Too late now, but I always pictured World War Z as an HBO miniseries. Not necessarily because of its content (although I guess they’d be able to embrace the gore), but because of its unusual structure. I envisioned a filmed version of WWZ being a combination of narrative sequences and brief interview segments, like in Band of Brothers, and no movie studio is going to be willing to do that. Plus, a miniseries would be better suited to capturing the international scope of the story.
I know they would never do it but I could see see the Apprentice Adept series turned into a show.
If they can do *Game of Thrones *they can do Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle.
Or, failing that, Piers Plowman.
I’ll also nominate Philip Meadows Taylor’s Confessions of a Thug.
Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat. A science fiction caper series, with a Bourne-like charismatic genius who gets himself into and out of all sorts of scrapes.
From 2000AD comic, The Ballad of Halo Jones. A story of an ordinary girl who accidentally leads an extraordinary life. I think Brea Grant would be a good Halo.
I’d also like a decent Steampunk series, though I don’t know of any suitable existing titles that would fit my own idea of what it ought to be. Most popular Steampunk fiction is not quite to my tastes for ongoing TV.
As a mini-series:
***The Long Walk.
The Man Who Folded Himself.
A 3 season procedural series with 13-episodes/season:
Rendezvous With Rama.
But maybe just call it Rama. Stick to most of the first book, mostly toss out the sequels. The first season would be the first book of mystery and exploration, leading into the foreboding mantra, and last sentence of the book: “The Ramans do everything in threes”. So, the next generation ship that follows would be first contact (season 2), and the third ship would mount to an epic, dramatic and violent conclusion (3rd season).
Also, if Darren Aronofsky would do an HBO mini-series, I’d love to see him make House of Leaves.
It’s a twisted, dark, almost unfilmable tale within a tale within a tale that I think would be right up his alley.
007
Faithfully* adapted from Ian Fleming’s novels.
Set in the early 50’s to early 60’s.
Presented in order.
With the same actor (that would look vaguely like Hoagy Carmichael with a scar down his cheek).
With the over-the-top, superhero-grade blockbusting replaced with tense, atmospheric, moody suspense.
** There are some problems with the novels, mind you, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed up.*
I’d rather see the Baroque Cycle myself. Lots more material to play with, very TV-friendly characters… and for HBO, a lot of buggering, too 
Agreed, I do not have good feelings about the upcoming film adaptation. I’d love to see SM Stirling’s Nantucket trilogy turned into a miniseries, or rather a trio of miniseries. Though I imagine even HBO would have to tone down Alice Hong’s hobbies. 
This may be a bit unorthodox, but I personally would love to see The Phantom Tollbooth. I personally loved Spike Jonze’s recreation of Where the Wild Things Are, even though it had its issues. And then Wilfred did interesting things with the anamorphic dog thing. I’ve been thinking of how the Tollbooth could be filmed, I could see a 6 hour series, or maybe a 4 hour miniseries. And it would be amazing.
Oh yeah!
Here’s a great one:
It’s a not-bad, fast-paced sci-fi thriller called Liege Killer.
The Earth has been blasted in a war, with survivors all up in space stations, waiting for it to be habitable. In that war, genetics were used to create new warriors - ones that were two humans with a single shared consciousness - they can operate super-effectively when they attack as a result.
But it turns out some of these dual-humans (aka, Paratwa) were bred for leadership - and some have been hidden as moles - and they start to make their presence known by finding and re-awakening one of the worst dual-humans, the Liege Killer.
Kinda Terminator-ish - i.e., fast-paced, a few plot holes that get covered over by momentum. But a great “universe” and lots of action and political intrigue.
I read it years ago and wondered why it hadn’t been adapted for a movie or something…
There was talk of them adapting James Swanson’s Manhunt (the story of the search for John Wilkes Booth after the Lincoln assassination) as a miniseries on the level of John Adams. I wonder what happened to that?
I don’t know, but at one point it was far enough along that Swanson mentioned it on a talk show and said that Harrison Ford was attached (as Lafayette Baker). Redford’s The Conspirator flopped at the box office (not surprisingly- it had almost no promotion) and I wondered if that hurt it, but since Lincoln was a success it might be resurrected.
I would love to see a miniseries bio of Lincoln, from childhood to death. It could easily go three seasons and still be excellent.
Outlander - by Diana Gabaldon. They’ve talked about a movie, but it’s a long (and still not over) series.
I was going to say just this- it would be perfect because it has romance, fighting and sooooo much sex.
But I prefer the idea of the Horatio Hornblower or Aubrey/Maturin. I love stuff about old boats.
Scarlett’s mother Ellen had an interesting backstory that the movie didn’t even hint at. She was madly in love with a cousin considered wild and unsuitable. The family drove him off and he died in a barfight. She was so pissed off at her family that she accepted the hand of Gerald O’Hara, just to get out of the house. She was fifteen, he was forty-one! To her credit she was a perfect and faithful wife, and Gerald was so smitten with her that he didn’t know she didn’t love him. Her father consented to the match only because she said she’d become a nun if he didn’t, and since her father was the only Protestant in the family, that was worse to him than an older husband. She had Scarlett right away, so by the timeline of the novel she was no more than thirty-five or thirty six when she died.
The Witches of Chiswick, by Robert Rankin. Brilliantly steampunk idea for a setting.
Or the ancient radio speac opera, Charles’ Chilton’s Journey Into Space.
Flashman would be good.
I couldn’t agree more. I thought the structure was one of the most compelling things about the book.
This is, really, the only way King’s Dark Tower series can or should be made.