Works that you'd like to see adapted (or re-adapted) into film or TV

[Bean]

Over the weekend I finished reading Seamus Haney's translation of Beowulf and then started in last night on Hilary Mandel's Wolf Hall, both of which are excellent reads. That got me thinking this morning about how much I would enjoy seeing both works adapted to the screen. It would be fantastic to see a version of Beowulf that stuck to the powerful, melancholy rhythm of the original text instead of turning it into a motion-captured action movie (). In my mind an animated adaptation from the filmmakers who made The Secret of Kells would be sublime. They've already proven their ability to turn the Insular style of art into wondrous animation, and I feel like that age-old framework of Beowulf might make up for some of Kell's shortcomings in storytelling.

Similarly, I'm only a few dozen pages into Wolf Hall and it already feels like material that would be ripe for adaptation into a TV series. True, there are already lots of drama series that tackle the same story of similar periods (The Tudors, The Borgias, Game of Thrones, etc), but Mantel's sharp and incisive writing and plotting should be enough to make a Thomas Cromwell series stand out. Plus, Cromwell himself is a character that would fit right in with the great male TV anti-heroes that are currently in vogue like Tony Soprano, Al Swearengen, Walter White, and Tyrion Lannister.

So, what works would you like to see adapted? I limited myself to just the books I've been reading, but make it any damn thing, including remakes of older films or TV series.

[crazyfists3600]

Less than Zero. I'd love to see it get the Fincher treatment. It needs to go hard and relentless and really tear into that novel and all it says below the surface (and all that it throws in your face). The 1987 film is such a sugarcoated embarassment.

[Atonenent.]

The Hobbit

[MrsBean]

I'd love to see the book No Ordinary Time made into a movie. Really I just want to see a movie about Eleanor and FDR that does justice to their relationship and marriage. They fascinate me. And No Ordinary Time is an amazing book.

[Howard Beale's Toothpaste]

I'd like an HBO series based on China Mieville's Bas-Lag fiction. THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN.

[Bean]

I'd love to see the book No Ordinary Time made into a movie. Really I just want to see a movie about Eleanor and FDR that does justice to their relationship and marriage. They fascinate me. And No Ordinary Time is an amazing book.

With the success of Lincoln I could see other works from Doris Kearns Goodwin put into production, so...maybe!

[Largo]

HBO really should get on making a genre-bending, completely insane live-action version of Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei. Or maybe Showtime. I'm just saying that there's a wealth of satirical, crazy, deranged material there, and it would be absolutely hysterical if done right. (It'll never get made.)

Still waiting on that Artemis Fowl movie with Jason Statham as Butler.

[Aurelius]

As always, The Silmarillion.

And Robert Rankin's Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. It would be positively mental.

[Donezo]

I'd actually love for Disney to take a stab at another Haunted Mansion movie. The mythology and humor of that property could be turned into a fun and interesting movie. At the very least it deserved a better treatment than the awful Eddie Murphy movie. Guillermo del Toro is allegedly developing a Haunted Mansion project, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[Salladeel]

I'd really like to see someone take a serious stab at translating Faulkner to the screen--and this desire is only amplified ten-fold by my absolute dread for that James Franco project. That is seriously my worst nightmare. That clown needs to STAY AWAY from all my favorite things.

[Patty]

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I don't know how you would do justice to this, but I consider it one of the greatest works of the 20th century and surely there are at least episodes that could be filmed.

The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. These are urban fantasy police procedurals that would make wonderful movies.

[Jim]

There were two or three fine old films that I previously had wanted remade (not updated!) just for current "star power" and/or social/economic history lessons of their periods. . Maybe I still do... Maybe not.... I admire these original (`30`s, `40`s) films "as is"... There is no real need to tamper with:
INTRUDER IN THE DUST- I never read the Faulkner book, but loved the film`s raw tension. I had Denzel Washington and Haley Joel Osmet as the brave leads, and Matthew McConauhey as the skeptic. And, that old lady with balls.... Joanne Woodward?
DINNER AT EIGHT- Dusty and dated and might be fun with the right casting... George Clooney as the alcoholic actor and Bette Midler or Cher as the retired actress?
NIGHT MUST FALL- Sadly Elizabeth Taylor will never get to play (as I would have cast her) Williams` old wheel-chaired lady and Tom Cruise was/is a bit long in the tooth.. Maybe Tom Hardy and Maggie Smith now???
Dream on....

[McTeague]

Les Miserables: The Non-Hooper Version.

Gilead if Yasujiro Ozu was alive and wasn't afraid of moving from Japan and working in totally different cultural codes.

[haqyunus]

I know some versions are already there but I would like to see Stendhal's The Red and The Black. Maybe because I simply love that book. Also a miniseries or a production in the vein of Mysteries of Lisbon for Proust' work will also be nice. Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain can be an intriguing adventure of philosophy, religion and period cinema. Then there are some South Asian works like Raja Gidh by Bano Qudsia and Ali Pur Ka Aili by Mumtaz Mufti that can make excellent adaptations.

[Bean]

Les Miserables: The Non-Hooper Version.

Gilead if Yasujiro Ozu was alive and wasn't afraid of moving from Japan and working in totally different cultural codes.

[jb]

Similarly, I'm only a few dozen pages into Wolf Hall and it already feels like material that would be ripe for adaptation into a TV series. True, there are already lots of drama series that tackle the same story of similar periods (The Tudors, The Borgias, Game of Thrones, etc), but Mantel's sharp and incisive writing and plotting should be enough to make a Thomas Cromwell series stand out. Plus, Cromwell himself is a character that would fit right in with the great male TV anti-heroes that are currently in vogue like Tony Soprano, Al Swearengen, Walter White, and Tyrion Lannister.

I remember reading that HBO/BBC are doing Wolf Hall as a miniseries.

[Bean]

I remember reading that HBO/BBC are doing Wolf Hall as a miniseries.

BBC2 apparently. Shows you how much I researched this.

[Mmelissa]

I'd love to see The History of Love adapted into a movie. I first became aware of it because it was supposed to Alfonso Cuaron's project after Children of Men and thought I better read it quickly before the movie adaptation came out. Silly, silly me.

And for some reason I would love to see Malick adapt something of Edward P. Jones'. I started reading All Aunt Hagar's Children awhile ago and something about the way the short stories were written made me think that Malick would do a great job adapting them.

[haqyunus]

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart can also turn out to be a crazy, crackling (visually plus script) fun movie if in the right hands. I also always wanted to see a kind of serious and dark interpretation for thriller/dysfunctional family novel The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier.

[flibber]

I'd really like to see someone take a serious stab at translating Faulkner to the screen--and this desire is only amplified ten-fold by my absolute dread for that James Franco project. That is seriously my worst nightmare. That clown needs to STAY AWAY from all my favorite things.

David Milch is apparently working on this! I hope it works out.