If You Could Make Any Film You Wanted To!

[descamisado]

Which prose work that has not been done would you like to see made into a film?

What would your choice be, regardless of Hollywood (or even independent film) criteria for adaptability, commercial length or popularity of subject matter? It can be a work of fiction, non-fiction or even in essay form, which I've seen. In which venue would it work best? Theatrical release? Indy film houses? Made-for-TV? Masterpiece Theatre?

My 2nd choice is Savage Holiday (http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qsort=&page=1&matches=24&browse=1&qwork=5904834&full=1), by Richard Wright. If careful attention is paid, it has the potential to be a great psychological thriller, in-period (50s) or modernized. Although one of the first books in which Wright tried to tell the story of a white person (http://books.google.com/books?id=8IH-sVhHmrMC&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=savage+holiday+richard+wright&source=web&ots=V5kT7_OycE&sig=wNe4_Y7PjNwL4m4JIPwO0WV2-u8#PPA236,M1), when I first happened upon this book in the late nineties, my immediate thought was that it would work well with either a white, black or mixed cast.

Any director who would be able to keep a tight focus on the theme* of an unmoored and ill-satisfied society, as portrayed by the main character, Erskine Fowler, could make this story work either in the period it was written or updated to reflect today's societal ills.

I can't tell you my first choice, because I'm actually currently developing a screenplay from a hard-to-adapt, but best selling work of fiction.

* Instead of the way Patricia Highsmith's sociological and cultural tale was ruined in The Talented Mr. Ripley (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/screen/books/ripley.html) but the director applying modern notions of homosexuality to the main character living in the 50's.

[Tenar]

Probably the long-awaited Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, although I would probably hate the results. I want to see Foamfollower!

[Lightnin']

I'd love to film Niven's Inconstant Moon.

I'd also like to refilm the ending to King's The Mist.

[descamisado]

Probably the long-awaited Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, although I would probably hate the results. I want to see Foamfollower!Tenar, I'm not familiar with the work but I'll look into it.

Why, offhand, do you think you would hate the result?

Do you think your being in charge of making it could help you come closer to realizing your vision for it? Is there something about the story that you feel couldn't be translated into film? What approach do you think would come closest to something you would like?

[Inner Stickler]

I'd kinda like to see Dante's Inferno as a movie. It would be kind of long, I suppose but that's what the pause button is for: bathroom breaks. I suppose it would be an art house indie oriented film. With CGI I think one could make a very cool hell. I'm just not sure how I'd want to handle translation.

[Martian Bigfoot]

With CGI I think one could make a very cool hell.
The Ninth Circle would be cool as Hell. Of course, it'll only be made when Hell freezes over.

What? Someone had to say it.

[descamisado]

I'd love to film Niven's Inconstant Moon.

I'd also like to refilm the ending to King's The Mist.Can you tell me a little bit more about why and your choices for producing it?

[RikWriter]

I've always wanted to see a movie or miniseries about the Marquis de More.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Mores
They'd probably have to leave out the anti-Semitic parts from his later life, I suppose, unless they wanted to do a "There Will be Blood" sort of treatment.

[audit1]

Larry Niven's INCONSTANT MOON was filmed in 1996 as an episode or The Outer Limits. Larry Niven wrote the screenplay.

[Elendil's Heir]

I've always loved George R.R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging, a scifi novel about a schlub/antihero space merchant who finds an enormously powerful derelict starship. He then decides to make a living as an ecological engineer, with results that vary from the very funny to the pretty damned scary. Hollywood would probably never touch it, but when I earn my first billion I'm going to get it made, dammit.

One of Spielberg's near-future movies is going to be a biopic of Abraham Lincoln, starring Liam Neeson. I think George Washington deserves similiar treatment - he had a fascinating life, even though we think of him today as little more than a marble statue.

[elfkin477]

The Taking by Dean Koontz. I usually don't "see" what I read, but with this book, there are large sections that I could.

Second choice: War For The Oaks by Emma Bull. It would be interesting to see this important urban fantasy story on the big screen.

[Tenar]

I've always loved George R.R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging, a scifi novel about a schlub/antihero space merchant who finds an enormously powerful derelict starship. He then decides to make a living as an ecological engineer, with results that vary from the very funny to the pretty damned scary. Hollywood would probably never touch it, but when I earn my first billion I'm going to get it made, dammit.

Fantastic choice! An incredibly smart and funny book, with plenty of opportunities for special effects.

Probably the long-awaited Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, although I would probably hate the results. I want to see Foamfollower!

Tenar, I'm not familiar with the work but I'll look into it.

Why, offhand, do you think you would hate the result?

Do you think your being in charge of making it could help you come closer to realizing your vision for it? Is there something about the story that you feel couldn't be translated into film? What approach do you think would come closest to something you would like?

Actually, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever comes up fairly often around here. (I was about to link to a thread, but, well, even after all these years, I'm not the most skilled poster. Even doing multiple quotes in one post is a challenge for me.) If you search Cafe Society for Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, you will see that there was an active thread about the series as recently as yesterday.

As far as why I would hate the result, well, Thomas Covenant is a hard guy to love; he is NOT your typical fantasy hero, and it's difficult to be sure whether his whining, self pitying and temper tantrums would be even less appealing on the big screen. I'm even ambivalent about the source material, but it was once so very meaningful to me that I have never written it off completely. Not to put too fine a point on it, Thomas Covenant is a rapist. I like to compare Chronicles of Thomas Covenant to Chronicles of Narnia in this respect: picture someone being swept off to Narnia and, rather than rejoicing in his good fortune and trotting off for tea with Mr. Tumnus, deciding that the whole thing is a hallucination and taking the opportunity to rape Lucy, believing that she isn't real anyway. Sure, Covenant has his reasons, but anyone trying to translate his story to film would have to either leave the rape in and alienate a fair percentage of the audience, or leave it out, and render huge chunks of the subsequent storyline impossible. I know people nowadays are more used to anti-heroes than once they were (I'm looking at you, Tony Soprano), but I still see this as a big problem in the world of fantasy, where we are expecting to see sometimes flawed but unfailingly well-intentioned hobbits, elves, etc. as our protagonists. In fact, Thomas Covenant is one of the few non-villain characters in the Chronicles who is NOT constitutionally noble or heroic. As I say, a hard guy to love.

[descamisado]

I'd love to film Niven's Inconstant Moon.

I'd also like to refilm the ending to King's The Mist.What appeals to you about this, or what makes it visual or thematic enough for this treatment?

Have you thought about target audience, intended venue, etc.?

What went wrong with the current ending of [I]The Mist/I] for you?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

HG Wells' The War Of The Worlds.

Done right!

Set in Edwardian England. Period garments. Period music. Period dialect. First class FX.

[descamisado]

Larry Niven's INCONSTANT MOON was filmed in 1996 as an episode or The Outer Limits. Larry Niven wrote the screenplay.Was if any good? What ideas for expansion/improvement did it suggest to you, if you could do either? Did it stray at all from the source material, even though the author wrote the teleplay?

HG Wells' The War Of The Worlds.

Done right!

Set in Edwardian England. Period garments. Period music. Period dialect. First class FX.I specifically said those that hadn't been done, but since I'm in total agreement with you here, Preach it, brother!

What else would you do differently (besides not casting Tom Cruise)?

[Annie-Xmas]

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn's "By Jeeves." Yes, Jeeves has been made into many movies, but never a musical.

Starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Was if any good? What ideas for expansion/improvement did it suggest to you, if you could do either?

I specifically said those that hadn't been done, but since I'm in total agreement with you here, Preach it, brother!

What else would you do differently (besides not casting Tom Cruise)?

All British Isles cast/writers only. English, Welsh Scots & Irish. Perhaps a French ferry captain, but that's the limit.

Shot on location, whenever possible.

Military consultants, to the uniforms, weapons & drill correct.

And the scene with the Vicar in the ruined cellar gets left in, dammit! I don't care if the little old ladies in Kansas don't like it! :mad:

Although, how we are to rectify Wells' error, re: the Thunder Child, I cannot say. :confused:

[Sampiro]

It would have to be a very big budget miniseries (because there's absolutely no way you could tell the story in film length), but Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksilver_(novel)) and, if it's successful, its sequels in The Baroque Cycle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle). Great historical fiction, good science fiction (and it really is science fiction, not sci-fi), and with one of the great enigmatic characters from modern literature, Enoch Root (who I'd cast with Liam Neeson).

Confederacy of Dunces- though it would have to be a long film or a miniseries to capture everything from the novel. It also has to be filmed on location of course (New Orleans for those not familiar) but as a timepiece (early 1960s). I'd love to cast Dave Chappelle as Burma Jones as he's got the intelligence and comic timing to run that character to the Oscars. Otherwise, Philip Seymour Hoffman is the only actor who comes to mind for Ignatius, though he may have to be an unknown (he's morbidly obese and while I wouldn't mind padding an already fat actor I'd hate to have a Nutty Professor/Hairspray latex treatment).

Others I'd cast or consider:
Angelina Jolie as strip-club owner/porn ring operator Lana
Christina Ricci as Iggy's sorta kinda girlfriend Mona
Danny Devito as Angelo Mancuso
Rhea Perlman as (Angelo's aunt) Santa Battaglia

[descamisado]

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn's "By Jeeves." Yes, Jeeves has been made into many movies, but never a musical.

Starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.Between, Bertie and Jeeves, well, which would play which? ;)

Confederacy of Dunces- though it would have to be a long film or a miniseries to capture everything from the novel. It also has to be filmed on location of course (New Orleans for those not familiar) but as a timepiece (early 1960s). I'd love to cast Dave Chappelle as Burma Jones as he's got the intelligence and comic timing to run that character to the Oscars. Otherwise, Philip Seymour Hoffman is the only actor who comes to mind for Ignatius, though he may have to be an unknown (he's morbidly obese and while I wouldn't mind padding an already fat actor I'd hate to have a Nutty Professor/Hairspray latex treatment).

Others I'd cast or consider:
Angelina Jolie as strip-club owner/porn ring operator Lana
Christina Ricci as Iggy's sorta kinda girlfriend Mona
Danny Devito as Angelo Mancuso
Rhea Perlman as (Angelo's aunt) Santa BattagliaWhoa! That's a damn good idea for a film and good casting (Rhea Perlman, snerk!).

Everybody else feel free to include casting/directorial choices also. How about the Vito character from The Sopranos for Ignatius?

[Sampiro]

Of course I'd also finance Titanic 2: Jack is Back (http://youtube.com/watch?v=7iOuYkbrx4w&feature=related)- it looks pretty good! ;)

[Spiny Norman]

Frans G. Bengtsson's viking novel novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ships) about Orm Tostesson the Wide-travelled deserves a better treatment than the 1964 abomination.

Raiding parties at dawn, heroic deaths with famous last words, love, death and betrayal, good deeds being rewarded at unexpected moments. Men of action and honor. Wisecracks and understated humour, and a wry look at Christianity, Judaism and Islam as offered by a heathen outsider.

[Danalan]

Retief (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retief). Keith Laumer.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress). Robert Heinlein

Time Must Have a Stop (http://www.iblist.com/book14003.htm). Aldous Huxley.

She Hates my Futon (http://www.famousboot.com/?page_id=3). (Once it's finished.)

The Lord of the Rings -- a version that includes the stuff PJ left out, and fixes he parts he effed up. Probably a 6+ movie series, but you did say any film I wanted....

[descamisado]

I'd kinda like to see Dante's Inferno as a movie. It would be kind of long, I suppose but that's what the pause button is for: bathroom breaks. I suppose it would be an art house indie oriented film. With CGI I think one could make a very cool hell. I'm just not sure how I'd want to handle translation.The Ninth Circle would be cool as Hell. Of course, it'll only be made when Hell freezes over.

What? Someone had to say it.This an excellent choice and, since we're doing fantasies here, an art house / indie oriented presentation, with multi-night viewing, would be excellent.

What would you think of a production under the aegis of say PBS's Masterpiece Theatre series? Then, why not do a Passion of the Christ minimal subtitles presentation, given the audience that would entail? Made-for-TV though, miniseries or not, hell-to-the-no: Oprah screwed up Their Eyes Were Watching God badly enough (probably due to production input from ABC), though Halle Berry was an excellent casting choice.

Any casting/directing choices from you two? For my film, I'd like to cast Forest Whitaker, as Erskine Fowler and Jean-Marie Baptist as the female lead. Denzel Washington woudl certainly occur to most Hollywood minds, but Whitaker would be the right age and carry the gravitas needed.

Peak Banana, you're so going to Purgatorio.

[elfkin477]

What appeals to you about this, or what makes it visual or thematic enough for this treatment?

Have you thought about target audience, intended venue, etc.?

What went wrong with the current ending of [I]The Mist/I] for you?
If Lightnin' is like everyone else who hated the ending, I'd hazard a guess that Lightnin' is also pissed off that the book ending and the movie ending are polar opposites. The movie ending is one of those irritating gotcha! twists that M. Night Shamalan is famous for, and just not at all fitting with either the tone of the rest of the movie or what seemed to be the message of the novel's ending. Stephen King claims to like the movie (though I haven't heard his opinion on the end, just the movie in general), but a lot of people thought the movie's ending is inappropriate considering it was a fairly faithful adaptation until the last five minutes.

[descamisado]

If Lightnin' is like everyone else who hated the ending, I'd hazard a guess that Lightnin' is also pissed off that the book ending and the movie ending are polar opposites. The movie ending is one of those irritating gotcha! twists that M. Night Shamalan is famous for, and just not at all fitting with either the tone of the rest of the movie or what seemed to be the message of the novel's ending. Stephen King claims to like the movie (though I haven't heard his opinion on the end, just the movie in general), but a lot of people thought the movie's ending is inappropriate considering it was a fairly faithful adaptation until the last five minutes.I should have disclosed that I didn't see the movie, so now this makes sense. It seems Shyamalan got in his own way by ignoring the good material that he and going for the twist-shtick he seems to be known for.

Do you have any suggestions?

[Mrs. Cake]

I'd love to see Good Omens finally be filmed. As long as I get my dream cast, Jonathan Pryce as Aziraphael and Rupert Everett as Crawley.

[TWDuke]

I'd kinda like to see Dante's Inferno as a movie.Well, torture porn is big these days, but I wouldn't want to be around for the backlash to this:
A cask by losing centre-piece or cant
Was never shattered so, as I saw one
Rent from the chin to where one breaketh wind.

Between his legs were hanging down his entrails;
His heart was visible, and the dismal sack
That maketh excrement of what is eaten.

While I was all absorbed in seeing him,
He looked at me, and opened with his hands
His bosom, saying: "See now how I rend me;

How mutilated, see, is Mahomet;
In front of me doth Ali weeping go,
Cleft in the face from forelock unto chin.I would have said Paradise Lost, but it looks like there might be one in the works (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484138/) by somebody with a better chance of it getting made.

[Lumpy]

A movie that absolutely could not get made by Hollywood, except as a perversion of the source novel: The Space Merchants. The most scathingly satirical anti-consumerism novel I've ever read. I'd also have vending machines in the lobby of every theater it was shown in selling "Popsie Pop" and "Crunchies".

[Sam Stone]

As an off-the-wall choice, I'd like to see Have Space Suit - Will Travel made either as an animated film or live action. Great story, lots of action, pretty much no politics, large sweeping themes, and a story kids and adults could both love.

[descamisado]

I've always wanted to see a movie or miniseries about the Marquis de More.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Mores
They'd probably have to leave out the anti-Semitic parts from his later life, I suppose, unless they wanted to do a "There Will be Blood" sort of treatment.Maybe I'm naive, but why would it be necessary to leave out the anti-semitic parts of his later life? From the history in the link, a mini-series would be essential and all of it interesting, but if you have to pick one period of his life to condense into a one-sitting movie of any length, which would it be?

[mobo85]

How mutilated, see, is Mahomet;
In front of me doth Ali weeping go,
Cleft in the face from forelock unto chin.

Well, you've got Muhammed and Ali there. Just replace them with Muhammed Ali. What he's doing in Hell while he's still alive, that's for the producers to figure out.

As for a film I'd like to make? An adaptation of David Sheff's book Game Over, a history of the Nintendo corporation and how it made it big in both Japan and the U.S. Since it's a non-fiction book, most of it would have to be dramatized, of course.

[Ranchoth]

Kim Newman's Anno Dracula. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Dracula) I'm thinking Charlotte Gainsbourg or Miranda Otto as Genevieve Dieudonné. You could probably cast a lot of characters as cameo appearences (Dr. Jeckyll, etc) by actors who've played the same or similar parts in the past.

Royal Consort Dracula himself might be a bit hard...I think there have been three or four actors who've done his role justice, in the last few decades. (Plus, his own dialogue in the book wasn't that great, oddly enough.)

[gallows fodder]

Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard. My favorite book as a kid (hell, it still is). Period piece (set in 1557) featuring a smart strong heroine (not stereotypically feisty, not beautiful) who saves the brooding handsome hero, fairies (who may just be humans whose ancestors escaped the coming of Christianity by retreating to underground caves) and human sacrifice, a retelling of the ballad of "Tam Lin," and a little bit of a love triangle to hook the teens. Oh, and a makeover story in its own way. Not to mention a straightforward plot that would be easy to film and did I mention the fairies? With fairy queen? And human sacrifice? And love? And a fantastic heroine?

I've been mentally casting and recasting the roles since I first read the book at age 11 and I've never found anyone suitable, but now I'm thinking Sean Bean for the handsome hero's older brother. And come on, what man or woman can resist seeing a movie with Sean Bean? :)

[RikWriter]

Maybe I'm naive, but why would it be necessary to leave out the anti-semitic parts of his later life? From the history in the link, a mini-series would be essential and all of it interesting, but if you have to pick one period of his life to condense into a one-sitting movie of any length, which would it be?

To answer the second part first, a movie would definitely deal with his adventures in the American West. Think of it! A French nobleman turns gunfighter in the old West!
As for the anti-Semitism, I was thinking of Hollywood there...the POTB would be unlikely to have an anti-Semite as a protagonist unless you were setting him up as a villain. Me, I think biographies should show the complexities of the person being studied, warts and all, but Hollywood is more likely to fund either a hagiography or a study of the man as a tragic villain.

[Slithy Tove]

I've day-dreamed about making a biopic of "Princess" Alice Roosevelt Longworth, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Roosevelt_Longworth) TR's daughter. The popular image of her as a Gilded Age Riot Grrrl who grew up to be the feistiest old gal on the DC social scene could be tempered with elements which show that, in many respects, she was also a maladusted, damaging bitch.

Looking at the rest of Teddy Roosevelt'd kids, the movie could be expanded to display, through their invovlement in politics; wars; safaris and explorations; big business and the Civil Rights movement how they lived in TR's shadow as well as at the center of the "American Century" Lots of good period visuals, plus great parts for whoever wold be cast as Alice and Kermit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Roosevelt)

[ZipperJJ]

I came in to say what Sampiro said - The Baroque Cycle. It would definitely have to be big budget and a miniseries - there'd be so many costumes and sets. And so many pages in the books.

I'd like to see it as a BBC miniseries, myself. Hollywood might try to make the entire cycle into one big stupid film and leave a lot of the good stuff out. I have no idea who I would cast as any of the characters...I don't think I care. I just want to SEE it.

[well he's back]

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell would make a good movie...

[TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW]

Man, I hoped to see more adventurous replies to such a promising OP!

Now that Philip K. Dick's books are progressively getting moviefied, I'd love to see The Divine Invasion done by someone like Michel Gondry or Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Hell, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was basically Ubik with a more whimsical setup...someone could easily knock out a great rendition of that book.

One of my personal dreams is to do a great film of Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 - I think it would be totally hot done as a seventies CA period piece. It would be fun enough to just be able to film the Baby Igor movie that's shown on the TV, the Paranoids doing their serenade outside the motel room while Oedipa and adult Baby Igor get it on, the electronic music bar scene...

[Poysyn]

Outlander - by Diana Gabaldon.

But I would want to be Claire.

And I don't know who could be Jamie, but I think Gerard Butler would make an excellent Dougal.

Sigh.

[descamisado]

Man, I hoped to see more adventurous replies to such a promising OP!It may be that some people, even when they read something and think "movie" in their heads, have given up and not taken the time to think this through in regards to some of their tougher, more personal "what if's."

Glad to you see participating here, more comment on your excellent choices later.

[Khadaji]

I keep thinking The Man That Never Missed would be a fun film.

[descamisado]

I've always loved George R.R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging, a scifi novel about a schlub/antihero space merchant who finds an enormously powerful derelict starship. He then decides to make a living as an ecological engineer, with results that vary from the very funny to the pretty damned scary. Hollywood would probably never touch it, but when I earn my first billion I'm going to get it made, dammit.I'm not really into sci-fi but this sounds damned interesting. I'm playing the $225 million lottery here on Tuesday; if I win I'll bankroll you.

One of Spielberg's near-future movies is going to be a biopic of Abraham Lincoln, starring Liam Neeson. I think George Washington deserves similiar treatment - he had a fascinating life, even though we think of him today as little more than a marble statue.I agree. I think now is a great time to do some modern, in-depth bio-pics of some of the presidents. Hollywood has seemingly run out of good, original ideas lately (bad re-makes, etc.) and current electrified political passions would definitely support such films.

Do you think Spielberg will go into Lincoln's roommate situation? ;)

[Sampiro]

A miniseries I would love to make would be a long treatment of several soldiers from the Civil War, preferably on both sides. It's not an entirely original idea: The Blue and Gray did this with some success, but not with great length or insight and "too pretty" all in all, and then there was North & South (ugh... History meets The Love Boat). What I'd like to see is an epic miniseries like Band of Brothers and Winds of War/War & Remembrance that shows a lot more of the day to day life of soldiers and "common folk" and is more realistic in its depictions of Civil War battles.

An interesting possibility would be to have two separate regiments with no connection to one another, one Union and one Confederate, and using the same battle sequences and stock footage of an area (Chattanooga, Georgia countryside, etc.) for each. Their final battle is Bentonville (http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/HS/bentonvi/bentonvi.htm), or maybe even a much lesser skirmish like Monroe's Crossroads (http://www.nps.gov/seac/mcattack.htm), very late in the war and the first battle where all major characters who have survived this far fight each other. Of course you don't know who will live or die and by this time you've gotten to know the boys from Indiana (or wherever) and the ones from Georgia (or wherever).

The Civil War was such a defining event in America, and yet it gets scant treatment on film outside of romantic melodramas (there was damned near nothing romantic about it) and plantation potboilers (ho hum) and the occasional "great men" piece. I wouldn't want to see any main characters beyond the rank of sergeant, any main characters from Greek Revival mansions, and southern houses/plantations/slaves portrayed far more accurately than usual (i.e. even large plantations usually had relatively plain houses with no grass in the yard, and there are so many errors and cliches about slaves on both the "Magnolia Mythology" side and the "Let's politically correct it" side).

Any famous personages who appeared- a general or a politician- would be fleeting and not a cameo as this is very much "people's history" stuff.

That said, the lesser Civil War vehicle I'd love to dramatize would be Mary Chesnut's Civil War (http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Chesnuts-Civil-War-Chesnut/dp/0300029799), which is already a text and would have the hoop skirts and cotillions and the Jefferson Davises because that was her circle. I'd rather do the untitled one above, but if not I'll push for this and then try to cash in on its success to do the one above. ;)

[descamisado]

(1) The Taking by Dean Koontz. I usually don't "see" what I read, but with this book, there are large sections that I could.

(2) Second choice: War For The Oaks by Emma Bull. It would be interesting to see this important urban fantasy story on the big screen.(1) Haven't read The Taking but this sounds like a cross between magic realism and science fiction. Am I even close? The wiki description makes it seem entirely doable though; I wonder why it hasn't been.

(2) Some good intelligently done urban fantasy would be good. Who would you get to play Eddi in War For The Oaks?

All British Isles cast/writers only. English, Welsh Scots & Irish. Perhaps a French ferry captain, but that's the limit; Shot on location, whenever possible; Military consultants, to the uniforms, weapons & drill correct; And the scene with the Vicar in the ruined cellar gets left in, dammit! I don't care if the little old ladies in Kansas don't like it! :mad:

Although, how we are to rectify Wells' error, re: the Thunder Child, I cannot say. :confused:Spot on with the WOTW specs, je dirais!

Let's just say Thunder Child was sold well before its time.

[cmyk]

After I finish my CG animated short, my dream project is to apply the same level of passion and detail, storytelling and mythos to Watership Down (http://www.amazon.com/Watership-Down-Novel-Richard-Adams/dp/0743277708/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203283599&sr=8-1) that Peter Jackson applied to LOTR.

It's been since forever that I say the animated film from the 70s, but I would treat the subject matter not as a children's tale, but with depth and intensity. Not to mention breathtaking visuals of England's countryside; taking great pains to recreate the actual locals where the setting was derived from.

Some day...

[descamisado]

After I finish my CG animated short, . . .Are you going to make that available for viewing anywhere?

. . . my dream project is to apply the same level of passion and detail, storytelling and mythos to Watership Down (http://www.amazon.com/Watership-Down-Novel-Richard-Adams/dp/0743277708/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203283599&sr=8-1) that Peter Jackson applied to LOTR.

It's been since forever that I say the animated film from the 70s, but I would treat the subject matter not as a children's tale, but with depth and intensity.Why can't you have it speak to both? I read it when I was twelve, so forgive me if I didn't get it or don't remember it that well.
Not to mention breathtaking visuals of England's countryside; taking great pains to recreate the actual locals where the setting was derived from.Well, yeah, you've pretty much got to have some Englishmen in it. Hopefully, some outdoor scenery too. :p

[cmyk]

I no spell good.

Yeh, My production blog is here (http://theendmovie.blogspot.com/)... it's woefully out of date, and I need to start adding some of the work i've been doing over the last month. When completed (hopefully in less than a year now that I work from home), I plan on entering it in a few festivals. Siggraph, for sure. After that, I'll make it as accessible as possible, since I'm not really doing it for money.

And yes, I believe Watership Down could speak to both kids and adults. It's one of those stories that I think wonderfully transcends age. Although, I feel the old movie panders mostly to kids, and looses a lot in that. I don't think the story should divide an audience, but rather bring it together. It's a shame how animation is looked as a medium for children only. And at best, as a medium for kids, with a layer that adults can enjoy too.

But at the same time, I wouldn't attempt to water down (heh) much of the intense scenes from the book just because there might be 6-year-olds watching. The story is what it is, and I wouldn't want to sacrifice that. If it turns out the movie would be more suitable for teens and up, then so be it. T'was the way it was written.

[descamisado]

Frans G. Bengtsson's viking novel novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ships) about Orm Tostesson the Wide-travelled deserves a better treatment than the 1964 abomination.

Raiding parties at dawn, heroic deaths with famous last words, love, death and betrayal, good deeds being rewarded at unexpected moments. Men of action and honor. Wisecracks and understated humour, and a wry look at Christianity, Judaism and Islam as offered by a heathen outsider.A mini-series, I take it?

cmyk, good feedback. I'd love to see more adaptations that stick to what inspires one to see the story in film form and less conforming it to Hollywood-ish story requirments. If this is done more often, in Hollywood as well as independent settings, believe the audience will adapt and rise to the challenge and appreciate what is being offered for what it is, specific film tastes prevailing, of course.

I will keep track of the link you provided and look out of the finished short.

[Annie-Xmas]

Stephen King's short story "Dolan's Cadillac" would make a damn good mini-series.

King's story "Do The Dead Sing?" not having yet been filmed is inexcusable.

[stegon66]

Ah, this old topic.

Once again, I'll go with Haruki Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

[Mangetout]

Weapon by Robert Mason.

I know it (along with its inferior sequel, Solo) has been made into a film (taking the title of the second book - Solo), but it was really terrible. Really terrible. The book isn't bad at all.

I'd also take a shot at Ringworld - I've mentioned this before and it's been said that it's just a story about a journey, but the same could be said about LOTR or War Of The Worlds. I think it could be made into a fairly decent movie. I'm the only person that could do this though.

[descamisado]

::Bump:: until I can reply to poster on a computer at a location where Cyberpatrol doesn't block the first page of this thread.

[Baker]

I'd remake Gone With The Wind, to bring some of the characters more in line with the way the book portrayed them.

[Oslo Ostragoth]

(Apologies if this has been posted - I can't read through 2 pages) Confederacy of Dunces.

[Rick]

It would sure be great if someone made Starship Troopers into a movie.

[Uzi]

I'd agree those who mentioned Heinlein. I'd like to see a proper filming of STARSHIP TROOPERS. Not that abortion produced a few years ago with the same name, but little other similarities.

A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON and other Xanth novels by Piers Anthony should be filmable now with CGI.

David Weber's Honor series would transfer well to the cinema, too. (although, I've heard rumour there is a movie currently in the works.)

[NDP]

As much as I complain about how unnecessary many remakes of movies are, I would like to see someone do a Western version of Jean de Florette (http://imdb.com/title/tt0091288/) and its sequel, Manon of the Spring (http://imdb.com/title/tt0091480/). Instead of southern France, the story could be set in the Texas Hill Country during the 1870's and the ill-fated hunchback who inherits the property that's at the core of the story would be a crippled Union vet. Beyond that, much of the plot and themes would remain the same. Perhaps Larry McMurtry could adapt the screenplay from the original French novel.

[Sampiro]

I'd remake Gone With The Wind, to bring some of the characters more in line with the way the book portrayed them.

I'd love to see that as well, this time as a "true to the book" uncensored miniseries so that you can have the first two kids, the Fontaines/Tarletons/Will Benteen/Dilcey,etc. and the backstories of Gerald & Ellen (and Philippe). I'd also have sets that were true to the book (a big sprawling not particularly pretty country house for Tara, an Atlanta that doesn't 20 acres of wounded soldiers, etc..).

[Maastricht]

Any movie with mermaid (http://www.robertshort.com/images/393_splash_web_comp.jpg) costumes, fairy costumes, period dress, and angel (http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/M/==/QM/yQ/DN/4Q/TO/wc/TZ/tF/kX/nB/na/B5/lM/B5/FN/0k/TN/wk/zN/2c/TM/B5/VM._SY400_SX600_.jpg) costumes. I wouldn't care about the actual movie, (it woudl be a disaster anyway, starring anges and fairies and renaissance mermaids) as long as I could have the professonally made costumes afterwards to take home with me and own. :)

[CalMeacham]

Books and stories I've filmed in my head (and, where someone else made a version, I wasn't entirely pleased with):


The Stars my Destination

The Demolished Man


Fredric Brown's Arena -- done straight, for once


Frederick Forsyth's The Odessa File


and his The Devil's Alternative


Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight



and (since it's been done twice, really badly, Isaac Asimov's Nightfall.





Oh, yeah, and, since it's never been even close to properly done, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

[Paintcharge]

For the big summer movie: The Monkey Wrench Gang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_Wrench_Gang)

For the Oscar picture: Fool's Progress (http://books.google.com/books?id=IVwlZ7sOFI8C&dq=fool%27s+progress&pg=PP1&ots=UaAPpskL4k&sig=JbLgopTxqWWNVQcfDLRpWF4vcv0&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?q=fool%27s+progress&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA1,M1). Both by Edward Abbey

Also, Neverwhere (http://books.google.com/books?id=saCZRfN-FloC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Neil+inauthor:Gaiman&sig=_X0q4pAV-ylJn-Ecrn-2iZZfhlk)

[OtakuLoki]

My first suggestion will be something I've talked about for a while, on the Dope: Taking David Brin's Startide Rising and turning it into a full season animated TV show. While I think that CG animation is getting to the point where it's possible that it could be done live action, I still think that the freedom for going with the aliens in so many formats would be worth it for the animation. And since so much of the action takes place underwater or in space - animation is more forgiving when trying to present such scenes for a human viewer.

Then, consider the book itself: It would start with some great action, and what seems to be a straight forward coming of age story for Toshiro. Then the political and social aspects of the plot start coming in, and growing larger than the story seemed in the beginning.

With the initial action being the crew of Seeker trying to survive after the Thennannin battleship crashes into Kipru, it fulfills the old Goldwynism: "Start with a bang and build the action from there!"

And I'd want Samuel L. Jackson (or maybe James Earl Jones) to voice K'tha Jon. ;)

[descamisado]

Stephen King's short story "Dolan's Cadillac" would make a damn good mini-series.

King's story "Do The Dead Sing?" not having yet been filmed is inexcusable.Annie-Xmas, I'd really be interested to know if your casting the "By Jeeves" movie musical suggestion upthread would be against type (Stephen Fry, Hugh Grant) or otherwise.

Ah, this old topic.

Once again, I'll go with Haruki Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.Thank you for these two additions to the thread; one of them actually can be considered a contribution.

[Annie-Xmas]

Annie-Xmas, I'd really be interested to know if your casting the "By Jeeves" movie musical suggestion upthread would be against type (Stephen Fry, Hugh Grant) or otherwise.



I would poke my eyes out and cut my hands and feet off before casting Hugh Grant as either one of them.

I was thinking Stephen Fry as Jeeves and Hugh LAURIE as Wooster, but now that you've suggested it, it could be either/or

[fiddlesticks]

Darn, I see at least two people have already mentioned the Baroque Cycle. Cryptonomicon wouldn't necessarily require a BBC/HBO miniseries treatment but I wouldn't mind if they went that route with that book as well. It would also perhaps be a bit easier "sell" to the powers that be, given its modern and WWII era settings. Or since we're talking perfect world, combine the four books into one giant year long miniseries! With hookers! In fact, forget the movie...

I see that The Diamond Age is getting a 6 hour treatment on the SciFi channel. Hopefully it is a decent enough production that it doesn't poison the well for other Stephenson projects down the line.

Eco's Foucault's Pendulum would make an interesting movie, but unfortunately most people would probably see it as a "Da Vinci Code" ripoff. :grumbles:

[descamisado]

I'd love to see Good Omens finally be filmed. As long as I get my dream cast, Jonathan Pryce as Aziraphael and Rupert Everett as Crawley.Wiki says a film was being developed with Robin Williams as Aziraphael and Johnny Depp as Crowley. I like your casting better, and with the Pratchett script that was originally planned, this would play well among his many fans (here anyway). On second thought, Williams might get inspired and Depp would certainly work. Wiki also says the Pratchett is still hopeful the film will happen.

A movie that absolutely could not get made by Hollywood, except as a perversion of the source novel: The Space Merchants. The most scathingly satirical anti-consumerism novel I've ever read. I'd also have vending machines in the lobby of every theater it was shown in selling "Popsie Pop" and "Crunchies".Go for it, including the vending machines provisions! Who would you cast? Remember, this is your fantasy, you can leave Hollywood completely out of it -- including the perversions, unless they're necessitated because they interfere with clarity in a visual medium.

Annie-X, sorry about the mix-up; hard to believe I almost cost Hugh Grant's death. Hugh Laurie as Jeeves -- inspired!

[descamisado]

One of my personal dreams is to do a great film of Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 - I think it would be totally hot done as a seventies CA period piece. It would be fun enough to just be able to film the Baby Igor movie that's shown on the TV, the Paranoids doing their serenade outside the motel room while Oedipa and adult Baby Igor get it on, the electronic music bar scene...Who would you casting choices be for:
Oedipa Maas, the protagonist; Pierce Inverarity, her ex-boyfriend; Wendell "Mucho" Maas, her husband; Metzger, the lawyer; and the band, Paranoid?

Since you know a lot about music, if you could have a real band to play
Miles, Dean, Serge and Leonard?

[Justin_Bailey]

(1) Haven't read The Taking but this sounds like a cross between magic realism and science fiction. Am I even close? The wiki description makes it seem entirely doable though; I wonder why it hasn't been.

The Taking is being turned into a miniseries by Sam Raimi. I haevn't read The Taking, but it'll have to be damn good to live up to the Intensity miniseries (which is criminally not on DVD).

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/tv-hdtv-programming/269202-sam-raimi-produce-dean-koontz-miniseries-taking.html

The two books I really want to see made into movies Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill and World War Z by Max Brooks are already in pre-production. I just hope they're good.

But speaking of Koontz, a miniseries of Fear Nothing (and it's sequel Seize the Night) could be fantastic. But really, what I want is for Dean to get cracking on the final book in the trilogy. It's been 10 years!

And if we're really looking at long shots, how about Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling and Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.

[araminty]

I think Ronia The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren would make an awesome movie, to continue the current kids' fantasy trend. The book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronia_the_Robber's_Daughter) is great (I read the British version, I see from this wikipedia page there's a different translation for the American market) and apparently there was a Swedish film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088015/) made in the 80s. I'm thinking a big budget FX-aganza, with the rumphobs and harpies... oh, the spooky Scandinavian forests! Matt's Fort, with the crack down the centre! The robber den, with jolly robbers singing and dancing!

There's a lurker around here somewhere called Ronia Borkasson, which would be Ronia's name if (if!) she and Birk ever get married. Awesome name! And hi! Don't you agree?

[descamisado]

As an off-the-wall choice, I'd like to see Have Space Suit - Will Travel made either as an animated film or live action. Great story, lots of action, pretty much no politics, large sweeping themes, and a story kids and adults could both love.Although I'm a huge advocate of animated features that are both sophisticated but childlike, I definitely see this a live action production. It is a great story though, with it's themes about nobility/ignobility within the human race, and the beauty of preparation and (multi-faceted) education as we undertake our life's travels* and, yes, it would work well for both kids and adults.

* from Wiki.

[Sampiro]

I see that The Diamond Age is getting a 6 hour treatment on the SciFi channel. Hopefully it is a decent enough production that it doesn't poison the well for other Stephenson projects down the line.

I haven't read that one yet. Does it have any crossover appearances from Baroque or Snowcrash? (I read somewhere that Snowcrash was once in talks but Stephenson balked because they wanted somebody like Jude Law [not him necessarily, but someone of that stature and white] to play Hiro.)

I would love to see SANDMAN, but I can't think of how it would be done, especially since it's not an action comic. I think Johnny Depp would be perfect for Morpheus and Helena Bonham Carter wouldn't be a bad Delirium, but I'd hate the thoughts of Tim Burton getting his hands on it.

The closest I could think of would be a screenplay settling on Hob Gadling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hob_Gadling), the man that Dream and his sister Death (Angelina Jolie or Halle Berry) give immortality to and meet once a century and who's tormented today by his life as a slaver centuries ago (especially since he's in love with a black woman).

[MrSquishy]

I came in to say what Sampiro said - The Baroque Cycle. It would definitely have to be big budget and a miniseries - there'd be so many costumes and sets. And so many pages in the books.While we're at it, how about Cryptonomicon? On preview, I just noticed it was mentioned already by fiddlesticks.

My vote, though, would be for Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_von_Luck). Again, it would have to be a miniseries or something. He took part in the lead-up to and pretty much all the famous battles of WWII. The book is fascinating. It's too bad he's dead now, because it would make a movie adaptation easier if he were around to consult.

[descamisado]

I've day-dreamed about making a biopic of "Princess" Alice Roosevelt Longworth, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Roosevelt_Longworth) TR's daughter. The popular image of her as a Gilded Age Riot Grrrl who grew up to be the feistiest old gal on the DC social scene could be tempered with elements which show that, in many respects, she was also a maladusted, damaging bitch.

Looking at the rest of Teddy Roosevelt'd kids, the movie could be expanded to display, through their invovlement in politics; wars; safaris and explorations; big business and the Civil Rights movement how they lived in TR's shadow as well as at the center of the "American Century" Lots of good period visuals, plus great parts for whoever wold be cast as Alice and Kermit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Roosevelt)Who would you cast as Alice and Kermit (younger and older), and the rest of the siblings.

She had quite an interesting life, starting with her first days on earth and ending with her death at 96. Along the way, she turned her back on christianity, was quite the rebel and self-professed hedonist,* and outlived her daughter and raised her grand-daughter.

* She said she considered becoming an honorary homosexual in the sixties and boasted on Sixty Minutes about her hedonism. I guess money gives you a lot of room to be an eccentric. I think she really was one.

Your short description above is quite a full story. How would you shape that and what would be the best venue for presenting it, either in a single feature or multi-episodic series?

[Oslo Ostragoth]

I see that The Diamond Age is getting a 6 hour treatment on the SciFi channel. Hopefully it is a decent enough production that it doesn't poison the well for other Stephenson projects down the line."Sci-Fi Original" pretty much guarantees suckage.

[mack]

I always thought The Monkey Wrench Gang (http://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Wrench-Gang-P-S/dp/0061129763/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203642639&sr=8-1) by Edward Abbey would make a great film.

[Stranger On A Train]

After I finish my CG animated short, my dream project is to apply the same level of passion and detail, storytelling and mythos to Watership Down (http://www.amazon.com/Watership-Down-Novel-Richard-Adams/dp/0743277708/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203283599&sr=8-1) that Peter Jackson applied to LOTR.

It's been since forever that I say the animated film from the 70s, but I would treat the subject matter not as a children's tale, but with depth and intensity. Not to mention breathtaking visuals of England's countryside; taking great pains to recreate the actual locals where the setting was derived from.You are my hero. At least, as long as you do it right. The viewpoint, and particularly the action scenes, need to be shown from the rabbits' perspective, i.e. confusing, startling, frightening, et cetera, and in an animation motif that is kind of a cross between rotoscoping and oversaturation. The only problem is that Orson Welles is dead and thus can't provide the voice for General Woundwort.

Why can't you have it speak to both? I read it when I was twelve, so forgive me if I didn't get it or don't remember it that well.Despite being based on tales invented for his daughters, Watership Down is definitely no Disney-esque tale. I think it still makes for good reading for children, but there are a lot of mature and very dark themes in it. It's one of those books that evolves as you age, when experience suddenly unfolds a whole new layer of understanding.

Since Watership Down has already been called, and Highsmith's The Cry of the Owl is in development (albeit with some questionable casting) I'm going to go with Philip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said or The Man In The High Castle. And although it is non-fiction, I think you could make a narrative treatment The Voyage of the Beagle (along with some bookending) that would play well.

Stranger

[carlb]

In another thread something like this, another Doper put forth the idea of filming Max Brooks's World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War as a miniseries, in a Ken Burns style. I am unable to find that thread, but I want to give proper credit, so whoever suggested it, I'll put up the money and you get co-producing credit.

I hadn't read the book when the topic first came up, but now that I have I think this is a brilliant, brilliant idea. While reading it I kept trying to imagine various celebrity voices reading the different parts (you know Morgan Freeman has to be in there somewhere). I would be completely stoked if this ever got made.

[descamisado]

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell would make a good movie...Why? Do you have any images in your related to the OP, e.g., preferred venue for presentation, format, casting, why it inspired you?

Outlander - by Diana Gabaldon.

But I would want to be Claire.

And I don't know who could be Jamie, but I think Gerard Butler would make an excellent Dougal.

Sigh.Historical romance, okay. Time travel, okay. Genealogy, okay. Oh, you mean, all togther? Sounds very interesting. Gimme more details, re well's question.

[Atrael]

The first series that springs to mind is The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. While easily half the material from the 11 books could be cut out, the idea and story has a staggering scope with some very well written material and scenes. It would probably have to be at least 3 movies to be able to cover the changes that the years of the story makes in the characters.


Another good book/series would be the 1632 series by Eric Flint/David Weber. Not only the advantage of a good story, but also taught me a lot about the history of that time period.

[Labtrash]

I've always wanted to see David Drake's Hammer's Slammers (http://www.amazon.com/Hammers-Slammers-Drake/dp/0671656325) on the big screen. CGI nowadays could really pull it off, too. Not sure which of the short stories I'd pick, though.

[cmyk]

You are my hero. At least, as long as you do it right. The viewpoint, and particularly the action scenes, need to be shown from the rabbits' perspective, i.e. confusing, startling, frightening, et cetera, and in an animation motif that is kind of a cross between rotoscoping and oversaturation. The only problem is that Orson Welles is dead and thus can't provide the voice for General Woundwort.

It's like you're reading my mind. One of the things I like portrayed about the rabbits (besides their own names for things), was their smaller, non-human mindset. While they're anthropomorphized to some degree, behaviorally, (I'd go for realistic looking rabbits however), they are completely confused by anything man-made. Even basic tool usage completely mystifies them; such as the scene where they have to cross the stream. I believe Blackberry, and his unusual intelligence for a rabbit, after a moment of fleeting inspiration, had to practically force everyone else on the plank of wood, to get across. And even during and after they ferried, they still couldn't comprehend what Blackberry had come up with, but were still grateful.

And Stranger's right, I reread the story as an adult, and it is my opinion that the story would actually work best at a PG level. As there's no vulgarity to any degree, they deal with a lot of heavy stuff. There's a lot of carnage in the beginning and some more throughout, and of course after a while, they realize they need women (these are rabbits after all). There's also a creepy cult of rabbits and a totalitarian warren they infiltrate and eventually go to war with.

It just happens to be a story that hits on a lot of fundamental adult themes, but is contained in its own world. Plus, how cool will it be to bring the camera down into their dank warren tunnels with roots hanging over head. Also, the adventures of El-ahrairah narrated by by Dandelion.

Now, if only we can get Garfunkel to re-record "Bright Eyes" for the end credits.

[Sampiro]

In another thread something like this, another Doper put forth the idea of filming Max Brooks's World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War as a miniseries, in a Ken Burns style. I am unable to find that thread, but I want to give proper credit, so whoever suggested it, I'll put up the money and you get co-producing credit.

I hadn't read the book when the topic first came up, but now that I have I think this is a brilliant, brilliant idea. While reading it I kept trying to imagine various celebrity voices reading the different parts (you know Morgan Freeman has to be in there somewhere). I would be completely stoked if this ever got made.

Just got to second that this is a brilliant idea! I know it's been optioned for a film but I'd rather see this than "another zombie movie" thriller as the format was what made it so terrifying. (It's irritating that the book is often filed under humor when it's one of the best recent horror novels out there; I can only assume it's because Max is Mel's son [though Anne Bancroft was rarely what'd you call 'wacky'].)

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Heinlein's The Rolling Stones?

[Slithy Tove]

Who would you cast as Alice and Kermit (younger and older), and the rest of the siblings.

I can't say, since I don't follow current Hollywood actors, and anyway, since it would be a part worth killing for, I'd just cast whoever's left standing.


Your short description above is quite a full story. How would you shape that and what would be the best venue for presenting it, either in a single feature or multi-episodic series?

It's a long enough story that a TV miniseries would be required, but that format always turns into parentheses around shampoo commercials, so I'd offer it up as a 2-1/2 hour theatrical movie. It would have to sacrifice such things as the full meaning US's blocked entry into the League of Nations (and how Alice's work to this end stemmed from her desire to finally gain her father's love even though he was dead). Too many American movies have to "bring the audience along" with 101-level background information and I can't fantasize that fact away.

(But I'd still show Quentin killed as he really was - hit in the skull with machine gun slugs, not some movie-style handsome young guy suddenly falling asleep)

I'd still throw in a few quick gems - I could dramatise Alice's husband's unfaithfulness with the story of how a political rival patted his bald head and said "Why, it feels just like my wife's bottom." At which Longworth rubbed it too and said "Yes, you're right, it does!"

Thanks for asking!

[Justin_Bailey]

Just got to second that this is a brilliant idea! I know it's been optioned for a film but I'd rather see this than "another zombie movie" thriller as the format was what made it so terrifying. (It's irritating that the book is often filed under humor when it's one of the best recent horror novels out there; I can only assume it's because Max is Mel's son [though Anne Bancroft was rarely what'd you call 'wacky'].)

Are you thinking of The Zombie Survival Guide? Because I've seen that filed under humor and it actually makes sense, it's a parody of those "Worst Case Scenario" books after all.

I've never seen World War Z under humor.

[Strain of Thought]

I believe Blackberry, and his unusual intelligence for a rabbit, after a moment of fleeting inspiration, had to practically force everyone else on the plank of wood, to get across. And even during and after they ferried, they still couldn't comprehend what Blackberry had come up with, but were still grateful.

Actually I think it was Hazel who made them cross the stream. One of the things I enjoyed most about the book were the group dynamics. Blackberry sees a solution, but can't explain it to the other rabbits. Hazel doesn't know what Blackberry is talking about, but he knows Blackberry is smarter than him. Bigwig is doesn't trust complicated plans but he trusts Hazel's leadership. Fiver- or was it Pipkin?- is catatonic. So, Hazel decides to trust Blackberry, and orders Bigwig to force Fiver onto the plank and then push it across. You don't get that kind of complex character interaction very often.

If I could turn anything into a movie, and spend whatever I wanted and cast whoever I wanted, I'd take control of the orphaned Metroid movie project. In my mind the Metroid backstory would be a great setting for answering a lot of the BS in the Star Trek and Star Wars mythologies: Metroid seems to me to be about a near-utopian government that, faced with a marauding enemy that has no home base to lay siege to, must decide between mobilizing into a police state after years of peace or learning to precisely target its retaliatory efforts with individual super-soldiers. Samus, a character raised outside of the predominant society, is a character that everything can be explained to as the story progresses, helping to develop the world. It's a great opportunity to simultaneously deconstruct the United Federation Of Planets and the fall of the Galactic Republic.

More realistically, given a good scriptwriter friend and a sympathetic hollywood executive, I'd push for Rudyard Kipling's Quiquern. I'd ask all the movie houses showing it to turn down the thermostat in the theater ten degrees. When you read that story, you feel cold!

[Sampiro]

Are you thinking of The Zombie Survival Guide? Because I've seen that filed under humor and it actually makes sense, it's a parody of those "Worst Case Scenario" books after all.

I've never seen World War Z under humor.

I've seen it coupled with Z.S.G. under humor at Books-a-Million. (Of course ZSG can actually be read as a non-humor companion to WWZ.)


Re: the OP, I'd love to see an epic miniseries about World War I, as much for my own education as other's. It's recent enough that there are still living veterans (only one in the U.S. [and I haven't checked the papers today] but a few more in Europe and probably other continents])) yet it's already mostly forgotten in popular culture and it's one of the most glossed over section in high school and even college (unless of course the course is WW1).

I'd love to see a remake of I CLAVDIVS with the budget of HBO's ROME. I'd hire Derek Jacoby as Augustus as an homage to the original, with John Hurt if he wasn't available. (Trying to think of who I'd cast as Caligula- needs to be a great enough actor to be stark raving mad without chewing the scenery.)

[descamisado]

Weapon by Robert Mason. I know it (along with its inferior sequel, Solo) has been made into a film (taking the title of the second book - Solo), but it was really terrible. Really terrible.The combination of the "Frankenstein" theme and the Nicaraguan war, as well as the religious and philosophical aspects, would play well against Solo's "black department store mannequin but without any facial features."

A great opportunity for some skillful acting. Anybody in mind for the part?

Hollywood comes through as the hacks they are once again.

I'd also take a shot at Ringworld . . . . I'm the only person that could do this though.
. . . One of the things I like portrayed about the rabbits . . . .Also, the adventures of El-ahrairah narrated by by Dandelion.

Now, if only we can get Garfunkel to re-record "Bright Eyes" for the end credits.Both you, cmyk, and Mangetout are so getting funding once my daddy releases my trust funds. You and Garfunkel are quite the readers. Did you know that he has read (and keeps an index of) over 1,020 books since June, 1968?