Books to Movies

Simple question.

What book that you have read would you like to see made into a Movie? Give a brief synopsis of the story and tell us who you would like to see in it.

I've just read Stephen King's latest epic "The Dome". The story is set in a small Maine town which suddenly finds itself enclosed by an invisible, impenetrable dome. The town's Second Selectman is a megalomaniac Bible Basher intent on using the Dome to enforce his will. meanwhile the Ex-Army Lt and his journalist friend are his arch-enemy...

I think the Second Selectman could be played by Russell Crowe, The Ex-Soldier by Kiefer Sutherland and The Journalist by Helen Hunt.

 

Matt Damon for Lt. Col. "Barbie". Crowe, while a fine actor, does'nt have the physical size to play Big Jim Rennie...maybe a comeback role for Arnold?

 

Dead of Light, by Chaz Brenchly.

A fictional city in the North of England(definately NOT Newcastle! )has been ruled for centuries by the MaCallans; an inbred clan of mutants who possess "the Talent". Lethal psychic powers such as pyrokinesis, telekinesis etc. The MaCallans rule their city with an iron fist. Noone does business, legal or illegal, unless the MaCallans get a cut.

Their rule is challenged when a number of MaCallans are murdered, by a killer who possess even greater Talent than his victims.

And the only one who can stop the the slaughter is the one MaCallan who was born without the Talent...

If done right, this could be a mixture of the X Men and Godfather.

 

What - the XFather?

 

You've been watching porn films again!

 

Isn't this the basis for 'The Simpsons Movie'?

 

Is it? Having never seen the Simpson's Movie I really couldn't comment. However Kind states that this book has been 25 years in the writing, so I doubt that it is copied from Matt Groening.

 

Len Deighton's novel Bomber or to give its full title Events relating to the last flight of an RAF bomber over Germany on the night of June 31st 1943. To me it seems a far better idea than the Dambusters remake in production at the moment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber_%28novel%29

I would cast Clive Owen as the world-weary Flight Sergeant Sam Lambert, captain of the Lancaster nicknamed " The Creaking Door". I know what you're thinking, he's too old to play a wartime RAF pilot, but while Lambert's age in the book is given as 26, he is described as looking 10 years older. Haven't really thought about the rest of the cast.

EDIT:
seems a film of the novel has been proposed before, in 2002, but never came to fruition:

http://www.screendaily.com/mike-newell-to-pilot-deightons-bomber/409738.article

 

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On a Stephen King note I reckon a young Clint Eastwood would play the Gunslinger in the Dark Tower books.

 

Iain M. Bank's books would make superb films - particularly 'Consider Phlebas', 'Excession' and 'Against A Dark Background'.

no idea who'd be the best people to star in them, but on the basis of seeing 'Avatar' a few weeks ago James Cameron has definitely got the filmmaking chops to bring the Culture universe to the screen convincingly.

 

Now that would be an epic movie! Good call! Who would play him now though? Clint is far too old - maybe 10 years ago.

 

Of all Deighton's novels I think the one that cries out to be made into a film is "SS-GB". The picture he painted in that of Britain under Nazi occupation was a masterpiece of writing.

 

I'd love to see a film version of "American Tabloid" by James Elroy. It would have to be a HBO type series, as a single movie would be too long.

 

If you could get a series of the Christopher Brookmyre books going then that would be wonderful. Trouble is, you need to 'get' the very black humour in them so the Yanks would never watch them.

Alternatively why not go for The Road to Gandolfo? It was one of Robert Ludlum's two efforts at comedy and reads like his other thrillers with a sense of ridicule.

 

Talking of Stephen King books to films, Id like them to set fire to every copy of The Stand on VHS in two 3 hour parts.

Give it to someone who can do the book justice, still my favourite SK book of all time.