Ten Books I’d Make into Movies If I Had a Skijillion Dollars

I’m willing to bet at one point you’ve finished reading a book and thought. “Man, if I had a spare two hundred and fifty million lying around I’d make this into a movie faster than you could say ‘Yeah, that’ll be the day’.” In fact, if you read as much as I do you probably have several books you’d like to make movies out of. You might even pass slow days daydreaming of a satisfying creative career while you scribble whole lists of books you’d film if only someone would see how incredibly talented you are and give you the chance. Well, if any of you happen to be Hollywood bigwigs looking for the next big thing are aren’t all that concerned about throwing good money after bad then I’d like to formally present this DTHOMPSON’S LIST OF TEN BOOKS I’D MAKE INTO MOVIES IF I HAD A SKIJILLION DOLLARS

1) Stephen King - The Long Walk One of King’s most depressing works, written as Richard Bachman, is also his most gripping. A simple premise puts you in the middle of a
life or death situation as a walking race begins and every contestant who drops below four miles an hour more than twice is shot dead on the spot. It has the potential to be talky but was one of the best books I ‘ve ever read. Anyone who can transfer what’s on the pages to the screen would have a Spielberg sized hit on their hands.

2) Isaac Asimov - Foundation Asimov wrote a fantastic set of books about a mysterious group that controls the future of mankind from the shadows, a gordian knot of
stories that twist and turn like oiled eels. Just when you believe you know what the score is you realize everything you thought was sure is totally wrong and it happens again and again.

3) Edgar Rice Burroughs - A Princess of Mars Since we now know that Mars is a wasteland unfit for life this story of high adventure amid the ferocious and generally many-legged life forms
of Barsoom might not go over that well. Ah heck, it was a fantasy to begin with and watching John Carter race [literally] from one end of Mars to the other to save Deja Thoris, the most beautiful woman on the planet [naturally] would be pretty cool. Plus it’s a trilogy so if it’s popular you could laugh to the bank two more times.

4) Alan Moore - Watchmen Terry Gilliam was going to make this, the most complex of graphic novels and the very last word on super heroes by uber scribe Alan
Moore. Then you know what happened? Nothing. Not a damn thing. It’s such a dense story, dealing with the psychology of its gifted protagonists along with byzantine secret plots and people’s desperate need for protection. If they can film From Hell Watchmen should already be made.

5) Elmore Leonard - Swag While many authors write about crime and criminal acts, very few write crime fiction from the criminal’s point of view. Leonard is the master
of this form and none of his books is as firmly rooted in the lives of its criminal protagonists as Swag. Follow two morally challenged small time thieves as they embark on a string of quickie mart robberies while the cops chasing them show up for exactly one short chapter. And what a title!

6) Rex Miller - Slob Rex Miller wrote a lean mean novel about a big fat psychopath who basically doesn’t speak or clean himself or really do anything but be a
lightning fast murder machine. Pity poor Detective Jack Eichord saddled with finding a monster you would NEVER want to meet. Slob moves like a whip crack and would make an ultimate thriller.

7) Harlan Ellison - Along the Scenic Route [short story] In the world of the future people duel on the highway with mega souped up cars. When one ordinary Joe loses his cool and initiates a challenge
he finds himself in WAY over his head. Opportunities for virtually non-stop car chase heaven exist here, in spades. Plus, it would be hella cool FUTURE car chase heaven.

8) Robert A. Heinlein - Sixth Column Late in his career Heinlein wrote a novel about fundamentalist Christianity taking over America and turning into a clamped down
theocracy. The novel concerns itself with the struggles of a group of revolutionaries and their attempts to fight city hall. A fine adventure and more topical by the second.

9) Henry Kuttner - The Graveyard Rats [short story] Apparently Henry Kuttner’s VERY short short story was the first thing he ever wrote. It’s certainly one of the most frieghtening things I’ve
ever read. Equal parts Poe and Lovecraft the hard part would be stringing it out to feature length. However, if you used this story verbatim as the final third of your film no one would leave saying anything but “Wow!”

10) James Morrow - Towing Jehovah OK, maybe more of an art house film, but one that would require a large budget. God is dead and floating in the Atlantic Ocean. See, you want
to watch it already.