# I wish they would make a movie of... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345 "2009-08-13T22:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/61 "2009-08-15T09:15:49Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > I think a biopic of Tesla would be amazing. Well, there’s a pretty good text biography of him available, not sure how a film adaptation would work though. If you’re interested it’s called **House of Leaves**. I personally want to see a King Kull (huh? 1997? Nothing about him was produced that year) and a Bran Mak Morn film done well. I think there’s also another Conan movie in production and I hope they do this one a little closer to Howard’s Conan. It’s not that Arnie wasn’t great and all but the book Conan is a little more agile and cunning (also, Mamoths and pirates!). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/62 "2009-08-15T10:24:45Z")
A _Flashman_ movie would be great- I know they made one in the '70s starring Malcolm McDowell as Flashman, but it’s not available on DVD or VHS and appears to have basically vanished off the face of the Earth. That and it had very little to do with the Flashman concept, apparently being more like a _Carry On_ film than a historical docu-comedy the way the books are. I’m thinking Chris Barrie as Flashman, actually… ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/63 "2009-08-15T10:28:03Z")
Gotta be Daniel Day-Lewis as Flashman. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/64 "2009-08-15T10:48:46Z")
I’d like to see a biopic of [Orde Wingate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orde_Wingate). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/65 "2009-08-15T11:14:55Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Gotta be Daniel Day-Lewis as Flashman. Fraser himself suggested Daniel-Day Lewis. It could definitely work, but it would have to be an older Flashy, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/66 "2009-08-15T11:16:11Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > A _Flashman_ movie would be great- I know they made one in the '70s starring Malcolm McDowell as Flashman, but it’s not available on DVD or VHS and appears to have basically vanished off the face of the Earth. That and it had very little to do with the Flashman concept, apparently being more like a _Carry On_ film than a historical docu-comedy the way the books are. I’ve seen it. It’s not totally awful, but it isn’t really Flashman as we know and love him, more a kind of historical slapstick from one of the weaker, more stand-alone novels, where Flashy ain’t busy shirking from Empire-building, but dabbling in European politics: it sticks fairly closely to the book, but plays it strictly for laughs. Malcolm McDowell usually gives great villain, but Flashy he ain’t, and he’s wasted in the movie: he’s just a comic trousers-down lecher stumbling in panic from one bed to another in an early 70’s sex farce. Given the current political and military situation in Afgnanistan a film of the original **Flashman** is probably currently - if ever - an impossibility, but by God if it isn’t necessary: somewhere the shade of Flashy is puffing on a cheroot and leering sardonically down at us ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/67 "2009-08-15T17:15:43Z")
There are 2 Stephen King novels I would love to see made into movies, _IF_ they were done well (And judging by the rest of his movies, that’s a mighty big if…) “Gerald’s Game” creeped me right the hell out and could be a great phychological thriller, with plenty of gore for the horror fan. And the much over-looked “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” is one of my all time favorite books, very, very creepy, and something everyone could identify with, being lost in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/68 "2009-08-15T17:59:10Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > **Outlander**. I have trouble casting Jaime, but I thought Gerard Butler would make a great Dougal and Kate Beckinsale as Claire Here’s a candidate for Jamie…[Kevin McKidd](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm164337920/nm0571727) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/69 "2009-08-15T20:17:50Z")
I loved the Sector General books, but I have to wonder how they’d get butchered to be made “film-worthy.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/70 "2009-08-15T20:23:37Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > I think a biopic of Tesla would be amazing. … but also kind of sad and frustrating. And show that Thomas Edison, someone American schoolchildren grow up thinking of as a hero, was a major jerk. My choice would be Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Being repeatedly sued into bankruptcy by the Wright Brothers who thought they had a patent on the airplane, and how none of their inventions are in the modern plane, while virtually all of Curtiss’s are. There is even an amazing scene for the trailer of Curtiss’s flight down the Hudson River from Albany to New York City, landing on Vanderbildt’s (?) estate in Harlem, then taking off again to fly the length of Manhattan, circling the Statue of Liberty and landing in Battery Park. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/71 "2009-08-15T21:40:45Z")
I said it before: The fall of Constantinople. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/72 "2009-08-15T23:48:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Stars my Destination** (which has a killer cinematic opening) I thought the same, but that lengthy pitch-black escape would definitely present some difficulties to be overcome. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/73 "2009-08-16T00:39:52Z")
Bioshock, the original fallout and Portal would all be fun movies. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/74 "2009-08-16T01:33:18Z")
I’d like to see Holly Black’s \*\*Modern Faerie Tales \*\*trilogy (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside) translated into films. The stories aren’t as good as Emma Bull’s War For The Oaks, but they’re probably the best YA urban fantasy out there. Need by Carrie Jones is the only other thing that comes close. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/75 "2009-08-16T03:14:29Z")
I love to see a version of _The Scarlet Pimpernel_ that actually follows the plot of the book. The Felix Castor books by Mike Carey would probably be adaptable. Easier than Jim Butcher in any case. Weren’t there rumors of a Miles Vorkosigan adaptation? I’d like a good version of a Tony Hillerman novel. That’d be swell. I was going to suggest _From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler_, but there was a film version in 1995 that I’ve never seen. The Matthew Shardlake novels could be really great, too, but it seems like mysteries never really translate all that well. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/76 "2009-08-16T03:38:59Z")
I’d heard years ago that Tom Cruise bought the rights to Erik Larson’s _ **The Devil in the White City** _, but then nothing happened. It’s a fascinating non-fiction book about a serial killer stalking the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and would probably make one hell of a good movie. Also, I’d like to see Nathaniel Philbrick’s _ **In the Heart of the Sea** _ adapted for the big screen. It’s a harrowing true story about a whaling ship attacked and sunk by a whale, and the gruesome aftermath experienced by the survivors. Cannibalism still equals boffo box office, right? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/77 "2009-08-16T03:41:06Z")
I’d also like to see a Big Budget, Properly Done version of _The War Of The Worlds_, set in 1898, with someone like Stephen Fry as The Journalist. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/78 "2009-08-16T04:34:20Z")
[The Forge of God](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forge_of_God) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/79 "2009-08-16T05:18:29Z")
Another vote for a really good Heinlein movie. I’d be happy with either _Glory Road, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Have Spacesuit Will Travel_, or _Time for the Stars_. Arthur C. Clarke’s _The Fountains of Paradise_, about the design and construction of a space elevator, would make a great movie. Ditto _Childhood’s End_, which has been stuck in Development Hell forever (at one time Hillary Swank was attached to the project, but no more, IIRC). Gary Jennings’s huge, fun, sprawling, sex- and violence-filled historical novel _Aztec_ deserves a big-budget Hollywood epic. I love that book. George Washington deserves a big, well-produced biopic. A fascinating life and a genuine hero. The story of the uber-packrat Collyer Brothers would make a great dramatic movie. There’d be Oscars for the two leads, if it’s done right. Now that E.L. Doctorow has written a book about them, it may finally happen: [Collyer brothers - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers) William Cushing, “Lincoln’s Commando,” a brave and uncannily lucky Navy officer during the Civil War, definitely deserves a biopic: [William B. Cushing - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Cushing) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345/80 "2009-08-16T07:39:40Z")
For as many bad virtual reality, game driven movies, as there have been made. I’m surprised that nobody has tackled the [Barsoom Project (Dream Park Series)](http://www.amazon.com/Barsoom-Project-Dream-Park-Book/dp/0441167128) and adapted it. I think it is much more worthy than this new and gratuitous, hyperviolent, right wing [Gamer Movie](http://www.gamerthemovie.com/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-they-would-make-a-movie-of/506345.md?page=5)