Wasp by Eric Frank Russell if you insist on novel-length source material, especially if you can reuse sets from other productions. It requires a large number of actors and locations, but none of the locations are particularly exotic and the majority of the actors can be walk-ons without lines.
For short stories, Bradbury did a number of Martian stories in particular you could film very cheaply in the Desert Southwest with perhaps a couple different sets and, for maximum fidelity to his vision, some classic cars and period dress. You can also make a longer film by stringing the plots of two or three stories into a single narrative, as Bradbury himself kind of did and as at least one movie has already done (I believe).
Two I’d love to see:
-R. Heinlein’s “The Door Into Summer”
Asimov’s “Foundation”
Both are stories heavy in human interaction-no need for expensive special effects.
“Foundation” would be difficult to screenwrite-it’s a long complicated story…but I’d watch it.
What to say? I’d like to suggest any of the stories from William Gibson’s Burning Chrome short story collection. The Gernsback Continuum could be hilarious. Unfortunately we know how Johnny Mnemonic turned out
I could make a really huge list, but I’ll just give one. I’ve wanted to see this as a film for decades, and it could be done very cheaply, as there would only need to be one set, a handful of cast members, and no real special effects: Casey Agonistes by Richard McKenna.
If you’ve never read this amazing short story, here it is.
There are lots of short stories by people like Robert Sheckley, Frddric Brown, Theodore Coggswell, and lothers that could be filmed, especially now that relatively inexpensive CGI is available.
Watchbird – they adapted this for the short-lived Masters of Science Fiction series a few years ago. Unfortunately, they a.) didn’t run it during the original series run in the US, so you either had to catch its unannounced much later broadcast or else see it on video, and b.) they changed the story out of recognition, especially the sort-of-twist ending, which they replaced with a pointless thing. Sheckley has become one of the most abused SF writers i terms of adaptations – they either change his stuff out of recognition, or rip it off. It would be nice to see something of his done straight, for once.This story has suddenly become relevant, since it’s essentially about UAVs thate are autonymous.
The Leech – Another Shecvkley story, much like The Blob, but a bit more interesting. I think you could do a very good little film out of this.
The Proud Robot – Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore’s story about an inventor who only creates when he’s drunk, and can’t remember exactly what he did when he sobers up would require some updating (the original plot concerns what is essentially bootlegged HDTV shown in movie theaters), but the dynamics are great and the humor is bizarre. They could do the other stories in the series, as well, such as Time Locker, although, again, some updating would be needed.
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. The bare bones plot is actually pretty simple and that volume of the series doesn’t have anything requiring much in the way is special effects. As translated to the screen it’d make an appealing tragic love story set in a sci-fi/fantasy world. There would be a necessity to ditch most of Wolfe’s famous intricacy, of course.
Stock footage of nuclear explosions, then film the rest on location in some small town in Florida. Helicopters at the end and the classic cars would be the biggest props to budget for. Use little known actors, and pay well for a good screenwriter and an editor who knows the story.
Just thought of another: Peaches for Mad Molly by Steven Gould. It came close to winning both the Hugo and Nebula back in 1989.
It’s about homeless people who live on the outside of a giant building, like full time mountain climbers. The main character decides to venture to the upper floors, where people like him never go, to try to steal some fruit for a friend’s birthday. It’s an epic adventure that could be done fairly cheaply with some creative carpentry and stunt work. It would require one athletic actor to be the fast-climbing protagonist, and only 3 or 4 other on-screen people.
