# 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:** 12
**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, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/222 "2022-03-24T18:08:28Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > 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”. [Ask and ye shall receive.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949355/) Another parody was also created-no idea about quality. [The Ring Thing (2004) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432028/) ---
**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, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/223 "2022-03-24T18:15:31Z")
Er, no. I was thinking about a parody of an Ayn Rand novel, a parody **along the same lines** as the existing _Bored of the Rings_. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/224 "2022-03-24T18:25:29Z")
> [@Rhodes](#): > > 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. Your wait is over; the project morphed into a limited series and premieres on Hulu on April 28th. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/225 "2022-03-24T18:27:16Z")
I just watched 10 minutes of this, and what the hell did I just watch? 😅 It seems like less of the original bored of the rings book, and more of a straight reenactment of the movies, plus cursing and general crudeness. ---
**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, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/226 "2022-03-24T18:35:18Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Er, no. I was thinking about a parody of an Ayn Rand novel, a parody **along the same lines** as the existing _Bored of the Rings_ . Best I can do on short notice. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0s3wBQrfDY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0s3wBQrfDY) ---
**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:** [March 25, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/227 "2022-03-25T22:54:23Z")
I gave up on the series long ago, but my first thought on reading _1632_ was that it would make a heck of a movie. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/228 "2022-03-25T22:57:26Z")
Too big. It needs to be a multi-year series on Amazon or HBO+, with a budget to match. Not GoT big, but big enough to render things like the Battle of Grantville properly. Not to mention all the CGI needed to do the Battle of Vienna! But yeah, that one is a rich source of material for the big screen. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/229 "2022-03-26T00:30:00Z")
OK here’s what i think would be an interesting book idea to adapt into a TV show for a streaming service: The “Choose Your Own Adventure” series. I am NOT sure if it would work but it would be something different to try. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/230 "2022-03-26T01:27:45Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > The “Choose Your Own Adventure” series. I am NOT sure if it would work but it would be something different to try. Disney did something similar with a studio audience. > **[Just Roll with It](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Roll_with_It)** > > Just Roll with It is an American family comedy television series created by Adam Small and Trevor Moore that aired on Disney Channel from June 14, 2019 to May 14, 2021. The series stars Ramon Reed, Kaylin Hayman, Suzi Barrett, Tobie Windham, and JC Currais. > The Bennett-Blatt family do not have much in common with each other as they go through their everyday lives in Akron, Ohio. When a foghorn is heard, the actors break character in order to have a live studio audience decide what happens next. ... ---
**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:** [March 26, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/231 "2022-03-26T16:20:07Z")
I’d still like to see them do a version of Frederick Forsyth’s **The Devil’s Alternative** as a miniseries. Now it would be an alternate-history thing about a fictional post-Brezhnev Soviet leader. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/232 "2022-03-26T16:33:34Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > The one book I have been hoping they’d turn into a movie is “The Forge of God,” by Greg Bear. This is one I’ve wished for too. Super scary, a real sense of finality. But without jump scares or, you know, carnivorous aliens hunting down individuals. No, it’s on a planetary scale, what they did to the Earth. Would be a real eye-opener for most of the public, what a real visit by Von Neumann type robots could be like. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/233 "2022-03-27T06:02:38Z")
Youtuber Markiplier did something similar: > **[A Heist with Markiplier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Heist_with_Markiplier)** > > A Heist with Markiplier is a 2019 interactive comedy heist television special written and directed by Mark Fischbach, better known by his online pseudonym Markiplier. The film stars Fischbach, as well as Rosanna Pansino, Matthew Patrick, and Chance Morris in major roles. It follows Fischbach on a heist with his assistant (the audience's lens) that goes wrong. If a part of the special is continuous, two end cards will direct viewers to different endings, of which there are 31. > Following the succe... The first video here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9TjfkXmwbTs/maxresdefault.jpg "A Heist with Markiplier") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TjfkXmwbTs) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/234 "2022-03-27T11:41:40Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > The “Choose Your Own Adventure” series. I am NOT sure if it would work but it would be something different to try. Another “Choose Your Own Adventure”-inspired show is Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend” > **[Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbreakable_Kimmy_Schmidt:_Kimmy_vs_the_Reverend)** > > Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend is a 2020 interactive film sequel to the sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, directed by Claire Scanlon. It stars Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess and Carol Kane. The special was nominated for two Emmy Awards: Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Burgess. > The movie employs interactive technology to allow the audience to choose their own adv... ---
**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:** [March 27, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/235 "2022-03-27T13:36:12Z")
And there was an episode of Black Mirror where you choose which way the plot goes with your remote. I think the first choice was “Cornflakes? Left button. Rice Krispies? Right button.” It’s worth seeing, it would be a well-acted episode even without the choices. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/236 "2022-03-27T21:22:12Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Has so much as a sentence written by Joe Haldeman been adapted for TV or film? Yes. One short story. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BoQ6ZC8EUQ0/hqdefault.jpg "Twiligtht Zone ,I of Newton") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQ6ZC8EUQ0) He also co-wrote the script for a movie, but probably doesn’t counht. It isn’t a film made from one of his books. That’s about it. > **[Robot Jox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Jox)** > > Robot Jox is a 1990 American post-apocalyptic Mecha science-fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson and Paul Koslo. Co-written by science-fiction author Joe Haldeman, the film's plot follows Achilles, one of the "robot jox" who pilot giant machines that fight international battles to settle territorial disputes in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. > After producer Charles Band approved Gordon's initial concept, the director approached Haldeman to writ... ---
**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 28, 2022, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/237 "2022-03-28T08:52:46Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And there was an episode of Black Mirror where you choose which way the plot goes with your remote. I think the first choice was “Cornflakes? Left button. Rice Krispies? Right button.” > > It’s worth seeing, it would be a well-acted episode even without the choices. [Bandersnatch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror:_Bandersnatch) ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/238 "2022-03-29T16:29:29Z")
There’s a billion properties that either haven’t been done or not done right. (CoughIAMLEGENDcough) GImme 500 million dollars and I’ll do The Puppet Masters right off the page. Crazy nudity included. I’ll even bring back Donald Sutherland if he’s game. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/239 "2022-03-29T16:50:04Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > The Penric and Desdemona novellas might be a good basis for a miniseries, or, stitched together, a feature-length movie; you could get a contiguous story line starting with “Penric’s Demon” and flowing right into “Penric’s Mission”, “Mira’s Last Dance”, and “Prisoners of Limbos”, the unifying thread being Penric and Nikys’ evolving relationship with the natural end point being their marriage. Actually, a novella is right about the right length for a feature film; a full-length novel has to have a lot of stuff cut out to make it fit into the 2ish-hour format of most movies. So Penric’s Demon would be pretty cool - though the others have a lot more action. The only trouble with those is that you really need to have the background knowledge of the world. Maybe that could be imparted via a crawl at the beginning (“A long time ago, in a galaxy far away…”). I do think Penric’s Mission and Mira’s Last Dance, combined, would be a good choice in terms of action, relationship-building, etc. Side note: I’ve listed to a few of the series via Audible, as some of them are included in the subscription. The narrator is truly not good - makes no differentiation between characters when speaking. I’d always thought that they could have fun with Desdemona’s voice: just add a bit of reverb when it’s Des speaking versus Penric. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/240 "2022-03-29T17:01:17Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > GImme 500 million dollars and I’ll do The Puppet Masters right off the page. Crazy nudity included. I’ll even bring back Donald Sutherland if he’s game. I still want to see Fredric Brown’s **Arena** done right. Now with CGI you can do it. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036/241 "2022-03-29T17:38:42Z")
Yes. Forge of God is a book I’d love to see too. And its sequel, Anvil of Stars. Also, Blood Music by Greg Bear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-these-books-been-made-into-movies/916036.md?page=13)