What's a sci-fi or fantasy book or series that you want to see adapted as a movie/television series?

I didn’t read this series when I was a kid, but I finally got around to reading Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber.

Given it’s an older series, I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it (some of those older series age horribly), but it was actually REALLY good still, and the few minor things that’d aged too much wouldn’t be hard to update for a modern audience.

But the concept of Amber is fantastic, Corwin’s behavior and arc perfect, and I think a TV series could do it justice nowadays. Man, some CGI artists could do some beautiful work depicting a hellride through shadow.

I also would really, really love to see Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern adapted…but there’s a few parts that have aged pretty badly, so it’d need careful handling of things like Lessa and F’lar’s relationship and such. And maybe, you know, keep Jaxom the hell away from Corana.

But I think the whole idea of threadfall, and Impressing dragons, could be done beautifully on the screen. I think a run from Dragonflight to All The Weyrs of Pern (including the Harper Hall Trilogy) could be done. (Then leave the later books out, they don’t really add much, lol.)

The series would need a top-notch composer scoring it, though. I’d vote for Natalie Holt. She did wonderfully with Loki, and it’d be a nice touch having a woman score the series that’d have the Harper Hall Trilogy included in it.

Geek_King,

The Expeditionary Force series! I loved the series and listened to the whole thing on audible! The great thing is, R.C. Bray could still voice one of the key characters who makes the whole series fun and addicting!

Starb3an,

That’s with Skippy the beer can right?

Geek_King,

You know it! God damn, a TV show based on that series would be so awesome! Come on Amazon, get cracking!

kometes, (edited )
@kometes@lemmy.world avatar

Joe Abercrombie – First Law Trilogy
Stephen R Donaldson – The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

boogetyboo,
@boogetyboo@aussie.zone avatar

I’ve often mused who they’d cast as Thomas. A younger Billy Bob Thornton would have worked.

DaneGerous,

On Joe Abercrombies website he says there’s a best served cold show in the works.

lingh0e,

World War Z. It needs to be adapted as an HBO limited series.

Grayox,
@Grayox@lemmy.ml avatar

The movie made me so fucking mad when I saw it. Nothing like the book whatsoever grrrrr.

theywilleatthestars,

Will never forget seeing a promo for it starting “only one man can save the world”. Literally the exact opposite of the book

alekwithak,

Still blows my mind that it was written by Mel Brooks’ son.

VegaLyrae,

No one has mentioned The Culture?

There really wouldn't be much to update because a good chunk of it is still modern. Not only that, but Banks really fucked with gender, ideology, and civil rights in a way that is still incredibly relevant in 2023.

I also really want someone to try to portray Fwi-Song from Consider Phlebas.

IonAddis,
@IonAddis@lemmy.world avatar

Man, I’ve been stuck in this place where I really want to read those books (somehow I missed them), but I write SFF too and have some near-future thoughts that I don’t want to get tangled up with his stuff. (Part of the reason I went back and read the Chronicles of Amber was to keep my mind away from modern SFF while I work on projects.)

Some day I think I’ll just have to give in and read it and my own stuff is too close to his…oh well. I feel like I’d enjoy his work based on what everyone says about it.

VegaLyrae,

I think that it is an influence worth risking.

The settings themselves vary wildly, and technically the books occur before, during, and after the present. The level of technology varies wildly.

The one thing in common is the examination of the content of the character of the "human" being, and how we are the same or different, adapt or don't, expand or hide.

It's truly masterful work that, yes has cool gizmos and concepts but worries more about how the gizmos make you feel.

dustyData,

Oh don’t worry, The Culture is anything but near-future. Some concepts are so out there that they border surreal existentialist philosophy.

VegaLyrae,

And some are set in the past! A large period of time is covered.

teft,
@teft@startrek.website avatar

I came looking for The Culture. Those are such great stories.

SheDiceToday,

THE CHAIR!

Use of Weapons was definitely one of the best of that style I’ve ever read.

VegaLyrae,

I don't think it would work well as a movie, but I think it would make for a great miniseries with converging chronologies.

zeekaran,

PoG would make a good movie or TV show. Imagine Denis V putting Dune level effort into a movie adaptation of it. UoW would easily translate to TV and unlike most Culture novels, wouldn’t require that much CG budget.

HubertManne,
@HubertManne@kbin.social avatar

well it used to be wheel of time.

IonAddis,
@IonAddis@lemmy.world avatar

My condolences for your loss.

Buddahriffic,

Still is for me. I want to see Jordan’s story and world, not this other one loosely based on his.

HubertManne,
@HubertManne@kbin.social avatar

Me2 but I would call it more than loosely. Just enough to sorta spoil a better done production that had more fidelity.

ButtDrugs,

Season 2 was a big step up from S1

HubertManne,
@HubertManne@kbin.social avatar

I agree but mistakes from season 1 are still going to be problematic to the story, still wondering if they are just going to ignore that they made the idea of reincarnating as a different sex as something someone would expect to happen over being something no one would expect.

IvanOverdrive,

I came here to say Chronicles of Amber. Damn, I thought I was the last fan left.

spittingimage,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

Not the last. Chronicles of Amber is awesome.

Thassodar, (edited )

Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series of books. The first book alone, where a guy who was about to unalive himself accidentally kills death instead as he walks in the door to take his soul, would make an awesome series. Each book takes on a different aspect of Immortality (Death, War, Time, Nature, etc.) and how they overcome Satan by not being used for ultimate evil.

That last sentence may seem religion-forward but the author, Piers Anthony, is not a religious writer by any means. Another series of his, Bio of a Space Tyrant, could be an ultra gritty R rated Sci-fi epic with the right director.

IonAddis,
@IonAddis@lemmy.world avatar

It’s unlikely Hollywood will ever touch Piers Anthony with a ten foot pole after some of the stuff he’s self-published in his later years. Like Marion Zimmer Bradley, the SFF world has decided it’s wisest to quietly forget him.

Thassodar,

I need to look into this, I was heavily invested in the Adept and Xanth series, and finding book 2 of Bio of a Space Tyrant, physically, is near impossible. I had no idea he was wrapped in any kind of controversy, but to be fair I haven’t kept up with him in over a decade.

clay_pidgin,

Firefly is a stand-alone novel of his with a character who was enthusiastic about her sexual abuse as a five year old. It is more fucked up than it sounds.

pound_heap,

“Chasm City” by Alastair Reynolds. It’s a standalone novel in a much bigger Revelation Space series. But the plot of this book is quite independent of the series, you don’t need to know the lore to understand it. I think it is very well suited for a movie or a short series.

The setting is hard SciFi, very detailed, but not too crazy.

clay_pidgin,

Reynolds is an excellent writer. Great worldbuilding.

BrianTheeBiscuiteer,

Abhorsen / Old Kingdom series.

I don’t like reading but I breezed through the first three books. I think all the dark, necromancy type stuff would be generally well received. The gates of the afterlife also sound really cool to be put in a visual form.

IonAddis,
@IonAddis@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, it’s a really distinct take on necromancers. The visual look of everything, the rules of the world–all really well designed.

It’d be a great YA movie or series.

Tarquinn2049,

Yeah, I was looking for this one. It also always struck me as a good option for VR games once that is a bit more entrenched with the general public.

SheDiceToday,

I think it would be good, but the whole ‘mental’ aspect of the magic would be impossible to convey well.

Kolanaki, (edited )
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

The entire Sprawl trilogy. But if only one was to be made, I’d love to see Count Zero on the big screen as that one had the most action and visually appealing scenes to adapt.

But I also agree with Dragonriders of Pern! I loved those books when I was in high school.

SheDiceToday,

I could see the new enjoyers of Pern flat out giving it up when the twist happened. Plus, I wouldn’t trust the show’s makers to not trash the politics of the holds.

spoilerFantasy -> sci-fi is a pretty big change for a tv audience, I think.

shalafi,

Drangonlance could be as epic as The Lord of the Rings. Yes, really.

vivadanang,

do game of thrones-fidelity live action for the main line, and some bitchrod love-death-and-robots-type cg for Legend of Huma and I’m in.

Beelzebob,

And a Lord Soth spinoff movie.

Freddyyeddy,

The Dresden Files 10000% and iron druid.

Jarix,

At least we have a tv show to watch right?

tmjaea,

Series: Ell Donsaii Movie: project hail Mary

burliman, (edited )

I thought I heard they were doing Project Hail Mary.

Edit: Yep, Ryan Gosling, directed by Lord & Miller.

tmjaea,

Wow, that’s awesome news!

XTL, (edited )

Hyperion cantos. Ilium/Olympos. Lovecraft’s dream cycle.

On one hand it’s a risk that there would just be some terrible version that ruins all public things connected with the name, but on the other hand there could be something fantastic.

I guess sandman is already off the list. Haven’t seen the results though.

Another big risk in adaptations is that, like Peter Jackson’s Lott, it will make it very unlikely that someone else would come up and do it better after a big enough attempt.

Transcendant,

Hyperion cantos

Also my top choice. One of the best scifi series I’ve ever read, I enjoy reading very much but it’s rare that a book gives me such an emotional response. Apart from this it’s only been ‘The Kite Runner’… not scifi, a very very VERY sad, moving book about a boy in Afghanistan.

eu,

I'll come clean and say I haven't read Sandman (yet) but I thought the show was really damn good. I've seen a lot of readers and critics praising it too. It's definitely worth cheking out.

spittingimage,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

When you do, don’t judge the series by the first volume. DC told Gaiman they wanted a horror series. It was only after that they loosened the reins and let him take the story where he wanted it to go.

XTL,

It does take some time to get going and a few stories are pretty dense. But it’s also a good re-read, especially after reading some notes about the things you missed the first time around. There’s a crazy amount of detail and characters.

The artwork is also legendary, of course.

runblack,

For a stranger kind of fantasy: Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake

thelsim, (edited )
@thelsim@sh.itjust.works avatar

They already made a mini series.
edit: spelling error because I don’t proofread :P

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