Shangri La (from Lost Horizon, both book and film).
Also, Gigantor.
Similar characters with different connotations: Rain Man for anyone really gifted in one respect and deficient in most others, and Forrest Gump for the practice of inserting a modern actor into old or stock footage.
How many frat houses or group homes pride themselves on being an Animal House?
Back even further, The Odyssey, (if that counts as a book), for a long, convoluted journey.
The Last of the Mohicans, for the last survivor of a dying race.
High Noon, for a showdown.
“I have a very difficult decision to make. It’s like last week I was at the video store. Do I rent Devil Wears Prada again? Or do I finally get around to seeing Sophie’s Choice? It is what you would call a classic difficult decision.”
I know someone who likes to say “the postman always rings twice”, but I have never understood what he means by it.
The Scarlet Letter
Certain unsavory relationships have been described as Lolita or Batman and Robin.
Pythonesque is used to describe absurdist humour in the vein of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
A Boy’s Own Adventure is one which will feature exotic destinations, a plucky hero, a virtuous heroine, lost treasure, dangerous animals and/or Natives, and is usually either set between about 1875 and 1939 or crafted in that style if it’s more recent.
Not strictly a movie title, but the term Bond Villain describes any well mannered, megalomaniacal Supervillain with a massive and implausible Secret Lair and an equally implausible Doomsday Device.
The term She Who Must Be Obeyed (usually playfully referring to one’s wife or de facto partner) comes from the H. Rider Haggard novel She (in which the phrase had a far less jocular implication).
And the idea of referring to a resourceful and exceedingly well-mannered Butler (or, if you’re being a smartarse, anyone who has brought you something) as Jeeves comes from all those P.G. Wodehouse novels.
Duke Nukem Forever is commonly used as a metaphor for “Vapourware” in the PC Gaming industry (referring to a product which is hyped and hyped and promised to be “coming soon”, but never actually materialises). Duke Nukem Forever has been in production (or “coming soon”) for quite literally 12 years now. The official release date is now “When it’s done.”
Machiavellian, of course, is a cunning, reasonably complex, and underhanded scheme that may or may not involve stabbing people in the back (literally and/or figuratively).
Sherlock (Holmes) has become a byword for “Talented Detective”.
A number of Dilbert-related terms have entered the English language as metaphors, most notably Pointy-Haired Boss (clueless manager), Dogbertian (megalomaniacal scheme largely based on cynism with Machiavellian undertones), and Dilbertesque (working in a dysfunctional workplace much like the one Dilbert & Co inhabit).
“No bucks, no Buck Rogers.”
Which of course leads to The Right Stuff, The book and the movie never actually define what that is; only describing the exploits of those who obviously have it. Metaphorically, it’s the combination of talent and bravery needed to accomplish some difficult task.
Thomas More coined (or at least popularized) the word utopia in his book De optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia. The title can be translated a couple of ways, but I always just called it Utopia. My professors in college thankfully didn’t insist on us using the full name. Or using Latin, for that matter.
I’m going to throw out a few titles that I feel fit the OP, but I’m not sure exactly why they do.
Tarzan
The Lost World
Terminator
I omitted the final “t” in Babbitt, named after the Sinclair Lewis novel about American conformity and blandness. Not as common a metaphor now as it once was: Babbitt (novel) - Wikipedia
“Sherlock” is also used sarcastically in reference to someone who’s not exactly proving himself to be a genius, e.g. “No shit, Sherlock!”
I think it’s going out of style, but you’ve got The Bridge of San Luis Rey for sets of bizarre coincidences.
The Lorax.
The way I most hear it used is in describing a self-appointed spokesperson for a cause that’s a lot bigger than you and which you’re not really a part of. From “I am a Lorax and I speak for the trees…”
How about the use of “Cinderella” as a metaphor for any success story that seems to come out of nowhere (particularly in sports)?
Or what abot “The Ugly American”?
Not sure if it’s quite what you’re looking for, but how about Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus ?
Well, it is fiction, is it not.
Deep Throat–unnamed informant.
Stepford–robotlike.