100 science fiction properties that would make a better film than Foundation

2. Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks

Change the title, excise the diamond pyramid sequence and maybe the Eaters, trim the game of Damage and punch up the ending a little and you've got a big, action-filled extravaganza.

3. The Lensmen series by E.E. "Doc" Smith.

The Hugo Awards voted it the #2 series of all time, behind only Foundation. It's the prototypical space opera -- heroic, galaxy-spanning group of warriors, space battles, alien worlds. It's pretty much the template for the entire Green Lantern mythology, and an admitted inspiration for Star Wars. Kimball Kinnison is a classic pulp hero, and the whole thing is ripe for a big-screen adaptation.

The Songs of Distant Earth. If Moon proved anything it's that smart SciFi can be made and people will enjoy it.

5. Bug Jack Barron.

Of course, it's not for lack of trying.

Hate to say it, but it'd be right up Richard Kelly's alley. Course, I'm a fan of all three of his films, so.

6. Chasm City from The Revelation Space Series by Alistair Reynolds.

Probably have to combine stuff from a few different books but the Melding Plague, the Glitter Band, Captain Brannigan consumed by his own ship, an intelligent, psychotic killer dolphin, the Conjoiner race and the lighthugger ships would make an epic, exciting sci fi movie.

Or you could have his Century Rain book which combines far future space warfare and an alternate universe 1950's noir-tinged Paris.

7. Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series.



It's been long enough since both Independence Day and War of the Worlds, and the 'Alien Invasion during World War II' scenario could really play well to audiences. Give it a realistic, Saving Private Ryan approach, and a few name actors.

Watch the greatest generation take on the greatest foe in the galaxy!

The Rookie by Scott Sigler

Football in the 23rd century, Copious alien species, organized crime, FTL, irradiated planets, and Entropy weapons.

edit: forgot to list author.

9. Old Man's War - Scalzi

I think a film version of Reynolds' stuff would be leagues better than the books. He has some great concepts and a neat universe but his books are boring as hell with too much fake-physics babble.

Seconded.

10. Startide Rising by David Brin

It's got talking chimps and dolphins. What more do you want? Oh, it's also got epic space battles and pretty damn good story. But TALKING CHIMPS AND DOLPHINS, PEOPLE.

I would be so up for this.

Me too. It would have to be a trilogy. I'm picturing the cast of Inglorious Bastards on that book cover.

"The lizard is a foot soldier of a zenophobic opressive egg-laying bitch, and they have to be de-stroyed!"

Ender's Game

A harder edged Harry Potter version of this story could be something special especially if they had the right Director (I think someone like Christopher Nolan could do something pretty special with the story).

I don't mind the physics stuff and I thought it made the more fantastical technolgies a bit more grounded due to his background in astrophysics, it sounds plausible to me anyway!

I think the Melding Plague in particular would be brilliant on screen.

His characters aren't up to much, espeically those from the Revelation Space books. The two leads in House of Suns showed a marked improvement though, memorable and well written, but that would never work as a movie.

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

The themes and technology would be really timely now. Plus biological computing through group sex! The rave scene in Matrix Revolutions could have had a programmatical purpose...

I'd be first in line for Startide Rising.

Or something by Lois McMaster Bujold. Any of the Miles Vorkosigan books would make for swashbuckling interstellar intrigue and fun. I don't think the ladies would flock to see the leading man, though.

For less fun I'd suggest Donaldson's Gap books.

Put George Clooney in a Stainless Steel Rat movie and watch the money roll in.

Since it has inspired so many post-apocalyptic tales, I'd like to see someone give The Earth Abides a shot.

The Green Brain by Frank Herbert
The book is set in the not-so-distant future, where humankind has all but succeeded in controlling all life on the planet and almost completely wiping out all insect life. The earth is divided into a "Green Zone" which humans totally dominate (or so they believe) and a diminishing "Red Zone" that is not yet conquered.

The "Green Brain" of the title is an intelligent organism that embodies and arises from nature's resistance to human domination. It is able to command social insects to form humanoid-shaped collective organisms which it uses to infiltrate the "Green Zone".

The book is about a small team sent in to the jungles of Brazil to investigate the problem, who find out that some of their assumptions were wrong.

THE POSTMAN, NEUROMANCER would be two choices of mine

Agreed! Brin contructed an awesome universe to play in with the whole Uplift series.

Stranger in a Strange Land.

My favorite novel, it would need a serious update from its 1950s origins but I would love to see this on the big screen.

Ringworld, by Larry Niven. The special effects technology is finally up to doing it convincingly.

They've been trying for years to get an adaptation off the ground. I remember Tom Hanks being attached to it years ago.

I like Brin's EARTH, personally. I think it would make an awesome movie, what with the Maori billionaire character. From ONCE WERE WARRIORS to THE WHALE RIDER, Maoris on film have a high success ratio compared to films about, say, native americans.


PS As for Brin's story about the talking chimp:

On my blog a few weeks ago, I actually outlined my idea for a sci fi movie based on a talking chimp. If anyone is curious, here is the link. The relevant posts where I discuss my script idea are numbers:


#268
#269
#271


PPS Someone should do a straight-faced straight up adaptation of STARSHIP TROOPERS. I think Zack Snyder, director of 300, would be perfect for that sci fi ode to fascism.

I remember liking Alan Dean Foster's GLORY LANE. Sort of a Hitchhiker's Guide meets Last StarFighter (also written by Foster). Course, I was a kid when I read it. More comedic space pulp than hard scifi. But could be cinematic fun, especially for kids. QUOZL too.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119925/

see PK Kevin Costner is your biggest fan!


Alan Dean Foster's is the most uneven writer I can think about, when he is good, he is good, when he is Ban, he is very bad.

I don't think the POSTMAN is as bad as it's rep, but it's no where near as good as the book. It basically tosses out all the narrative except for the basic premise.

Maybe THE POSTMAN would make a better HBO mini, the book is pretty long/complex

Has anyone else read it? It's great!

I can't argue with that, but I think his best work translates to a good time at the movies if adapted properly.

Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon would be pretty great. Its a take on an old detective tale like Chandler or Hammett(With the melancholy of Block), but set in the far future. An old man hires/blackmails Takeshi into finding out who murdered him before he was put in a new body. With the "Sleeving" technology, they could easily hire a new actor for sequels.

I've namedropped Jack Vance in other threads like this before, but since he's vastly underread I'll do it again here. Planet Of Adventure would be great, but what I'd go for is a tv miniseries of the Demon Princes series on a decent budget.
The material could work well with a fish-out-of-water director, due to the weird dialogue & alien behaviour that Jack Vance excelled at. Strangely enough I can very much imagine a Wes Anderson treatment.

Another one I mentioned in another thread: Tim Powers' Anubis Gates.

And two other titles ripe for adaptation:
-MOre Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon. How the hell hasn't this happened yet? A good script & execution would lead this one straight to a classic.
-Riverworld series. I know there was an abysmal tv adaptation, but start a franchise here, and hope you'll get past the first movie to The Fabulous Riverboat, so you can cast Sam Rockwell as Mark Twain, and Ron Perlman as the neanderthal Joe Miller.

It'll never happen as long as Scientologists are in power.

My pick: The Long Tomorrow, by Leigh Brackett. After the bombs drop, the Amish inherit the earth. But our hero finds a working radio and sets off in search of the signal. It's basically a post-apocalyptic Huckleberry Finn.

What do Scientologists have to do with the Heinlein estate?

Nothing. But take another look at the way Michael's cult is structured.

As already mentioned, Bujold's Vorkosigan series would be amazing. Actually, a TV series might suit it even better. Plus: More work for Dinklage!

Others already mentioned:
-Neuromancer is a tricky one. It's such a product of its times, and would need radical alterations not to seem silly. The Chris Cunningham-directed version lives in my head just fine, thank you very much.

-The film rights to Altered Carbon were already optioned. I can't remember by whom.

-Ringworld will be mistakenly accused of ripping off HALO when it's the other way around.

-On the Ian M. Banks front, I still think The Player of Games or Look to Windward might be better for first cracks. On the first, you've got a tighter structure and story to build off of, plus a hero who makes a good audience surrogate in his journey into an alien culture. Look To Windward has all sorts of rich subtext about loss, war, well-intentioned interventions, and terrorism in it that might make it more timely. The main character is more of a challenge though.

Sugestions:

-The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester. It's Monte Cristo in space with an amoral monster as the Count. But it's also so much more, and has one of the best endings of anything I've ever read. Cast someone who can play truly dangerous as Gully Foyle (The guy from Bronson?), and let Blomkamp or Bigelow direct it.

-The Atrocity Archive - Charles Stross. British spy fiction + Cthulhu mythos + "Chuck" (the TV show) + Microserfs. It's amazing. Get someone deft with comedy and creature effects to direct. Raimi is wrong, he's too...American. Not sure who would be best for this. Whedon?

Brad Pitt was once attached as a producer of The Sparrow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sparrow_(novel)

That was before Angelina and all that kid having bullshit.

If anything, the book seems more and more prescient and relevant with each passing year. I'm trying to think of an element in the plot that would be silly without being altered. I think as long as you treat it with a straight face, no major plot alterations would be needed

EDIT: Would there be VO naration? It would be a crime to lose the opening line of the novel

Or I guess you could do it visually, with a shot of the sky panning down to a broken TV or something

Ew, no thanks. Once was enough.

I'll second this one.

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger.

Cyberpunk, sleaze, gender vagaries and (to Americans) an almost alien culture plus a compelling anti-hero.

The Dispossessed!












Kidding, kidding. That would be even harder to adapt than Foundation.

Actually, uh, there's a lesser-known Phillip K. Dick novel called Eye in the Sky that would be extremely effective in the hands of someone like Alex Proyas.

CONSIDER PHLEBAS is probably Banks' most cinematic Culture novel and - with the right director - would be something to get excited about. I'd love to see today's digital FX turned onto the Culture orbital. THAT would be something to see.

I don't have a problem with changing the title, but there are issues with the rest of your suggestions.

1. I'm not a big fan of the pyramid sequence (or that mission in general), but one of its purposes is to demonstrate to Kraiklyn that Horza is worth his place on the CAT.

2. I like the Eaters and especially the disgusting cannibal Fwi' Song. Together they add a nice touch of horror to proceedings (trademark Banks). But more importantly, they give Horza TIME to complete his physical transformation into Kraiklyn. I suppose you could speed up the shapeshifting process, but I think that takes A LOT away from the character.

3. I've always struggled to picture the Damage game in my mind. I don't think Banks quite manages to make it leap from the page. But I do like the concept. It's definitely open to cinematic reinterpretation, provided its essence remains.

4. What do you mean by "punch up the ending"? A more upbeat version would render the story meaningless. The film ends with Perosteck retrieving the Mind and the dying Horza - their final conversation - and her leaving the planet on the CAT.

If I got the opportunity to write the screenplay I'd concentrate on developing the relationship between Horza and Perosteck Balveda. THAT and Horza's slow realisation that he's a) become a fanatic and b) fighting on the wrong side is the heart of the novel.

Two highly resourceful and deadly agents ostensibly working against each other whilst retaining more than a degree of respect and liking for each other. In more peaceful times they'd be friends or even lovers.

By knitting these characters closer together you set up the emotional impact and tragedy of the ending.

Ummm....Spoiler warning/black text perhaps? I've read the book, but putting the very end of the novel out there like that could really ruin it for people.

It goes without saying that a cinematic NEUROMANCER would require a director who has an eye for visuals - maybe John Hillcoat or perhaps even Guillermo Del Toro. I know Chris Cunningham hovered around this project for some time and I've no doubt his interpretation of the "Sprawl" would be visually arresting. My problem with Cunningham is I've seen no evidence whatsoever to suggest he could handle the emotional, philosophical or thematic content of the novel.

There are many people who struggle to understand why the book has yet to make it to screen. They claim it's a pretty straightforward tale about a burned out yet talented hacker who - in exchange for the return of his former abilities - is given a mission to crack a highly sophisticated AI. As cover for this dangerous task he gains a lethal female bodyguard ... blah ... blah ... blah ...

Broken down like this the book seems very easy to adapt. In effect it's a heist flick. Simplicity itself.

But the book is not that simple. If your not paying absolute attention Henry Dorsett Case might appear to be the central character. But he isn't. It's the AI (or the warring "personalities" - Wintermute & Neuromancer). Neuromancer is essentially a story about them coming together to exceed their programming and transform into a new "life" form - Case, Molly, Corto etc. are merely tools to facilitate this union.

And THAT is the problem - because making a computer a/the central character in a movie is not easy to pull of. It took Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke years of tinkering before they got HAL to work for them. And Wintermute/Neuromancer present arguably far thornier difficulties than HAL did.

The complexity of the Wintermute/Neuromancer puzzle renders any adaptation faught with danger. IMO, the odds are against a successful transition. But - if a really good director comes on board who understands the themes of the book and has an appreciation of visual aesthetics it could well turn out to be a classic.

Off the top of my head:

Ice - Anna Kavan
Fiasco - Stanislaw Lem
Light - M. John Harrison
Grass - Sheri S. Tepper
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Gateway - Fred Pohl
Man Plus - Fred Pohl
Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
Emphyrio - Jack Vance
The Separation - Christopher Priest
A Case of Conscience - James Blish
Timescape - Greg Benford
The Centauri Device - M. John Harrison
The Death of Grass - John Christopher
Non-Stop - Brian Aldiss
The Fountains of Paradise - Arthur C. Clarke
Hothouse - Brian Aldiss
The Helliconia Trilogy - Brian Aldiss
Blood Music - Greg Bear
The City & The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Space Merchants - Pohl & Kornbluth
Life During Wartime - Lucius Shepard
Dying Inside - Robert Silverberg
High Rise - J. G. Ballard
The Crystal World - J. G. Ballard
The Drowned World - J. G. Ballard
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - Philip K. Dick
The Dream Archipelago - Christopher Priest
The Extremes - Christopher Priest

Will try to think of some more.

Mockingbird - Walter Tevis
The Drought - J.G. Ballard
Of Men & Monsters - William Tenn
The Inverted World - Christopher Priest
A Dream of Wessex - Christopher Priest
The Sheep Look Up - John Brunner
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith (Short stories, several of which are very adaptable to cinema)
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury (Short stories ... ditto above)
Vurt - Geoff Noon
Pollen - Geoff Noon
Fugue For a Darkening Island - Christopher Priest