Books to Film - What would you like to see?

POSTED BY: RIPWash
UPDATED: Saturday, August 8, 2009 03:17
VIEWED: 9265
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RIPWASH

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 3:48 PM

We've been discussing the Harry Potter films in another thread and that got me thinking. Which of your favorite books would you like to see produced in movie form (if it hasn't been done already, of course)? What would scare you about your favorite book being made into a movie?

I've got two:
#1: The King Raven Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead - a re-telling of the Robin Hood story from a historical fiction aspect. Lawhead is a Celtic scholar who researched it quite a bit and this is his take on how the myth might have gotten started.
#2: Rally Cry by William Forstchen - a little "out there" for some, I suppose. A Union regiment during the Civil War is whisked mysteriously away to another world where this has been happening for centuries (people being transported there). The inhabitants of this world are viscous being who hunt down, slaughter and eat humans like cattle. The regiment doesn't take this lying down and decides to rally the humans to fight back and regain their honor and dignity. It was actually a series of like 5 books or more. Good stuff.

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"It's okay! I'm a leaf on the wind!!!"
"What does that mean?!?!?!"

KWICKO

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 4:22 PM

Ringworld, by Larry Niven.

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand.

Swan Song, by Robert R. McCammon

Gateway, by Frederick Pohl

Orphans of the Sky, by Robert Heinlein

Inferno, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Mike

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day...
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college...

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 4:52 PM

There's a Robert Heinlein short story, Coventry, that would be a natural for a TV movie-- for sci- fi, the special effects are minimal, everything else could be shot backlot or easy locations-- it's got a Western or American Southwest feel to it, kinda locations Firefly used, so it would be cheap. It's got good plot, but not too much, good theme, some action, and it's not set too far into the future. Most of the technology has already come about.
On a more ambitious level, RAH's theocracy/revolution novel," If This Goes On--"would be great for somebody to film, and timely. 'Course, the Christian fundies would rise up against it, probably riot in the streets, which would scare off almost any studio or producer.

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:07 PM

The Forever War- Joe Haldeman

The laughing Chrisisall

ECGORDON

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:19 PM

Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, which would have to be a mini-series at least, or four or five movies.

Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination.

David Gerrold's War Against the Chtorr series would make another multi-part spectacle. Also, his Dingilliad trilogy.

Fritz Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness.

Someone needs to remake Starship Troopers, and respect the text this time, dammit!

And while we're talking Heinlein, practically anything of his, especially a mini-series of The Future History, which would include both "If This Goes On..." and "Coventry" mentioned above. Also, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, for which Tim Minear has written a screenplay, and although I didn't like a few changes he made right at the beginning, if he let me have a crack at a re-write I think it could be great.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:47 AM

The Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy, by Elizabeth Moon.

The Serrano/Suiza series, by Elizabeth Moon.

The Prey series, by John Sandford aka John Camp. The film rights have been held for some time, no script finalizations yet.
Plus the spin-off series, with Virgil Flowers.

Red Phoenix, by Larry Bond.

Dark Rivers of the Heart, by Dean Koontz.

Avenger, by Forsythe I think.

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:

Someone needs to remake Starship Troopers, and respect the text this time, dammit!

Also, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, for which Tim Minear has written a screenplay, and although I didn't like a few changes he made right at the beginning, if he let me have a crack at a re-write I think it could be great.

I agree with you about Starship Troopers.
I once followed the links to Tim Minear's Moon is A Harsh Mistress screen play, with high hopes. But the stuff he added to the story was terrible. To salvage what RAH wrote would rquire scrapping the entire screen play

WASHNWEAR

Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:41 PM

I would like to se Terry Pratchett's Disc World universe brought to the screen, maybe one of the books focusing on the Watch or on the Witches.

Would also like to see one of Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan stories screenplay-ified...maybe Barrayar, or Shards of Honor, or one or all of the short stories in Borders of Infinity.

And Heinlein...well, gee - what right-thinking individual wouldn't kill to see that done properly? Orphans in the Sky is one that occurred to me also, as well as Stranger in a Strange Land. Time Enough for Love might lend itself to adaptation, in that the sort of "modular" narrative might make it easier to weed out just what to put on the screen (I'm figuring some weeding would be necessary/beneficial - it's a pretty dense read). I guess the same quality might also make it more susceptible to butchery, but that's a risk with bringing anybody's stuff to film/TV. I've heard that there was some kind of movie version of Heinlein's Puppet Masters featuring Donald Sutherland - anybody know anything about that?

BTW, I don't want any of the above done without Peter Jackson signed on in some capacity.

donttalkbackjustdrivethecarshutyourmouthiknowwhatyouaredontsaynothinkeepyourhandsonthewheeldontturnaroundthisisforreal

Still...what would Rorschach do?

JLIN

Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:56 PM

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

ECGORDON

Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by WASHnwear:
And Heinlein...(snip)Time Enough for Love might lend itself to adaptation, in that the sort of "modular" narrative might make it easier to weed out just what to put on the screen.
(snip)

When I mentioned The Future History, I would include with that Lazarus Long's story as it began in Methuselah's Children, and beyond into Time Enough for Love and the later novels Number of the Beast and To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Lazarus' story alone could fill four or five movies, and they could begin with the Time Enough for Love scenes on Secundus, then flashing back to Methuselah's Children and his adventures with Andy Libby, etc.

Quote:
I've heard that there was some kind of movie version of Heinlein's Puppet Masters featuring Donald Sutherland - anybody know anything about that?

It's watchable. I have it on DVD, and have seen it several times, including twice in the theater when it was first released. It suffers from budget restraints, along with a story that was somewhat original when Heinlein wrote it, but when the film was made most people thought it was ripping off Invasion of the Body Snatchers or any number of other books and films that actually stole from it.

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