Tags: Books   Comics   Movies


There are a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and superhero stories being adapted into movies lately. I fully support the trend, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were some stories written especially for the big screen? Must everything come from a book, comic, graphic novel, video game, or be a remake of a movie that was already done?

A new movie bound to be the blockbuster this Christmas is The Golden Compass, an adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel in the His Dark Materials series. I’ve never heard of the author or this book before, but look forward to the movie. By finding out about this movie, I also stumbled into some discussion about the book. So, going into this movie, some of the surprise is already lost. Surprise and amazement is part of the fun of fantasy stories!

I’ve never read the Harry Potter books, but everyone says I need to because they’re soooo much better than the movies. Well, I don’t want to read the books and watch the movies! That leads to comparisons and disappointments. Maybe I will prefer the movies because I watched them first. The books might be disappointing because they’re not the same as the story that I enjoyed when it was surprising and new. Except that they weren’t surprising and new because I heard too much about the books before I got to see the movies. “Someone dies in this one, but it’s just a minor character.” Oh great, I guess I won’t get excited when the main characters are in danger. Thanks.


Geeks Can Write Screenplays Too

Back a few decades ago, there was this independent film maker named George Lucas who wrote a fresh new script for a movie called Star Wars. Audiences went into this movie and were amazed and thrilled by what they saw. As a group, they shared in that experience as only movie audiences can. Is Lucas the only filmmaker with fresh fantasy/sci-fi ideas?

There are some great writers working in TV and film today. J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are three writers that I have become a fan of through Lost. Clearly they have both fresh ideas and the skill to write good dialog (a weakness of Star Wars). Currently they are working on Star Trek XI, sure to be next year’s Christmas blockbuster.

It’s nice that they will cash in on the Star Trek franchise, but given the chance to create their own franchise from the ground up, would they take it? What writer would turn down such an offer? Create your own mythology, characters, plot, worlds, everything! I’ve never heard an aspiring writer say he was in it to adapt existing stories. Sounds tedious to me.

So Lucasfilm, how about you hire some new geek writers and help them start some new franchises? Please?

Adapt THIS!

Here are some adaptations worth looking at:

Watchmen: Based on the 12-issue comic series written by Alan Moore.

A Song of Ice and Fire: An HBO series based on the amazing fantasy series by George R. R. Martin. This project sounds too ambitious to be true, but I hope it will be half as good as the books.

World of Warcraft: I have no idea how this MMO will be adapted into a movie. I expect it will be awful. Sadly, I also expect that I will see it opening week.

Michael Moorcock’s Elric Saga: This is a fantasy writer that I want to get into. There are so many books in his “multiverse” that I don’t know where to start... Anyone have suggestions? It was announced in 2003 that an Elric movie was in the works, but nothing has materialized yet.

Coraline: Adaptation of Neil Gaiman's award-winning novella for children. Surely Gaiman can write some great new screenplays?