# What fantasy stories are should be done next on the big screen?



## johnsemlak (Dec 20, 2005)

With Harry Potter IV, Narnia (book 1) and King Kong, and others there's a fair bit of fantasy on the big screen this season. 

That that stuff and others like LotR, what iconic fantasy stories/tales/yarns need to be brought to the big screen, taking full advantage of modern CGI etc?  By stories I'm including novels as well as myths adn legends.  What stories either haven't been done on the big screen, or haven't been done 'right'?

I'd like to discuss fantasy stories in exclusion of decidedly sci-fi or superhero works but inclusive of stories like King Kong, Tarzan, Bigfoot, etc.

Here's a short list of stuff I'd like to see:

1.  The Lost World by Arther Conan Doyle

2.  Lankhmar stories

3.  Jason and the Argonauts (there's lots of room for improvement on the 60s version!)

4.  A fantasy version of the Arthurian stories (Excaliber with up-to-date effects)

5.  The Odyssey (or the Aeneid)

6.  Epic of Gilgamesh

7.  Beowulf (wash Christopher Lambert's version out of my head!!!)


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## Starman (Dec 20, 2005)

Not really iconic, but I would kill to see the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends books done on the silver screen.


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## cattoy (Dec 20, 2005)

John Carter, Warlord of Mars


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## Captain Tagon (Dec 20, 2005)

The Redwall books, all of them.


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## Filby (Dec 20, 2005)

_The Hobbit_, natch.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing struggle to obtain the film rights, along with Weta Digital being preoccupied with all their other projects (_Halo_, _Evangelion_, the inevitable _Prince Caspain_), I'm not holding my breath.


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## Hand of Evil (Dec 20, 2005)

Amber
Lord of Light
Kane
Bazil Brokentail
A lot of ERB stuff: John Carter of Mars to name one, but I think others should be looked at, his hallow world. 
Hawk & Fisher
Thieves World


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## Dragonfriend (Dec 20, 2005)

johnsemlak said:
			
		

> 7.  Beowulf (wash Christopher Lambert's version out of my head!!!)




Zemeckis is working on it

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/


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## camoudragon (Dec 20, 2005)

Runelords
&
Song of Fire and Ice

would both make cool movies - for 3-6 holiday seasons...


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## KenM (Dec 20, 2005)

Eleric


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## Angel Tarragon (Dec 20, 2005)

Pern

More movies based on Ann Rice's works

Movie adaptation of Jumper (novel)


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## Zulithe (Dec 20, 2005)

A Song of Ice And Fire... obviously! Hey, people said LotR was unfilmable... surely they can work something out for this? 

Same goes for The Dark Tower

On Anne Rice: I wonder if she would even sell film fights now that she has decided to work only for God now (her words)?


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## CarlZog (Dec 20, 2005)

Barsoom

Melnibone


Carl


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## Storm Raven (Dec 20, 2005)

The Chronicles of Prydain - the Disney animated version does not count.


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## Firebeetle (Dec 20, 2005)

*Beowulf times two*

There are TWO Beowulf movies.

One is a live action, indie film http://www.beowulfandgrendel.com Honestly, I think this one looks good.  

The other is a motion capture computer animated picture by Robert Zemeckis, similar to Polar Express in method. Crispin Glover as Grendel and Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother.  Neil Gaiman  co-wrote the script with Roger Avary.

I'm not sure the link with work, so here's what Neil said about it.


In 1998 Roger Avary asked me to cowrite a script for Beowulf for him to direct. We went off to Mexico together and wrote it as a sort of Dark Ages Trainspotting, filled with mead and blood and madness, and we went all the way from the beginning of the poem, with Beowulf as a hero battling Grendel, to the end, with Beowulf as an old man fighting a dragon. Robert Zemeckis really liked the script, and his production company, Imagemovers, bought it, for Roger to direct. (Imagemovers had a deal with Dreamworks at the time.)

Dreamworks, for whatever reasons, didn't want to make it, and -- eventually -- the rights to the script reverted back to me and Roger.

Roger went off and made Rules of Attraction. Last year he decided he wanted to make Beowulf as his next film. He started putting it together...

Meanwhile Bob Zemeckis couldn't get our Beowulf movie out of his head. After the motion capture experience of Polar Express, he wanted to take the techniques on a bit, and make a film intended for adults with them. He and Steve Bing approached us about the script....

And, after a certain amount of to-ing and fro-ing over the last month, Bob Zemeckis will be making a film of Beowulf, from our script. Roger and I are signed on to do any rewrites necessary (I suspect that some things that were easy to write for live action would be impossible or extremely costly to do as motion capture. But then, things that would have been impossible to do as live action may be easy as motion capture, so overall it should work out.)

(No, it won't look or feel anything like Polar Express. When Bob Zemeckis told us the art style he had in mind our reaction was "Well, of course.")

Roger and I are also executive producers on the film, and from what I've heard so far we're expected to work, it's not just a courtesy title.

Roger's a little downcast about not directing Beowulf, though, so I've just agreed to go somewhere odd and write another film (a remake of a film I love, but wouldn't mind updating) with Roger for him to direct. (If I say "in my copious spare time", can we all agree that it should be read as if someone had actually invented the sarcasm mark as a unit of punctuation, and that "in my copious spare time" can be assumed to be inside sarcasm marks?)

And that's all about that.


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## Sir Brennen (Dec 20, 2005)

*John Carter of Mars in Pre-production*

John Favreau (_Elf_ and _Zathura_) is working on this as his next project.  See the IMBD link here.

Here's another vote for an Elric movie from me.


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## Angel Tarragon (Dec 20, 2005)

Sir Brennen said:
			
		

> John Favreau (_Elf_ and _Zathura_) is working on this as his next project.  See the IMBD link here.



That is cool indeed, looking forward to it.


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## sniffles (Dec 20, 2005)

Sir Brennen said:
			
		

> John Favreau (_Elf_ and _Zathura_) is working on this as his next project.  See the IMBD link here.




Blearh!! The fact that Favreau has worked on _Elf_ and _Zathura_ is not a recommendation, to my mind. 

I'd like to see the _Adept_ series of novels by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris committed to film. The first book, _The Adept_, has a terrific chase scene that would be great on the big screen - or even the small screen. Actually, this series of novels is ripe for a tv series, IMHO. But it would have to be British. Americanizing it would ruin it.


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## Arnwyn (Dec 20, 2005)

Another vote for Chronicles of Prydain.


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## Flexor the Mighty! (Dec 20, 2005)

I'd like to see the fist Black Company trilogy made into a movie.  The Dark Tower as an HBO series, Elric's saga, Thomas Covenent first trilogy, the Dragonlance series, and another Conan movie.


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## stevelabny (Dec 20, 2005)

Song of Ice and Fire really needs to be done as a weekly tv show.
That's the only way it would work.
Wait till the books are done, then iron out the teleplays to have as many end-of-hour cliffhangers as you can, squeeze in the flashbacks, figure out the character shifts, etc.

For movie series how about the Belgariad? Xanth? Myth?


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## Mouseferatu (Dec 20, 2005)

stevelabny said:
			
		

> For movie series how about the Belgariad?




A bigger fan than I, of the Belgariad, you'll not find.

(Boy, that sentence was convoluted, wasn't it? )

But honestly, I'm not sure it'd work as a movie series. (And while Edding's plots are, if we're to be brutally honest, simplistic at best, it would still have to be a series. Wouldn't fit in one movie.) I think too much of it is about Garion figuring out who he is to appeal to the mainstream. Not enough action. To say nothing of the fact that I think the whiny farmboy who grows up to be a powerful mystic warrior might remind people of someone... 

Now, if you wanted to talk about making _The Elenium_ into a trilogy of movies, I'd be all over that like white on mice. Er, rice.


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## Larcen (Dec 20, 2005)

cattoy said:
			
		

> John Carter, Warlord of Mars



Ditto that.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 20, 2005)

Pern would be a very good idea, I think. Very visually appealing, nice tight adventure story, cool dragon aero maneuvers, etc.

Wrinkle in Time
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser would certainly be good.
Several of the Tarma and Kethry stories.
King Arthur, of course. One about Merlin would be better.
Some twisted fairy tales I've read, like one where Snow White was a vampire (with her hideous dwarf servants - she couldn't be killed but the good witch of the forest drove a stake made of apple wood into her heart and put her in suspended animation).

Something set in the Horseclans universe.
Something set in the SERRAted Edge universe
Something set in the Bordertown universe


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## Black Omega (Dec 20, 2005)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> King Arthur, of course. One about Merlin would be better.



Crystal Cave, maybe?


> Some twisted fairy tales I've read, like one where Snow White was a vampire (with her hideous dwarf servants - she couldn't be killed but the good witch of the forest drove a stake made of apple wood into her heart and put her in suspended animation).



Sounds close to a Rammstein video I saw.


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## Desdichado (Dec 20, 2005)

I'd go for John Carter of Mars, followed by Prydain, as the minable properties I'd most like to see brought to screen.  Big or small, I don't care.


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## Wombat (Dec 20, 2005)

Yep, John Carter would be cool, if done right.  Then again, given the pulpiness of the source, I allow a _lot_ of wiggle room that way  

I would like to see a _good_ film about King Arthur.  _Excalibur_ didn't cut it for me, nor _Last Knight_, _King Arthur_, or _Camelot_.  In fact the only really good Arthurian films as far as I am concerned are _Monty Python & the Holy Grail_, _The Fisher King_, and _Perceval_.  (for the last, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078073/).

A good version of _Earthsea_ would be lovely, as would _A Wrinkle in Time_.  

_American Gods_ would make a great movie as well.  

And anything dealing with Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser would be highly welcome, not to mention pretty simple.  It's not like they would have to do a particular story, but rather something "in the style of", as long as they got the tone right (light, swashbuckly, energetic).

And, of course, one could ask for a decent version of _War of the Worlds_


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## Storm Raven (Dec 20, 2005)

Wombat said:
			
		

> A good version of _Earthsea_ would be lovely, as would _A Wrinkle in Time_.




Yeah, I'd like to see a version of _Earthsea_ done. That's a property that hasn't been touched yet. (No, the Sci-Fi channel did not do an _Earthsea_ story, they did some other badly written story).


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## Roudi (Dec 20, 2005)

Wombat said:
			
		

> _American Gods_ would make a great movie as well.



I'll second that vote.


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## Tonguez (Dec 20, 2005)

Another vote for John Carter of Mars

I'd also love to see REH's Solomon Kane brought to the big screen, but fear it might end up like 'Van Helsing' which would be atrocious 

I also agree on the Epic of Gilgamesh 
Prydain would be fun too


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## Green Knight (Dec 20, 2005)

King Arthur, definitely. An adaptation of *The Once and Future King* would be even better, in my mind, since I adore that book. The only thing better then that would be if they were to make four movies out of it. 

Either way, I'd love to see a King Arthur story done well. Forget doing a 'historical' recreation, since no one knows the real history, anyway, assuming there is one. Go full-out on the fantastical aspects of the myth. And no modern day anachronisms like disco lights or whatever.


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## Eternalknight (Dec 20, 2005)

_Magician_ by Raymond Feist would, in my mind, make a good movie.  As would Dragonlance, and an update on Exaclibur.

A Thomas Covenant movie would be... interesting.  I'd like to see the reactions of people as they left the cinema.


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## Zaukrie (Dec 20, 2005)

Hobbit
Magician, etc. by Feist
Elric
Redwall (the kids would flock, though I'd like some magic in my fantasy)

Any of Steven Brust's books. As a matter of fact, these are my first choice, forget all the rest of that. Also, I really want Green Ronin or Monte to produce a game and suppliments based on these books.


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## DungeonmasterCal (Dec 20, 2005)

The Elric Series, The Redwall Series, The Pellucidar Series, and the Hobbit.


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## Jamdin (Dec 20, 2005)

Definately Elric, John Carter, Solomon Kane, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and the Horseclans.

I would also like to see movies based on the the Guardian of the Flame series.


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## JEL (Dec 20, 2005)

Storm Raven said:
			
		

> Yeah, I'd like to see a version of _Earthsea_ done. That's a property that hasn't been touched yet. (No, the Sci-Fi channel did not do an _Earthsea_ story, they did some other badly written story).




If you don't mind animation, Studio Ghibli in Japan is making an Earthsea movie to be released next Summer.

How about a Beren and Luthien film?  I doubt you could do it justice live action, but I think it would be beautiful animated.  With the right look, a good script and some awesome music, this would make one incredible movie.


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## Klaus (Dec 20, 2005)

Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser
Three Hearts & Three Lions
Camelot 3000
Chronicles of Dragonlance (but tone down the whining!)
Conan, the Cimmerian (do a four-movie thing, showcasing Conan from a 16-year-old boy to King of Aquillonia)


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## AFGNCAAP (Dec 20, 2005)

The Hobbit
Elric
Earthsea (I'll give the animated one a shot)
Fafhrd & Grey Mouser (LOVE to see what they'll make for Ningauble, Sheelba, & the crystal-fleshed ghouls)
Chronicles of Prydain (something closer to the books, & w/ the strong Welsh myth feel)
Icewind Dale Trilogy (for Wulfgar, of course   )
Myth Adventures (perhaps as a series--a nice comedy/parody of the genre would be welcome)


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## Wormwood (Dec 20, 2005)

Elric or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, but only if they were given the same respectful treatment shown to Conan in his first movie.


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## Thanee (Dec 21, 2005)

Order of the Stick. By Pixar. 

And Amber Chronicles.

And everything else, hey it's more likely to get a few good ones then. 

Bye
Thanee


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## Dark Jezter (Dec 21, 2005)

*The Hobbit* by J.R.R. Tolkien
*The Chronicles of Prydain* by Lloyd Alexander
*The Icewind Dale Trilogy* by R.A. Salvatore
*The Hour of the Dragon* by Robert E. Howard

Also, if anybody were to adapt *A Song of Ice and Fire* into a movie, I think that they'd be brought up on child pornography charges.


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## Rykion (Dec 21, 2005)

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> Also, if anybody were to adapt *A Song of Ice and Fire* into a movie, I think that they'd be brought up on child pornography charges.



Quite possibly, if there were no changes.  John Carter of Mars would have to be NC-17 without changes, such as clothes.


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## Captain Tagon (Dec 21, 2005)

How could I forget Lloyd Alexander?

Make those movies.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Dec 21, 2005)

ERB's Barsoom books, as many mentioned.

And here's one from out of left field... I would sincerely love to see Glen Cook's _The Tower of Fear_ be adapted for cinema. One of the best stand-alone fantasy novels I have found. I believe it would make an easy translation into cinema.


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## Ranger REG (Dec 21, 2005)

_The Hobbit_
_Silmarilion_ (screw Chris Tolkien)
_Dragonlance Chronicles_

_A Song of Ice and Fire_ is better off as a _Dallas-_style yet elaborately expensive primetime soap opera.


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## FireLance (Dec 21, 2005)

The Chronicles of Prydain, done properly.
The Earthsea series, done properly.

There was a fairly decent TV movie of Wrinkle in Time, I think.


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## Aus_Snow (Dec 21, 2005)

Chronicles of Prydain, not animated
Weirdstone of Brisingamen (or something else by Garner)
Master of the Grove (or something else by Kelleher)
(all of) Earthsea, done properly
A Song of Ice and Fire
(all of) Narnia, done properly
Perdido Street Station, perhaps
The Hobbit, of course
Riftwar Saga
Belgariad
Legend (or other Gemmell stuff)
Discworld (any), not animated


Most of those I would suggest because they are *popular*, as well as good material for the cinema.

Otherwise, I'd probably suggest all kinds of weird things. Um, that wouldn't sell. Yee-ha. :\


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## Zappo (Dec 21, 2005)

In no particular order:
Dragonlance (original trilogy).
Dragonlance (twins trilogy).
Black Company (first three books).
Earthsea (done well).
Darkover (in series or miniseries).
Discworld (any).


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## John Q. Mayhem (Dec 21, 2005)

JEL said:
			
		

> How about a Beren and Luthien film?  I doubt you could do it justice live action, but I think it would be beautiful animated.  With the right look, a good script and some awesome music, this would make one incredible movie.




Ooooooh, that makes me shiver in anticipation. That would be _wonderful_.


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## Desdichado (Dec 21, 2005)

Rykion said:
			
		

> Quite possibly, if there were no changes.  John Carter of Mars would have to be NC-17 without changes, such as clothes.



Very seldom are the characters literally naked, if you read the books carefully.  There's all kinds of instances where knife blows and whatnot are deflected by ornamentation and whatnot.  Also, since ERB wrote from a somewhat Victorian point of view, "naked" very probably does not mean literally completely naked.

I think slave-girl Princess Leia style "clothing" would certainly be appropriate for characters on Barsoom.


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## Desdichado (Dec 21, 2005)

Wormwood said:
			
		

> Elric or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, but only if they were given the same respectful treatment shown to Conan in his first movie.



?!  The first movie only kinda sorta followed any of the conventions/history/character of the Conan source material, so I'm not sure what you mean by this.

I mean, changing the Mouser into a black woman (y'know, to get that diversity angle) and having Fafhrd played by Owen Wilson, and doing the whole thing as a "buddy cop" movie would be about the same level of respectful treatment of Leiber as the first Conan movie was of Howard.


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## Desdichado (Dec 21, 2005)

Zappo said:
			
		

> • Black Company (first three books).



Ooooh.... good call.


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## EastCoast9 (Dec 21, 2005)

As stated previously, alot of the Gemmell books would transfer very easily to cinema... plus, I love them! Personal picks would be the Waylander cycle and King beyond the gate, thought I suspect the Druss cycle would be an easier sell...

Tales of the Bard (by Michael Scott, I think??)

A series I read a long time ago, that I can't remember the name of, that was about a group of people sent back in time to prehistoric France, to find that two races already existed there in that time, which were the basis of the Celtic myths of the Tuatha de Dannan and the Fir Bolg. If anyone can tell me the name of the series I'll be eternally grateful!

The Orion series (people might be noticing a trend in my picks by now)

Anything based on the older cycles of Celtic Mythology (Nuada, Balor of the Evil Eye etc)


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## Rykion (Dec 21, 2005)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> Very seldom are the characters literally naked, if you read the books carefully.  There's all kinds of instances where knife blows and whatnot are deflected by ornamentation and whatnot.  Also, since ERB wrote from a somewhat Victorian point of view, "naked" very probably does not mean literally completely naked.



John Carter definitely showed up on Mars naked, as his transportation didn't bring his clothes.  Here is the description of the first Green Martian warrior Carter sees moments after arriving "[he was] entirely unarmed and as naked as I, except for the ornaments strapped upon his head, limbs, and breast."  His description of the Red Martian princess: "She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked."  Nakedness was not brought up in the way, or as often as, a modern writer probably would, but there is nothing in the writing to suggest they clothed themselves.  The Red Martians have the technology to observe people on Earth and feel it strange that we feel the need to clothe ourselves.  

I do agree that the slave-girl Leia look would work for women, and men chould have loin cloths and gold ornamentation, but that is an addition that doesn't exist in the books.

All quotes in this post are from Edgar Rice Burroughs' _A Princess of Mars_, save the opening quote from Joshua Dyal.


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## Desdichado (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you, I know my _A Princess of Mars_ quotes very well.  I said you had to read the books _carefully_ to realize that for someone who was naked, there were an awful lot of mentions of clothing and ornaments on them that clearly indicated that they weren't naked in an NC-17 sense of the word.  Several times "breast ornamentation" is mentioned on the women, and it's clear that it is fairly substantial breast ornamentation; it saves Sola's life when Sarkoja attempts to kill Dejah Thoris, for instance, and Sola jumps in between them.  John Carter himself does an amazing amount of things with his "harness" that clearly indicates that it had plenty of cloth on it.

And, as I already said, the Victorian concept of nakedness does not actually imply complete nakedness.  Just because ERB said naked doesn't mean he meant it in the same way as we take it now.


			
				Rykion said:
			
		

> I do agree that the slave-girl Leia look would work for women, and men chould have loin cloths ang gold, but that is an addition that doesn't exist in the books.



No, it's not.  ERB never explicitly describes what folks are wearing, although except in some exceptional circumstances, as in when John Carter first arrives on Barsoom, it is clear that they are wearing a fair amount of _something_ because he's always mentioning a ton of harnesses and ornaments and capes and all kinds of things.  Since the books are not clear on exactly what the characters wearing, you have to look beyond just the word "naked" and interpret from other clues internal to the text as well as the cultural frame of reference in which ERB lived and wrote.

I think both literally naked and slave-girl Princess Leia style "clothing" are both valid interpretations _of what is written_, and frankly, I think even even more substantial covering than that is not beyond what ERB might well have meant.


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## Rykion (Dec 21, 2005)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> No, it's not.  ERB never explicitly describes what folks are wearing, although except in some exceptional circumstances, as in when John Carter first arrives on Barsoom, it is clear that they are wearing a fair amount of _something_ because he's always mentioning a ton of harnesses and ornaments and capes and all kinds of things.  Since the books are not clear on exactly what the characters wearing, you have to look beyond just the word "naked" and interpret from other clues internal to the text as well as the cultural frame of reference in which ERB lived and wrote.



Burroughs wrote for pulp magazines in the 1910's and started his own book publishing later.  The pulps were full of stories where naked means naked, so it's not like he wrote in a time or from a source where it would have been totally taboo.

The Martians definitely wore a decent amount of ornamentation, but things like skirts or loin cloths aren't mentioned.  They wore harnesses for their weapons and equipment, not as a covering because they were ashamed of nakedness.  Martian society's difference in honor and shame were written to be very different from John Carter's society as a US southerner that served in the Civil War.


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## Mean Eyed Cat (Dec 21, 2005)

My nominations:

_The Scar_ by China Mieville
_American Gods_ by Neil Gaiman
_Practical Demonkeeping_ by Christopher Moore


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## Desdichado (Dec 21, 2005)

Rykion said:
			
		

> The Martians definitely wore a decent amount of ornamentation, but things like skirts or loin cloths aren't mentioned.  They wore harnesses for their weapons and equipment, not as a covering because they were ashamed of nakedness.  Martian society's difference in honor and shame were written to be very different from John Carter's society as a US southerner that served in the Civil War.



I won't deny that in my mind's eye, I most certainly do imagine the incomparable Dejah Thoris (to say nothing of Thuvia, Tara of Helium, Valla Dia, Llana of Gathol, and all of the other beautiful Martian women) as pretty much naked naked, and I wouldn't want it any other way.  But I also still disagree that that's the only valid interpretation based on the text of the stories themselves.

And I'm sure we can both agree that if this is translated into a mainstream movie, the characters will spend very little time actually completely naked too...


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## Rykion (Dec 21, 2005)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> I won't deny that in my mind's eye, I most certainly do imagine the incomparable Dejah Thoris (to say nothing of Thuvia, Tara of Helium, Valla Dia, Llana of Gathol, and all of the other beautiful Martian women) as pretty much naked naked, and I wouldn't want it any other way.  But I also still disagree that that's the only valid interpretation based on the text of the stories themselves.
> 
> And I'm sure we can both agree that if this is translated into a mainstream movie, the characters will spend very little time actually completely naked too...



I never said that it was the only valid interpretation, but I think being mostly naked, to the point of at least NC-17, is the most literal interpretation.  Obviously, one of the strengths of books is that our imagination can fill in blanks, each in a way we prefer.  I agree that any mainstream movie will definitely put clothes on the main characters, and I think that's a good thing as it opens the movies up to a wider audience.

I'm really hoping a good John Carter of Mars movie comes out, so that producers might actually spend money on projects based on good pulp writers.  I was mostly dissapointed by the Conan movies, and some of Lovecraft's work could make great movies rather than the very bad B ones that have been released.  A more visceral Tarzan movie would go over well with me too.  Producers please note that Casper Van Dien is not a good choice to play Tarzan.


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## EricNoah (Dec 21, 2005)

Zulithe said:
			
		

> A Song of Ice And Fire... obviously! Hey, people said LotR was unfilmable... surely they can work something out for this?




I agree, but not for the big screen.  I say a well planned-out and produced TV series that  goes on for 3-4 years.  Think LotR + Dynasty (or whatever other soap opera you want to add) ... The tangled relationships, the huge cast .... it's very TV-worthy.


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## Rykion (Dec 21, 2005)

A Song of Fire and Ice definitely would be more easily done as a TV series.  It would have to be done by HBO or another pay channel though to prevent major cuts from the material in the books.


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## Desdichado (Dec 21, 2005)

Rykion said:
			
		

> I never said that it was the only valid interpretation, but I think being mostly naked, to the point of at least NC-17, is the most literal interpretation.



Sure, it's the most literal, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's what ERB himself had in mind.  That's only one interpretation of what he had in mind.


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## JRRNeiklot (Dec 21, 2005)

Personally, I'm still waiting on a decent Lord of the Rings movie.


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## barsoomcore (Dec 21, 2005)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> I think slave-girl Princess Leia style "clothing" would certainly be appropriate for characters on Barsoom.



Really, when is it _not_ appropriate? I mean, assuming the requisite raw materials.

And you are correct, of course.

Dejah Thoris is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE "incomparable". Mm.


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## CarlZog (Dec 21, 2005)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Dejah Thoris is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE "incomparable".




Hear, hear!

Carl


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## barsoomcore (Dec 21, 2005)

Oh, and my vote:

_The Swords of Lankhmar_

That would ROCK as a movie. I'm available to write, direct and star in.


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## mojo1701 (Dec 21, 2005)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Oh, and my vote:
> 
> _The Swords of Lankhmar_
> 
> That would ROCK as a movie. I'm available to write, direct and star in.




Fine, but I call profits.


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## Rogue765 (Dec 22, 2005)

Thanee said:
			
		

> Order of the Stick. By Pixar.
> 
> Bye
> Thanee




In that case, I want Nodwick.


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## Pants (Dec 22, 2005)

Most of my choices have been listed already:

- _The Black Company_ novels
- _The Hobbit_
- A film about Turin Turambar from the _Silmarillion_ or a Beren and Luthien story.
- Conan: Preferrably a film version of either _The Pheonix on the Sword_ or _The Scarlet Citadel_

What would be cool... but I don't see happening:
- _A Song of Ice and Fire_ (maybe as a miniseries)


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## Draken (Dec 23, 2005)

Order of the Stick by Pixar...

That's brilliant!


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## Ranger REG (Dec 23, 2005)

JRRNeiklot said:
			
		

> Personally, I'm still waiting on a decent Lord of the Rings movie.



Maybe your great-great-great grandchildren will see it one day.

If I die tomorrow, I'm content with Peter Jackson's adaptation.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 23, 2005)

JRRNeiklot said:
			
		

> Personally, I'm still waiting on a decent Lord of the Rings movie.




If the Tolkien estate grants it, you'll probably wait at least 20-30 years for the remake. If Hollywood hasn't dropped the idea of remakes by then. Of course, by 2028, Hollywood is reeling under the bold new directions of the Indian buyers who purchased most of the studios in 2021. 

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship does the first two books in one movie, dropping most of the travelling in favor of set peices in The Shire, Bree, Lothlorien, and in Hall of Rohan. Hollywood's new masters, riding high on the first waves of their successes with Gone with the Wind and Titanic II, infuse the Holy Trilogy with a formula that has worked wonders in the largest film-making industry on Earth in 2005 and has only grown since then. 

I'm talking of course about the big musical number. Lots of them. Like 'Singing in the Rain' only with elves and more leaping water fountains. Aragorn's solo in the second movie is more than 20 minutes long.

In 2040, the Tolkien estate succumbs to multiple legal attacks and the new MultiNet digital rights mean that the Trilogy rights enter the public domain. Still, the Trilogy lays fallow for a mere 20 years until it's dusted off for a quickie treatment with an all-CGI cast. Reviews are terrible and taints the property for a good 50 years as it keeps popping up as a Christmas Special. 

By this time, we've totally eschewed the big production number and a crew of reasonable and level headed Canadians takes the property under it's wing. They labor for almost six years on adapting the trilogy for the combination stage/backdrop that now encompases film making. The retro movement sweeping America means that the Fellowship is filmed in 8 mm with no special effects at all. Aragorn is a normal man in a business suit, a bit of pine straw pinned to his lapel reminding us of the Woods archtype he represents. All players deliver their lines while seated in a semi-circle. The sets make Our Town look like a Busby Berkely production. 

Finally in 2100, Speilburg's head atop the preserved body of Michael Bay remakes the Trilogy word for word and line by line from Tolkien. The first movie is five hours long and features an all-NuRealityConstruct Tom Bombadil. It bombs because all the fantasy fans starved to death in 2090 when Virtual Reality World of Warcraft X was released.


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## Dark Jezter (Dec 23, 2005)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> Finally in 2100, Speilburg's head atop the preserved body of Michael Bay remakes the Trilogy word for word and line by line from Tolkien. The first movie is five hours long and features an all-NuRealityConstruct Tom Bombadil. It bombs because all the fantasy fans starved to death in 2090 when Virtual Reality World of Warcraft X was released.




Damn, that would be a boring trilogy.  In FotR alone, the scenes in the Shire would drag on for a good hour, it would take them another hour to reach Rivendell, then we'd have a 45-minute long Council of Elrond scene, etc.

And all throughout the trilogy, we'd have to put up with characters spontaniously breaking into bad song and poetry.

On the bright side, though, a LotR remake that slavishly adheres to the source material would have a less annoying Legolas.


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## Ranger REG (Dec 23, 2005)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> If the Tolkien estate grants it,



 

Tolkien Estate?!?!!! Did Saul Zentz and Tolkien Enterprise lost the right?

I hate Chris Tolkien...


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## WayneLigon (Dec 23, 2005)

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> Tolkien Estate?!?!!! Did Saul Zentz and Tolkien Enterprise lost the right? I hate Chris Tolkien...




I have no idea. I assumed the Tolkien estate still retained all the rights and approvals and stuff.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 23, 2005)

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> Damn, that would be a boring trilogy.  In FotR alone, the scenes in the Shire would drag on for a good hour, it would take them another hour to reach Rivendell, then we'd have a 45-minute long Council of Elrond scene, etc.




Kinda my point.  As an aside, I dunno if anyone remembers it, but the 'Aragorn in a business suit' is a swipe at something done in the... later 70's? They did all of Wagner's plays as some tribute to a something-th anniversary, I think. Only because they were afraid of being accused of being pro-Nazi they got some French guy to be the... whatever is the equivilant of a executive producer is, or something like that. Anyway, most of the plays were pretty darn good anyway, but whenever Odin came on... instead of some massive guy in furs and with one eye and the ravens and whatever... he was a skinny guy in a normal Western business suit.

The moral of our tale is: you never know what you're going to get in any media production. The next couple Tolkien remakes could be total crap. 



			
				Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> On the bright side, though, a LotR remake that slavishly adheres to the source material would have a less annoying Legolas.




See, I could quite happily go to Legolas: The Movie and be a happy camper


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## KaosDevice (Dec 23, 2005)

I would kill for a _Good Omens_ adaptation. I love that book.


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## TanisFrey (Dec 23, 2005)

On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony 
The first book of his Incarnations of Immortality

That would be a good scifi-fansity to make.  The last 2 books in this series would never be made into a movie.  they would upset way too many relgios persons.


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## S. Baldrick (Dec 23, 2005)

Yet another vote for Elric.  
I also have to throw in David Gemmell's "Legend" and Scott Butcher's "Dresden Files."


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## Ranger REG (Dec 23, 2005)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> I have no idea. I assumed the Tolkien estate still retained all the rights and approvals and stuff.



Nope. _LOTR_ and _Hobbit_ IP are owned by Tolkien Enterprise. The rest of J.R.R. Tolkien's works are under the iron fists of Chris Tolkien and the Tolkien Estate. As long as he have breath, he and his loyal trustee will never let _Silmarilion_ be made into other medium but books and audiobooks.


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## JEL (Dec 23, 2005)

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> Nope. _LOTR_ and _Hobbit_ IP are owned by Tolkien Enterprise. The rest of J.R.R. Tolkien's works are under the iron fists of Chris Tolkien and the Tolkien Estate. As long as he have breath, he and his loyal trustee will never let _Silmarilion_ be made into other medium but books and audiobooks.




We have Christopher to thank for the fact that we can read the Silmarillion and his father's other notes at all, so I have no hate for the man.  I can hardly blame him either for not liscensing it either.  Would you trust Hollywood with your father's greatest work?


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## Dark Jezter (Dec 24, 2005)

JEL said:
			
		

> We have Christopher to thank for the fact that we can read the Silmarillion and his father's other notes at all, so I have no hate for the man.  I can hardly blame him either for not liscensing it either.  Would you trust Hollywood with your father's greatest work?



 If Christopher Tolkien would have had his way, we would have never seen Peter Jackson's LotR movies.  In fact, I recall hearing that Christopher Tolkien disowned one of his own children (or it might have been one of his grandchildren) for publically praising the films.  Everything I've heard about him makes him sound like a bitter, spiteful old man who dosen't think that Middle Earth should exist in any format other than books and audiobooks.


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## Undead Pete (Dec 24, 2005)

Amber
Pern
Conan
Solomon Kane
Bran Mak Morn
Dark Tower
Eragon
Good Omens
Jack Chalker's _Well World_ books would make a great series for the SciFi channel
Cthulhu Mythos - There needs to be a big budget version of Lovecraft's vision
The _Necroscope_ Series by Brian Lumley
_Floating Dragon_ by Peter Straub
All of China Mieville's books, especially _Perdido Street Station_
_Jumper_ by Steven Gould
S.M. Stirling's Nantucket Trilogy
_Snowcrash_ by Neal Stephenson


I'm sure there's many more that don't immediately occur to me right now.


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## Ranger REG (Dec 24, 2005)

JEL said:
			
		

> We have Christopher to thank for the fact that we can read the Silmarillion and his father's other notes at all, so I have no hate for the man.  I can hardly blame him either for not liscensing it either.  Would you trust Hollywood with your father's greatest work?



Hey, I can respect Chris's contribution to completing most of his father's works, including the _Silmarilion._ Just like I can respect Brannon Braga as a writer. But his other position as a trustee of the estate, I don't agree with his policies. Just like I don't think Brannon Braga is competently qualified to be an executive producer.

As for Hollywood, it's just like _d20,_ for every 10 crappy films out in the market, there will be one film that is decent and enjoyable enough to watch. Besides IIRC, New Line Cinema is based in or near Hollywood, if not within the US mainland.

Get used to it, we're stuck with it.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 24, 2005)

S. Baldrick said:
			
		

> ...Scott Butcher's "Dresden Files."




Already on the way.


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