# Why haven't these books been made into movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 22, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036 "2020-07-22T17:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/202 "2020-11-28T03:53:48Z")
Yes, but note, it wasnt until 1921 that the Times exposed it as a fake, and Ford printed it a year earlier. Many people thought it was real. Some morons still do. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/203 "2021-02-09T19:22:38Z")
See “Ford: The Man and the Machine”, a made-for-TV movie from 1987. I can’t vouch for the accuracy, but the three reviews in IMDB are generally favorable. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/204 "2021-02-09T19:31:20Z")
I’ve been [waiting since 2011](https://deadline.com/2011/07/warner-bros-acquiring-jon-krakauers-under-the-banner-of-heaven-for-ron-howard-and-dustin-lance-black-147906/) for Under the Banner of Heaven. > [@](#): > > Warner Bros is putting together quite a package to adapt the 2003 Jon Krakauer book _Under The Banner Of Heaven._ In the deal coming together, _Milk_ and _J Edgar_ scribe [Dustin Lance Black](https://deadline.com/tag/dustin-lance-black/) will write the script for [Ron Howard](https://deadline.com/tag/ron-howard/) to direct. Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner [Brian Grazer](https://deadline.com/tag/brian-grazer/) will produce with Shannon Costello, Jason Bateman and Stephanie Davis. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/205 "2021-02-09T19:45:57Z")
> [@Rhodes](#): > > Under the Banner of Heaven. That will be very controversial. Good book, tho. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/206 "2021-02-09T22:11:35Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > Gil The Arm… One of my favorite series of stories. Kind of ‘Bladerunner meets Altered Carbon’. Or any Niven, but I love the idea of doing the whole Known Space series. Maybe different directors/studios for each… ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/207 "2021-02-09T22:14:19Z")
> [@digs](#): > > One of my favorite series of stories. Kind of ‘Bladerunner meets Altered Carbon’. > > Or any Niven, but I love the idea of doing the whole Known Space series. Maybe different directors/studios for each… That’s what I was thinking. Big Netflix series. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/208 "2021-02-10T05:33:44Z")
Great book, have trouble seeing it as a movie, what with the switching back and forth between Mormon history and the modern storyline. A well done miniseries would work well and get across Krakauer’s message about the dangers of religious extremism, particularly if updated for political extremism. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/209 "2021-02-23T02:08:02Z")
Allen Steele’s “Coyote” book series would make great TV. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/210 "2022-03-23T05:30:53Z")
Has so much as a sentence written by Joe Haldeman been adapted for TV or film? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/211 "2022-03-23T06:18:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Plus, they’d have to cast an actual albino actor, and there aren’t that many out there. Tilda Swinton would be amazing as Elric of Melnibone. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/212 "2022-03-23T06:18:46Z")
Also, all the posts suggesting _Red Storm Rising_ have really not aged well. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/213 "2022-03-23T12:34:12Z")
I would love to see _Childhood’s End_ done properly this time. I would also like to see, and they would have to be mini-series, David Brin’s _Existence_, Poul Anderson’s _Boat of a Million Years_, and _Aurora_ by Kim Stanley Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/214 "2022-03-23T12:50:17Z")
Jasper Fforde’s [Shades of Grey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_Grey). I don’t know HOW you’d do it, but I think it could be very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/215 "2022-03-23T15:43:38Z")
He hasn’t even brought out the second book yet. And doesn’t seem likely to. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/216 "2022-03-23T15:47:51Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And doesn’t seem likely to. As of last June, he intended to. > **[Special Page- Next Book](https://www.jasperfforde.com/special.html)** > > Next > book page - detailing what books Jasper Fforde will be publishing next ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/217 "2022-03-23T15:50:32Z")
Cool - and good to know _DRM_ is due to follow. I need some damn closure on the Thursday Next cliffhanger we were left with. But, from that site’s FAQ: > [@](#): > > _I am a film producer and I want to make your books into blockbuster movies. Can we talk about it?_ > > Not really. I worked for twenty years in the movies so know how difficult it is to get a picture to the screen, and how many projects fall by the wayside. So in order not to spend my time constantly in discussion with people who have little hope in getting something to the screen and wasting everyone’s time, we speak only to players. The criteria is pretty simple: You have to have made a movie I’ve heard of, and liked. In ten years we’ve had three meetings and one option, now expired. Approaches to my agent, and if you can’t find out who they are without asking me, you’re neither serious, nor a player. > > _I am a producer without a single credit to my name, and no track record. Can we meet and talk about producing your films, and perhaps do that utterly pointless ‘who would you cast as Thursday Next’ game?_ > > No. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/218 "2022-03-23T16:03:49Z")
I’d like to see Poul Anderson’s _Fire Time_. Would it be better as a combination of live-action and CGI, or should it be entirely CGI? ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/219 "2022-03-23T16:03:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Also, all the posts suggesting _Red Storm Rising_ have really not aged well. Hmm, Russian movies. Definitely NOT a remake of _Red Dawn_. But maybe… _Alexander Dolgun’s Story - An American in the Gulag._ _We The Living_ by Ayn Rand. (Yes, there was an Italian movie, time for a remake that would intentionally follow the book.) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/220 "2022-03-24T11:47:48Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > _We The Living_ by Ayn Rand. (Yes, there was an Italian movie, time for a remake that would intentionally follow the book.) How Randian is it? ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/221 "2022-03-24T16:42:31Z")
The Italian movie? Or a a remake. For the Italian movie, i recommend you check the Wikipedia page about it. It has an interesting history. Unfortunately it means that we can no longer see it as originally shown. As a remake - it’s been a while since I’ve read the book but I believe that this is the LEAST “Randian” novel she wrote. For example, I don’t recall anything like that eternal mind-numbing polemic that brought Atlas Shrugged to a screeching halt. Come to think of it - I’m surprised that no one has made a parody of the novels - along the line of “Bored With The Rings”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036.md?page=12)