# What sci-fi story would you like to see made into a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418 "2005-12-06T22:09:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 7, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/21 "2005-12-07T01:07:55Z")
[Forests Of The Night](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0886775655/qid=1133917601/sr=1-14/ref=sr_1_14/104-7121894-7248733?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by S. Andrew Swann ---
**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:** [December 7, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/22 "2005-12-07T01:10:54Z")
> [@ryobserver](#): > > I really wonder why _Flow My Tears_… hasn’t already been optioned (maybe it has), given the popularity of Dick adaptations in recent years. It _has_ been… but I don’t know if it counts. Some total hack (I forget who, but I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach) was shopping around an adaptation of _Flow My Tears…_ a ways back, and Paramount and Cruise/Wagner Productions optioned it – and then turned around and made _Minority Report_. I don’t know if they were ever seriously considering making _Flow My Tears…_, though – the impression I had was that they may have been protecting themselves by sitting on a project that might have potentially devalued PKD as a box office draw. > [@athelas](#): > > OTOH, given perfect conditions […] I would most like to see A Canticle for Leibowitz. Write your congressman! Err, I mean, Ridley Scott, or Terry Gilliam, or summat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/23 "2005-12-07T01:13:15Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > John Varley has written this screenplay and has made attempts to get it produced. Good luck to him, I say. Speaking of John Varley: The Gaea Trilogy (Titan, Demon, Wizard) done in the same animation style of _Fantastic Planet_. Steel Beach - would make a good mini-series. Red Thunder - would be a good family movie with some minor tweaks ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/24 "2005-12-07T01:17:03Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Odd John. Can’t remember who the author was, but a great story. Olaf Stapledon. _Mutineer’s Moon_ by David Weber ( there has been on again/off again talk of an anime version ) Any number of the _Bolo_ series of books/stories ( created by Keith Laumer; giant, sentient tanks ). _The Kundalini Equation_ would make a good martial arts/mysticsm movie. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/25 "2005-12-07T01:20:29Z")
Red Thunder would be good, I agree. And his latest, “Mammoth”, has special appeal for me. Good visuals, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/26 "2005-12-07T01:21:23Z")
Iain M. Banks’ _Use of Weapons_. I envision it as a modern _Blade Runner_. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/27 "2005-12-07T01:33:54Z")
Harry Harrison’s Staineless Steel Rat series. Not the greatest SciFi by any reconning, but I’m sure would make a very entertaining set of movies if they got the right actor for the SSR. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/28 "2005-12-07T01:34:22Z")
Roger Zelazney’s _Lord of Light_. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/29 "2005-12-07T01:41:59Z")
SM Stirling’s Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/30 "2005-12-07T01:42:13Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Harry Harrison’s Staineless Steel Rat series. Not the greatest SciFi by any reconning, but I’m sure would make a very entertaining set of movies if they got the right actor for the SSR. That would be my pick. Charismatic anti-hero gentleman thief turned secret agent played by George Clooney, mad, bad and dangerous to know _femme fatale_ played by Angelina Jolie, head of clandestine agency and retired legendary thief played by Sean Conney. A plot that practically is a screenplay already {Alan Grant wrote an excellent comic book adaptation of it years ago}, spaceships, exotic locations, and steam powered robots. Not great science-fiction, but hugely entertaining, and it would make the perfect movie. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/31 "2005-12-07T01:50:20Z")
> [@The Controvert](#): > > A lot of the greatest stories have already been made into movies, but I’m sure there are lots of sci-fi that is cinema worthy. My pick is _Marooned in Realtime_ by Vernor Vinge. Lots of good ideas, here. My own list (apologies for some ancient references): [ul] [li]Lensman Series: would put Star Wars to _shame_[/li][li]Left Hand of Darkness[/li][li]Ringworld. The special effects alone would be great[/li][li]The Dispossessed (Le Guin)[/li][/ul] Also, I have my own idea to sell: there’s this little kid, see, but he has amazing powers. At a young age, he’s invited to join this mystical society of warriors who protect the galaxy against evil. Unfortunately, he _himself_ becomes evil, but then his son finds him and… oh. never mind! 😃 Well, how about this one, then. There’s this enormous spaceship from Earth, that flies from planet to planet doing scientific investigations. It has these really cool features, like a bar with windows that look out onto space, and a place where you can act out all your fantasies with holograms, and lots of really weird alien people walking around, and this one nerdy kid that everyone wants to beam into a bulkhead (see, “beaming” is when you disintegrate someone and send them somewhere by radio waves…). No? Then how about… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/32 "2005-12-07T02:03:11Z")
Lots of great suggestions here. I’d nominate some of John Barnes’ work. He’s doing some good hard contemporary sci fi, and is frequently compared (not unflatteringly) to Heinlein. _Orbital Resonance_ would kick some major ass on the big screen. I find myself deeply conflicted about _Kaleidescope Century_ because of the moral ambiguity of the narrator, but what a mindfuck flick that’d make. And _Mother of Storms_ would be sooooo much better than the recent climatological disaster dreck they’ve been serving up lately. And, shifting briefly to Neal Stephenson, for the love of Og, would somebody _please_ do _Snowcrash_ before it gets too geriatric? Please? Or, _The Big U_, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/33 "2005-12-07T02:25:29Z")
For a more recent work, _1632_ might be fun. If you did it right, Hickam’s _Back to the Moon_ might be an interesting miniseries. (“Doing it right” being the operative phrase. Actually, I think “total unholy nightmare to work with” would apply better.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/34 "2005-12-07T03:08:52Z")
More horror than SF, but F. Paul Wilson’s **Repairman Jack** novels would make great movies. > [@Ethilrist](#): > > Have Space Suit - Will Trave [Reynolds Dons \*Spacesuit](http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2004-01/30/10.00.film) > [@](#): > > Oscar-nominated writer David Reynolds (Finding Nemo) has closed a deal to adapt Robert A. Heinlein’s SF classic Have Spacesuit, Will Travel for Warner Brothers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. David Heyman is producing the live-action film through his Heydey Productions company. Also in pre-production is _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, with screenplay by **Tim Minear** (Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside, X-Files, etc). I have big hopes for this one, as Minear ‘gets’ Heinlein in a big way. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/35 "2005-12-07T03:13:27Z")
I’ll second **Left Hand of Darkness** , althouth **Left Hand of Dorkness** would be a good substitute. 🙂 **Ender’s Game.** \*\* Rendezvous with Rama.\*\* **Foundation Triology** (as a SciFi channel mini series) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/36 "2005-12-07T04:15:40Z")
I don’t know what you mean when you say that “a lot of the greatest stories have already been made into movies.” Not that many of the great science fiction stories have been made into films, and most of those that have were thoroughly messed up. I think it’s considerably more difficult to make a great story into a great film that you think. Bippy the Beardless writes: \> Harry Harrison’s Staineless Steel Rat series. Not the greatest SciFi by any \> reconning, but I’m sure would make a very entertaining set of movies if they got \> the right actor for the SSR. I just heard Harry Harrison talking about this subject in August. People have been trying to adapt _The Stainless Steel Rat_ for decades. Many different producers have acquired options on the books and then hired writers to spend a while trying to turn it into an acceptable screenplay. Nobody has gotten it to the point where they’re willing to make the film. I don’t know why it’s so hard, but just recently I was talking to someone who’s worked as a writer, director, and producer for many years. He said that the problem is that, while it’s a great title and superficially an interesting story, it just wouldn’t work as a film. (I haven’t read the books, so I pass on offering my opinion on them.) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/37 "2005-12-07T04:21:47Z")
I meant “than you think”, not “that you think”. Incidentally, Harry Harrison is just fine with the fact that no one has made a _The Stainless Steel Rat_ film. He loves the money he gets when he sells the options. He’s made much more money from not having _The Stainless Steel Rat_ made into a film than he has from having _Make Room, Make Room_ made into _Soylent Green_. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/38 "2005-12-07T04:25:28Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > **Foundation Triology** (as a SciFi channel mini series) OH PLEASE GOD NOOOOOO (as a SciFi channel mini series) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/39 "2005-12-07T04:27:00Z")
> [@](#): > > What about Niven’s ‘Inconstant Moon’. It would make a great love story with a science background. I think [_Miracle Mile_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097889/) may have been unofficially inspired by Niven’s story. They substituted a nuclear attack instead of a nova, but I believe it was a similar story about a man finding out the world was going to end and spending his last night with his girlfriend while trying to keep her from figuring out what was going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418/40 "2005-12-07T04:30:29Z")
I’d love to see an Honor Harrington mini-series sort of like the Hornblower or Sharpe series. I think that would be SO cool if they did it right. Also, I wouldn’t mind seeing something like John Ringo’s Hymn Before Battle series about the Poslene wars. It might be too bloody but I think a multi-part series a la Star Wars would be kick ass. Michael Gears Forbidden Borders might also translate into a movie series fairly well I think. Though not exactly SciFi I would LOVE to see a really well done mini-series about Stephen Kings Dark Tower. -XT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-story-would-you-like-to-see-made-into-a-movie/334418.md?page=3)