Mary Robinette Kowal - In Search of a Successor to Lord of the Rings
What do Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and The Princess Bride have in common? Well, aside from the fact that they're all fantasy movies, they've also made remarkably sound transitions from page to screen. Not all flicks are so lucky: Golden Compass and Eragon spring to mind. So what is it that makes a book translate well? In fantasy you're looking for engaging characters, evocative visuals and a world that's wholly unlike our own. With that in mind, let's look at some fantasy books I think could make really interesting movies.
His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik
We're starting off easy, because Peter Jackson has already picked up the rights to the first three books of the Temeraire series, which is set in the Napoleonic Wars. What makes it so spectacular? Dragons, of course. (Hey, if Pride and Prejudice can be rewritten with zombies, why not Napoleon with dragons?) It'll be hard to pull off -- not least of all because it takes place in a world that is well-known to us. But Jackson says, "I love it where the history is authentic 80% of the time, but we've got 20% of fantasy in there." Add to the mix strong characters like Termeraire -- the titular dragon -- and his great relationship with his captain (which also raises serious questions about slavery) and you've got the best buddy movie since Turner and Hooch... if Hooch breathed fire.
Acacia by David Anthony Durham
This one has also had the magic option wand fall on it. This time from Michael De Luca with a screenplay by Andrew Grant. Radically different from His Majesty's Dragon, Acacia is a sweeping epic in a wholly fantastic world. The Akaran family rules the Known World in a time of apparent peace. The only problem is that it's built on slavery and the drug trade. One of the reasons I'm particularly hoping this will survive the option phase to actually become a movie is that it will be a step towards solving fantasy's serious lack of racial diversity. The Akarans? They're brown. In fact, this is one of the few fantasy worlds where I've seen racial issues tackled intelligently.
Jhereg by Steven Brust
How is this not a movie already? Set in a world where humans are second class citizens, it's got all the elements you could possibly want in a fantasy flick: The main character, Vlad Taltos, is a wise-cracking assassin who also happens to be a witch. Not enough to hook you? He's also got a pet miniature dragon (the so-called jhereg). The book is positiviely overflowing with floating castles, gods, demons, assassinations and magic. Seriously, someone make this into a movie... right now. I'm waiting.
Momo by Michael Ende
This ought to be a no-brainer. Michael Ende is the man who wrote The Neverending Story. Now, don't get me wrong: I love that one, but Momo is better, and it's relevant to our times. Momo is an orphan girl -- and we know how much fantasy loves orphans -- who has such a strong gift of imagination that anyone who plays with her actually experiences what they're imagining. Everything's great until the Grey Men come to town introducing these "time-saving" devices. Yet the more time people save, the less free time they have for imagination. That's right -- put down your crackberry and wrap your brain around this moving character, who employs magic, a tortoise, music and pirates to get adults to remember what it's like to be a kid again.
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
True, The SciFi Channel made a version in 2004, but it completely ignored the racial descriptions of characters, choosing instead to white-wash the whole thing. I would love to see a production of this where Ged is red-brown as he was intended. Who is Ged? A boy with a talent for magic who attends the renowned wizards school at Roke. Sounds familiar, I know, but it's actually got nothing in common with Hogwarts. Earthsea is a more primal tale of magic, sea-voyages and wild spirits. Plus it's got a dragon. You know how I love those. Someone do this movie correctly, if not for me, than for one of the most influential scifi/fantasy authors of our time.
Your turn. What fantasy books do you want to see made into films?
Mary Robinette Kowal is the winner of the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and a professional puppeteer. Her first novel Shades of Milk and Honey is being published by Tor in 2010.
I don't particularly trust Hollywood not to white wash Acacia as well, unless Durham got cast veto rights (I heard that the author of Sahara had it written into the contract that he had to approve the cast).
As someone writing books full of brown people, it's the only way I'd feel... well, morally OK for optioning film rights.
There is that, yes. Although one can hope that since issues of race and appearance play a role in the plot of the book that they won't get mucked with.
Speaking of fantasy about poeple of color, I would love to see Neil Gaiman's ANANSI BOYS as a movie. I thought STARDUST (my least favorite Gaiman novel) actually worked better as a movie than a book-- possibly because it was written as an illustrated novel. But I loved ANANSI BOYS and would like to see it on the screen as well as in my head. Gaiman seems pretty savvy at making Hollywood behave.
I'm not so sure about AMERICAN GODS. It's the same universe, but it's so much darker (and R-rated) as a story, it would be a lot more difficult to translate.
I, for one, find it hard to believe no-one has tried an Elric movie yet.
And a little research shows me that Wendy Pini was involved in an animated attempt in the 80s and that Chris Weitz - who directed The Golden Compass - is attempting to do one now.
OK, how 'bout Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser?
Wiki says.... no!
All right, I want a Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser movie. And a Chronicles of Amber film or two. Riftwar Saga anyone? Perhaps even Paksenarrion...
Of your suggestions, the idea of a Jhereg movie makes me weak in the knees. That could be unbelievably cool.
Ooo.. Anansi boys would be cook.
And yes. It is totally unbelievable that no one has tried an Elric movie before.
I'd like to see some urban fantasy make the jump to the screen (but not Anita Blake, please don't let the recent Anita Blake books become representative of urban fantasy). Perhaps a Dresden movie (the series was done well, no clue why it only lasted one season) or one of Ilona Andrews' books. Also, I think Ann Aguirre's urban SF book Grimspace would make a good movie.
"Momo" has been made into a movie more than 20 years ago. Those ancient times are probably hard to remember, though a quick search on IMDb could have remedied this. Or do only Hollywood versions count?
Any Mieville, but in a long enough form to do justice to the material.
Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series.
Colin Wilson's Spider World series.
[PS I hate the AMCTV cookies on this site. When i come here it shows "Thanks for signing in, Mike. Now you can comment." Then when I submit a comment, it says I'm not signed in. grrrrr. It's just as well I have a FF add-in to recover text otherwise my comment would just be deleted by this intrusion]
grrblg: Yes, I'm afraid on the American Movie Chanel I'm supposed to focus on U.S. films, although I occasionally cheat with things like Pan's Labyrinth.
Mike: I feel your pain. Also, I oddly think that Mieville might be more suited to a mini-series because his books are so massive in theme and scope.
I'm gonna say it again, as usual. Fox needs to learn from their mistakes. The prime mistakes with "Eragon" was that they cut it down to under two hours, and it's really stupid to do that with a book that's 700+ pages. And also the fact the most important parts were cut out of the film. (And yes, they should've gotten an experienced director. Hell, they at least did that right with "City of Ember", which was a big yawn.) I don't think they should let that stop them from making "Eldest" as long as they keep those things in mind. But, with the hot Garrett Hedlund (Murtagh) making "Tron" and Fox's management being idiots (As evidenced by them thinking they need to change "Fantastic Four" when they got it right), it's hard to tell.
Harry Potter made a sound transition to the big screen? Ummmm.... In a word, NOT! All the book fans I know think that they movies are fun, but somehow miss the essence of it all. So have missed by a lot, some by a little, but I think the fan (young or old) who really enjoys the movies is rare.
Neverwhere feature film. Please, let it happen!
I'd love to see China Mieville's Bas Lag on the big screen. I'd also be totally okay with Un Lun Dun.
Hrm. What else? Maybe Garth Nix's Sabriel/Abhorsen series? I imagine that could be pretty successful with younger audiences...
I think the next big one is WoT if they can manage to trim it intelligently.
In no particular order:
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Donaldson).
Lost Regiment (Forstchen).
Earthsea (LeGuin) [DONE RIGHT].
Dark is Rising (Cooper) [DONE RIGHT].
Hatrack River (Card).
Mmm.. . some good choices in there. I don't think it's possible to trim the WoT down but it'd be a great mini-series.
Greg, if they did a faithful "The Dark is Rising", it'd be best suited as a BBC miniseries.
Hey, I was completely fine with Christopher Eccleston in leather...
I think the Anita Blake books would work great as a TV series, but only if they kept with the style of the first four or five books. Make it a cop show with the supernatural elements and leave out all the sex in the later books. And I think "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence would make great opening music.