On a Purely Technical Level, Are There Any Unfilmable Books or Comics Left?

[JD]

After seeing what they've been able to do in things like the Marvel or DC movies, or Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets, or even going back a to Avatar, it go me wondering, are there any unfilmable books or comics left?
For a long time there have been books or comics, that were just so out there, with such wild settings, and strange creatures and things that there was no way the would be able to recreate them onscreen, but now it just seems like with the level CGI and other effects have reached that they really can do pretty much anything.
Now I know there are some books and comics that are just to complex, or whose story is to internal to really work onscreen, so I'm going to keep this at a purely visual/technical level.

 

[Greg Cox]

A lot of Asimov's work isn't terribly cinematic, since it's mostly people figuring things out, but I gather that's not what you're asking about.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Maybe Lovecraft's stuff?

I mean tons of illustrators have done their level best for a long time and even collectively evolved a more or less 'standard' visions of what his monsters look like which is certainly filmable, but those illustrations don't really fully evoke the bizarre concepts he tried to communicate in writing, imo. Like how do you truly visually communicate a monster so terrible to look at it drives you mad? (Other than just not showing it and focusing only on the actor). What can you show on a tv screen to define a 'new color' no one's ever seen before? Etc, etc.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Maybe Lovecraft's stuff?

I mean tons of illustrators have done their level best for a long time and even collectively evolved a more or less 'standard' visions of what his monsters look like which is certainly filmable, but those illustrations don't really fully evoke the bizarre concepts he tried to communicate in writing, imo. Like how do you truly visually communicate a monster so terrible to look at it drives you mad? (Other than just not showing it and focusing only on the actor). What can you show on a tv screen to define a 'new color' no one's ever seen before? Etc, etc.

At The Mouth of Madness, while not actually based on actual story, comes close to those themes and ideas.

Dagon adapted A Shadow Over Innsmouth well too.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Lord of the Rings... that‘ll never work.

Also Neverending Story. Almost serious about that one. The film version we got was heavily altered compared to the source material.
There is some meta stuff in the book that is hard to realize even today.

 

[Qonundrum]

Anything can be made "filmable". Especially as plenty of reboots, remakes, reimaginings, regurgitations, etc, all change origins (locations or details/setup) or change everything except the name.
Add in CGI and anything's possible.

 

[RPOW0614]

I was wracking my brain for a book and had several candidates in mind...Rendezvous with Rama, Mona Lisa Overdrive, etc...and came to the conclusion that with the advances in CGI that there isn't any environment that can't be rendered with CGI.

Which is both cool and sad at the same time. Cool because anything is possible and sad because I love "behind the scenes" stuff and practical effects. I was a little sad when I saw some special effects show and there were scenes from AI and LOTR and there was nothing but green on the sets. The entire environment was added later. Ian McCellan almost quit as Gandalf because of this.

 

[JD]

I was watching the appendices material for the extended Fellowship of the Ring, and I actually had the exact opposite reaction, I was amazed how much of the sets and things were actually practical. I had assumed pretty much everything was pure CGI, but there was actually quite a bit of stuff that was actually miniatures and things like that.

Maybe Lovecraft's stuff?

I mean tons of illustrators have done their level best for a long time and even collectively evolved a more or less 'standard' visions of what his monsters look like which is certainly filmable, but those illustrations don't really fully evoke the bizarre concepts he tried to communicate in writing, imo. Like how do you truly visually communicate a monster so terrible to look at it drives you mad? (Other than just not showing it and focusing only on the actor). What can you show on a tv screen to define a 'new color' no one's ever seen before? Etc, etc.

That's actually a pretty good one, I haven't read Loevecraft, but from the little I know of him, there is crazy stuff that would be hard to really recreate even with modern CGI.

 

[JoeZhang]

A lot of Asimov's work isn't terribly cinematic, since it's mostly people figuring things out, but I gather that's not what you're asking about.

Are HBO still looking at a foundation series?

You'll get the detailed discussion around the table... then detailed stuff on the table...

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Foundation was ordered to series by Apple TV: https://www.thewrap.com/apple-orders-isaac-asimov-foundation-tv-series/

 

[Awesome Possum]

God Emperor of Dune. You could film it but it's mostly people talking to a giant worm man.

 

[Cyrus]

Speaking of anything can be done in CGI, I like to see a couple of Larry Niven novels turned into movies or mini-series: Ringworld and Integral Trees, two of the most fantastic non-planet settings ever. A few years ago syfy channel announced a mini-series based on Ringworld but hasn't happened yet.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Maybe Lovecraft's stuff?

I mean tons of illustrators have done their level best for a long time and even collectively evolved a more or less 'standard' visions of what his monsters look like which is certainly filmable, but those illustrations don't really fully evoke the bizarre concepts he tried to communicate in writing, imo. Like how do you truly visually communicate a monster so terrible to look at it drives you mad? (Other than just not showing it and focusing only on the actor). What can you show on a tv screen to define a 'new color' no one's ever seen before? Etc, etc.

I'm dying to see Guillermo Del Toro's take on 'At the Mountains of Madness'. I think if anyone could bring it to life it would be him. Personally I think the main problem with Lovecrafts work has been studio hesitation due to how bleak and unforgiving most of it is.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I'm dying to see Guillermo Del Toro's take on 'At the Mountains of Madness'. I think if anyone could bring it to life it would be him. Personally I think the main problem with Lovecrafts work has been studio hesitation due to how bleak and unforgiving most of it is.

Ligotti would be far worse for bleak and unforgiving. I don't know that that would really stop a studio depending on the business philosophy. No Disney or allied studio is going to film one any time soon but I'm sure one somewhere would. Getting across the mind bending horror of a shoggoth or an Old One is more needing a director that can put horror in the minds of the audience without special effects being their first and major tool.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Speaking of anything can be done in CGI, I like to see a couple of Larry Niven novels turned into movies or mini-series: Ringworld and Integral Trees, two of the most fantastic non-planet settings ever. A few years ago syfy channel announce a mini-series based on Ringworld but hasn't happened yet.

Did you see Jupiter Ascending? It didn't make any sense, but it had some insane visuals of a human civilization that's been around for billions of years.

 

[Cyrus]

Did you see Jupiter Ascending? It didn't make any sense, but it had some insane visuals of a human civilization that's been around for billions of years.

I haven't. But I will give a try, thanks!

 

[Cyrus]

Are HBO still looking at a foundation series?

Jonathan Nolan (of Westworld) was working on it. But I haven't heard anything lately, probably not happening.

 

[Miss Chicken]

What is people’s opinions on Asimov’s ‘The Gods Themselves’, is it filmable? It has been many years since I read the book.

 

[eGuy]

"The Quantum Thief" and the rest of the Jean le Flambeur trilogy by Hannu Rajaniemi is what came to mind for me. I think CGI is capable of the visuals of the physical locations, but the action takes place on so many levels at once that I think it would be very hard to portray in a satisfying or coherent way.

Lovecraft is a good one as well, though I think the issue is less one of realization of visuals and more a failure of most designers to push the envelope far enough in coming up with the creatures and settings. Giant monsters can be rendered very realistically, but portraying a Cthullu (or what have you) that is something more dread inspiring than just a squid faced Godzilla is difficult.

 

[eschaton]

I think Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy is fundamentally unfilmable. Yes, I know it was supposed to be made into a series by J. Michael Straczynski for Spike TV, but the project failed. I'm not sure why, but it would have been hackwork if done. The problems with adapting it to screen are myriad:

• So much of the series is based upon the descriptive prose. Obviously you could have stunningly rendered Martian landscapes, but entire chapters are basically just hikes through the wilderness and would make for very, very boring TV.
• Much of the remainder of the series is either internal monologues or long-form discussion about things like terraforming and political theory. There's entire chapters in Green Mars dedicated to the Martian constitution for fuck's sake!
• The series doesn't really have a plot. Red Mars is kinda sorta about the buildup to the transnationals taking over Mars, and Green Mars culiminates in the Martian revolution, but that's about it. The third book has no plot at all - it's just a series of vignettes further and further into the future of Mars.
• Aside from Phyllis (who is a cartoon character to showcase how Kim Stanley Robinson dislikes Christianity and Capitalism) there really aren't any antagonists personified in the books. The enemy of the Martian people are the metanats, but we of course never meet the CEO's directly, and their local stooges are mostly faceless and/or just saps who are getting exploited just like everyone else.
• The series is awash in the utopian socialism of Kim Stanley Robinson, which would almost certainly be toned down a lot for TV.
• The novels take place over the course of over a century, and although anti-aging drugs are available, they seem to slow down aging or keep someone in a perpetual "fit" old age, rather than actually halting it. This would cause issues - albeit not insurmountable ones - with casting, when you would need a major character like Nirgal to be cast all the way from childhood to middle age.

Just about the only aspect of the series which would work well on TV is the complicated, nuanced characterizations of the main characters. But fundamentally these interesting characters drift through the book in a semi-aimless manner through much of the narrative.