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There are all sorts of great movies- and the best ones often seem to be based on books. Not always, mind you, but quite often.
But despite all the wonderful books that have been adapted to film, there are still many, many great books that have never made it to the big screen, and there are more every year. Here are a few books that I think deserve to be made into movies and/or TV Series.
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#7
Hero
Author Mike Lupica
Zach Harriman knew that his dad was something of a hero, a man trusted by the president to solve international crises at a moment's notice. Suddenly people are telling him he has powers - people who know much more about his father than Zach ever did. But there are the Bads, who appear out of nowhere and attack him and his best friend. One thing is clear: he can do things ordinary people cannot. Like fend off grown men as though he possesses the strength of a hundred. Like sense when evil is about to strike. And evil is about to strike in a very big way. Zach Harriman is his father's son. And he, too, is a hero.
This book is fast paced and mysterious. It kept me guessing until the very end as to who the villain is. It would translate very easily to screen, and would make for a refreshing look at the superhero world.
#6
Author: Anne Coburn
Ellie and her little brother Danny send their lonely days making up stories about a young girl in a world of dragons and shapeshifters, a girl as cunning and brave as they would like to be.
Five years later, Danny is kidnapped, and the police have no leads. They believe he is dead- but Ellie knows better. She knows that she is the only one who can find him.
At the same time, in the world that Danny and Ellie imagined, a young girl named Argent sets out on a quest of her own to recover a stolen dragon hatchling.
As each girl makes her way closer to her goals, the boundaries between fantasy and reality begin to blur until it's unclear where one world ends and the other begins. Gripping, compelling, and utterly absorbing, Glint is the story of two worlds, and two girls, that the reader will never forget.
This book had me on the edge of my seat, heart thumping. It was that good! I think it would make a fantastic movie. The scenes could flip back and forth between the real world and the fantasy world much like in Once Upon A Time.
The Last Thing I Remember
Author: Andrew Klavan
Series: The Homelanders Series
(Actually, the whole series should be made into movies. You really couldn't have just the first book.)
Charlie West goes to bed a normal, all-American teenager with a bright future. He wakes up strapped to a chair, locked in a windowless room, covered in cuts and bruises. He has no memory of how he got there- but he can hear a voice just outside ordering his death. Charlie finds himself trapped in a nightmare that has become his reality- to the rest of the world, he's a wanted murderer and terrorist. But all Charlie remembers is having a loving family, a group of loyal friends, and a wonderful girlfriend. If he wants to get back to the life he knew, Charlie will have to discover what led him into the disaster he lives now before its too late. But with both the bad guys and the good guys after him, how will he ever survive?
This was a fantastic series. I think that they were under consideration to be made into movies, but it never went anywhere. Such a pity- these would translate very well to screen. It would be like a Christian Jason Bourne series.
#4
Inkspell/Inkdeath
Author: Cornelia Funke
Series: The Inkheart Trilogy
Inkheart tells the story of Meggie and her father, Mo, who both have the magical ability to read stories and characters into reality. Inkspell follows them as they travel with their friends into the Inkworld and discover that the enemies they've already defeated pales in comparison to the villains that await them now. Inkdeath picks up where Inkspell left off, with our heroes reeling from a staggering loss and trapped in a fight they must win at all costs.
I know that they already made the first book into a movie- but it really strayed from the book, and the last two books have a very different feel than the first one. I'm putting these two books together since you can't have one without the other- book two ends with an awful cliffhanger!
#3
Moonraker's Bride
Author: Madeleine Brent
Born in a Mission in China, Lucy Waring finds herself with fifteen small children to feed and care for. The way she tackles this task leads to her being thrown into the grim prison of Chengfu, where she meets Nicholas Sabine - a man about to die.
He asks her a cryptic riddle, the mystery of which echoes through all that befalls her in the months that follow...
She is brought to England and tries to make a new life with the Gresham family, but she is constantly in disgrace and is soon involved in the bitter feud between the Greshams and a neighbouring family.
There is danger, romance and heartache for Lucy as strange events build to a point where she begins to doubt her own senses.
How could she see a man, long dead, walking in the misty darkness of the valley? And who carried her, unconscious, into the labyrinth of Chiselhurst Caves and left her to die?
It is not until she returns to China that Lucy finds, amid high adventure, the answer to all that has baffled her.
This book deserved to be a classic, in my opinion. I envisioned this as a BBC mineseries. I even have a dreamcast for it.
#2
Howl's Moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Sophie Hatter is a timid young woman convinced that she is doomed to be a failure, since she is the eldest of three in a fairy tale world. When she attracts the jealousy of a powerful witch, she is curse to become an old woman before her time. The only one who may be able to help Sophie is a mysterious wizard who's reputation is as black as the witch who cursed her. But with nothing else to lose, Sophie packs up and sets out to find the wizard Howl and his moving castle...
I know that this was already made into a movie, and as good as the anime is, I feel that it deserves a live action film as well, this time closer to the plot of the book.
#1
The Silmarillion
(Or rather, tales from it)
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion tells the story of how Middle Earth began, and how it was plunged into war from the moment it was created.
The Silmarillion is incredibly complicated. There are many story archs withiin the books, and most of them would make great movies. I figure you could probably get ten whole movies out of this single book! But if the movie industry is looking for something a little more do-able, I think that the stories of Feanor's Rebellion, Beren and Luthien, The Sons of Hurin, and how Morgoth was finally defeated would make great movies. There's another arch toward the end of the book that follows the rise and fall of Numenor, the race Aragorn is descended from. The latter story is rich with examples of how Satan creeps into the lives of men and destroys us in real life, all the while making us think that we're the ones in charge. It's a pretty interesting story.
I'm still holding out hope for this one- I know they say the movies are done, but since the Hobbit Trilogy did so well financially, I can't see them not taking advantage of The Silmarillion. Actually, I think that this book would make for a good TV series- since it's so complicated, it could be split up into smaller seasons- that way there would be time to explore each of the characters and give them the attention they deserve. :)
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What do you think? Did you enjoy my list? What books would you add to it? Let me know in the comments below!
-Emmarayn Redding
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