A film that stars both Nicolas Cage and Adam Sandler. I don’t care if it’s a comedy, action flick, or serious drama. Seeing those two go ballistic together would be amazing.
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An adaption of Philip K. Dick's The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, but with no "streaming production" bullshit.
Synopsis:
The novel takes place in a future 2016 where humankind has colonized every habitable planet and moon in the Solar System. To cope with the difficult life away from Earth, colonists rely on the illegal hallucinogen Can-D, secretly distributed by corporate head Leo Bulero. New tensions arise with the rumor that merchant explorer Palmer Eldritch has returned from an expedition in possession of a new alien hallucinogen to compete with Can-D.
Either make it follow the novel closely or make it a truly creative take where it's set in a completely different setting but follows the spirit and the themes of the novel.
I would argue the The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch in particular has a lot of potential for a full re-interpretation structured as commentary on our current reality. The synopsis does read like a pulp scifi novel, but there is a lot to it and the Can-D psychedelic (very cool description of how it works in the novel) and "difficult life away from Earth" motifs can be adapted for modern challenges. I don't think the novel was meant to be interpreted literally, the outline is more of a foundation for other questions/points.
A well made adaption of John Brunner's The Sheep Look Up. The Shockwave Rider would probably be a better fit for modern issues, but I think The Sheep Look Up would be more unique. Stand on Zanzibar would also be a good target but I feel the over-population concept (as described in 70s western media) hasn't aged that well. You stand the risk of making a campy movie like Soylent Green (I like it, but it's more a 70s scifi experience for me). That being said, I would probably be fine with any good adaptation of Brunner's famous works.
A proper adaption of Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. Asimov was often criticized for not including aliens in his novels/series. Well he did include aliens in this one and they are nothing like your typical scifi movie. It's not as well written as Solaris (perhaps the most intense depiction of alien life that I've experienced in any media), but it's pretty damn good. The Gods Themselves is probably the easiest one to adapt into a movie since the high level plot is pretty straightforward. The lunar parts would look great and then there is the alien world and society...
All of these would probably not pass the mass market adaption requirement. And I am not cool with "fanfic for the mass market" type adaptions. Make your own creative take, but make it crazy, make it live up to the main magic of the novels.
My dream series was wheel of time but that kinda became a nighmare. meh. more a blahmare.
Larry Niven’s Ringworld.
A Star Wars movie that invalidates the sequels. Preferably based on the old EU.
A “side” movie set in the Avatar (Airbender) world. Maybe Republic City detective noir, or an adventure in some Kyoshi Era (or even more ancient) new place.
Bending, spirits, the cultural flair, the setting's just too awesome and is begging for side stories.
An actual adaptation of Jumper, directed by Daren Aronofski.
Edit: The whole series really. With 4 years between Jumper and Reflex, then 17 years before Impulse and Exo are made back to back. Doing it that way all the actors will age properly.
I want a Superman movie that's based off the comics where he beats the shit out of the KKK. It'll never happen but it would be awesome.
You'd probably enjoy Superman Smashes the Klan.
Plus, Superman will enter the public domain in 2034, so maybe eventually it will happen on the big screen.
Discworld - Guards! Guards! Honestly done, with the Pratchett estate approval. With Paul Blackthorne as Vimes, John Cena as Carrot, DJ Qualls as Knoby, Kathy Bates as Lady Sybil, and of course Charles Dance as the Patrician. Sorry I've put way too much thought in to this idea.
I always pictured Alan Rickman as Vetinari, but Charles Dance is a great pick! And, you know, still possible...
Grey Jedi Noir. Solving a case for the light side while using dark side talents would be amazing.
[off topic]
This is a great game if you're with some really creative folks.
One person picks two actors who never worked together and the other player/team has to come up with the plot of the movie. Actors can be any age they appeared on film, so someone like Helen Mirren can be anywhere from 18 to 81 years old.
Here are a few of the better combinations we came up with.
Bruce Lee and Marlene Deitrich
Leslie Howard and Gary Coleman
Christina Applegate and Christina Ricci
James Earl Jones and Marlon Brando
Christina Applegate and Christina Ricci
I'd put them both fresh out of high school age in a film like Adventureland, mashed up with a Breakfast Club theme. Just a bunch of young adults figuring out where to go next in life.
The one we came up with was Ricci as the daughter of James Garner. He's a Texas oilman and she's a Yale/Harvard MBA who is super focused on being the next CEO. Applegate is Daddy's hot new wife. We were playing teams and there was a lot of back and forth as to whether Applegate should be a total airhead, a scheming psychopath, an eco-freak who hates oil, or some combination...
What we came up with.
1930s Shanghai. Bruce was high up in the Hong Kong underworld but killed the boss's son in a sparring match gone bad. Marlena runs a casino. He becomes her bodyguard enforcer, but he finds out she's spying for both the British and the Japanese.
English Civil War. Howard is a cavalier. Well bred, well read, a swordsman, a lady's man, a poet, a scholar, and a soldier. He's blinded when a cannon explodes in a battle and is captured. Coleman is another prisoner of the roundheads. He's a travelling one man circus who does whatever he has to. The warden makes Coleman be Howard's 'seeing eye dog' They eventually become friends and when Howard's eyes begin to improve they plan an escape
Marlon is an English lord exiled to the American colonies circa 1700. He's losing his mind due to an STD. Billy Bob Thornton owns a small plantation and hopes to improve his lot by catering to the lord's family back home. Thornton has promised to keep Brando happy and out of trouble. Jones is an elderly slave that Thornton brought cheap. He was his old master's lifelong companion. He secretly knows how to read. Thronton assigns Jones to Brando, tellign his to keep the Englishman safe. When Brando proves to be uncontrollable, Billy decides it would be smarter to just kill him and blame Jones.
A sequel to Event Horizon that bridges the gap between it and the Warhammer 40k universe. After the events of the first movie Big E is awakend to the threats of the Warp and the Chaos gods within and sets his plans in motion. First and foremost? he must "deal" with the survivors of the Event Horizon so they don't spread their knowledge of the warp to the rest of mankind.
Also Henry Cavill plays The Emperor of Man.
A Pokemon movie for adults. I don't mean sex or gore, I just really want to see that world without a chibi filter over top. I want a war movie following Lt Surge and his then Pikachu. I want an evil Team Rocket straight out of Fight Club. I want a professor to stand face to face with God and dare write a Pokedex entry for it.
I want to see a live action of the Young Wizard series by Diane Duane.
Apparently, people have bought the rights for it repeatedly, but then they never actually make the fucking movies.
Which, in retrospect, during the time period they were buying it, there were a lot of really shitty movies released as book adaptations that ended up crashing and burning and going nowhere, but I believe this is a good time for a new series aimed for young viewers to take this on and nobody's fucking doing it.
I promised myself that if I was the person who won that huge powerball the other day, that would be the very first fucking thing I did after giving my friends and family money and paying off all my debts.
She'd probably be down for that. She's active on blue sky and responds to posts fairly frequently. On a thread about what books you'd want to see get a miniseries (or movie etc) I suggested the So You Want To Be A Wizard ones and she said Hollywood has had grumbling about that forever and it was about time for a new rumble them nothing to happen XD
A sequal to iron sky where they find stalin on mars, the red planet
World War Z, made as a documentary/re-enactment style mini series. Could make it beat for beat almost identical to the book.
I just want a streaming anthology series based on the book. Every episode is a different story. I don’t mind if paths cross from time to time, but it shouldn’t fall into the traps of “Walking Dead” or the film version, where it follows the same group of people all the time. You could do some really creative storytelling set in the same universe if you hired a different writer and director each episode.
There were a bunch of books and comic books from my youth I didn't think would get adapted but there's a DC The Ray animated series so I guess everything is at least a maybe.
A full Saga of Swamp Thing movie series would be wonderful. There's no way Alan Moore signs off on any more movie adaptations though.
Well have I got news for you!
https://screenrant.com/swamp-thing-movie-confirmed-updates/
I personally can't wait to see this version of Swamp Thing!
I don't think Moore has any say in it.
That's kinda sad, I know he didn't invent the character but that run of Saga of is one of my favorite comics
A biopic of Rasputin by Wes Anderson
The Culture Series by Iain M Banks.
There's too much detail and too vast a story for it ever to be made into a piece of film media (alongside Banks' wishes that it never be made into one)
How about Waps Factory? That would be a great movie.
Or is this a different Iain Banks... I feel like I tripped on this before.
Not to worry, caught me out as well a couple of times. It's the same author, he used 'Iain M. Banks' for his scifi work and 'Iain Banks' for regular eathbound fiction.
Wasp factory would make for a magnificent film, if only there were directors alive that had the chops to make a film worthy eh.
Predator vs my little pony
Ripley was small, even for an Earth Pony.
A Clash of Worlds
In the heart of a vibrant, enchanted forest, Ripley, a spirited pony with a shimmering coat of lavender and a mane that sparkled like stardust, roamed freely. She was known among her friends for her bravery and kindness, often leading her fellow ponies on adventures through the lush meadows and sparkling streams. One fateful day, as Ripley explored a hidden glade, she stumbled upon a strange, metallic object half-buried in the ground. Curiosity piqued, she approached it cautiously, her heart racing with excitement. Little did she know, this object was a cloaked spacecraft, belonging to a fearsome Predator, a hunter from a distant planet. The moment Ripley touched the surface, the ship activated, and the Predator, a towering figure clad in advanced armor and wielding deadly technology, materialized before her, its eyes glinting with a predatory gleam.
Ripley, undeterred by the imposing figure, stood her ground, her heart pounding but her spirit unyielding. The Predator, intrigued by this small creature that dared to confront it, lowered its weapon, momentarily captivated by Ripley’s bravery. Sensing the tension, Ripley decided to communicate, her voice soft yet firm. “I may be small, but I will protect my home and friends from anyone who threatens them.” The Predator, taken aback by her courage, hesitated, realizing that this encounter could lead to an unexpected alliance rather than a battle. As the two faced each other, the forest around them seemed to hold its breath, waiting to see if the fierce hunter and the gentle pony could find common ground. In that moment, a bond began to form, one that would challenge the very nature of their worlds and redefine what it meant to be a protector.
The Grand Tour series by Ben Bova. The Orion series is pretty damned good too.
Well, it was Legend of Zelda; but after that last Mario movie, Nintendo is actually making one. So then it was Dark Souls, but they are making a movie of that too!
Though I have major doubts about either being anywhere close to what I imagine they could be.
All I have left is the Neuromancer series and Beyond the Mountains of Madness. Both have attempts at a film adaptation but either they were straight up killed or are stuck in production hell.
Anything else is entirely made up in my own head, so will likely never get made unless I come into a lotta money before I die.
Apple is making a Neuromancer mini-series
Is it stuck in production hell? I coulda swore I heard that was the case like 3 or 4 years ago. BMOM also is supposedly in the works, and starring Tom Cruise, but I haven't heard anything about that in several years.
A true Warhammer 40K movie. But I fear many people would find it 'problematic' and not understand that the whole thing is so over the top that it's close to satire.
I think Anathem by Neil Stephenson could be a great 2 season series, if you approach it with Andor level writing and dedication, and fully commit to the twist with subtle character design.
I'd love an X-Men film based on the proper comic book life of Lady Deathstrike, rather than the bastardisation we got in X-2.
However I can understand it would be far too gory.
A full movie where Mario is the villain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCVubOzbFzI
As a longtime Warcraft fan, I'd like a movie about Arthas (the Lich King) and I want Fassbender to play him because no one plays a character like that as believably as he does.
Basically a good guy who eventually goes full evil yet you still want redemption for him. (Spoiler: he does not get one)
I would love to sell my trilogy, Dante's Darkness, starting with Winds as a six episode mini series. Yes, the writing is rough, but the story is fun and power creep but not overwhelming. Unfortunately, I wrote about the end of the world right before shit went really South. Remember your UV anal cleansings, folks!
“Blood Music” would be such an amazing body horror/scifi movie to put out right now. Post covid that book hits way harder. Alex Garland would be my producer of choice. Oscar Isaac as Virgil, Stellan Skarsgard as Dr Bernard.
XO Manowar. No idea who I would cast as a 5th century Visigoth. I would get a bunch of synthwave and electronic artists and other musicians to create an original album for the movie soundtrack. Getting Perturbator and Gary Numan cooking together would be amazing. Rendered for the most ubiquitous 3d tech installed in theaters, and storyboard/cinematography is designed to take advantage of that.
A feature-length movie set in the Armored Core universe. Amazon/MGM did a very short film as part of the Secret Level anthology, and it was damn awesome.
unicron vs galactus, recent movies featuring either of these enemies were quite a disappointment.
also wrapping up SGA, sgu with a movie, but the showrunners are very hesitant to write any sg related works right now.
Movie/TV adaption of the comic Saga. It will never happen because Vaughn has said it's the one comic of his he would never let be adapted.
A full adaptation of Lord of the Rings that's true to Tolkien's vision.
What big shifts would occur between the originals (which I read as a teen but that was ages ago) and the Peter Jackson trilogy? Coles notes for thekkids who didn't pay attention.
Is it pronounced Jandalf?
Frodo and the party at Weathertop - in the books Frodo shouts Elbereth's name as a war cry and stabs at a wraith, rather than cowering and falling down as in the film.
Ent moot results and dramatic reversal - in the books, the Ents knew what Saruman had been up to and decided to go to war at once. They didn't passively decide to do nothing then change their minds.
Faramir bringing Frodo and Sam (and the ring to Osgilath). In the books, Faramir recognized the threat the ring posed and let Sam, Frodo and Gollum go on with their quest without hinderance.
The books had no nonsensical scene with Gollum framing Sam for illicit lembas consumption.
The books had no stupid dwarf tossing jokes.
While Aragorn has periods of self doubt in the books, none of these inhibited him from taking action. In the film he has a long sequence of scenes where he's basically paralyzed by self doubt.
No scourging of the Shire in the films. These scenes were crucial to showing just how much each of the hobbits had developed as characters and in what ways.
I could go on, but hopefully these are sufficient to illustrate the point.
The films were great with respect to casting, cinematography, art design and location. Jackson and Boyens seemed to have forgotten however that Tolkien was the master and they the students with respect to writing.
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