# Wanna make a movie? Tell us what! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256 "2003-12-11T03:04:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThePyroWeasel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@ThePyroWeasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThePyroWeasel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/21 "2003-12-11T18:32:11Z")
Oh god…how amazing…I thought I was the only person alive who remembers “Blow’d Up”. Seeing that for the first time made me a little too unrelentingly giddy. Is that available anywhere? Maybe on Kazaa? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/22 "2003-12-11T18:41:37Z")
Another I’d want to do would be a dramatically adapted telling of the _Mary Celeste_, an old sail ship that was found, in near-perfect condition with plenty of stores and a sound hull, floating, abandoned, in the Atlantic ocean. The crew, captain, and captain’s family had disappeared, with no discernable reason. Several odd artifacts were found on board, such as an old broadsword hidden under the bed. Another good biopic would be the full story of Eli Whitney. Sure, he invented the cotton gin, but few people also know that he went on to develop the first system of mass production, boosting industry and making the North a force to be reckoned with… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/23 "2003-12-11T18:53:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odinoneeye \* > \*\*But who would you get to direct? \*\* Judging from the source material, maybe Frankenstein’s Monster. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/24 "2003-12-11T18:57:53Z")
I’ve always wanted to do the Mary Celeste story too, **SPOOFE** , but I’ve never been able to figure out how to tackle it. Since the actual mystery was never solved, it would involve a lot of conjecture. In a similar vein, the story of the Roanoke Colony disappearance is also an intriguing idea for a film, but I just don’t think enough is known to tell a complete story; too much would need to be made up. But definite maybes on both. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/25 "2003-12-11T19:06:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve always wanted to do the Mary Celeste story too, SPOOFE, but I’ve never been able to figure out how to tackle it. Since the actual mystery was never solved, it would involve a lot of conjecture. Well, my take would be decidedly supernatural. A lot of sailors considered the _Mary Celeste_ to be cursed, after she was found, so I’d give them reason to have that fear. The trick would be to make the supernatural elements conform with the known facts about the case… for instance, there was next to no sign of violence on the ship. The direction I would go could either involve Evil Sea Spirits[sup]TM[/sup] slowly driving the crew insane. A more mundane would be to just have a regular psychosis spread through the crew, probably caused by sickness or unknowingly imbibing psychedelic substances, like eating rye bread with lots of mold (which would contain LSD)… ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/26 "2003-12-11T19:16:49Z")
**SPOOFE:** Interesting. You might even be able to combine the two ideas, somehow. Like, the supernatural elements are somehow brought on, awakened, by the psychedelic substance aspect. Not sure if that works, but maybe. I’m intrigued. If you ever get around to writing up a treatment, feel free to send it my way. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/27 "2003-12-11T19:58:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve always wanted to make I, Robot. > I hear they’re doing it now with Will Smith, so really it’s still not been made because I’m sure the Will, Robot movie will be nothing like the book (maybe I’ll be surprised…but why make the main character male? WTF?) Harlan Ellison wrote a script for **I, Robot**. I seriously doubt that it’s the one being used or considered now, but you can have a look at it – it was published in book form, with several illustrations. Would’ve been a good flick, too. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/28 "2003-12-11T20:08:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odinoneeye \* > \*\*But who would you get to direct? \*\* Ron Howard’s attached to direct. hrh ---
**Author:** ![yawndave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/43a26b/32.png) [@yawndave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawndave)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/29 "2003-12-11T20:41:47Z")
It’s been awhile since “Three Amigos!” came out, but I had an idea to reunite Martin, Chase, and Short to do a film called “Stuntmen on Vacation”. The title says it all–the three would find themselves on a cross-country road trip, and encounter various situations that required their unique talents, with varying results… ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/30 "2003-12-11T21:55:01Z")
Johnny L.A. - there was a pretty good NOVA recently on the Red Baron and who shot him down. Fountains of Paradise could make a good movie. I have in my mind a quite good beginning of a book (and some ideas on a “B” arc) But little idea of how to tie the arcs together (or what happens after the beginning of the “A” arc). I’ve often thought I’d just go straight to the movie and cut out the write the book part. Or a modern day King Arthur tale. Maybe somebody finds Excalibur and then is guided by Arthur’s ghost. The Silmarillion will be public domain eventually… Brian ---
**Author:** ![CaptEgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@CaptEgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptEgo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/31 "2003-12-11T22:08:07Z")
I’d love for someone to make a film out of _Starship Troopers_ because up to this point no-one has. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/32 "2003-12-11T23:17:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*Another mini-series I’d love to see are adaptations of Terry Pratchett’s _Discworld_ series. More specifically, _Guards, Guards_ and the other Night Watchmen books. I’ve never been good with casting, so I can’t really pick who’d I’d like to be who, but again, in a mini-series format, I think it would be great. \*\* Alan Rickman should play Vetinari. I have no idea who could play Carrot, who can nail the right mix of musclehead, good cop, and bumpkin? Vimes needs to be somewhat rugged, surly and likable. One of the films I’ve always wanted to do was kinda like Blow’d Up, but with Pink Floyd. I wanted to get stock footage of various explosions and play it about half-speed with Pink Floyd as musical accompaniment, like the middle part of _Dark Side_, say. And any of my screenplays, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/33 "2003-12-12T01:33:41Z")
**N9IWP** : Yeah, but the focus was “Who Shot Down The Red Baron?”. What I’d like to do is make a film about Richtofen’s entire life, from childhood to his death. (And yes, I’d like to direct it. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/34 "2003-12-12T02:30:19Z")
_Footfall_ needs 4-6 hours to do it justice; a TV miniseries maybe? And it’d be great if Freeman Dyson did a cameo as himself helping build the Orion space-battleship. There’s a rather creepy juvenile fiction story called _House of Stairs_ that’s very Cube-like, and would make a great episode of a Twilight Zone/ Outer Limits type anthology. I’ve had a couple of ideas that would have to be done as movies-within-movies, such as having the characters in the movie watching a drive-in feature or a late show: One I call _The Radioactive Monster from Outer Space_, a grade C creature feature circa 1956. Another would be a sendup of those really bad “Amazon Women on the Moon” or “She-Devil from Mars” type movies. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/35 "2003-12-12T03:45:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\ ***N9IWP** : Yeah, but the focus was “Who Shot Down The Red Baron?”. What I’d like to do is make a film about Richtofen’s entire life, from childhood to his death. (And yes, I’d like to direct it. 😉 ) \*\* What else did he do that was interesting? Any cool things besides being the Bloody Red Baron? ---
**Author:** ![Lipid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Lipid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lipid)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/36 "2003-12-12T03:46:51Z")
A viciously violent version of the classic melodrama, Bertha the Beautiful Typewriter girl. That’d be sweet! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/37 "2003-12-12T06:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > **I have no idea who could play Carrot, who can nail the right mix of musclehead, good cop, and bumpkin?** Oh that’s easy. Nicholas Lyndhurst. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/38 "2003-12-12T07:56:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\* > > The other film I’d like to make would be an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s **At The Mountains Of Madness**. I’d like to do that one as a period piece, complete with the bad science and everything. Wonderful story, and great scenic possibilities. \*\* That is the second thing I though of- gotta keep the dramtic tension, sorta like in The Thing. My first idea I had involves Cthulhu rising from the depths; the valiant heroes try to stop me, but I win, and everybody dies. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/39 "2003-12-12T12:25:12Z")
Mark Twain’s most-banned work is The War Prayer. It would make an excellent student film. As for a story, I have long thought that the current crop of comedians need a showpiece movie. To do this everyone gets a cameo role as the story moves from place to place. Basic idea, Walter Mitty argues with his wife, goes out to get the paper, winds up in a little room, tape recorder starts to play “Good Morning, Mr Phillups…” For technical reasons the Good Guys do not know the mission. They have to help him without him knowing it. The Bad Guys are trying to stop him. Jerry Lewis (if still alive) plays The Man WHo Runs Over The Guy’s Hat. ---
**Author:** ![CaptEgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@CaptEgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptEgo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256/40 "2003-12-12T15:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > I have no idea who could play Carrot, who can nail the right mix of musclehead, good cop, and bumpkin? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > \*\*Oh that’s easy. Nicholas Lyndhurst. \*\* Might I suggest **Patrick Warburton**. He simply _is_ all of the things you describe. Making the jump from The Tick to Carrot would be a no brainer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanna-make-a-movie-tell-us-what/218256.md?page=3)