# Ever read a book or short story and thought "they HAVE to make this into a movie!"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706 "2010-12-19T10:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/1 "2010-12-19T10:27:56Z")
Anyway, I found an old Analog Scifi short story collection in my bookcase (which I probably bought years ago from a charity shop and never got around to reading) and read _Monument_ by Lloyd Biggle Jr. As I was reading it I could vividly see all of the action, and thought it would make a great movie…sort of like Avatar but with politics and passive resistance instead of battle scenes. Obviously someone else thought so [too](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_(novel)), but it never happened. Anyone else have stories they think would make great movies? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/2 "2010-12-19T13:04:56Z")
Gordon Dahlquist’s _[Glass Books of the Dream Eaters](http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Books-Dream-Eaters/dp/B002QGSYKE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292763713&sr=8-3)_ – partially because of the great steampunk milieu, but also because Dahlquist wasn’t entirely successful in making his characters distinctive, so at a certain point I started getting confused as to who was who. I remember thinking “If this were a movie, I’d be following this better because they’d look different.” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/3 "2010-12-19T13:20:18Z")
Kim Newman’s ANNO DRACULA. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/4 "2010-12-19T13:33:09Z")
_Cutting for Stone_ by Abraham Verghese _A Thread of Grace_ by Mary Doria Russell ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/5 "2010-12-19T16:34:00Z")
_His Majesty’s Dragon_ by Naomi Novik. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/6 "2010-12-19T17:59:49Z")
Stephen King’s _The Long Walk_. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/7 "2010-12-19T18:04:39Z")
_Until Gwen_, a short story by Dennis Lehane. About a con-man father and his somewhat-protege son. It’s already been adapted to the stage, but it would make a killer movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/8 "2010-12-19T21:06:23Z")
Warren Fahy’s _Fragment_, about a reality-TV science show that finds an island which has been isolated for eons- so long that it has developed a completely unique and utterly invasive ecology. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/9 "2010-12-19T22:59:31Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Warren Fahy’s _Fragment_, about a reality-TV science show that finds an island which has been isolated for eons- so long that it has developed a completely unique and utterly invasive ecology. Fragment is getting one. [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021896?refCatId=4076](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021896?refCatId=4076) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/10 "2010-12-19T23:12:40Z")
**World War Z**. Yeah a movie is planned, but it looks like it’s stuck in development hell. Personelly I think it’d work better as a miniseries (on HBO or Showtime) than a theatrical movie. Also I’ve long thought that S.M. Stirling’s Nantucket Trilogy ( **Island in the Sea of Time** , **Against the Tide of Years** , and **On the Oceans of Eternity** ) would make a great epic miniseries (or rather a trio of miniseries, each airing a year or two apart). ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/11 "2010-12-20T00:14:24Z")
> [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](#): > > Fragment is getting one. > > [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021896?refCatId=4076](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021896?refCatId=4076) Yeah. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. It’s a great book. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/12 "2010-12-20T00:26:15Z")
I’ve been waiting for **Bag of Bones** by Stephen King and **The Taking** by Dean Koontz to be made into movies, got excited when I heard that the movie rights to each have been sold, and have languished as no movies appeared. sigh. And on a slightly different note, if they make Alyson Noel’s \*\*The Immortals \*\*series into a movie, they **have** to get Ben Barnes to play Damen. The author [even agrees](http://thebookbutterfly.com/2009/07/author-interview-alyson-noel.html) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/13 "2010-12-20T01:15:59Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Stephen King’s _The Long Walk_. Absolutely! I have also always wanted to see The Talisman made into a mini-series. They keep saying it will happen, then it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/14 "2010-12-20T02:46:59Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > _Cutting for Stone_ by Abraham Verghese > _A Thread of Grace_ by Mary Doria Russell I am compelled, in my OCD way, whenever I see the name Mary Doria Russell, to pitifully bleat, “they should make a movie version of “The Sparrow” and it was on at one time with Brad Pitt involved, and then it wasn’t”. It will never happen, but - they could put in on HBO. “The Last Unicorn” by Peter S. Beagle. There is NO reason whatsoever they can’t make a live action version of this, with Jonathan Rhys Myers as Schmendrick. Again, it was on at one time with Mia Farrow as Molly, and I think Christopher Lee, and then - nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/15 "2010-12-20T02:49:54Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Stephen King’s _The Long Walk_. First thing that I thought of, too. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/16 "2010-12-20T03:41:51Z")
All the time-my wife and I like to sit around fantasy-casting them. In addition to some already named, I’ll add **The Lies of Locke Lamora** , a fantasy-Venice long con gone horribly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/17 "2010-12-20T05:29:08Z")
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. (This was 1998, when the second book wasn’t even out in the US yet and they hadn’t made a film deal.) ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/18 "2010-12-20T11:44:26Z")
_Be My Enemy_, by Christopher Brookmyre. It blends mystery, horror, humour and politics, and has enough setpieces to be condensed into a film plot. I was quite disappointed when I saw _Severance_, as it was similar enough to mean that any attempt at filming _Be My Enemy_ would probably be compared to it. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/19 "2010-12-20T12:39:57Z")
The final moments of “White Night” from the Dresden Files. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706/20 "2010-12-20T14:11:38Z")
Stephen King’s _[Different Seasons](http://www.amazon.com/Different-Seasons-Signet-Stephen-King/dp/0451167538/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292854118&sr=8-1)_ consisted of four short stories corresponding to the seasons of the year. Three of the four have been made into movies (_[The Shawshank Redemption](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/)_ is the best known and _[Apt Pupil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118636/)_ the least), but none had been made at the time I read the book. The story that resonated the most for me was the “Summer Story,” _The Body_. I vividly visualized every scene and imagined what a great movie it could be. It eventually became _[Stand By Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/)_, and was the closest thing to being _exactly_ as I’d imagined it as any film adaptation has ever been. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-a-book-or-short-story-and-thought-they-have-to-make-this-into-a-movie/564706.md?page=2)