have such impressive casts. The chance of a remake improving on this is small, IMO.
Snow Crash - I almost mentioned this one in my previous post. I like it much more than Neuromancer. Stephenson has two big advantages over Gibson: (a) he knows what he's talking about, and (b) he doesn't take it too seriously. Plus, Joe - don't you wish we could use Reason in some of the MD discussions?
Ian Banks - Use of Weapons would've been my choice. Though I've got quite a few of his still unread, sadly...

[Mark Fletcher]

Larry Nivens Ringworld - Cant believe nobodys mentioned this yet!
*scratches head for other sci-fi classics that havent been mentioned*
*Ah ha!*
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C Clarke.
The "War of the Lance" books in the Dragonlance Fantasy series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I dont care about the other books in that setting.
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. Although Pullmans interpretation of God and Heaven might not go down well with the Christian Right.
Mark

[Mark Fletcher]

Well Enders Game is supposedly being made into a game already, we'll have to see how that pans out.
As for Iain M Banks. Well "Use of Weapons" is a good story, but I think "The Player of Games" would be much better suited.

[Thomas Paul]

Head First Java

[Paul Stevens]

Lucifer's Hammer. Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
I agree with Jason but there have been similar movies along this line.

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Damien Howard:
Hobbit was already made into a movie, unless we are only counting live-action here.

Yes, I'm talking live action with this one.

I'd like to see more movies based on works by Philip K. Dick (the guy who did do android dreams of electric sheep [which was turned into blade runner] and minotity report)

Blade Runner ("Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?"), Total Recall ("We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"), Screamers ("Second Variety"), Minority Report ("Minority Report"), Imposter ("Imposter"), and Paycheck ("Paycheck") were all based on Philip K Dick stories. IMHO not one of those was a bad movie, so I agree that we could always stand to see a few more
[ February 13, 2004: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C Clarke.
The "War of the Lance" books in the Dragonlance Fantasy series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

I was thinking of those as well. I'm afraid though that any movie based on Dragonlance would just come off looking like a cheap LOTR ripoff.

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Paul Stevens:
Lucifer's Hammer. Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
I agree with Jason but there have been similar movies along this line.

Yeah, but Deep Impact didn't have cannibals.

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
    Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

Okay I read the book and I know the movie departed from it quite a bit, but I actually really liked the movie.

[fred rosenberger]

"The Watchmen" by Alan Moore and David Gibbons. Best Graphic novel EVER, IMHO.

[Marie Mazerolle]

I would love to see all the books from The Dark Tower series (Stephen King) made into movies...
-The Gunslinger
-The Drawing of the Three
-The Wastelands
-Wizard and Glass
-The Wolves of Calla

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Damien Howard:
I'd like to see more movies based on works by Philip K. Dick

Seems there's one in the works based on a Philip K Dick novel called A Scanner Darkly.
Also optioned to be adapted to movies are Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said; Valis; and Radio Free Albemuth.
[ February 13, 2004: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[Jim Yingst]

[Jim]: Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
[Jason]: Okay I read the book and I know the movie departed from it quite a bit, but I actually really liked the movie.
The movie might've been fine if it weren't called Starship Troopers. I wanted more MI (emphasis on M) and H & MP, less Buenos Aires 90210 meets Aliens.
[Fred]: "The Watchmen" by Alan Moore and David Gibbons. Best Graphic novel EVER, IMHO.
Agreed. But I want Hollywood to fix League first before they go on to screw up Watchmen. Actually Watchmen has been in on-and-off development hell for some time; it could eventually get made. Sadly, probably not by Terry Gilliam.
[ February 13, 2004: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

[Thomas Paul]

Originally posted by Jason Menard:
Okay I read the book and I know the movie departed from it quite a bit, but I actually really liked the movie [ Starship Troopers ].

I thought it was so poorly scripted and acted that it was embarrasing. But that is just my opinion.

[Damien Howard]

Thanks Jason. I didn't realize there were so many Philip K Dick movies out there. Now that I'm back in school I don't have much time for pleasure reading and the such. It is one of the biggest drawbacks of being back in school.
But not to get too much off topic let me suggest another book to turn into a movie. I'd like to see some aldous huxley such as island or Brave New World. I was also going to suggest Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, but it appears from checking amazon that one was made about 40 years ago, so how about a modern remake.

[Joe Pluta]

Joe - don't you wish we could use Reason in some of the MD discussions?
There are times when I swear that's what Jason uses to type with. His comments are often the depleted uranium slugs of discussion. Straight to the point and devastating .
Joe

[Jim Yingst]

You may want to check out Corona Coming Attractions for a good listing of potentially upcoming movies in various stages of [potential] development, ranging from "unlikely" to "in production". There are listings for Fahrenheit 451, The Hobbit, Rendezvous with Rama, Starship Troopers 2 (direct to video) , Watchmen, Ender's Game, and many more.
Also, www.imdb.com is a good resource for existing movies and TV shows. You can find, for example, everything Philip K. Dick or Aldous Huxley have been associated with (thus far). Brave New World has been made for TV twice, for example.
[ February 13, 2004: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

[Bert Bates]

Great list so far,
How about some Verner Vinge? Robert Silverberg? John Varley? Neil Gaiman ?

[Jim Yingst]

Ooh, all good choices, Bert. But you didn't name any specific books.
Gaiman's already had a BBC series made from Neverwhere, and is probably the most likely of those you listed to have something else made in the near future. That's not necessarily a good thing - I seem to recall there were treatments floating around for Death &/or Sandman movies that sounded like they'd be complete travesties. (E.g. action-adventure movies, completely inappropriate for the source material.) A couple years ago there was serious talk about a Terry Gilliam-directed adaptation of Good Omens (which brings us back to Pratchett too). I think it fell through though - doesn't seem to be on the radar any more. I'm betting something by Gaiman will eventually make it to moviehood though.
Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep would be fun. The Usenet jokes just wouldn't be the same today though. A Deepness in the Sky - mmm, I liked it slightly better than Fire, but don't think the protracted conflict it portrays would fit well into a movie.
Varley: I wanna see The Ophiuchi Hotline.
Silverberg: so much to choose from; not sure which would make good movies. Dying Inside might make a nice indy art film. Same with The Book of Skulls. I mostly remember liking his short stories and novels from the sixties and seventies. Majipoor is OK, but for epic fantasy I still want GRRM first and foremost.
Hmmm, I'll add a new one: something by Guy Gavriel Kay. Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan are my favorites. Though the latter might not be such a great movie, as people would just be wondering why they got all that history slightly wrong, and why they didn't just remake El Cid instead.

[Joe Pluta]

Oh - another set of books that would be great fun as movies: the Incarnations of Immortality books. They'd have some great opportunities for fantastic special effects, and if one was successful there'd be fodder for several more.
In fact, given Anthony's prolificness I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't yet done a Piers Anthony novel. Just the Xanth books alone would out-sequel Freddie.
Joe

[Damien Howard]

Wihle I would watch the Xanth movies, I doubt too many others would. Something like that I think would only appeal to a niche audience. I think LOTR was an exception. Although as animated films, if they were created by someone like Miyazaki, might have some success IMHO
I just watched my 2nd Miyazaki film last night, that guy is brilliant. I can't remember watching any sort of animation that is even close to the greatness of his work. I mean sure Lion King and works from Pixar are all nice films, but they just don't even come close to the two films I saw, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Ok, but I'm hijacking the forum again. Sorry about that, I just get off on tangents sometimes, I can't help myself.
So to bring it back on topic, how about a movie based on Kafka's works? It would have to be Indie though, hollywood could never do something like that well. I think you could make a nice dark film based on something like Metamorphosis.

[Steven Broadbent]

The four darkly comic novels by Charles Higson ( of the Fast Show in england) - I have read each one several times.
Lauren Hendersons crime series about Sam , a female sculptor who has a knack for finding dead bodies - the strawberry tattoo, too many blones, pretty boy.

[John Smith]

So to bring it back on topic, how about a movie based on Kafka's works? It would have to be Indie though, hollywood could never do something like that well. I think you could make a nice dark film based on something like Metamorphosis.
The Fly

[Steven Broadbent]

yeah, they would make great film noir.

[Mapraputa Is]

DH: I just watched my 2nd Miyazaki film last night, that guy is brilliant. I can't remember watching any sort of animation that is even close to the greatness of his work. I mean sure Lion King and works from Pixar are all nice films, but they just don't even come close to the two films I saw, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Ok, but I'm hijacking the forum again. Sorry about that, I just get off on tangents sometimes, I can't help myself.
Are we talking about animation? Hedgehog in The Fog (zip, ~24MB) received the first prize in Japan last year. They called it "the best animation ever" or something like that. Just curious what your opinion is!
[end of hijack]

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Damien Howard:
I just watched my 2nd Miyazaki film last night, that guy is brilliant. I can't remember watching any sort of animation that is even close to the greatness of his work. I mean sure Lion King and works from Pixar are all nice films, but they just don't even come close to the two films I saw, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

I really dig Miyazaki. I've seen some of his other stuff, but IMHO Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are above and beyond most other animated works, as well has his best. "Castle in the SKy" was kind of fun, and the animation was stunning, although the story didn't do as much for me as the others... a little too juevenile for my tastes maybe. Children would probably really enjoy "Kiki's Delivery Service" (English dubbed version includes the talents of the late Phil Hartman).
A couple of non-Miyazaki recommendations which you may appreciate:
Grave of the Fireflies - I'm not sure how to describe this movie. It's definitely very powerful, not to mention pretty depressing. Absoluetly worth a look though. One Amazon reviewer had this to say about it: "This movie doesn't move you, it shatters you."
Now and Then, Here and There - Realistically brutal, but not simply brutality for the sake of brutailty. Great story. The animation style has been compared to Princess Mononoke. One Amazon reviewer describes it thus: "This was very draining... Its kinda like Grave of the Fireflies, where you slowly slide into despair". Another: "This movie is increadably sad and somewhat emotionally involving, so if you're up to it, goahead and watch it and be moved."
The animation in both of these movies is great, but the stories are pretty deep and certainly not for children.I recommend reading the Amazon reviews of both of those titles, each of which has generated some excellent comments. Anyway if you're up for something deep and emotionally challenging, something out of the norm for animated movies, you might find those worth watching.

[Jason Menard]

Someone mentioned wishing there were a movie based on Huxley's Brave New World. Well, such a movie does exist unfortunately. It was a made for TV movie that did little justice to the book.