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What Books Should Be Made Into Movies?
At the suggestion of @robtgilsdorf I am moving this from the Ricochet Film Society group to the main feed to see if more people are interested.
I was reading a post about the best western films since 2000 and it got me to thinking, as I was writing my response promoting Elmer Kelton, that there are a ton of great books that need to be made into amazing movies.
For example, it would be amazing if Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers was made into a movie that actually bore a passing resemblance to his work. I would love to see The Moon is a Harsh Mistress as a movie as well. I heard it was a project that would be called Uprising, Brian Singer was associated with it, and I am not sure how I feel about that.
I would love to see The Dragonriders of Pern made into a film. I doubt that it would survive contact with Hollywood though and the perceived misogyny would make them want to change it entirely. I doubt they could stomach the all-male dragonrider corps, though they might very much like the homosexual nature of the draconic matings that ensues.
I would also like to see John Ringo’s Legacy of the Aldenata books made into a series of films, at least the first four would be awesome.
What are your thoughts?
Published in Entertainment
Has The Stars My Destination by A. E. Bester ever been made into a movie? The second I’d like to see is Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess, but maybe it should be a mini-series.
Id love to see something from Larry Niven … Ringworld or Protector or The Mote in God’s Eye
That was suggested in the original thread.
In the post that sparked this one, I suggested The Man Who Rode Midnight and The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton. Fantastic books that tell amazing stories.
There have been times when I have been reading Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga that I have thought to myself, it would be great if this could be made in to a high-quality TV series. But seeing how often Hollywood corrupts science fiction stories I would probably prefer that these stories be left alone. Same for Larry Correia’s Monster Hunters International series. The last I heard, someone was going to take another crack at turning Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series into a TV show. If it happens, I hope it’s a lot better than the first attempt.
There are two recent Science Fiction Novels that I think would make pretty good films or tv movies:
Constellation Games – Leonard Richardson
First Contract – Greg Costikyan
The Power Mage novels of Brian McClellan are gripping war fantasy yarns that would translate well to screen.
There are a lot of current age of sail adventure series on Kindle Books that might be filmed well. Andrew Wareham is a favorite of mine in that genre.
A couple of years ago I read that someone was making a movie of “At the Mountains of Madness”. Now, it seems close to impossible to make a Lovecraft into a book with the recurring theme of monsters that are impossible for the human mind to look at and perceive clearly. But I’d love to see that movie, especially with the correct period technology.
Checking IMDb it looks like it was eventually made but the trailer doesn’t look at all like the novella.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13289298/
Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run
Scenery, competition, crazy characters, native tribes, drug cartels. And it’s true .
The sci-fi short story Window would make a great science fiction-horror movie. Fascinating idea and plenty of gore.
I remember casting choice discussions on the Vorkosigan books back at the turn of the century. There were passionate arguments over who should, or even could, play Sergeant Bothari. The question now would be where in the 20 odd books and novellas to start?
Bujold’s Pendric fantasy series might be a better fit in the modern tv environment.
Liked the one season of Dresden Files from Sci Fi channel. Not a popular opinion, I gather.
Some dudes love the Dresden stuff.
I would like a black and white Dracula t.v. that is actually based on the book and mentions how Dracular is in league with the Christian idea of Satan.
I’d be in favor of a Monster Hunters series. They’re not high literature although they are great fun.
I liked the Harry Dresden series.
I’ve been hot and cold about Hollywood tackling Roger Zelazny’s 9 Princes in Amber. I think the woke PC mindset currently making movies would ruin it. Please don’t!
That said, Zelazny dabbled with different cultures and he has other stories that could be made while satisfying the lords of diversity. E.g. Lords of Light.
I’d think Hollywood would embrace the female characters who overcome misogyny. I don’t remember much of dragon matings, but it sounds like pure progressive orgiastic heaven.
I think the book Endurance would be a fun movie or t.v. miniseries. Man against nature in a brutal and compelling fashion.
The book Father Elijah by Michael D. O’Brien would be a film for our time – I think they tried to make it a film but it was so sliced and diced the author said no. I read it every few years. Any Daniel Silva book would make a good picture or series. I’ve always liked all the Peter Mayle books – like The Marseille Caper – they’re all funny. Let’s get some decent uplifting and funny (clean) movies back – like the old Clouseau stuff. Too old school?
Perhaps not the “book” you’re thinking of, but I’ve long wanted to see a movie version of the Saul versus David back and forth told in the Biblical book of I Samuel chapters 18 – 31 (and possibly including David’s response to Saul’s death, as recorded in II Samuel 1). The story is an exciting drama about a conflict between two charismatic and powerful men, one of them a threat to the power and status of the other. Saul chases David around the countryside. There are even built in several script drama points appropriately spaced for a visual medium when Saul commits some dramatic violent action, or David spares Saul’s life because of David’s conscience, or when David escapes, or Saul momentarily regains his senses. The episode in which David is hiding in a cave, Saul enters the cave to “relieve himself,” but David spares him but then presents himself at the mouth of the cave and he and Saul have a dramatic verbal exchange (I Samuel 24) reads like it was written for a movie script. David’s recurring conflict with his own men about whether it would be appropriate for David to kill Saul when the opportunities present themselves provides a great secondary drama theme. The filmmaker could also explore the question of whether Saul’s often inexplicable behavior is a product of Saul’s lust for power, his fear of David’s growing popularity, or genuine mental illness. This exciting story would have broad appeal – belief in God or in the truth of the Bible is not necessary to see this as a great drama.
I’ll go with the prevailing opinions here and express my desire to see film or in most cases mini-series versions of The Dresden Files, the MHI books, and the first two Ringworld books. Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion would be terrific mini-series with a high enough budget. The Hammer’s Slammer’s books would be great fodder for film or TV as well. Footfall and Lucifer’s Hammer recommend themselves immediately for the “disaster with a cast of thousands” genre. And for medieval material that has never been done or never done well, there’s Iwein, Erec et Enid, Parzival, Njal’s Saga, Egil’s Saga, Eyrbyggja Saga, and the list could go on.
Gil Hamilton of ARM: The Series.
Oh totally would be the Wiz series.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/631233.Wizard_s_Bane
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/981834.The_Wizardry_Compiled
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/654164.The_Wizardry_Cursed
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/981835.The_Wizardry_Consulted
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/981836.The_Wizardry_Quested
They are paced well enough to be made into movies without cutting too much out, and most of the stuff you want to know about happens “in view” without a character’s internal monologue.
Don’t forget those who identify as dragons.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. This one has been “in the works” for years but it always seems to get derailed somehow. I hope I live long enough to see it on the big screen (or even as a TV miniseries, which might be the current plan, it’s hard to tell) because it is one of my all-time favorite books.
Well, there have been a number of takes on Beowulf in the last couple of decades. And a number of viking based series. This is a rich area to mine for material.
Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky, a young-adult novel, could make an excellent movie. I reviewed the book here.
Did you watch the CBS series “Kings” in 2009? The conflict was largely between David and Silas, not Saul. Lots of good performances and scenery chewing. It was set in modern day and until The Crown came along it may have been the best tv portrayal of royalty.
Stories about organleggers would be timely–and could be quite dramatic.
One of his best young-adult novels, and possibly one of the most easily adapted to the screen. And there would be no need to “wokify” the story, since as Heinlein wrote it the protagonist is black (he liked to sneak such things into his stories in ways clear to the attentive reader.)
Saberhagen’s Berserker series and his “Swords” series (Empire of the East, the Books of Swords, and the Books of Lost Swords) would each make very good TV series. I know the post is about movies, but you’d need to make 9 or 10 movies to cover all of the books in each series, and no one’s got time for that.
Novels tend to be very difficult to adapt to the screen, because of both length and complexity. The ideal story length for adaptation is the short story or the novella.
Culminating with a kinetic bombardment attack on the despotic United Nations.
I’d pay to see well done versions of M.M. Kaye’s Shadow of the Moon and Far Pavilions. These are vivid historical novels set in British-ruled India. Both are a bit too long, especially the second, but a skillful writer could prioritize the parts that move the story along.
I would love to see the Expeditionary Force books by Craig Alanson made into a series. It’s great light reading and highlights the greatness of humanity/America. The Main Character is a US Army sargent, who Forest Gumps his way into capturing and commanding an alien starship, and performs brilliantly in that role with the help of an ancient Edler Race artificial intelligence.
Pretty funny and a lot of fun.