Books into Films

I just wrote a diary entry about some books I think should be made into films. What books would you like to see filmed? It can be something that has been filmed already but you think didn't capture the book properly.

I would love to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made into a series of movies. You know, good movies. Let's see....Slaughterhouse Five....well, anything by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. would be....very interesting. Trouble is, though, most movies based on books don't do justice to the original story. I tend to enjoy the books more.

my big one claims to be in production - good omens, directed by terry gilliam.

I'm glad you said claims. It was supposedly a done deal two years ago when I was at Dragoncon. Terry Gilliam was going to direct the Red Dwarf movie but went for Good Omens instead. Love that book.

Which of course reminds me that the Discworld books would make great films.

oooo.. really??

I loooved that book.

Slaughterhouse Five was a pretty good film. It isn't the most filmable book, the story is so non-linear.

Joan Didion's Play it as it Lays - not that well known, but very conducive to becoming a movie since it's written in a film-ish style already.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - the BBC miniseries is good, but very long and (IMO) not the best picture quality sometimes.� I would love to see a (good, mind you) feature film-length version of this.� Preferably still with Colin Firth.� :)

I'll probably think of more later.

MmmmmmmColinFirth.

oh, and the first two harry potter books.

*cough*

:)

It's been rumored off and on for the past decade, but I'd love to see it made into a miniseries.

*chortles* :D

Perhaps Catcher in the Rye, but I think that would be higly disrespectful, considering how much J.D. Salinger hated the idea of book into film.

i reckon they should make a film out of that tolkeen book, oh what was its name again? lord of the rings, or whatever?�ok,�so it would be a�long�and�totally boring movie,�but maybe they could cast some cute actors or something, liek omg.

*goes off to giggle hysterically for 2 hours*

ok, i'll shut up now. :D

I think they should do a live-action The Hobbit after Return of the King is released. Then maybe a Silmarillion, which would make a god-awful film.

*applause*
i might actually go see the third one when it comes out. anything will be better than what chris colombus did to those books.

i am just absurdly excited about PoA. *bounce* much cuaron love.

Ender's Game and Snowcrash

Most of mine have been mentioned. Hitchhiker's, Good Omens, Harry Potter... I'd also like to see perhaps Pastwatch, another Orson Scott Card and,�on another note�the Emily of New Moon books (since the Anne of Green Gables series was so nice) .� A really good version of Twelfth Night would be nice too...but that's not technically a book.

I was thinking about Shakespeare too. Olivier did a great TV version of Lear but a film would rock.

you don't like the trevor nunn film version of twelfth night?

i remember really liking the way he edited the orsino/cesario relationship, stretching out scenes over time to show a more natural development.

it's been a while since i've seen it, though. it's my favorite comedy, with much ado being a close second.

twelth night was the play that got me into shakespeare. We saw it in school and my reaction was. "This is really funny." I didn't expect that. Of course I've seen productions where the director didn't seem to know it should be funny.

Not to mention how frickin' boring that movie would be.

The book was bad enough.

*Ducks.

The Nunn version was alright...but nothing special.� I just didn't buy the chemistry between most of the characters. The problem that I see with film versions of plays is that you need different pacing on stage than you do a screen. It's so rarly done right.

Chicago did a nice job and I'd like to see a similar treatment to other stage classics but it's certainly harder with a non-musical. Much Ado was great (sans Keanu) Henry V was lovely, but don't get me started on Hamlet.

And I thought of another book that I remember loving as a kid called the Silver Crown that I always thought would be a good movie. And what about the Wrinkle In Time series?

That's my favorite book, thank you very much.

Out of all of Neil Gaiman's that i've read (all 2) i think Neverwhere would make a great movie!!! (much better then that god awful American Gods).

As far as epic fantasy goes, it would be interesting to see someone try their hand at Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy.

And i've also wanted (since i started reading them some 9 years ago)�someone to do a GOOD, TRUE TO THE BOOK animated movie based on Brian Jaques Redwall or Mossflower.

you think so? I didn't care for the movie version much.

Granted, it was far better than the movie of "Breakfast of Champions" I mean, of all of his novels to try and make a movie of, that had to be the most problematic.

I'm suprised no one has tried to do Player Piano as a movie (or did someone, and I missed it?)

The His Dark Materials series (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass)

The Watchmen (which I think Gilliam is supposed to be doing after good omens ;-)

Along with HHGTTG, I think the Dirk Gently books would make a great mini-series...

Jitterbug Perfume

The Divine Comedy. Granted, I don't know the the second and third book would work as a movie "oooh, look, it's another planet full of happy saints holding hands", but Inferno could surely work.

Microserfs was supposed to be made into a movie. I think they even printed a run with "soon to be a major motion picture" stickers on it, but it never happened. I also think Girlfriend in a Coma could work quite well, and Generation X could have Peter Mulvey on the soundrack...

Along the lines of HP, I'd like to see Dinotopia done right.

Um, I think that's enough for now..

There was a British made for TV version of Neverwhere. It was pretty good but made on a shoestring. The beast was a cow, that was hysterical.

OMG, talcott i love you. coupland is my faaaavorite, and i think girlfriend in a coma could make an AMAZING movie. genX would be a weird artsy film, very disjointed. microserfs could be the next office space. :)

*dance for dougie coupland*

see... i actually preferred American Gods to Neverwhere, but that's a different forum altogether.�

i would actually like to see a film version of On the Road finally get off the ground.� in the same token, i'm not sure if i could bear to watch it.

The first Dirk Gently book was actually a converted Doctor Who serial, Shada. There was a strike during production and they never finished it. Doug Adams then changed the Doctor into Dirk and made it into a Novel.

i would love to see his dark materials, starring miranda richardson and alan rickman if at all possible, but i'd just be so worried that the studio would mess it up. and wow, can you imagine the protests it would draw from the extreme religious types?

microserfs would make an interesting movie, too.

and while we're speaking of neil gaiman, what about coraline?

I just realized there has never been a really first rate version of any Mark Twain novel and those are naturals. There have been several attempts at Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer but I wouldn't call any of them a success. The best is the Errol Flynn version of The Prince and the Pauper.

i just continue to delight over the fact that i borrowed his dark materials from a catholic library. hee!

i would want it directed by the team behind the city of lost children.

It's being filmed right now: Steve Martin's "Shopgirl," for which he wrote the screenplay.� Still, I don't know whether or not it's going to be as good or better than the book.� Claire Danes, Jimmy Fallon and Steve Martin himself are signed on to star.�

*S*

YAY Claire Danes!� :)� She makes any movie good.

And any orgy!
err.... not that I'd know....

*cough*

so i guess this isn't the place to start my rant about romeo and juliet? ;)

Damn right you wouldn't know.

Because if you'd known about an orgy involving Claire Danes and not invited me, I'd kick yo' butt, punk.

So...would that be, like, a date?

Well, it sort of fits the books-->films thread.� And I promise not to get violent.� So, go ahead.

;)

You're welcome.

O:)

(Of course, it's just my personal opinion that that's one of the most boring books ever written.� I will concede that the characterization is good, though.� And you're welcome to dislike any of my favorite books/movies/etc.)

*giggles*

Lets just pretend that the Claire Danes version didn't exist. Or the Mod Squad.

The Zeffirelli version was a masterpiece. I'm not sure but I think it was also the first film I saw with a nude scene. I was 11 when it came out.

A book I was surprised to find out had not already been made into a movie: "Stranger in a Strange Land".

You are so right. Why wasn't that made into a film in the sixties?

As an added note. My Hebrew name, Gershon, means stranger in a strange land.

I grok that!

oooh! Yeah!
I was thinking Gilliam, but that could work as well, maybe better even.

The problem would be making a movie that stars kids, and not make it for kids (or at least targeted to them).

Other than a few parts of the last book, the whole thing could be done on a fairly small budget. BBC mini-series maybe (I say BBC only since an american mini-series would have awful CGI because people seem to forget that puppets often look much better and cost much less)

Erm, sorry, still bitter about Dinotopia ;-)

but i hope they never ACTUALLY make it into a movie or they'd just screw it up... Stephen King's "Eyes of the Dragon"... considering all the crappy ass King films there are out there (need I list some? How about just recent ones? I want my 2 hrs back for both "Hearts in Atlantis" and "Dreamcatcher" although to be fair, the book "Dreamcatcher" was really rank to begin with) I'm surprised they haven't tried to butcher Eyes of the Dragon yet...

Our ninth grade student-teacher fast-forwarded through all the naughty bits of the Zeffirelli film. I had to wait _years_ to see them.

What about any of the _Dark is Rising_ books? (The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree) I liked those as much as any of the Narnia books, but I don't remember hearing anything about a film version.

I thought I'd heard something about an animated version

Although that could just be wishfull thinking...

those would be cool, too...i've only read the first three, because my library doesn't have the grey king or silver on the tree, grr, argh, but i love what i've read.

ooo.. you should get them!
Great books.

I loved those when I was a kid.
:)
That was my LoTR. heheh

Poor Baby. that teacher should be forced to miss all the naughty bits of every movie he or she sees.

ack.ack.ack.

I was guilted into seeing that movie.
At least I didn't ahve to pay for it.

I still have nightmares about the squealing of the teeny-boppers in the crowd.

*weeps silently*

Our ninth grade student-teacher fast-forwarded through all the naughty bits of the Zeffirelli film. I had to wait _years_ to see them.

Our teacher not only fast forwarded the naughty bits, but put a piece of paper over the screen as she did so we wouldn't even see a fast-forwarded naughty bit.

Zeffirelli's? Surely not!