Obviously, this post is a few days late; what can I say, I spent the weekend at CONvergence (a Twin Cities-based sci-fi convention) and am just now recovered enough to think about posting something. I still haven’t thought of anything particularly impressive, though, so I’m just going to be lazy and throw out a few books that I think would make great movies. (Or, at least, could. Let’s face it; everyone thought there was a good movie in I, Robot, and nobody thought there was a good one in Who Censored Roger Rabbit?)
1. Phule’s Company. I’ve actually blogged about this one on my own blog, Fraggmented, but it’s been a while and it does belong here. It’s a scenario tailor-made for Hollywood; a band of misfit soldiers and failures gets taken over by an eccentric billionaire officer and becomes one of the elite fighting units of the Galactic Legion. David Tennant would make an absolutely perfect Phule, and there’s sequels ready-made (although the book series goes rapidly downhill once Aspirin stops writing the books himself.)
2. Those Who Hunt the Night. This Barbara Hambly novel would make an awesome movie; it’s got vampires and spies, and the Victorian era is something that it’s really easy to make good by throwing just a little bit of money at. Basically, think “Sherlock Holmes” in terms of design sense, and add in vampires.
3. World War Z. Yes, I know they’re working on it. WORK FASTER. I want to see soldiers battling zombies in an epic battle for the fate of the world, and I want to see it now. Screw “Walking Dead”, this is the zombie story America is waiting for.
4. Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold! Some people might prefer Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, but I always found them to be fairly bland fantasy, and bland “epic” fantasy at that. Nothing like a movie that needs to film in seventy-two different locations because someone had to transcribe every random encounter from their campaign notes. Magic Kingdom has a lot more personality, a smarter hook, and a strong ending to boot.
5. Undead and Unwed. Oh, look! More vampires! But this is as far away from Those Who Hunt the Night as it’s possible to get: It’s a smart, silly action/comedy/romance along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with a vampire Chosen One named Betsy who doesn’t take the vampire “rules” seriously. And yet, it’s nowhere near as irritating and sucky as Twilight. You could even film it in the Twin Cities (where it’s set, and where author Mary Janice Davidson lives.)
Those are five of mine, but there are plenty more; feel free to add yours in the comments section!
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I love the first two Phule books (the later ones where he “co-wrote” them with people actually willing to write the actual words are… not so good), but they’re not movies.
They’re 13-episode TV seasons.
The Shannara books, at least the first couple, are pretty good if you like your Tolkien ripoffs in the extra-shameless variety.
IDK about Magic Kingdom as a movie, but it’d make a ballin’ BBC miniseries.
For years, I’ve argued that Tim Powers’ lovely On Stranger Tides would make a cool movie, but nobody OH RIGHT THAT’S HAPPENING NOW. So… maybe The Anubis Gates next? Less unfilmable than his other work.
Also, I can’t help but think that CGI has finally made it possible to extract a movie from the beautiful mess that is Ringworld.
Some people might prefer Shannara? Literally the only opinion I have ever heard expressed about the series (in multiple places, by different people, over a long, long period of time) is that it is terribly written and a complete and blatant ripoff of LotR.
Heartily agree with the four of your picks I’ve read (and now I’m gonna have to track down Undead and Unwed and read that one too)
I have no idea if they could do it properly in a film, but I’d love to see a well-made adaptation of Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of The Dog. It’s one of my all time favorite novels, featuring mystery, time-travel, comedy of manners…you name it. It might also work well as a mini-series.
Um. Ohmygod. Thank you for suggesting Those Who Hunt The Night. It’s only one of the best vampire novels published in the past fifty years. With some of the best vampires out there (bloodthirsty, ruthless, calculating, and yet still somewhat sympathetic.) So, yeah, completely agreeing. And while we`re talking about vampire movies we’d like to see, toss in Fevre Dream.
Kudos for those who suggested Those Who Hunt The Night. Great book.
If we’re going to insist on vampires, Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula books should be on that list too (Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron, and Dracula Cha Cha Cha/Judgment of Tears.
For me, anyway, they’re glorious alternate history mash-ups of the original Victorian Dracula, Manfred von Richtofen/The Great War, and 60’s Bond movies respectively.
Of course the historical and non-historical fiction cameos/in-jokes might make sorting out the rights of such a work a nightmare.
It’s not really sci-fi/fantasy, but I’d like to throw Pest Control on there. A down-on-his-luck exterminator accidentally gets a rep as the best assassin in the world, and the quirky and jealous competition comes to town to claim that rep for themselves? Box office gold.
Maddness Season, by C. S. Friedman, probably wouldn’t be too tough a story to tell and would make for one hell of an action movie. Vampires AND aliens? Yes please.
I could get behind the Phule’s Company TV series perhaps, but I have to agree that as written, they better translate into movie format. There simply isn’t enough material for so many distinct storylines – at least, not without writing some of your own from the pre-existing material.
And if you write your own, you kind of start to lose moral high ground with the whole ‘co-writing’ thing. The first couple books make a difficult feel to copy.
Totally with you on World War Z being made into a movie- I too have been waiting for them to hurry up with their film adaptation already.
In terms of books I think should be adapted to film . . .
I’m still waiting for them to hurry up with their movie for We3, a fantastic graphic novel by Morrison.
I wouldn’t mind one for Ender’s Game, now that I think about it.
Death of the Necromancer. Look here, read chapter one, and then dare to disagree.
http://www.marthawells.com/death.htm
I would kill to see some Mick Farren on the big screen. Especially Vickers, or The Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys. Nobody crashes a civilization like he does.
Or, since we’re on a vampire kick in this country these days, The Time of Feasting is really good. But the later Renquist books are really, truly, weird.
I would certainly pay to see a good movie version of the great Those Who Hunt the Night. I love Hambly’s characters and plots.
I want them to take as much time on World War Z as it takes to do it right. I’m impatient too, but I don’t want them to rush it, because if they do it right, it will be mind-blowing, just like the book.
I don’t really understand why AMC picked up The Walking Dead for a mini-series, or a six-episode first season as they’re calling it. It’s a pretty well drawn action-oriented graphic novel series, with some crises of conscience, but nowhere near the complexity of Mad Men or even Breaking Bad. Maybe AMC is going for a nice straightforward apocalyptic plot to make us forget about how it messed up The Prisoner, or maybe AMC just figured the time was right for an undead franchise and the rights for this were available.
RandomChance, I’d rather see a mini-series for To Say Nothing of the Dog than a movie, since otherwise I fear it would be chopped into unintelligibility.
Sisyphus, Death of the Necromancer is one of my all-time favorite books, and I think it would make a fantastic movie. Great world-building, complex and sympathetic characters, cool magic… wow, I’d love to see that. And then they could do a TV series to explore all the backstories, go beyond some of the resolutions and then follow the books about the next generation.
Death of the Necromancer would make a great movie–some of Martha Wells’s other books would too, but that one has the most immediate and tight story with the Victoriana people so love. It’s really sad that she can’t get a publisher for her latest novel.
I’m gonna say two.
Magic Time Trilogy – AN earthquake happens, and technology suddenly *doesn’t work* any more. No electricity, cars dont’ start, guns don’t shoot, etc. Some people turn into trolls, some people turn into dragons. The main character is a lawyer, helped by an ex-USSR doctor and a hobo with magic powers.
Snow Crash – There is no reason I should have to explain what Snow Crash is about on this site.
Anything by `john Wyndham that isn’t Day of the Triffids, because everyone who has never read the book misses the point of Day of the Triffids.
Helm by Steven Gould would make a good miniseries.
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart would make an excellent movie. I’ve been hoping for years that Hollywood would discover it.
Maybe I have bad taste in the genre, but I would like to see film adaptations of the Thrawn trilogy. Only without Lucas involved. Wait until he’s kicked the bucket, if you have to.
I’ve only read Phule’s and Magic Kingdom, but they do seem like they might work well as films. They’re both fairly short and straightforward. Most novels are really too long and complex to translate well to the screen. So much has to be left out. People tend to forget how short movies actually are. That’s why I think most novels would work better as TV mini-series, but then you get more budgetary problems.
I would love to see a good Heinlein movie, but I don’t trust Hollywood to do it right. Remember what they did to Starship Troopers?
In my more ambitious moments, I try to imagine what a John Varley film might be like. What a glorious mess that would be! (Yes, I have seen Millenium, but that was pretty bland for a Varley story.)
I’d like to see a live action epic done with the Phantom Tollbooth
George RR Martin’s Fevre Dream would make a fine movie, though it might have pacing problems due to the two-act structure. I’d love to see a movie of one of Maureen McHugh’s books, maybe Neill Blomkamp or Alex Rivera (Sleep Dealer) would be interested…
The Phule series: Holy hell, yes. Provided it wasn’t turned into a brainless sf action movie.
I’m less convinced by the Terry Brooks thing, unless it was done Bourne series reboot style, written by someone good who had only had a precis of the books described to them…
Holy crap!!!! I honestly didnt know they were making a world war Z movie. I hope they do it as if it was a history channel documentary.
also, its not a book, but a Wolfenstein (the newest one) movie would be badass.
Let’s face it; everyone thought there was a good movie in I, Robot,
There is a great movie in I, Robot. It just doesn’t start Will Smith as Rambo.
Forever War. Which supposedly is finally being made into one, but I’d rather see that than WWZ.
Stainless Steel Rat.. I have wanted that since the first time I read it… Hell the first 3 or 4 books would all be great.
I’d like to see the Piers Anthony Incarnations books made into a movie too but would welcome some major rewriting. But On a Pale Horse would be nice to see done.. With Jackie Earle Haley as Zane.
L. Ron Hubbard’s Mission Earth series, but only if the production is done in house and thus bankrupts the cult.
I second the vote for Snow Crash and World War Z, and add one for Good Omens.
You know, it’s funny MGK should say that about the Phule books — a friend of mine insists (and I agree) that the Harry Potter series should have been done as a TV series, one full season per book. Then they’d have been ADDING STUFF IN instead of taking it out — maybe we’d get more of a sense of these kids actually being IN SCHOOL.
Meanwhile, I do have my own list:
Farmer Giles of Ham, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester
Elric of Melniboné, by Michael Moorcock
… with full-fledged pitches for them here:
http://athelind.livejournal.com/323062.html
Varley’s Titan, Wizard, Demon though i can’t even guess how many movies it would take.
“I’d like to see a live action epic done with the Phantom Tollbooth”
I originally misread this poster as wanting an “action epic” of the Phantom Tollbooth, and it made me mad because they seemed to have missed the entire point of what is in many ways a quiet and introspective little epic.
I have never managed to finish a Shannara novel- they are the blandest, most balant Tolkien-thefts this side of Eragon’s more lugubriously verbose paragraphs- But MKFS-S is one of my favorite books, even is it does sometimes feel like one of those late ’80s films that tried to assuage wealthy businessmen’s fears that they were soulless.
I’d be curious to see if a few of these could be made into good movies:
“The Darkness of the Light” and “Sir Apropos of Nothing” by Peter David
The Wildcard series (the early stuff, at least)
Roger Zelazny’s first five Amber books, and mabe his “Lord of Light” (which supposedly was considered for a movie at one point, and used to help smuggle Americans out of Iran during the revolution in the 70’s.
Neil Gaiman’s “American gods” (though that one might be beter as a showtime miniseries.
What do you guys think?
I would say “The True Meaning of Smekday” by Adam Rex, an awesome sci-fi road-trip kid’s book which also has some really smart thinky stuff going on about colonialism and racism, while being OMG FUNNY AS ALL HELL. I would say that, except that I’d be completely terrified that if Hollywood got a hold of it they’d replace the black/Italian biracial heroine with a white kid. YOU KNOW THEY WOULD.
Of course they would. They made the characters from Earthsea white. They tried to make the characters from Gaiman’s Anansi Boys white. It’s a pretty safe bet they’d make that kid white, too.
You know what I’d like to see is a Princess of Mars movie. A proper one, not that terrible DTV shit that always pops up in Netflix Instant Watch.
Are there any books set in the Twin Cities about lake monsters? Might see a film about that one…
I’d like to see films (probably animated) of Asprin’s first few Myth Adventures books. The Phule books read more like movie novels (and my first thought on reading them was “someone oughtta make a movie of this”, so count me in the “me too” category on those), but the original Skeeve & Aahz stories have a warm place in my heart.
But I’d *really* like to see an animated “Buck Godot: Zap Gun For Hire” film (and also BG: PSmIth).
And I’d also like to see good BBC-style TV adaptations of the first three Deryni trilogies by Katherine Kurtz (in order of writing, rather than chronological).