There are constantly news of books being adapted for film, and some are great ideas while others make me wary. There are loads of bad adaptations (remember Suburban Girl based on Melissa Bank's The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing? Yeah, most people don't.) and a few examples of the opposite (The Jane Austen Book Club made for a better movie than book, in my opinion).
So while the risks are high, the results hit-or-miss, Hollywood consistently turns to the bookshelf for new ideas. What stories have you been able to easily envision on the big screen? I have always thought the epic page-turner I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb would make a great movie (and apparently there's one in development, but details are vague). Also, earth to Hollywood: Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed would make a great movie with a relatable protagonist — and it already has a fan base to boot. So what is the hold up? I know Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper is being adapted, though I also think Vanishing Acts would translate well to screen. Finally, the whole time I was reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I could see it played out as a movie — though it would need a director with a brilliant, artful eye.
What books do you think would do well on the silver screen?
Star by Julien Macdonald
Rusty Neal
Alberta Ferretti
I'm honestly not so sure about Good in Bed. The protagonist was okay for most of the book, but during the last third or so she became a little insufferable. I just wanted to smack her and say "get it together woman!"
1I would like to see Stephen King's Dark Tower series made into a series of movies, if they do it well.
2Enders Game is BEGGING to be a movie. Apparently it was in pre-production but has been stalled for a long time. I'd really like to see it happen.
Buzz, I have to disagree about Suburban Girl. I found it to be a great adaptation. It was better than the book. Alec Baldwin was great in it and Sarah Michelle Gellar is a favorite of mine.
3I read The Chameleon's Shadow by Minnette Walters last year. It's a fun quick read, but about 3/4 of the way through I thought this would translate into a better movie!
4The Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz. And not a TV movie either.
5I just read one called "Love Walked In" and was thinking the whole time what an enjoyable movie it would be.
6I agree with you that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close could be a great movie, but I would also hate to see it ruined with a bad adaptation.
I think The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay would make an excellent movie. I read it right before The Pianist came out, and when I saw Adrian Brody for the first time, I thought he looked exactly like I pictured Kavalier in my head. He's probably too old, now, though.
7Ooh, good call on Adrien Brody. He'd be a good Kavalier!
I think the following would make good movies:
"Popco" by Scarlett Thomas
8"The Dogs of Babel" by Carolyn Parkhurst
"The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver
"Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl
"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers
"Sellevision" by Augusten Burroughs
"The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
I think that the Frank Peretti book called This Present Darkness would be a cool movie. It is all about spiritual warfare that the average person cannot see happening around them.
9Whip, I totally thought the same thing about Dogs of Babel. When I read it I figured it was only a matter of time, and now they actually are making a film adaptation. The news is here. I'm really intrigued to see how they handle certain aspects of the story, visually.
10i would love to see "the perks of being a wallflower" as a movie. its always been a favorite book of mine...
11Oh, thanks for the info, Buzz. That's pretty cool! I'm curious to see how they'd handle it, too, but I think that it could be a great movie if done well.
I'm not familiar with any of that screenwriter's work, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.
12I agree about The Jane Austen Book Club. It made much more sense as a movie and it has become one of my favorites!
13Oh I agree about the Odd Thomas series of books... made me enjoy Dean Koontz again. Love that character.
14I agree treb, Enders Game would be a good movie.
cgnelson have you read 'Belong to Me'? It's the follow up to 'Love Walked In'. I actually enjoyed BTM better than LWI although I happened to read it first (I didn't realize it was book #2).
15I thought Belong to Me would make a good movie as I was reading it!
(They are by Marisa De Los Santos)
'Love and other impossible pursuits', the film is in pre-production i'm excited about that. Other book,'The dirty Club social club' or 'Survivor' by Chuck Palahnuck this one i think only David Fincher would be able to adapt it.
16Middlesex would be interesting, but it would have to be very delicately handled. And I think they should do a biopic on Audrey Hepburn's life that actually does her justice, and it could be based on the book "Audrey" by Alexander Walker, which was a really interesting take on her life. And they need to a biopic on her anyway, at least before Natalie Portman gets too old to play her role!
17I'd like to see Marian Keyes's "Rachel's Holiday" and "This Charming Man" made into films, as well as Dave Eggers's "What Is The What".
I'm really looking forward to the film adaptations of "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "Water for Elephants", as I loved the books.
18And I would also like to add that The Other Boleyn Girl was an excellent book that translated into a horrid movie. So many things were lost from the novel when it was squeezed into a 2 hour screenplay. I wish they had left well enough alone.
19I totally agree about Good in Bed. One of the books I'd most love to see made into a movie is The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
20I LOVED I Know This Much is True! I would love to see that or She's Come Undone made into a movie.
21I've always wanted The Catcher in the Rye made into a movie.I love that book.
22Oh, Ashleybrooke - I totally forgot about Perks! That would be great as movie.
I have this issue of forgetting about books that I read soon after I read them. Only my most recent reads are the ones I remember...hmmmm...I digress...
Anyway, Perks of Being a Wallflower would be a great movie
.
23It's a non-fiction book but it's definitely a page turner: The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty.
Sibling rivalry, back stabbing, betrayal, greed - what more could you ask for.
24Chocolatine, I agree! Really, any Marian Keyes book has strong potential. She is my favorite.
25I've always thought that any of Meg Cabot's books, which I looooove, would make great romantic comedies. Mainly because they're basically a romantic comedy in book form, and they are all so sweet.
26cgnelson, Love Walked In is in development with Sarah Jessica Parker's production company, I believe.
And Marisa De Los Santos's second book, Belong To Me, is even better, IMO.
27Uglies- Scott Westerfield (its about a future world in which a compulsory operation at sixteen wipes out physical differences and makes everyone pretty by conforming to an ideal standard of beauty)
Bunnicula- although i heard rumors that they were indeed making a movie soon.
The Host-Stephanie Meyer (much better than her insipid Twilight books its about an alien race that takes over our world , untill one humans mind fights back against its occupation and the alien ends up falling in love with the Hosts boyfriend and helping the rebels get rid of the body snatchers)
28I almost want to say Weetzie Bat - but it's golden you can't touch it. Any Francesca Lia Block Book would be good if done perfectly.
29I get so into my books its hard to say which ones would be good movies because I have such a specific idea of how things should be.
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