I keep thinking The Man That Never Missed would be a fun film.
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.
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? 
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, or maybe even a much lesser skirmish like Monroe’s Crossroads, 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, 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. 
(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?
Spot on with the WOTW specs, je dirais!
Let’s just say Thunder Child was sold well before its time.
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 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…
Are you going to make that available for viewing anywhere?
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.
Well, yeah, you’ve pretty much got to have some Englishmen in it. Hopefully, some outdoor scenery too. 
I no spell good.
Yeh, My production blog is here… 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.
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.
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.
Ah, this old topic.
Once again, I’ll go with Haruki Murakami’s Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
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.
::Bump:: until I can reply to poster on a computer at a location where Cyberpatrol doesn’t block the first page of this thread.
I’d remake Gone With The Wind, to bring some of the characters more in line with the way the book portrayed them.
(Apologies if this has been posted - I can’t read through 2 pages) Confederacy of Dunces.
It would sure be great if someone made Starship Troopers into a movie.
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.)
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 and its sequel, Manon of the Spring. 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.
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…).
Any movie with mermaid costumes, fairy costumes, period dress, and angel 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. 
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.