Where's Hollywood?

[Mistral]

I got to thinking-we moan a lot about the quality of filmed scifi, all the clunkers that just plain bite. What stories(written) SHOULD be made into movies? What has Hollywood thus far missed(besides the boat)? Why do you think (this) story should be a movie and give us a hint of what it's about.

I think Little Fuzzy by H Beam Piper would make a great flik. It si the story of a lonely prospector on a frontier world who comes home to his little pre-fab dwelling to discover a tiny, furry humanoid in his shower(18 inches tall). Without spoiling the plot, it turns into a big row over the question of 'What is intelligence and how do we identify it?' E.T. would be blown away...

 

[Caliburn24]

Startide Rising by David Brin.

It would give us a spaceship unlike any other, with a more unique crew than any seen on the big screen before.

With current CGI I think the dolphins and various creatures could be done well enough. And the story itself is great.

Sometimes for all of humanity's pluckiness and ingenuity the power of more advanced alien races is just too much to beat.

 

[23skidoo]

This isn't exactly original, but I am surprised no one's attempted to tackle the Foundation books yet. In fact, Asimov in general seems to be very rarely adapted for film (Fantastic Voyage doesn't really count because IIRC he novelised the film). The most recent attempt was I Robot but all they did was take some general concepts. Foundation, I believe, has the potential to be a spectacular, all-star cast of a film series.

An Honor Harrington movie is long overdue, too. For some reason while typing that I immediately flashed on Milla Jovovich as Honor. Angelina Jolie is somewhat overused in "dream casting" but when she appeared in Sky Captain she reminded me a lot of the Honor Harrington book cover model (actually, doesn't Honor even begin wearing an eyepatch later on, too?). The one subgenre that we have not seen represented in Hollywood very much is the "military SF" genre, which is what Honor is about. And I don't mean people vs. bugs like you get with Starship Troopers, either.

Lastly, now that Hollywood has managed to film the "unfilmable" - Watchmen (yeah I know not everyone thinks it worked. Well, I do) - then I think they should set their sights on some other unfilmable novels. Stuff like Shea and Wilson's Illuminatus Trilogy, or pretty much anything by William S. Burroughs (and not metafictional, semi-autobiographical stuff like Cronenberg did with Naked Lunch - I mean full out adaptations). Trying to explain the plot of any of them would make my head explode.

Cheers!

Alex

 

[miraclefan]

^Have to say what was Cronenberg smoking?

 

[Goliath]

^Have to say what was Cronenberg smoking?

Roach powder. Duh.

But seriously...I have long thought that Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon would make a great film.

Unfortunately, I'm the only person I know who has read it.

 

[Nardpuncher]

There was a book written 20 years ago by a guy Ken Grimwood called "Replay" that was about a guy that dies at age 55 or so from a heart attack then wakes up back in collge and gets to live his life over again.
He does, gets rich and all that, dies again and wakes up in college again but a few month after the first time..this happens several times with him jumping back to a more recent time each death.

 

[Vendikarr]

I would like to see a faithful adaptation of Philip Wylie's Gladiator.

 

[Harvey]

There was a book written 20 years ago by a guy Ken Grimwood called "Replay" that was about a guy that dies at age 55 or so from a heart attack then wakes up back in collge and gets to live his life over again.
He does, gets rich and all that, dies again and wakes up in college again but a few month after the first time..this happens several times with him jumping back to a more recent time each death.

I've had it highly reccomended, and it is one of the many books that I will get to "when there's time."

But, according to this bit at NPR, the movie rights have been long optioned, although it doesn't say who has them now.

 

[Goliath]

But seriously...I have long thought that Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon would make a great film.

Unfortunately, I'm the only person I know who has read it.

I've had it highly reccomended, and it is one of the many books that I will get to "when there's time."

But, according to this bit at NPR, the movie rights have been long optioned, although it doesn't say who has them now.

I think you accidentally replied to the wrong post.

 

[UssGlenn]

I'd like to see Asimov's "The Martian Way" short story made into a movie. The only problem is since it was written we've discovered that Saturn's rings are not big mountain size chunks of ice, and that's a major plat point.

 

[Harvey]

But seriously...I have long thought that Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon would make a great film.

Unfortunately, I'm the only person I know who has read it.

I've had it highly reccomended, and it is one of the many books that I will get to "when there's time."

But, according to this bit at NPR, the movie rights have been long optioned, although it doesn't say who has them now.

I think you accidentally replied to the wrong post.

Definitely did. Doing too many things this afternoon. My bad.

Ah, yes, I was replying to Nardpuncher. Fixed.

 

[Greg Cox]

There are plenty of books that have been optioned for years: "The Demolished Man," "Ender's Game," "The Stainless Steel Rat." Maybe one day they'll actually get made.

On the fantasy front, Fritz Leibers "Fafhrd and Grey Mouser" novels are crying out to be filmed. I've even got the Hollywood pitch. "It's a buddy movie meets LORD OF THE RINGS!"

 

[JustKate]

These aren't sci-fi, of course, but I can't figure out why none of Terry Pratchett's books have ever made it on the screen.

Of course, I also tremble at the thought of what some schmuck might do to them in a movie, but...that's another issue.

 

[Talosian]

Hollywood's too busy making cookie cutter comic book flicks like Thor, The Avengers, Jonah Hex, et al., to bother with any hard science fiction. Unfortunately, the industry has never been interested in plausible sci-fi. Which is probably why Morgan Freeman's Rama adaptation never went into production.

 

[Greg Cox]

I wouldn't say comic book flicks are cookie-cutter, given the wide range of titles you mentioned. THOR is fantasy, THE AVENGERS is a superhero adventure, and JONAH HEX is a western! Let's not dismiss an entire medium under one overly-broad umbrella.

Anyhow . . .

Other contenders:

MORE THAN HUMAN by Theodore Sturgeon, THE KRAKEN WAKES by John Wyndham, GATHER DARKNESS by Fritz Leiber. And, somewhat more obscure, SHADOW ON THE SUN by Richard Matheson would make a spooky horror-western.

 

[Mysterion]

Robert Silverberg's book Dying Inside could be a fantastic movie, I could see John Cusack starring in it.

David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself might make a really interesting film, also.

 

[Deckerd]

These aren't sci-fi, of course, but I can't figure out why none of Terry Pratchett's books have ever made it on the screen.

Of course, I also tremble at the thought of what some schmuck might do to them in a movie, but...that's another issue.

Well there are the made for TV ones: the rather good Hogfather and the Colour of magic which I haven't seen.

 

[Greg Cox]

There was a book written 20 years ago by a guy Ken Grimwood called "Replay" that was about a guy that dies at age 55 or so from a heart attack then wakes up back in collge and gets to live his life over again.
He does, gets rich and all that, dies again and wakes up in college again but a few month after the first time..this happens several times with him jumping back to a more recent time each death.

Agreed. A great book, which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

Sadly, Grimwood died a few years back.

 

[Forbin]

Ringworld. 'Nuff said.

 

[Goliath]

Ringworld--in IMAX.