Film adaptations that haven't happened yet

[BJB]

Why has no one made a film of The Fog by James Herbet? (The John Carpenter one isen't based on the book). Its a cracking read. I always imagine someone like Ken Russell or Sam Ramni directing it.

And the Stand? I know there was a tv mini series which was pretty good but not.........just not.  Granted, a film WOULD be about 9 hours long. But you could do it over multipile films. The books split in to three parts, there's your trilogy.

A film of the Rats (James Herbet again) that isen't rubbish would also be nice.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man. Okay, he's not a well known character but there's no need for a shockingly high budget, indeed it really should be arthouse fare to a certain extent. Admittedly you'd need to cut some material,

Spoiler alert

and perhaps simplify the Crisis part

[close]

, but as long as you kept in

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the first seven issues or so, then Ellen and co dying, and Buddy's attempts to bring them back to life

[close]

it could be something really special. I'd love to see how the audience would reaction to the denouement, too.

[localhero87]

I went through a phase of reading pretty much every James Herbert book when I was in my late teens. I think pretty much most of them are ideal for "far-out alternative" horror movies. The tough part about it is, a lot of his books get a bit OTT towards the end (which I personally love, but may scupper the film from translating well).

[BJB]

The Fog struck me as having something of an action movie ending, so that could work I think. What might be hard to translate with that paticular book is all the sexual stuff. Esspacially the fate of the PE teacher at the hands of the fog ridden class. But you could tone it down for film, I guess.

[Whug Baspin]

That PE scene that lept into my head as soon as you mentioned it, how amazing if it was filmed in the style of something like Building Sites Bite.

After I read it I really wanted to see an adaption of The Secret History, but it would almost certainly be terrible.

[mobias]

Its always surprised me that more adaptations of Arthur C Clarke books have never been made. Firstly a lot of them are simply great stories and secondly one of the very few that have been made is possibly the greatest movie of all time. In this day and age of CGI and the success of guff like Avatar you'd think the movie studios would be falling over themselves to have some proper material to adapt?

[Johnny Townmouse]

As the ultimate unfilmable book, I think of Pale Fire as the great adaptation that is yet to be made. Tristram Shandy, Ulysses and Naked Lunch all seem positively cinematic compared to Nabokov's (arguably) greatest novel.

Beyond that, I am amazed that nobody has succesfully managed to bring Ballard's Cocaine Nights and Super-Cannes to the screen.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

I went through a phase of reading pretty much every James Herbert book when I was in my late teens. I think pretty much most of them are ideal for "far-out alternative" horror movies. The tough part about it is, a lot of his books get a bit OTT towards the end (which I personally love, but may scupper the film from translating well).

They'd just change anything they don't like though.  It's rare that books to films are completely literal translations, for many reasons, sometimes for the sake of commercialisation (eg they thought Hamlet dying at the end was a bit of a downer so they made him king instead and have him marry Ophelia).  So I don't think that's a barrier to a film being made if they think the initial concept is good enough.

It amazes me that nobody has yet made a film of Robert Harris' Fatherland.  I know HBO had a go at it on the cheap, but to be frank, they blew it.

I'd really like to see an adaptation of Bryan Talbot's The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.  (The story of a man who can cross dimensions, who is tasked with deliberately starting an English civil war in order to draw out a sinister third party.) I know a film has been talked about before, but apparently the screenplay wasn't very good.  It's got a lot of Doctor Who and Michael Moorcock in it, and after Inception is wowing people (and proving people can handle several layers of narrative) I think it could be a great film.

[Serge]

I'm surprised no-one's had a crack at 'The Dice Man' yet, there's a film with a built-in cult following. I used to have endless debates with a friend about who could play Luke Reinhardt, though.

And 'A Confederacy Of Dunces' is one of the great unmade too. The longer it goes on, the more people who would be ideal for Ignatius keep getting too old to play him. John Goodman would have been ideal, but is plainly far too old now. Philip Seymour Hoffman could have a crack, I suppose. There were rumours years ago that Stephen Fry was going to play him, but thankfully, they remained rumours.

Its always surprised me that more adaptations of Arthur C Clarke books have never been made. Firstly a lot of them are simply great stories and secondly one of the very few that have been made is possibly the greatest movie of all time. In this day and age of CGI and the success of guff like Avatar you'd think the movie studios would be falling over themselves to have some proper material to adapt?

I presume you're talking about '2001' there, which wasn't exactly an adaptation, as Clarke wrote the novel at the same time as the film was being made. If anything, it's the book of the film!

[Ignatius_S]

...And 'A Confederacy Of Dunces' is one of the great unmade too. The longer it goes on, the more people who would be ideal for Ignatius keep getting too old to play him. John Goodman would have been ideal, but is plainly far too old now. Philip Seymour Hoffman could have a crack, I suppose. There were rumours years ago that Stephen Fry was going to play him, but thankfully, they remained rumours....

Please, I still wake up after having a nightmare about a version that was greenlit, but never made.

Will Ferrell in a fatsuit. I'll repeat that... Will Ferrell in fatsuit.

Here's photos of a reading the slated cast did - http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/425/425858p1.html

Ellen Burnstyn was meant have been also playing the mother, she would have been great but.... Will Ferrell in a fatsuit.

Although we appear to be safe from this travesty, I have no doubt that when the adaptation will be made, it'll be a stinker – A Confederacy of Dunces is one of those films that everyone in Hollywood makes, which is never a good sign.

Here's a short article that you might find interesting - http://www.slate.com/id/2155500

I always said Hoffman would be great, but he's too old for the part now.

[Ignatius_S]

...I'd really like to see an adaptation of Bryan Talbot's The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.  (The story of a man who can cross dimensions, who is tasked with deliberately starting an English civil war in order to draw out a sinister third party.) I know a film has been talked about before, but apparently the screenplay wasn't very good.  It's got a lot of Doctor Who and Michael Moorcock in it, and after Inception is wowing people (and proving people can handle several layers of narrative) I think it could be a great film.

I'd love to see it, but there's so much in the book that I fear it would be hard to do a decent film version.

There's an audio version with David Tennant  and Paul Darrow - no idea what it's like.

[mr. logic]

Catcher in the Rye is the biggie, I suppose.  Though now I have a horrible feeling they would cast Zac Efron or your man out of Twilight.

There was talk of doing a miniseries of Richard Ford's Bascombe trilogy.  No clue how that would work, really, but Ford was supposed to be writing them himself.

[Phil_A]

It amazes me that nobody has yet made a film of Robert Harris' Fatherland.  I know HBO had a go at it on the cheap, but to be frank, they blew it.

Similarly, I can't believe no-one's ever managed to film Philip K Dick's "The Man In The High Castle".

I'd love a film of with Alisdair Gray's "Lanark" with Ewen Bremner or Robert Carlyle in the lead. I'd have said it was pretty much unfilmable, but apparently Gray once adapted it for a film script himself, so maybe not.

[Johnny Townmouse]

And 'A Confederacy Of Dunces' is one of the great unmade too. The longer it goes on, the more people who would be ideal for Ignatius keep getting too old to play him. John Goodman would have been ideal, but is plainly far too old now. Philip Seymour Hoffman could have a crack, I suppose. There were rumours years ago that Stephen Fry was going to play him, but thankfully, they remained rumours.

Absolutely one of the great unadapted novels of all time. For me the greatest comic-novel ever written by far. As usual they will never be able to nail the rhythm and language of the source material so they shouldn't bother trying - instead they need to just go with something cinematic and fuck the fans of the book. The more they pander, the shitter the film. I do think John Candy was born to play the part in some respects, and as time goes on and the population get fatter whilst actors get thinner, it is hard to think of anyone young enough to play it, other than the obvious Jonah Hill or the ever decreasing Seth Rogan. I also think a younger John C Reilly could have done a terrific performance.

Personally I would like someone to do a De Niro and fat up for this part. Perhaps someone like Vincent Gallo.

[Cerys]

Years ago I read a novel called This is the Way the World Ends, by James Morrow.  Quick precis here.  I probably haven't thought about it in years, but now I'd quite like to see a film adaptation.

[Garam]

Before Belushi died, he was in the works to play Reilly, wasn't he? With Pryor as Jones.

[Jemble Fred]

Live action BFG please, not updated but set in the original period, young Queen and all.

And whatever happened to that Twits adaptation? It's been on and off like a tart's thong for decades. But then they'd have Americanised it beyond all recognition, I suppose...

[Ignatius_S]

Before Belushi died, he was in the works to play Reilly, wasn't he? With Pryor as Jones.

So the story goes - as mentioned in the article I linked to. It's also been suggested that John Candy and Chris Farley had been lined up to play Ignatius... and I wouldn't be half-surprised to discover that the animated corpse of Sydney Greenstreet had as well.

[CaledonianGonzo]

As the ultimate unfilmable book, I think of Pale Fire as the great adaptation that is yet to be made. Tristram Shandy, Ulysses and Naked Lunch all seem positively cinematic compared to Nabokov's (arguably) greatest novel.

As media, novels and films aren't always compatible, and sometimes it's best not to force the two into some sort of unnatural marriage.  Pale Fire is as much a metafictional puzzle as a story, and I'm not really sure what cinema would add to it.  Do you really see it as crying out for adaptation?

Oh, and 3 HBO miniseries of James Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy, please.

[Johnny Townmouse]

As media, novels and films aren't always compatible, and sometimes it's best not to force the two into some sort of unnatural marriage.  Pale Fire is as much a metafictional puzzle as a story, and I'm not really sure what cinema would add to it.  Do you really see it as crying out for adaptation?

No not crying out at all, which is at least one reason why it will never be made. I just think that from a creative point of view I would like to see someone tackle it as it will say more about adaptation than say, the film Adaptation, which did nothing of the sort. I don't think cinema would necessarily add anything to the book but then I don't think that it is the responsiblity of cinema or adaptation. Apocalypse Now does add a lot to Heart of Darkness but whether that is good, bad, worthwhile, or pointless, is debatable. I personally feel that literature and film are entirely compatible - it really just depends what levels of fidelity you expext from their meeting. I don't see it as a marriage at all.

Oh, and 3 HBO miniseries of James Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy, please.

That would be fantastic. An adaptation of My Dark Places is the one I would really love to see though.

[Slaaaaabs]

Its always surprised me that more adaptations of Arthur C Clarke books have never been made. Firstly a lot of them are simply great stories and secondly one of the very few that have been made is possibly the greatest movie of all time. In this day and age of CGI and the success of guff like Avatar you'd think the movie studios would be falling over themselves to have some proper material to adapt?

Morgan Freeman has owned the rights to Rendezvous With Rama for over a decade but production keeps stalling. That, Niven's Ringworld (lol Halo) or Robert Reed's Marrow would make for amazing sci fi movies.

[hummingofevil]

And 'A Confederacy Of Dunces' is one of the great unmade too. The longer it goes on, the more people who would be ideal for Ignatius keep getting too old to play him. John Goodman would have been ideal, but is plainly far too old now. Philip Seymour Hoffman could have a crack, I suppose. There were rumours years ago that Stephen Fry was going to play him, but thankfully, they remained rumours.

I would love to see a film of this. The book is so good at bringing his New Orleans to life that I feel that I have watched a movie over in my head but I would love to see someone have a crack at it. I was thinking Philip Seymour Hoffman or Paul Giamatti. I want to see this movie!!!!

[dr_christian_troy]

Bret Easton Ellis' Glamorama, although the only way to fit everything in well would be as a miniseries on HBO.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy from Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, but then it is rather unfilmable.

[Muel 2]

The book is so good at bringing his New Orleans to life that I feel that I have watched a movie over in my head but I would love to see someone have a crack at it.

Me too.  Though I've always imagined it as an animation, possibly because I love this cover illustraion -

[Ignatius_S]

Sadly the reality would probably make one wish for Will Ferrell in a fatsuit.

[sirhenry]

Ringworld

One of the few films that could actually benefit from being in 3D.

The Phillip K Dick book I've always wants to see filmed is Clans of the Alphane Moon, though I can't see it ever getting a mainstream following.