# What SF Novel Would You Most Want to See Made into a Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744 "2004-07-19T00:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/81 "2004-07-20T12:42:20Z")
I think Ben Bova’s **Privateers** would have made an exceptional movie. Good story, action , adventure, free enterprise, who could ask for more? It’s a shame the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, the story just can’t happen now. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/82 "2004-07-20T12:52:13Z")
I’m currently re-reading [Lord of Light](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857988205/qid=1090326757/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-3954459-4866852) by Roger Zelazny. I feel the themes of control of the majority by an ultrapowerful minority by means of misinformation and technological advances along with the notion that power corrupts would be as apt in today’s world as in the world posited by Zelazny. How it would pan out as a movie I’m not sure, but it should manage some exciting action scenes (hey, there are death gods fighting right?), some tense moments (dealing with demons) and some great visuals (fire chariots, gods walking the earth and so on). i’m not sure who I’d get to direct or star, but in terms of tone I’d like to aim somewhere more intellectually stimulating than just action flick, any suggestions for a visionary director and an actor who can carry an entire film? For a TV miniseries might I suggest [The Book of the New Sun](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857989775/qid=1090327312/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_11_4/026-3954459-4866852) by Gene Wolfe? Its episodic nature would lend itself greatly to the medium and I’ve always wanted to see how Urth would look (to be honest, the only reason to make films/series of these books is to show how the world looks, otherwise you’d just read the books). In summary I’d be in favour of any film that showed to a larger audience that science fiction is more than just special effects and has its roots deep in the philosophical wonderings of some very smart people as well as the whiz-bangery of early pulp SF. In additon, two religiously themed, but decently thought through works might wash that horrible matrix taste out of my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/83 "2004-07-20T13:17:36Z")
I’d like to see Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter in the Mind’s Eye just to watch the fall out. Of course, Lucas would kill me first… ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/84 "2004-07-20T14:29:50Z")
I would definitely like to see an adaptation of Frank M. Robinson’s **Dark Beyond the Stars.** It is a straight Drama about life on a Generation Ship, set out to explore the universe. > [@](#): > > From Publishers Weekly > Sparrow is a crew member on the Astron , a multigenerational ship sent from earth on an unavailing, 2000-year search for other life-bearing worlds. On the last planet, Seti IV, Sparrow fell off a cliff and nearly died, losing his memory in the process. While recovering in sick bay and also while back on the job, he is beset by more accidents. Eventually he decides that someone is trying to kill him. Trying to find out who and why, Sparrow is plunged into an ever-deepening mystery; nobody will discuss his past with him, the computer has restricted his data, and the little he does discover about his history leads only to further secrets. Robinson ( The Power ) plants plenty of clues for the reader, scattering them skillfully amid exciting action and dialogue. The technical and social aspects of a centuries-long voyage are ingenious and clearly depicted. This is a welcome variation on an old SF theme, and the writing easily holds the reader’s interest. I’d like to see Matt Damon as Sparrow. Ken Watanabe as the Captain. Helena Bonham Carter as the female lead whose name escapes me. Casey Affleck as the antagonist whose name escapes me. Jake Busey as Stork Best Sci-Fi book I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/85 "2004-07-20T14:35:04Z")
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before… **Gate to Women’s Country** by Sheri S. Tepper. This would make a terrific movie! In a post-apocalyptic world, the women, small children, and a few non-macho men live inside walled cities. The rest of the men live in barracks outside the city, where they have wars and stuff. (Action!) A couple of times a year, the men are allowed into the city for a carnival. (Sex!) But of course, things aren’t necessarily as they seem… (Plot twists!) The Handmaid’s Tale showed that woman-oriented sci-fi can be successful, and Gate to Women’s Country has more action and non-creepy sex. I’d change the title, though. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/86 "2004-07-20T16:58:02Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > On a fantasy note, I also nominate “Wizard of earthsea.” Coming of age tale as a brash young apprentice struggles to control the darkness he has let loose… dragons and evil talking stones and lonely towers and all that. The only problem is, if they were going to stay true to the spirit of the piece, there’d have to be a lot of filming on or near the sea, and that can get expensive and difficult from what I’ve heard. The Sci-Fi channel is making an [Earthsea](http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/) 2 part miniseries that will air this December. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up! ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/87 "2004-07-20T18:00:43Z")
> [@bafaa](#): > > The Sci-Fi channel is making an [Earthsea](http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/) 2 part miniseries that will air this December. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up! Yeah… wonder if it’ll get simulcast here in canada or something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/88 "2004-07-20T18:02:39Z")
> [@bafaa](#): > > The Sci-Fi channel is making an [Earthsea](http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/) 2 part miniseries that will air this December. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up! OMG, I just hit the IMDB page for the miniseries – Kristin Kreuk as Tenar? I wonder if she can pull it off, LOL. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/89 "2004-07-20T18:06:48Z")
While watching _The Matrix Reloaded_ on cable the other night, I realized that the technology existed to make David Gerrold’s _The Man Who Folded Himself_. I don’t think it would cost that much to make, but whoever would chose to do it would be buying him- or herself a buttload of trouble. Imagine the culture war firestorm that would break out over a movie with a homo-auto-sexual orgy as a major plot point. And I sure feel sorry for whoever has to play the lead! That’ll be four or five film’s worth of acting. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/90 "2004-07-20T18:09:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Part of the problem for me was that it didn’t even rise to the level of “so-bad-it’s-good.” It was more “so-bad-it’s-really-really-bad.” Now, generally speaking, I don’t care about fidelity to the source material. My favorite sf example of this is Blade Runner, which bore almost no resemblence to the novel it was based on, yet was still an excellent film. So, I don’t mind that Verhoeven made a film that wasn’t faithful to the novel, I’m just bothered that he made a movie that was so wretchedly stupid that it was barely watchable. But, for Heinlein fans (i’m not really much of one myself) I can absolutely understand why they were so angry about the movie, because it didn’t simply wander from its roots in the novel, it was openly mocking them. Imagine if, back in '79, you went to the opening of the very first Star Trek movie, after years of waiting for your favorite TV show to come to the big screen. But when the movie starts, it’s not Star Trek, it’s Galaxy Quest. Even though GQ is a pretty good movie in and of itself, it’s not what was advertised, it’s not what you paid your money for, and (because this is well before Star Trek became the juggernaut it is today) it pretty much precluded anyone from making another Star Trek movie for another ten to twenty years. That is why Heinlein fans get so worked up over Starship Troopers, above and beyond what the quality of the movie itself would seem to warrant. Oh, it’s much, much more than that. **Galaxy Quest** was a well-made, good-natured comedy that poked appropriate funm at the shortcomings and cliches of the series, yet didn’t make the fans look like idiots. **Starship Troopers** , on the other hand: 1. Took a diametrically opposite philosophical point of view from its source material 2. Had characters committing the grossest scientific errors and offenses against common sense (this, in a movie supposedly based on a book by one of the best of hardcore SF writers!) 3. Had characters acting in wats totally at odds with the source material (co-ed showers?) Imagine **Gone with the Wind** with a pliant, obedient , and quiet Scarlett O’Hara. Who was Black. And was in favor of slavery. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/91 "2004-07-20T18:35:39Z")
Heinlein’s **The Rolling Stones**. I think you could do this on a relatively modest budget. The spaceship scenes would be no worse than \*Star Trek \* or _Babylon 5_. The actors would have to spend a lot of time in flying harnesses for the zero-G scenes, but I think that it’s feasible. And the only real aliens you ever see onstage are the Martian flat-cats. As for casting…not enough natural redheads in Hollywood…must be willing to dye for the role! Maggie Smith as Grandma Hazel. Harrison Ford as Mr. Stone. Holly Hunter as Dr. Stone. Kirsten Dunst as the big sister. Haley Joel Osment as the kid brother. No idea who would play the twins. Asimov’s **Foundation** trilogy might work on TV as a series of short episodes. That way you can have the cast shift from chapter to chapter. Sort of like the _Centennial_ mini-series, where a bit player in tonight’s episode becomes the star of tomorrow night’s episode, or a child in an early chapter is a grandfather in a later chapter. I, too, would love to see Burrough’s creations onscreen. Green Martians and the Heliumetic Navy, Venusian klangan flying through the Vepajan forests, or seeing what Pellucidar’s “sky” would look like. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/92 "2004-07-20T19:11:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I would suggest Niven and Pournelle’s _Lucifer’s Hammer,_ but since we’ve already had _Armageddon_ and _Deep Impact_ . . . True, but that book had two things those movies didn’t. First, it realized that mankind doesn’t have to power to deflect a comet. Second, it didn’t end when the object hit. In fact, I wouldn’t be opposed to the Hammer’s strike being in the first fifteen minutes of the film. They could focus on the second half of the story: the recovery period after civilization is all but destroyed by the Hammer. The band of idealists convincing the pragmatists that just surviving isn’t good enough, they’ve got to get back to pre-Hammer society as fast as possible. The battle for control of the nuclear power plant… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/93 "2004-07-20T19:20:49Z")
It seems to me that the most likely adaptations are the ones the least science-fictional. i agree that the Stainless Steel Rat stories would be good, since they have a few strong characters doing easy to understand things in a world that most of the audience can understand. Retief would work also. The Book of the New Sun would be a disaster. I don’t see how what is going on could be explained in a movie of reasonable length. It would be either trivialized, or be incomprehensible. I loved the books because of their richness. As a case in point, look at 2001. When it came out, very few people got the rather obvious (to me anyhow) ending. it assumed you could follow science fiction concepts above the Star Trek level - which in itself was way above what went before it. We have few geniuses at the level of Kubrick who could translate sophisticated ideas into movies. Absent them, we’d better be satisfied with something like Retief (another good possibility) since I, Robot seems too sophisticated for Hollywood to get right. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/94 "2004-07-20T20:59:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The Book of the New Sun would be a disaster. I don’t see how what is going on could be explained in a movie of reasonable length. It would be either trivialized, or be incomprehensible. I loved the books because of their richness. You’re quite correct, which is why I suggested a TV miniseries. Hey it might even be a full length series. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/95 "2004-07-20T22:46:22Z")
Here’s another vote for **Bill, the Galactic Hero** done as a satire (or is it farce?) I think I’d laugh my ass off watching it. Failing that, Clarke’s [**A Fall of Moondust**](http://sites.inka.de/mips/reviews/AFallOfMoonDust.html) Think of a sunken submarine movie, only in dust and vacuum instead of under water. Quite feasible. DD ---
**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/96 "2004-07-20T23:36:52Z")
I’d second the suggestion for Bester’s The Stars My Destination. It’s very visual, has lots of variety in its settings, and the climax ought to work splendidly on film. And, I don’t remember anything in it which would be likely to be trashed by a director as too complicated for film. I’d love to see a good version of something with Miles Vorkosigan, and it ought to make a good action adventure; but I can just see the director saying “but why does he have to be _short?_” What I’d very much like to see filmed is C. J. Cherryh’s Pride of Chanur. Computer graphics seem to be at the point where it could be done convincingly, and the action is great space opera. The Kif would make wonderful B-movie villains, and the main protagonists are fun characters. The book alternates well between puzzle, terror, and humor. Done right, it could be Star Wars with a plot. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/97 "2004-07-21T04:26:36Z")
Yes, **Bill the Galactic Hero** and the **Stainless Steel Rat** series could be great. (I’ll leave out my rant about _Johnny Mnemonic_.) Another I’d like to see is Ursula K. Le Guin’s **The Left Hand of Darkness**. It has some first-contact politics (where the Earthlings are making the contact), some action, and a great exploration of gender identities. Unfortunately, it would be hard to find a suitably androgynous cast, and Hollywood would almost certainly mess it up. In an earlier thread, I [posted](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=5032097) about another SF spy/actioner that I think would work well. If anybody here knows the author and title, I’d be glad to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/98 "2004-07-21T05:02:12Z")
It’s been a loooong time since I’ve read it, but I second Samuel R. Delany’s **Nova**? I remember it being a pretty good space opera. Interesting characters, spectacular locations, and a simple, straightforward plot with a nice amount of action. I’d have to read it again to get some casting ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/99 "2004-07-21T05:05:01Z")
(that ? should be a . ) ---
**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:** [July 21, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744/100 "2004-07-21T05:33:34Z")
Here’s what I’d like to see: A good _animated_ series of **Heinlein’s** “Juveniles.” Maybe Pixar could do them. They would be: **Starman Jones** **Have Space Suit - Will Travel** **Time For the Stars** **Citizen of the Galaxy** **Between Planets** **The Star Beast** **Farmer in the Sky** **The Door into Summer** (not technically a ‘juvenile’) **Red Planet** **Tunnel in the Sky** **The Rolling Stones** **Space Cadet** It’d make a hell of a DVD box set, too. Also, why doesn’t some filmmaker take a chance on a collection of shorts as a feature film? I’d love to see stories like “The Long Watch” and “The Green Hills of Earth” lovingly turned into 45 minute shorts and packaged for theatrical distribution in groups of two, from a variety of science fiction authors. No ‘re-inventions’, no added dialog or essential changes to the story. Just good attempts at rendering live action versions of classic stories. Hell, they could take that concept out of science fiction. I’d certainly go to see a Spielberg adaptation of “Inconstant Moon” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, packaged as a dual-short movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novel-would-you-most-want-to-see-made-into-a-movie/255744.md?page=6)