Books to Movies

[yevaud]

How about a new TV series based on Roger Zealazney's (spelling?) Amber books.

(Spelling: Zelazny)

One of my all-time most favorite series. I'd love to see it made, though it'd have to be either a trilogy, or perhaps an extended mini-series done by SyFy. Too rich a universe, and too convoluted a storyline to be done in a single film.

Another would be The Warrior's Apprentice, by Lois McMaster Bujold. And, speaking of Niven/Pournelle, I would be ecstatic to see The Mote In God's Eye done, or possibly Inferno.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

...One of my all-time most favorite series. (Amber <sic>) I'd love to see it made, though it'd have to be either a trilogy, or perhaps an extended mini-series done by SyFy. Too rich a universe, and too convoluted a storyline to be done in a single film...

I'd agree. But, I think you'd need a whole week to cover the series up to the Courts of Chaos. (A decent ending point, IIRC... whatever point it was where they finally ended up there and the main plotline was fully revealed.)

Amber is one of my favorite series of all time. It has everything. Character development would be especially important there and that takes a lot of time. With all the family/political intrigue, the mysteries and the setting, it'd be a major work, to be sure. But, it'd be awesome. I'd be glued to the screen for however long it took. Just as long as they didn't murder the heck out of it.

 

[yevaud]

I am such a fan that my vow (well, until we yet again lost our post counts) was that when I hit 30,000 posts (I was what, about 1,500 away from that goal?), I was going to retire the Yevaud username, and my new one would be "Corwin."

Btw, out of curiousity, have you read Bettencourt's continuation of the series, and what's your opinion?

 

[hewes]

The Stainless Steel Rat, by Harry Harrison

 

[Flowerpiercer]

What current or old books whould you like to see made into a movie live or anamie??

Too many to name all, but I'd really like to see some of the "golden age" sci-fi books made in to movies, for example the Lensman series, or slan. In a way to pay homage and to say thanks; but also because they are fantastic, fast-paced stories that blew me away when I read them.

Not sure how it is possible to say that books-to-movies doesn't work, I love Dune and the Matrix (Necromancer), Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest film-feats of all time. (They are both media, but different types of media) I just don't judge them in the same way as I judge the books: what's the point? Similar to comparing carrots with escargot: they are both foods, but completely different. I like carrots, but I don't like escargot. Does this mean that I like food or that I don't like food (sorry for the syllogism)?

 

[jryle1234]

:!: Another series that came to mind was the "Cities in Space" group, could be made without much CGI, the author I cannot rember.

 

[jryle1234]

:evil: But not SFTV they ruined a "Ulursla le Gun" trilogy and turned into a space opera or worse.

 

[hewes]

Venus on the Half-Shell, by "Kilgore Trout"

 

[hansolo0]

gateway!

I've answered this before , but I like the idea of doing fredderick pohl's gateway. It's about the near future and finding an alien starbase on an asteroid sharing venus' orbit that is somehow hidden. It is abandoned, but has ships with ftl technology, that they barely get working and take to random, unknown destinations. Usually they go nowhere, sometimes they go to a black hole, and sometimes, they go to an earth like planet....I'd make a series out of this personally, but make it more like the pc games they made in the 90's....the main character in the book was a mega coward and rapist (figure that combination out). The game just had you as an adventurer exploring. The series could also be similar in concept to 'twilight zone' and 'outer limits' and not have a regular cast but new ones every week, however, they could have a recurring cast or arc's with them. A movie would be excellent to get the ball rolling, though...

 

[crazyeddie]

:!: Another series that came to mind was the "Cities in Space" group, could be made without much CGI, the author I cannot rember.

Are you thinking of Cities in Flight, by James Blish?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_Flight

 

[jryle1234]

Yes, Thank you very much for the correction.

 

[StrandedonEarthsince1970]

This would probably work better as a TV series like the Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, with perhaps the longer stories spread between a few episodes. I would call it "Larry Niven's Known Universe."

Obviously, this would be a series of standalone episodes based on the stories of Larry Niven, specifically the ones set in what he calls his "Known Universe." Many of them are short stories perfectly suited to one-hour episodes, but some are longer novels (Ringworld for one, World of Ptaavs for another) which would require a miniseries. They all share the same planets, some with names like Jinx and We Made It, although they are generally restricted to one locale per story, and some share characters, although the Known Universe stories encompass centuries, if not millenia.

Such a broad scope may not work well, however. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has shown that civilian storylines do not hold much interest for sci-fi fans. The best DS9 stories are considered to be the ones involving the Dominion War, which, of course, was a special effects tour de force. So perhaps the Known Universe should be pared down to the subset of "Tales from the Man-Kzin War." I think tales of Man fighting 500lb tiger-like aliens who leap first and think later (if at all) could be quite gripping, from first contact through several centuries of alternating peace and war. The action occurs in several planetary systems and therefore not every human would be involved in every episode, but when a human actor is not central in a particular episode he/she could probably find a spot in a "ratcat" suit.

The thought of seeing Niven's stories on screen positively warms my liver! Any comments?

 

[Lex87]

There is a series that I really like called "Sabriel" by Garth Nix. I think it could be great if adapted to film. It has the potential to be epic in the vein of the Lord of the Rings movies. By the way i heard the are making the Hobbit movie and are splitting it in two. Any idea why? the book was rather short compared to the lord of the rings.

 

[bdewoody]

Ever since reading the original "Rendevoux With Rama" I have thought it would make a great movie or even TV series (using all four books) Morgan Freeman must have thought so too. Unfortunately the movie project fell flat on it's face. I'm still hoping to see the movie happen and then maybe a TV series. Computer graphics have gotten so good recently that I think they could pull off a believeable interior to a 5 KM long cylinder.

 

[Flowerpiercer]

Venus on the Half-Shell, by "Kilgore Trout"

Or anything by Ted Sturgeon?

 

[OleNewt]

Books that I'd like to see as movies?

The Neanderthal Parallax (Robert J. Sawyer)
--Humans
--Hominids
--Hybrids

Darwin's Radio (Greg Bear)
Darwin's Children (Greg Bear)

The Planets anthology (Ben Bova)
--Mercury
--Venus
--Earth
--Moon
--Mars -- very cool take on Martian Life being big red men who migrated to Earth and became Navajo ancestors instead of little green men with ray guns
--Jupiter
--Saturn
--Return to Mars

The Rock Rats trilogy (Ben Bova) -- more adventures centered in the Asteroid Belt in the world set forth in The Planets

The Forge of God (Greg Bear) -- Alien species #1 destroys Earth, Alien species #2 offers to help us squish them out of existence out of a sense of cosmic moral revenge
Anvil of Stars (Greg Bear)

Rollback (Robert Sawyer) -- ET sends a message, wanting to know if we'd clone their DNA and help them live on Earth as ambassadors waiting for ET to arrive. Also about reversing the aging process and dealing with "17 again" issues.

Mindscan -- upload to a cyborg and retire to the moon. Incorporates quantum entanglement as a forensic clue to the intrigues happening behind the scenes.

I can't recall which book it was in now, but Ben Bova did this really neat story centered around the Giaia Theory where a human intelligence was uploaded into the Earth itself. It was later used to find, prepare, and populate exoplanets at Alpha Centauri and beyond.

 

[blueocean]

I am a huge fan of books turning into movies grant it most of the time the books are the better choice yet when there are days which lets say you don't want to read but you want to watch the movie. There are a couple of movies where I must say the book way much better.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

...The Forge of God (Greg Bear) -- Alien species #1 destroys Earth, Alien species #2 offers to help us squish them out of existence out of a sense of cosmic moral revenge Anvil of Stars (Greg Bear)...

These would be awesome.

In fact, just about any selection from the "Killer B's" (Brin, Bear, Benford) could be made into great sci-fi movies.

 

[Valcan]

God so many good ones.

The problem is while in a book you can take time to explain why something is like it is you cant do that in a movie.

I think what you need is for a book to be writen where it becomes a movie. Travis S Taylor and john ringo have the looking glass series.

That would be awesome. Or LFoD

 

[ice9]

Kalki by Gore Vidal.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein.

Although not Sci-Fi i think Vidals Creation would make a great Mini Series for HBO.

 

[Polishguy]

Darwin's Radio (Greg Bear)
Darwin's Children (Greg Bear)

Just thought you'd be interested to know, Syfy tried to turn those books into a movie. Thankfully, Mr. Bear withdrew permission when they changed the Shevites into blue-skinned, black-blooded demon elves. :?

As for me, I'd like to see Stephen Baxter's NASA trilogy turned into movies. Titan, Voyage, and Moonseed would be awesome.

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

I'm surprised Yevaud hasn't mentioned this already but I'd like to see the exploits of John Christian Falkenberg (The Prince) on the tube or big screen (serialized in either case). It has the right mix of action and behind the scenes intrigue that Hollywood could use to make a passable show with mucking it up too much (I hope). Given what Hollywood did to The Day the Earth Stood Still I'm afraid to offer up some books that require a deeper understanding to appreciate.