What book do you think would make a good film but hasn't been made?

[Tim James]

I am working on a story at the moment and as I'm developing it I'm thinking "This is something Michael Chrichton might have written." Now I'm not even remotely thinking that the quality of my writing in anyway compares to his, but the theme of my story is the sort of technological-advance-gets-out-of-control theme that Michael is famous for.

That then got me to thinking about all the books of his that have been turned into films, and a lot of them blockbusters: The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Timeline, Disclosure and of course the Jurassic Park franchise, to name a few.

But there is one that sticks out to me that has not been made into a film ... yet, and that is Prey. I find that odd because it is one of my favourites of his books and is still as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in 2002, in fact even more so.

It deals with the theme of nano-technology, an outline concept in 2002 but now something that is being pursued by some big companies with big money. So why hasn't it made it to the big screen yet? As far as I know 20th C Fox bought the film rights almost as soon as the book came out and then sat on them. And so far nothing.

And so my question is simple. What popular book have you read that you have thought, "This would make an excellent film." but hasn't yet been made?

 

[Richard Turner]

I am working on a story at the moment and as I'm developing it I'm thinking "This is something Michael Chrichton might have written." Now I'm not even remotely thinking that the quality of my writing in anyway compares to his, but the theme of my story is the sort of technological-advance-gets-out-of-control theme that Michael is famous for.

That then got me to thinking about all the books of his that have been turned into films, and a lot of them blockbusters: The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Timeline, Disclosure and of course the Jurassic Park franchise, to name a few.

But there is one that sticks out to me that has not been made into a film ... yet, and that is Prey. I find that odd because it is one of my favourites of his books and is still as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in 2002, in fact even more so.

It deals with the theme of nano-technology, an outline concept in 2002 but now something that is being pursued by some big companies with big money. So why hasn't it made it to the big screen yet? As far as I know 20th C Fox bought the film rights almost as soon as the book came out and then sat on them. And so far nothing.

And so my question is simple. What popular book have you read that you have thought, "This would make an excellent film." but hasn't yet been made?

Richard Adams "Girl in a Swing" and Geoffrey Household "Dance of the Dwarves". Looking up the Household one I found it actually was made into a film in the 80s but I never heard about it. Richard Adams wrote a number of books after Watership Down. "Shardik" had it's points, but "Maia", set in the same fictional landscape, I thought was dreadful - made him seem like a dirty old man.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

The Great Siege of Malta, by Erne Bradford for a blockbuster.

King Hereafter, by Dorothy Dunnett...the 'real' MacBeth, not the version painted by Shakespeare. It would make for a very different film from any Shakespeare film adaptation.

 

[Matnov]

'The Smoke' by Tom Barling. It is a gangster novel set in London during the 60's.

And yes, I fully appreciate that this is hardly a period in time that has been ignored by film makers but one of my pet annoyances is how poor (poor? Bloody awful more like) 95% of London set crime films are with only 'The Long Good Friday' being worthy of any sort of genuine accolade.

But 'The Smoke', that offers something a little more. The slang can be difficult to get your head around, even for native born and bred Londoners, but the plot is complex and draws on several themes that elevate it above the usual Krayish bullshit.

Personally I think it would benefit more from TV adaption, over a minimum of 6 hour long shows rather than a film but I concede that I tend to think that about almost any worthwhile novel these days.

There is also a US novel, 'The 13th Valley'. Again it is about a period of history that is hardly a stranger to our screens, the Vietnam War, and I am convinced it has influenced several films already but the actual story would again make a fantastic TV series.

 

[lrholland]

"Out" by Natsuo Kirino.

(Research tells me there is a very bad Japanese movie, but I've never seen in mentioned anywhere before, and I'd like to see it done properly.)

I'd also like to see Tarantino do a Modesty Blaise movie. Whichever book he wants to do.

 

[Chase Gamwell]

I’d really love to see The Faded Sun trilogy in movie form, but it would need to be done well.

Either way, the books are a fantastic read. I’d suggest them to anyone looking for a sci-fi narrative that’s a bit more involved.

 

[AngryPI]

I've previously mentioned my love for David Gemmell's works; with the world he created I think it would be a good takeover TV series from GOT. Or as a first film, I would love to see Druss The Legend or beginning at the end: Legend.

 

[Charles Ott]

Like a lot of people, I'd like to see a movie of Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers," just not the one that was made.

 

[Tim James]

Like a lot of people, I'd like to see a movie of Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers," just not the one that was made.

Time Enough for Love was the one of his I wanted to see made into a film, or maybe a series.

And thinking about it Larry Niven's Ringworld. Why haven't they made that into a SciFi blockbuster?

 

[Marc Joan]

Tunc-Nunquam, by Lawrence Durrell. Decades ahead of its time.

 

[Amber]

I'll pitch my own book as a movie:

We live in a dangerous age in which children are taking guns and shooting their fellow students and we need a story to help young people who are losing their grip on sanity.

To help them, we need a bitter pill with a candy coating.

We need the story of a young, vulnerable woman who discovers a magic mirror which frees people from their addiction to their own private mirrors which are being manipulated by social engineers. The discovery gets out of control and causes so much social disruption that a new cultural movement is required to reconnect everyone to their common purpose. En route to the happy ending, the protagonist is exposed to destructive solutions which don't actually address the problem.

We need: "When I Break Free"

This is interesting and thought provoking.

 

[Amber]

Time Enough for Love was the one of his I wanted to see made into a film, or maybe a series.

And thinking about it Larry Niven's Ringworld. Why haven't they made that into a SciFi blockbuster?

I don't think I know enough about what would make a good film and so I don't have any favorite novels I'd like made into movies. But now that you've mentioned Heinlein...well I always have an opinion about him.

I was disappointed by Starship Troopers and The Puppet Masters. I remember being so excited. After watching them I realized there's a unique problem with older sci-fi literature. It's both futuristic and dated. It's a very strange thing to watch. Mostly, it's the dialogue. The American bravado which felt comfy to the WWII generation, it's very 1940s, but which feels strange and weird now.

I would like someone to write scripts for Time Enough for Love, Stranger in a Strange Land, or Friday. Friday was so great. I first read it as a teenager and it was so interesting ... and unique .. such a different way of looking at the world. Although, I suppose they all are.

I recently re-read a Heinlein novel which seemed so timely--The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I loved how Heinlein had created a sort of Russian English dialect. It was fascinating. But that isn't what I think makes it such a timely novel. One of the themes is a computer becoming self-aware. The computer in Heinlein's story becomes self-aware by telling jokes. How brilliant.

 

[Tim James]

I'd really like to see a new 1984.

They could film it in London, they wouldn't have to do much set dressing.

 

[Tim James]

Friday was so great.

Oh yes, Friday. How could I forget that one. And Stranger in a Strange Land was epic. Definitely with you on that.

And what about I Will Fear No Evil.? A bit difficult for a film perhaps with all the interior chat going on inside Jo-Ann's head but possible with some well know actors' voices playing the various parts.

 

[Tim James]

I was disappointed by Starship Troopers

The Starship Troopers film was far too gung-ho for my liking.

 

[Amber]

The Starship Troopers film was far too gung-ho for my liking.

Starship Troopers was serial fiction written in 1958 before the space program, when the children of WWII were teenagers, before the civil rights movement, and before the vietnam war. Heinlein’s books stay timely but some of the things in his books not so much .... I think they’re the things that allowed people to feel comfortable believing the unbelievable. People who adapt his work always forget to change it. Or, maybe they like it. There are plenty of people still nostalgic for the 1950s.

I love I Will Fear No Evil too and for no reason whatsoever I get it confused with Time Enough for Love. Heinlein wrote one of the first transgender novels, total brilliance, and still gets called a misogynist. How wild was it for him to write Friday or Time Enough for Love even before the sexual revolution? Or, even during the sexual revolution considering how old he was by then. I have to read Time Enough for Love again.

 

[Tim James]

I really enjoyed The Cat Who Walked Through Walls too. Because nobody had told the cat it couldn't do that.

 

[Tim James]

How wild was it for him to write Friday or Time Enough for Love even before the sexual revolution?

Incidentally @Amber , what is your take on Heinlein's writing of Friday from a woman's point of view. Going back to a previous thread about the difficulty of men writing books from a woman's POV, do you think Heinlein got it right or was he way off base too?

 

[Amber]

Incidentally @Amber , what is your take on Heinlein's writing of Friday from a woman's point of view. Going back to a previous thread about the difficulty of men writing books from a woman's POV, do you think Heinlein got it right or was he way off base too?

I read Friday when I was very young and loved it. She's a poly-amorous cyborg assassin if I remember. Awesome. I believe she develops feelings? I'd have to read it again but it was a pretty bold move on the part of a male writer. I respected him for trying and if I remember correctly, she becomes more 'human' or more like a 'real woman' as the story progresses. Which is interesting. Maybe he wanted to know something. I didn't find her unbelievable.

People pick on Heinlein for how he portrays women. I think they're using modern sensibilities to try and understand what he wrote which is hardly fair. His contemporary male science fiction authors can hardly fail at something they didn't attempt. I like how his women were women and not men with mammary glands. Also, he had them doing things, and they were independent, and if you read his books, it's pretty obvious women aren't powerless in his worlds.

I don't actually think men get it wrong all the time. I know male writers who write women maybe better than I do. But I do think it's more difficult and less likely than women portraying men positively. But we don't want to talk about that again ... I'd imagine.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

"Out" by Natsuo Kirino.

(Research tells me there is a very bad Japanese movie, but I've never seen in mentioned anywhere before, and I'd like to see it done properly.)

I'd also like to see Tarantino do a Modesty Blaise movie. Whichever book he wants to do.

I've enjoyed reading Japanese crime novels, so have requested Out from my local public library...thank you for the recommendation. You might like A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto, and The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, both of which are eerie and unsettling—partly because of the different social conventions in Japan.

 

[Carly]

I loved The Magician by Ronald E Feist and it would have been wonderful to have seen a film version of this. However, after seeing the terrible Shannara Chronicles, maybe I should be glad that this book is left to my imagination.

 

[Quillwitch]

I am working on a story at the moment and as I'm developing it I'm thinking "This is something Michael Chrichton might have written." Now I'm not even remotely thinking that the quality of my writing in anyway compares to his, but the theme of my story is the sort of technological-advance-gets-out-of-control theme that Michael is famous for.

That then got me to thinking about all the books of his that have been turned into films, and a lot of them blockbusters: The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Timeline, Disclosure and of course the Jurassic Park franchise, to name a few.

But there is one that sticks out to me that has not been made into a film ... yet, and that is Prey. I find that odd because it is one of my favourites of his books and is still as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in 2002, in fact even more so.

It deals with the theme of nano-technology, an outline concept in 2002 but now something that is being pursued by some big companies with big money. So why hasn't it made it to the big screen yet? As far as I know 20th C Fox bought the film rights almost as soon as the book came out and then sat on them. And so far nothing.

And so my question is simple. What popular book have you read that you have thought, "This would make an excellent film." but hasn't yet been made?

Something called The Rule of Four.

 

[Charles Ott]

Heck, I could nominate my own book to be a movie. It's a love story, it's science fiction, it has jokes, and there's a big dance number in spacesuits! Actually, I think it not only wants to be a movie, it wants to be a musical.

 

[Patricia D]

I'm nominating my first book, A Perfect Victim (it would need a new title). It is set in and around New Orleans, which is always fun. Jessica Chastain is perfect for the lead, but she hasn't called me yet.

 

[Tim James]

Jessica Chastain is perfect for the lead, but she hasn't called me yet.

 

[Amber]

I'm nominating my first book, A Perfect Victim (it would need a new title). It is set in and around New Orleans, which is always fun. Jessica Chastain is perfect for the lead, but she hasn't called me yet.

I like things set in New Orleans. I also like Jessica Chastain. I'd go see it.

 

[Amber]

I loved The Magician by Ronald E Feist and it would have been wonderful to have seen a film version of this. However, after seeing the terrible Shannara Chronicles, maybe I should be glad that this book is left to my imagination.

The adaptation of the Shannara chronicles broke my heart. So bad.

 

[Carly]

The adaptation of the Shannara chronicles broke my heart. So bad.

This adaptation shows why an author should have a say about what happens after the film rights are sold. I wonder how Terry Brooks felt about it.

 

[Quillwitch]

Oh, so if it´s fair to say it, then yeah, my work in progress should definitely become a movie!! I live for that moment!

 

[Tim James]

There have been some bad clashes between directors and authors over the years.
I believe Clive Cussler was particularly upset at Sahara.