Books that need to be made into movies!
This will likely start out with little traffic but please anybody that comes across this - as long as constructive - I'd like you to add books and discussion on books that should be made into movies. Bonus points for anyone that makes storyboards or with AI pictures from neverworks...!
As I titled this I want suggestions for books that should be made into movies. I'll put some criteria
The last 10 ish years have been a hell of horrible remakes of great classics and being a "Scifi/fantasy geek" with an eclectic reading list it has been exceptionally painful for I know they could have made TEN "Battle Beyond the Stars" for one of these modern Woke-bustiers.
When it comes down to it we have a wealth of exceptional scifi and fantasy that has not been turned into movies. From the mid 40s to the mid 80s, my opinion, are the best. Note that Star Wars and to a lesser bit Star Trek are not that original but rather a tribute to the long standing literary world of sci-fi and fantasy. Conan was at least a direct adaptation of one of the best of its genre, namely REH's Conan though seen through the comics and later Carter/DeCamp adaptations as much.
I love fantasy, scifi and adventure fiction and have all my life. I do not enshrine the past but grew up reading novels, magazines, comics from 2+ decades ago due to my city (small town to most of you) having limited "new" stuff but lots in many used bookstores and an excellent library. New to me. So I read what was the greatest eras, from the classics like HG Wells to the late/mid 80s and was so into that I didn't notice the shift of the late 80s into the 90s. When I was a young adult and able to be a "Tycoon" and buy new books it was a shock the "Woke" or what we called "Political Correctness" had been forced into them.
Now I am an indie from the boonies but we have this stuff called "Folk Wisdom".
And the first part I could say is; "If it ain't broken, don't FIX it."
Yeah there are stereotypes with sci-fi and fantasy and most are untrue. Even with cliches like Damsels in Distress, filed teeth native cannibals and societies that resemble loosely those of the 50s most of the stories were incredibly progressive for the time. The Betty-Page look alike in a see-through spacesuit with a uniform looking like a 1950s pinup bikini is there to sell the cover, no apologies. Often the story might be written by a woman under a masculine pen name and sometimes a non-white person under an anglicized name.
They cared about making good stories and selling them to pay the bills versus today's behemoth fortresses of Mammon huge corporations that shove agendas and when nothing sells have the government take our money to make sure their books balance. How quaint and old fashioned.... /sarcasm/
The stories went the whole range and overall the editors kept what sold but kept experimenting.
There's generally two major categories but the writers fought these - the "Thinker" and "Adventure" scifi story. Fantasies tend to be either "Romance" not meaning necessarily love but a passion for some other age or world (ahem - Middle Earth....) or "Allegorical" somehow reflecting the world even if "Beyond the Fields we know..." or in "A wood older than record..." (anyone get these last 2?)
I won't break into an essay on genre types it's been done way too much.
My focus here is the sad wasteland we have for movies - most of them very poor re-re-remakes. Seriously, some have been made and re-made within the same decade. Especially comic book movies even with so many good ones to choose from. And then these new ones are ruined by today's "identity politics" though the Bronze Age (70s to mid 80s) of comics they largely take from was arguably even more progressive than the sci-fi/fantasy world (and stole from it) in story. Again "if it ain't broken, don't FIX it"
The bigger problem is identity politics that will create a backlash if anything to the real causes.
And also it is behemoth corporations that don't fear a flop hurting their bottom line due to being able to get a bailout for a failed product.
Assuming this can be overcome or circumvented - we need to stop the re-makes and force studios to make new movies. I mean things that are not something that has been made in the same medium. We do not need another Goonies or Gremlins or Back to the Future or "The Thing" or....they've all be re-made and sometimes re-re-remade and the latter versions are almost always hated. It is even so bad that when a real sequel comes along they have to pretend to be a re-make and then fatigue in both diminish them. This only benefits "Vulture Capitalists" who exist for short term looting and have contempt for everything else.
The other part of that is they tend to be very good at wanting to adapt that which will not be easily adapted to film or other visual media. The biggest offender is Frank Herbert's DUNE.
I mean no disrespect to Herbert or the man's works of which Dune is most known and popular. (he wrote other novels and stories, btw...) I loved Lynch's Baroque version. A time traveler should get $ and buy up the rights to it and give him the 6+ hours to make a decent attempt at adapting it. That's what should have happened...
Will I be so charitable?
Nope. Society deserves punishment. If I get a time machine I'll give Jodorowsky big $ and a modern computer with proper software to make his version of Dune... That'd be a real RIOT.... Very unlikely but if you see a big shift in reality and have memories people still obsess over of how the industry was ruined by that horrible picture... Guilty.
Aside from Elephant Sh-t fantasy this is about making GOOD pictures. Dune was fantastic but visually it's DRY as the desert sands of which most of the story is set. No harm there but that's the #1 reason it is so hard to adapt. By contrast let's look at tons of things that were adapted well. Flash Gordon, many of Steven King's novels, Conan the Barbarian...I could go on a long time.
What's the difference?
The plot is not some carefully constructed set of beautiful prose that to take away a note is to diminish like Motzart's works. The theme to these are the stories and how they are told.
This leads to the biggest successes - Star Wars and Star Trek - they were essentially a tribute (and robbery) of the vast world of sci-fi and fantasy. Again risk of going on a tangent, endless essays are about what Star Wars and Star Trek STOLE... allegedly - from other writers, artists, stories....
The Star Trek story "Arena" is the most blatant of this - they got contacted by Fredrick Brown DURING making it to ensure he'd get PAID - kind of like how Bradbury had to write letters to get $ over his stories being openly adapted by EC comics.... George Lucas was afraid he'd have a whole line of lawyers from old authors and "Estates" claiming to own their copyrights...
But 'stealing' from this genre made the best movie and story/comic book franchises ever. Until the so-called "Woke"/"Identity Politics" era. Truly "The Dark Times..."
That alone argues very well that many sci-fi and fantasy/adventure stories need an adaptation versus any re-make...
So - to focus - this is about which novels should be turned into films.
It won't be the only part - I intend quite a few "Books that should be made into movies" over upcoming months and years and hopefully help inspire a real turnaround and some works that deserve it being made onto the screen before they become Penny Dreadful old school. Dare I dream any of my stories will be made into movies? Right now I'm more concerned with the big toxic undead elephant in the room of the monopolized markets and fake ideals.
Let's also get this out the way; Woke is NOT Progressive.
I'm a child of Hippies.
Other adults sometimes subtly insulted them for being 'failures' for their life choices but I was impressed how much they and their fellows sacrificed to push the needle a tiny bit.
I opposed the existing racism, sexism and even homophobia before it was "Fashionably Radical" such as native kids on a Reservation school being forced to sit in the wastebasket as "Trashcan Indians" for using any of their native language in class even at just trying to understand English "So --- is ----?" Parents were louder in trying to turn this around and also lost a teaching job over it, btw.
The modern "Woke" are a JOKE. The world has 1,000,001 problems. They want to re-fight those 60s battles with a good chance to lose them. Preach to the converted. And they are corporate shills which those of the past who were anything but "Politically Correct" resisted as "Selling out". Sure some rockers and a few personalities made a few $ eventually but they'd have all made a LOT more $ if they only cared about it versus any ideals. The woke start out sold out and try to grift for $.
That was a tangent but putting it there that though I oppose the modern as I type this "Woke" era I'm not arguing for racism, sexism - they just accuse anyone who isn't their way of being like that and try to control the argument. Old school sci-fi/fantasy was AWESOME and had good stories. A few tropes and such and yes a few authors were racist - but overall it was super progressive compared to the times. Next HPL thing go look up L Frank Baum (you know - Wizard of Oz) and see how racist he was. Hint - Google "L Frank Baum Genocide"... HPL just had a few stereotypes and some nasty poetry in a large collection of works but hid from everyone including his own group IRL.
So - let's start this:
Which of many books could be turned into movies!?
I'll add some criteria:
1 - it must have never been made into a movie before
2 - it must be original, not based off a movie or play
3 - the rating should be PG - R rated for mass appeal
4 - It should be a book that describes the story and action versus being too cerebral or reliant on character's thoughts and extensive digging into the plot to understand the story.
5 - It should be given the Milus formula which gave us Conan the Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger - that is a small team led by established "Pros" who get the $. The "Investment Representatives" are ordered strictly to NOT interfere as long as they are making the movie. Beyond modern "Identity Politics" and hiring inexperienced fools this is what causes so many movies to be drek. This fueled the "Sequel" rot of the 80s into the 90s, btw. Pros with $ and freedom make EPIC movies that later are leeched off of in sequels and horrible re-makes. You'd think they'd learn.
(ideal) it should be works from authors without too many adaptations
(ideal) it should be relatively free of modern "Identity Politics" or whatever replaces it
(ideal) if it was in some other medium it needs to be a transition - movie to game, game to movie
(ideal) - if it IS a re-make it needs to be a very long distance in time, vastly improved by modern tech and/or some kind of creative transformation...
For instance - I'd LOVE to see Alistair Reynold's "Beyond the Aquila Rift" de-made to look like it was a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode from the 50s/60s...!
Disclaimer - "Fair use and Parody" - I used Midjourney to make these - not even using as reference the Netflix (AWESOME!) adaptation of his story. Mr Reynolds seems to be on the "Anti-AIart bandwagon" but hmmm... how would poor Zima Blue be treated, then...?
Still I'd LOVE to see this movie made for real - said story would be perfect DE-Made to look like a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits thing. That is one kind of "re-make" I'd be 100% for - the exception to the rule. Except that I've been too busy I'd have made storyboards for this.
To make a good movie of a book you need:
A - a good story that'd be good in movie format. This is MOST of the Pulps, btw. Many early pulps even advertised they would work as movies but sadly the mainstream downplayed science fiction as childish until the 70s (Star Wars, Star Trek) where kids raised on it grew up. I am not saying this is the best format for any story - but the best format for movies that are adapted from real books.
B - a Milus team. Conan the Barbarian with Arnie again. A few Professionals controlling a mix of experienced and up and coming actors. They know that their careers are based on every movie they've worked in and that is their resume and might as well be tattooed on their backs. Let them do their JOBS as long as initial intent is settled.
C - Per "B" -Control investment reps if any banks are involved even at the cost of NOT making the movie... I'd rather my own works NOT be made than butchered. "The movie is always better than the book..." Yes - the rule. (until a Time Traveler gives Jodorowsky some $ and a modern computer) But if you have a book and write "This is movie from book" in excrement and film it...I don't think it'll help the author's legacy or the book sales. Get the $ - but have the investor reps under strict rules (personal financial loss) to NOT interfere with the plot, actors, setup. If they do cocaine all day and it's not part of the movie and the director is packing a briefcase with money and has a one way ticket to somewhere with no extradition treaty - that's when they are legit to go for blood. But they will NOT be allowed to bully the director, writer, actors for anything if they are making the movie. They are NOT to sit in endless wasteful (Time = money spent) conferences and 'debate' with the threat of pulling funding decide what will happen. If they try this their contracts make them liable to have the project trashed and re-started with them owing to penury. "Just make sure they are making the movie vs doing coke or stealing the funding, otherwise sit around and smile and don't bother them".
I'll note the movie "The Hitcher" - one of our former Presidents was on the board of investors. He got paid $50K (?) in 1970s $ to sit on the board of a bank that financed it. His billionaire father who also was President was too busy with other things to personally involve himself in something so low... So the man got to once in a while check in for what I said above - make sure they were making the movie vs doing cocaine all day or running off with the funds. Nice work if you can get it.
Well first day he was trying to wake up early at 10AM and since he'd reduced his drinking was on his first bottle of Jack Daniels (vs 10th) so he read through the script. "Boy, this is a scary movie... Ken you make this movie? Ah'm supposed to ask and check in on you..."
"Yes sir!" - the producers said and showed them their work, explained the budget, options...
"Alrighty! Now ah got to come in and check on you now and again but long as you are working Ah won't bother you. Uh, do I get to go to one of them pre-screenings?" - again affirmative...
So he signed and finished the bottle and went to sleep. The rest of the investors reps were bully middle managers the sort that come by to harass your boss, make horrible "Rules" and ensure the place gets closed down. But to this man they'd have gone hunting with him and if he accidentally shot them in the face "I'm sorry for the pain I've caused his family..." - so seeing him OK the project like that they went with it. He'd risk his Dad's displeasure if it F---ed up and they'd get to stay back and just get paid without it hurting their careers.
And "The Hitcher" helped usher in the modern iteration of the "Slasher" flick leading to so many greats of the 80s, 90s and even into modern stuff like "Saw". VAST return for a relatively tiny investment though a good budget for the time. All because a man let professionals do their work and was only there to make sure they did it. He did visit the set but "Don mind me, Ah just have to check on you now and again..." rumored to bring them doughnuts (good frosting covered kind!) and then fell asleep with a bottle or two.
Obviously I didn't vote for the man as President - but I can say ONE very good thing for him!
Beyond that there's marketing and distribution
The big thing that needs to be broken beyond the politics/hollow-woke is the theater monopoly. It's so illegal but tolerated that if you bring your own DIY movie to your local theater or ask them to show a special film you get a lecture on how they only have ONE provider of movies who largely tells them what to do. They might also point out how theaters go bankrupt, such as having to show films about historical events so some director can win an award...full rental and while the local populace doesn't deny said event took place they aren't going to ruin their weekend having it hammered in.
However the recent pandemic the studios left them high and dry and to die.
Thus it's possible now to break this racket and it should be done.
The biggest way to defeat the entrenched problems is to make sure they are denied bailouts, especially taxpayer funded ones.
If they make a movie that sucks and doesn't sell, fine - free speech. If bad taste was a crime I'd have a record and a buddy would be on Death Row. However we don't expect you to pay for our foolish hobbies. The establishment has created piles of bricks at the cost of a trillion or more dollars and want you to pay for it.
WRITE - your Senate/Congress reps. Yes, a letter, polite, concise, to the point. Demand NO bailouts. They have free speech so we can vote with our $ to NOT support it since we don't need to EAT Disney Star Wars nor work on Dr Who for the latest race/gender swap. Thus we should not have to PAY when the merchandise piles up at Big Lots and other used shops and doesn't sell...
That's the setup here - it'll be a big fight but to those that love sci-fi and fantasy it needs to be done. There is a rich legacy of stories mostly from the mid 40s to mid 80s just begging to be made that even dated would work near 1:1 text to movie and be very entertaining to watch and a hit if they can make it through the hurdles. To bypass the fake arguments the identity politics people use again most of these stories are very progressive and would be OK with "Diverse" casts of people - a lot of them even had white people on the covers but were black or mixed race when you read the stories. If not for the re-remake culture and the industry headed by uncaring and/or idiots for the most part many stories that will be suggested would have been made already.
----Sorry for the big setup - but it was necessary ----
Spoiler Alert - I'll try not to 'ruin' any of these - but I hope I get some more people to buy works I cite. I won't dare claim my views are "the best" but rather ones I advocate. I am all open to reasonable debate and would love other suggestions. Dare I dream someone does some storyboarding of something they like? But people who are freaked out by spoilers are VERY sensitive so just glance at the picture / title and if you haven't read them well...Ebay!
On to the books - I'll start with a few here:
TL/DR - Star Trek meets the Demoltion Man in an underground submarine!?
Plot/Spoiler - This book was written long before either fiction as most of the popular major franchises are a tribute.
From WW2/Post WW2 a submarine is downed and the crew are all frozen. Centuries later they are revived. Earth is under an invasion of frog like creatures called the Nerne who are openly exterminating humanity to make room for their species. Serious, the rulers of Earth try to contact them, they get a response stating their intentions from the aliens advising against any future attempts to communicate. Earth can't fight back. Humanity has grown VERY "Soy" and is anti-violence with people living very passive lives heavily medicated and male/female roles are being conditioned out. In desperation the rulers of Earth make a compromise by using their tech to revive the 'barbarians' from the past and then aid the crew with better weapons and a Tesla related sub-sonic tech that allows the submarine to push through most matter as it does water.
The Nerne also have this tech so there are underground high tech submarine battles...!
It gets technical - but IMO in a good way - if made into a movie I bet Xycod would get a LOT of questions and they'd either hate them or LOVE them... Don't worry, the plot moves along nicely.
The book does address issues - mostly pacifism ideals vs real - but also gender roles and masculinity. Thigh might be controversial but only to people who want to create arguments it handles it well. The book on the other side of the cover would be a RIOT - and durn good if made into a movie also or adapted as part of an episodic operation - but I'm for good movies not fueling the fake 'politics' of the time I type this. Obviously population, social control, propaganda... Lots in this book. Anyone who likes Star Trek should LOVE this book though it's got adventure and excitement also. Any Trekkie - well that crowd is smart enough to know it ripped off lots of science fiction ideas but more on the "Thinker" side vs Star Wars the Lensman/Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers stuff.
Also a major reason this is top of my list is it inspired a short-story I wrote though the plot has nothing to do with it save the aliens are evolved Amphibians like the Nerne and my challenge was to work out their culture/world/history but make a story readable without needing a huge index/glossary to educate people before they read it, to have it just flow through the story... They wouldn't like to meet the Nerne either.
In a rugged universe a lone man travels between one world after another, sometimes a hero, sometimes a fugitive. He is wanted by a cyborg cult called the Cyclan. He seems to posses both a survival skill worthy of the most brutal knife-fighter which he is but also the impulse to risk himself to save others or worlds. He'd be a hero and leader of a world but he is driven by the burning desire to return to his lost homeworld - considered a myth among humans - the origin world named "Earth".
"Earth is in a place where the stars are few and far apart and this vast array of burning stars we live in is a dim line only visible at night..."
This would be good as a sci-fi channel series given what today's SFX can do as most of the major players are human and the Cyclan could be done with makeup and clever placing. (they pretty are tall) Fantastic backgrounds, space battles, lasers - easy SFX. There'd need to be good choreography as Dumarest is a good knife-fighter and martial artist - the challenge would be it'd be close and brutal no fancy dancing. However with MMA popular these days it just might help a star of said activity become an actor!
The only downside is it'd perhaps be seen as derivative of Star Wars. However, whoops, Star Wars has really declined due to DISNEY so its ripe and rotten for "Rip-Offs". And Dumarest is NOT a rip-off. It came before Star Wars. Star Wars is derivative aka a "Tribute" to many, many scifi works, Lensman and onwards.
BTW - any "TTRPG" hobbyists? Ever play the game Traveller? Guess what, it was cribbed nearly 1:1 from these books. Tubb never sued, like Vance he was flattered and even if like any writer really needing $ didn't want to burn himself out suing like Harlan Ellison did for much better reason. So the very solid niche game is heavily Dumarest of Terra. Ever wonder why the game was so brutal you could have your character die WHILE rolling him up? Read some of these books!
Most notably his proto "Cyberpunk" tales - but it's world we LIVE IN. He's like Edgar Cayce but nearer to the world and far more has come true.
And he did a lot of entertaining pulp science fiction and then even a neat fantasy character called "The Traveller in Black". LOTS of good film fodder though boy would his pre-Cyber Cyberpunk ones be a RIOT...
More to come later - comments and discussion VERY welcome - I'll delete / ban insulting trolls but welcome real debate.
----
Maxx Feral
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