# The Why isn't this Book a Movie Already Thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686 "2017-03-21T14:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/41 "2017-03-21T19:56:38Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Why? All Talking, no action. And not even talking person to person, a man talking to a computer. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/42 "2017-03-21T20:07:05Z")
It’s probably impossible to make of movie of **Infinite Jest**. Hell, you’d have to cut some stuff just to to fit it into a mini-series. But at least we have [this](https://youtu.be/xJpfK7l404I). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/43 "2017-03-21T20:10:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > All Talking, no action. And not even talking person to person, a man talking to a computer. As much as I love Bester’s _The Demolished Man_ I think it would also make a horrible movie for the same reason…only people would be thinking at each other a lot instead of talking. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/44 "2017-03-21T20:15:47Z")
H. P. Lovecraft’s “At The Mountains Of Madness”. Though there’s faint hope that Guillermo del Toro will try it one more time. [From wiki:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness) [Quote=wikipedia] Director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Matthew Robbins wrote a screenplay based on Lovecraft’s story in 2006, but had trouble getting Warner Bros. to finance the project. Del Toro wrote, “The studio is very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending, but it’s impossible to do either in the Lovecraft universe.”[31] In July 2010 it was announced that the film would be made in 3D and that James Cameron would become producer,[32] and Tom Cruise was attached to star.[33] This “was a startling prospect considering Lovecraft’s tale had long been considered unfilmable.”[33] Del Toro confirmed that the film would begin production as early as May 2011 and start filming in June.[34] However, in March 2011, it was announced that “Universal Studios refused to greenlight the project due to del Toro’s insistence that it be released with an R rating rather than a PG-13.”[33] According to [Salon.com](http://Salon.com), "Universal wants to hold onto the project in the event that it changes its mind and decides to make it later, either as an R or PG-13 movie. But del Toro is already trying to set up Mountains at another studio (possibly 20th Century Fox).[33] However, in April 2012, del Toro posted that, due to the resemblance in premise with the Ridley Scott film Prometheus, the project would probably face a “long pause—if not demise”.[35][36] In January 2013, del Toro stated in an interview that he would try one more time to get the picture made. [/Quote] I like it that del Toro refused to work in a romance or a happy ending though, that’d be ridiculous. Better not done at all than as a travesty. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/45 "2017-03-21T20:48:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > All Talking, no action. And not even talking person to person, a man talking to a computer. Really? Is that what you got from the novel? no panoramic shots of the Lunar cities? The drama as the Revolution unfolds, the invasion of Luna City by Earth forces, the building of the electric catapults and their use in shelling earth, the dramatic journey of Mannie and Doc to Earth and confronting the Earth government, Mannie and Wyoh and Manny’s homelife? You reduce all that to “A Man Talking to a Computer?” You got no imagination and no soul. And I think you haven’t watched enough Man (or Woman) Talking to a Computer movies \*\*2001 2010 Colossus: The Forbin Project Demon Seed \*\* et cetera et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/46 "2017-03-21T21:07:02Z")
Lucifer’s Hammer. That reminds me - time to read it again. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/47 "2017-03-21T21:14:29Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It’s probably impossible to make of movie of **Infinite Jest**. Hell, you’d have to cut some stuff just to to fit it into a mini-series. But at least we have [this](https://youtu.be/xJpfK7l404I). Sorta kinda along those lines I would have thought\* Cloud Atlas \*would be utterly impossible to make into a movie. But they managed to do a pretty decent job with it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/48 "2017-03-21T21:22:26Z")
Something I think would be a good miniseries as opposed to a movie would be _Wasp_ by Eric Frank Russell: It’s an action-oriented story with a number of individual incidents connected by an over-arching plot. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/49 "2017-03-21T21:29:09Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Sorta kinda along those lines I would have thought\* Cloud Atlas \*would be utterly impossible to make into a movie. But they managed to do a pretty decent job with it. On those lines, I think _The Bone Clocks_ would be challenging but could make a great movie with the right writer and director. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/50 "2017-03-21T21:29:41Z")
How about a decent version of I, Robot? It could be a miniseries - each story its own episode. It was practically written that way anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/51 "2017-03-21T21:33:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > H. P. Lovecraft’s “At The Mountains Of Madness”. Though there’s faint hope that Guillermo del Toro will try it one more time. [From wiki:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness) > > I like it that del Toro refused to work in a romance or a happy ending though, that’d be ridiculous. Better not done at all than as a travesty. I think the Lovecraft spirit could survive a romance, as long as it all ends horribly! _Twilight Zone_ shoe-horned a nascent romance into “Pickman’s Model” with acceptable results. For that matter, “The Shadow Out of Time” could similarly lend itself to a decent big screen treatment. Only, please, no Tom Cruise! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/52 "2017-03-21T21:36:02Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > … > _Stranger in a Strange Land_ by Robert A. Heinlein > _…_ I hope the TV Series works out. I would love this. > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > …Also, _The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress._ There have been scripts but production never starts. As the greatest of Sci-Fi books this is well past time to be made finally. I would also love to see Starship Troopers done, you know for real with power armor and not just in name. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/53 "2017-03-21T21:36:53Z")
I think the Sue Grafton “Alphabet” books would make a great series if they set it in right time period and allowed it to progress the way the books do. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/54 "2017-03-21T21:39:07Z")
As far as “SIASL” is concerned, I’m not sure how much they’ll have to add(and cut out) to sustain it as an ongoing series. How long was he on Earth before he became dinner? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/55 "2017-03-21T21:42:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > As far as “SIASL” is concerned, I’m not sure how much they’ll have to add(and cut out) to sustain it as an ongoing series. How long was he on Earth before he became dinner? The full Stranger that was released by Virginia was an extra 70000 words if I remember correctly. Significantly longer and thus probably more story than you recall from the original 1961 version. ETA: [Stranger in a Strange Land - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land#Development) indicated 60,000 words but significantly longer as 220,000 vs 160,00 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/56 "2017-03-21T22:03:25Z")
_Manhattan Transfer_. No, not by Dos Passos, the sci-fi novel by John Stith. [Linky.](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1585960.Manhattan_Transfer) Optimistic, unlike much sci-fi of late. :rolleyes: Probably not properly filmable before CGI, but now I think it could be done justice. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/57 "2017-03-21T22:31:16Z")
Come to think of it there would be a few of Alan Dean Foster’s books that would translate well into movies: Glory Lane, the Humanx series (I’d loooove to see that on screen!), Spellsinger! For a series, **Callahan’s Cross Time Saloon** or **Stainless Steel Rat**! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/58 "2017-03-21T22:39:18Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Why? Politics would be the major reason. Heinlein’s works are often seen as right-wing or libertarian. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/59 "2017-03-21T22:50:46Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I think the Lovecraft spirit could survive a romance, as long as it all ends horribly! _Twilight Zone_ shoe-horned a nascent romance into “Pickman’s Model” with acceptable results. > > For that matter, “The Shadow Out of Time” could similarly lend itself to a decent big screen treatment. Only, please, no Tom Cruise! Preach it! Tom Cruise+Lovecraftian Universe=doesn’t compute. At all. His probably best story, “The Color Out Of Space”, would also make a great movie, if it wasn’t unfilmable by premise ;). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686/60 "2017-03-21T22:55:03Z")
Lately I’ve been thinking “An American Tragedy” would make an interesting costume drama TV series for HBO or the BBC. The second half has been adapted to the movie “A Place in the Sun” before, but it seems ideally suited for two seasons of TV instead of just cutting out the first half. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-why-isnt-this-book-a-movie-already-thread/782686.md?page=4)