The title of this post was going to be What Hollywood should make instead of doing Remakes, but that was long and awkward. Moving on: Here’s my list of Movies that need to be made. If Hollywood isn’t making a Remake, it’s pulling books from the Teen Age Girl section at the book store. And that’s fine… for Teenage Girls. What about us Blokes? Us guys that want something made fresh. What do we get? 214 different reboots of Comic Books, Giant Monsters, and Giant Robots… I want something NEW on the screen… Because there are a lot of fun books out there that would make awesome movies.
Also – this is a list of freaking awesome books that if you have NOT read – You need to because you are missing out. Read the books or get the Audio Book. But take this stuff in and glory in the majesty.
1. Monster Hunter International, by Larry Freaking International Lord of Hate Correia. And all the follow on MHI books. One good solid movie for each book. The director should be Guillermo del Toro. Casting choices can be argued in the comments.
2. The Iron Druid Chronicles, by Kevin Hearne. One of my favorite series of books, written by someone I don’t know. They are wonderfully clever, funny, daring, and truly very interesting books that hold my attention cover to cover. The Director for this… Maybe Wes Anderson, because of the quirkiness factor.
3. Grimnoir Chronicals, by LFILOHC. The three books in the GC series are epic. They have tenderness in parts, and loads of action, iconic characters, and they have a solid universe… world building is important here. I think the Coen Brothers for this… they could really add the gritty texture these movies would need, and give it that edgy feel. Again, each book it’s own movie to be released 2 months apart. None of that year long wait.
4. Dead Six, by Mike Kupari and LFILOHC. Both books. The action and pacing of these books needs a Director that can keep up. Now, I know who you guys would probably go to on this… But I’m thinking it needs some more flair than that to do these Characters justice. I want the physical action to really blow you away. I’m thinking Ridley Scott is the man for that.
5. The Uprising Saga, by George H Hill. Uprising Italia by Zach Hill as well as the other books coming by other authors. I’d like to say Michael Mann or some other ultra realistic director to get that jaw dropping gritty reality, but no. That’s not right. Because Uprising is literary junk food that should not be taken too seriously… Quentin Tarantino. If Dead Six is a perfectly grilled Porterhouse, then Uprising is a Microwaved Hot Pocket and a Mountain Dew Kickstarter to wash it down. It’s what Walking Dead SHOULD HAVE BEEN. And by the way, I think someone at AMC read Uprising… A Governor that takes over things with an eyepatch? Really? (Just kidding, I know the comic book predates Uprising…. but still)
6. Armor by John Steakley. Since we are talking about new films and not remakes… there’s no hope of a reboot of Starship Troopers. This is like the same thing but from a different perspective. James Cameron can do the alien world and military might better than anyone in sci-fi.
7. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. This book is probably more special to me than it should be…. but it really resonated with me. From a movie making standpoint – this movie would be impossible without the right director. J.J. Abrams made me like Star Trek. If he can do that, he can do this.
8. At the Mountains of Madness, by HP Lovecraft. Directed by Guillermo del Toro. The movie Guillermo has been wanting to make… Let him do it! If anyone does this movie… it should be Guillermo. No one else can do it justice. For God’s sake not Tim Burton…
Other books I want to see on the screen… The Stars my Destination, American Gods, Redshirts, and The Horus Heresy series.
What do you want to see made and who should direct it or be in it? Also, what do you think of my picks and who should be cast?
I am gonna disagree. No movies but TV mini Series… and it has to be Cable stations like AMC or SciFi or FX.
And I am talking Centennial-like length…13 episodes or so
Mathilda the Professional
HELL YEAH! Starring, of course, Natalie Portman and directed by Luc Benson.
Wouldn’t want it any other way.
The Matt Helm novels. Any of them.
Fritz Leibers’ Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser; he wrote shorts and novels with them, and they’d be AWESOME.
Hammer’s Slammers. Any of the novels.
Ever since I read Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising, I’ve been saying it would make an awesome TV miniseries. It’s been a while since I read it last, so I have no idea who should be cast in it, but John Milius absolutely must direct it.
This would be a remake BUT…….
H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” and have it directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
It’s probably already in-progress, but Jonathan Maberry’s “Joe Ledger” series, starting with “Patient Zero”…
I still say if Dead Six was done properly it would be one of the best movies ever. The movie would have to capture the story, characters, and tone of the book though, or it would just be another senseless action flick.
Being a “Bloke” is sexist and racist. You will read teen girl books to atone. BHO
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams. Directed by John Cleese and Eric Idle.
I forgot to add Terms of Enlistment and Lines of Departure, by Marko Kloos.
For director I’m thinking Cameron or Abrams.
And another one, because I can’t consolidate my thoughts: The Last Battle, by Stephen Harding. A true story from WWII about a mission conducted by U.S. and German Wehrmacht troops to rescue French political prisoners from the SS at the end of WWII.
Director? No clue. Someone who can make a good, realistic true war story without inserting presentism and preachiness into it.
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Battle-German-Soldiers-Joined/dp/0306822083/ref=sr_1_45?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400527377&sr=1-45
The “Preacher” comic books. Mindless violence, wise cracking Irish vampires and Southern crumpet. What’s not to like?
I CAN NOT BELIEVE you left out the REPAIRMAN JACK series. Anything by F. Paul Wilson.
My son and I are dying… what happened to “Russia”…?
Russia is still coming…
Cameron is right out on account of he’s staying busy making false global warming documentaries and similar secular progressive nonsense.
I’m aware that there will be no actors and directors left if we cut out leftists but I must draw the line when someone says I’m a criminal because I disagree with them. It’s especially precious that Cameron organized a debate then backed out. What a spineless wonder!
The White Company, by Doyle. The Coen brothers would provide an interesting take on it.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, by Tolkien. It should be done as a series, closely following the original text, minus some of the singing. I don’t know who would be a good director for a project like that, but they should avoid excessive use of CGI and let the action sequences fall within the realm of physical possibilities.
The Reacher series, by Lee Child. The Tom Cruise movie was ok, but for Pete’s sake, cast someone with the physical attributes of Jack Reacher, and try to stick to the story lines. Get those folks that directed Breaking Bad to do it.
Amen for The White Company, done with at least a good-faith effort to stick to the book. The problem is that screenwriters see a great story and immediately think that they can make it even better.
Jim Corbett’s The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, if it could be made by Steven Spielberg with the same care and attention to detail as Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. Some of Corbett’s adventures sound over-the-top but are quite true. Also, I agree with Miguel that some of your choices need a miniseries; they couldn’t be squeezed into a single movie.
The Proteus Operation by James P. Hogan (1985).
In 1975, JFK sends a team of scientists and Special Operations Forces is sent back in time to 1939, to change the outcome of World War II and prevent the Nazis from dominating the world.
The later prints of the book’s back cover description, and sellers such as Amazon, do give away a minor plot spoiler; the “real” origins of the Nazi movement are explained in Chapter 5 and Chapter 7. But that doesn’t ruin the story. And since The Proteus Operation is plot-driven rather than character-driven, it should easily translate to the movie screen. Anybody could play the main characters (although I’d like to see some well known actors play Churchill and Einstein).
Hollywood rarely does time travel movies well. Look at that abominal piece of crap Jar Jar Abrams shat out in 2009. Yeah, it was called Star Trek but Star Trek it was not. A movie version of The Proteus Operation, if done right, could be a better and more thoughtful science-fiction film than, say, The Matrix (1999), which was ruined by its pretentiousness and silly science (Using humans for batteries? WTF?! And dont’ get me started on the hipster environmental themes…).
The book has been out for nearly 30 years. I have no idea why this hasn’t been made into a movie yet. It’s got everything we want: a sci-fi background, set in World War II, and a story about how a few individuals in the right place at the right time can change the course of epic events. Hint: if you didn’t sleep through history class, the overall ending is obviously predictable, but that does not diminish the enjoyment of the journey.
Yes Yes Yes to “Armor”.
Another great one is “On My Way to Paradise” by Dave Wolverton.
Four Day Planet
Lone Star Planet
The Cosmic Computer
Space Vikings
and/or damn near anything else by H. Beam Piper (yes, even Little Fuzzy)
Unfortunately John Milius is in no condition to either write the screenplays or direct them.
Since you mentioned Red Shirts I’d like to toss Joss Whedon’s name out there for that one.
He would be a great choice for that one.
The one series of movies I really want to see are already in the works, and that’s the Mitch Rapp novels by Vince Flynn.
The only other thing I want is a 5 to 7 season series of The Wheel of Time
The Horus Heresey series is too big for Hollywood. The way it was originally described as a brief campaign striking straight for Earth followed by a protracted clearing up operation has changed to make the fighting before the battle for the Emperor’s Palace take place over several years rather than just a few months. Hence, we’re now up to book 29 in the series.
I’d like to see the Dread Empire’s Fall books done as movies.
Where’s John Ringo? The Posleen War series. The Ghost/Kildar novels. Live Free or Die. March Upcountry with David Weber…speaking of whom there needs to be an Honor Harrington movie or three.
Lois McMaster Bujold’s Shards of Honor / Barryar series.
Joss Whedon or JJ Abrams could do a great job with any of this material. And I agree with a previous poster that Cameron has no place here. After the hatchet job he did on the marines and he always does on private industry I never want to watch another of his movies.
A dramatization of the life of Bass Reeves. http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/04/24/lessons-in-manliness-from-bass-reeves/
Seriously, out of all the westerns and spin-offs thereof, how has nobody made a movie on this guy yet? Out of all the political correctness Hollywood shits out on an average day, how has this man’s story never came up? They even took a moment on Justified a few years ago to point this out.
Seriously Hollywood, greenlight that shit.
“Caliphate’ by Tom Kratman. No one would make it; too politically incorrect.
“The Grey Man’ by Mark Greaney
I third Bracken’s trilogy, ‘Armor’ and Ringo’s Posleen War series.
‘The Light at the End’ by John Skipp
Armor, definitely. One of my favorites.
Several other good possibilities listed here.
Question: Why doesn’t Hollywood pick some of these stories instead of focusing on comic books and teen girls bestiality/necrophiliac love stories? No built in audience? Bullshit. Game of Thrones has a large adult audience. Adults will buy tickets if you give them something to go see.
To understand Hollywood? I couldn’t tell you. All they do these days is rehash shit they’ve already done.