“Unadaptable” properties yet to be adapted

[Silvermoth]

It’s a good question. People say Brian k vaughan’s and Fiona staples’ Saga is unfilmable but I reckon a really good director could do it

 

[:eek:]

A real adaptation of The Dark Tower. I pretend that abomination released a few yars ago doesn't exist. I 'm not sure if The Talisman has ever been considered "unadaptable" but it's almost 40 years now since Spielberg bought the rights to it and look where we are...

The Mass Effect video games might be considered "unadaptable". When I think of it, video games in general feels unadaptable. I think the big difference between adapting books and video games is that with the former you add something, visuals, that to some degree makes up for what you lose in translation (being able to get inside the mind of the characters) But with the translation from video games to movies there's really nothing added that makes up for the loss of having an active role as a player.

 

[Drizzle]

The Catcher in the Rye, which is quite ironic given it's scope is much smaller compared to epic fantasy and sci-fi novels. You could make a movie in and of itself about how many times an adaptation was attempted over the years and how protective J.D. Salinger was over the book and the rights to it.

 

[DarkKnight88]

John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakas, all attached for the lead at one point.

It’s considered cursed.

 

[JubJub86]

Animorphs, basically. The one of those young-reader series they haven't mined yet that would just be way too controversial in any faithful-adaptation sense, like an R on the violence alone. Let alone it's like 50+ books instead of the Harry Potter 7-8 or whatever, and while some's filler probably 35-40 of them all have necessary plot stuff.

 

[Boom]

The Silmarillion.

 

[metaphysician]

I wouldn't really say that video games are "unadaptable", at least as a broad category. Hollywood has repeatedly failed at making good adaptations largely because of indifference. There certainly are *specific* video games, or even entire genres, that would be exceptionally hard to adapt to the big screen, mind. However, there are also plenty of games that are neither plotless characterless blobs of gameplay with nothing to use as a foundation ( most classic platformers, Minecraft), nor giant doorstoppers of story that would need a 26 episode series to even scratch the surface ( most RPGs ). For instance, the Uncharted series, which are basically Indiana Jones knockoffs. Take any one of the games, and you could easily redesign it as a 2 hour action movie.

*glances over at Sony as they fail utterly at such*

. . . I said "easily", not "in spite of your best efforts otherwise".

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Animorphs, basically. The one of those young-reader series they haven't mined yet that would just be way too controversial in any faithful-adaptation sense, like an R on the violence alone. Let alone it's like 50+ books instead of the Harry Potter 7-8 or whatever, and while some's filler probably 35-40 of them all have necessary plot stuff.

I know we got the show on Nickelodeon years ago, but in this day and age of CGI and the less censorship, a new Animorphs movie would be LIT! Just so much you can do with that franchise from the main story to spin-offs with the Andalites and the Hork-Bajir.

 

[Marvolo]

SAGA graphic novel series

Its just too absurd and vulgar. Aliens with CRT tv heads and spider assassins with 8 teats and a host of other strange alien designs. Lots of nudity and genitals...so many genitals. Graphic sex and bodily fluids. A ghost babysitter that floats around with her intestines hanging from her torso because she was torn in two.

Sad part is it tells a really good story of a man and woman, ex soldiers, from two opposing species in a war fleeing for their lives with their mixed blood daughter. It dives into a number of hot button topics.

 

[TheVileOne]

Jeff Smith's Bone.

 

[antsman41]

SAGA graphic novel series

Its just too absurd and vulgar. Aliens with CRT tv heads and spider assassins with 8 teats and a host of other strange alien designs. Lots of nudity and genitals...so many genitals. Graphic sex and bodily fluids. A ghost babysitter that floats around with her intestines hanging from her torso because she was torn in two.

Sad part is it tells a really good story of a man and woman, ex soldiers, from two opposing species in a war fleeing for their lives with their mixed blood daughter. It dives into a number of hot button topics.

THIS.

 

[JubJub86]

I know we got the show on Nickelodeon years ago, but in this day and age of CGI and the less censorship, a new Animorphs movie would be LIT! Just so much you can do with that franchise from the main story to spin-offs with the Andalites and the Hork-Bajir.

How would you even do it though? It'd have to be a TV series to cover all the content, no way you're stuffing that 3-year war across 50 books into a half-dozen movies. At the same time, even now all the CG required you couldn't pull off on TV, even post GoT type stuff. Plenty of that series is small-scale and local and involving people, but later on the thing goes all-out Michael Bay scale once the war kicks off properly.

More impossible is just the content though, you so know they'd have to neuter it in the extreme to get any studio to sign off on it, let alone a ratings board. 14/15 year old kid's all "I looked around, starting to move but slipped on the floor slick with all the blood from that Hork-Bajir's throat I just ripped out in my tiger morph", those sort of shenanigans aren't flying. Let alone all the "pacifism doesn't work you ignorant ****s" messaging of the series, kid saving the world but basically becoming a war criminal per the Geneva convention in the process, and not being one iota apologetic about it. It's almost friggin' John Milius-esque.

Not flying in 2021. It'll be interesting to see if that movie in early stages pans out - the authors bailed on the project in protest though, basically publically said it's going to be **** and not wanting any involvement. Kinda says to me the suits want the name/branding but deciding to go all "Jack Black Goosebumps" with it in tone. Which is expected but no less hilarious/cringey considering the book material. Yeah, it's funny and wacky/silly in plenty of places, but also got pitch-black-****ing-dark on a pretty damn frequent basis.

Didn't even hate the Nick show back in the day for what it was though. Even as a 12 year old I got that thing was "cheap cash-in shoestring budget, we'll shoot in Canada with a bunch of 30 year old teenagers and try to sell some toys". Meh, is what it is.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

Jeff Smith's Bone.

There's been attempts to make a CGI Bone movie, though I swear I heard somewhere its now being made as a streaming cartoon somewhere.

What about Chronicles of Prydan? Disney got the live action rights 6 years ago and they're just sitting on it! That property needs to be redeemed as the Black Cauldron debacle.

As for something that hasn't been adapted yet, there's a pretty cool YA sci-fi/fantasy book series I recall reading ages back called Pendragon that would make a helluva cool streaming series! Think Sliders crossed with Star Wars.

 

[TheVileOne]

There had been multiple attempts in the past to make a Bone movie, but they've never gotten off the ground. Here's a couple more that come to mind:

• Michael Moorcock's Multiverse (Elric of Melnibone, etc.)
• Berserk (especially in light of current events)
• Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos

 

[lespaul59]

Thundercats

I could easily see this needing a budget of $150 or more. Plus I can also see a executive being like you want $150 or more million for a movie about humanoid cats, yeah that's not gonna happen I just don't get it.