This week's topic is...
Top Ten Books I Would Love To See As A Movie
(set in a perfect world... in which movies don't butcher the books we love)
2. Blood Red Road by Moira Young (My Review | Goodreads)
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (My Review | Goodreads)
4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (My Review | Goodreads)
5. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (My Review | Goodreads)
6. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (My Review | Goodreads)
7. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (My Review | Goodreads)
8. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (My Review | Goodreads)
9. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (My Review | Goodreads)
10. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (My Review | Goodreads)
When I think about what books would make the most exciting and visually interesting movies, I think of speculative fiction books with epic world building (either fantasy or dystopian) and strongly atmospheric settings, and I think that the above ten books exemplify those qualities and would make for excellent films.
HOWEVER. And this is important: they would only make for excellent films IF DONE RIGHT. In a perfect world, in which movie adaptations didn't butcher the books we love, these ten would have the potential to be beautifully atmospheric and visual masterpieces. I certainly felt they all had a distinctly cinematic feel to them. But as we all know, book-to-movie adaptations can be tricky and they are not always adapted in a manner that satisfies and pleases the fans. Alas, it is pretty rare that I am completely satisfied with book-to-movie adaptations!
How about you? Are you generally satisfied with movie adaptations of your favourite books?
I'm pretty much never satisfied with the movie version of my fav. books either... but every now and again there's one that works. Cinder seems to be on a lot of lists this week! It sounds like it would be a cool movie... I still need to read it!
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Yes to everything on this list! Your list rocks!
ReplyDeleteThis list is great, I love that you have The Monstrumologist on there.
ReplyDeleteIt would be HEAVENLY if movies were made from these books and the atmosphere and world building was spot on! *dies* I would love to see The 5th Wave and Across the Universe in action. Throne of Glass would be awesome, too! Lovely list, Aylee!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic list! I'm especially excited to see Shadow and Bone and Cinder and The Scorpio Races as movies. But you're so right, they have to be done well. Too many adaptations go off the deep end and just lose me. Fab list!
ReplyDelete"Cinder" is popping up everywhere. I really have to give it a shot. I get wary of book adaptations as I'm afraid that they will ruin my image of what it should be like. "True Blood" is an exception as I think that in Season 1 & 2 they improved on the novels. Here's my T10T
ReplyDeleteVilia @ Backchatting Books
Dammit I keep hearing about all the books you've mentioned here and I can't help addind them to my enormous TBR pile. And The Knife of Never Letting Go sits on my shelf already and I will get to it as soon as I finish The Book Thief, so excited! :D
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I love that you added the caveat "done right." So many movie adaptations are terrible and my fear is that many of my favorites would just get ruined. Everyone seems to be choosing The 5th Wave, need to read this asap!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Cinder, S & B, and The 5th Wave as movies/tv shows. I agree with what you said about never being completely satisfied, though. Usually when a book get turned into a movie I'm happy as long as they don't completely ruin it.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, I agree with what you said on hoping they'd be done right. I also agree that it's really hard to please the fans and that I too am rarely pleased with adaptations. (Since you're a recovering potter addict ;), I wonder: were you at all pleased with the HP adaptations?). I also wonder if readers in general grumble a bunch about book to movie adaptations but still make up the majority of the audience that watches the movie :D. I think I have yet to meet a single reader who has been more pleased with movie adaptations or who doesn't say they ruin the book, etc.
ReplyDeleteYES. For book to movie adaptations, I think the most important aspect is the world building. Although I'm a character-driven plot girl, I think with characters, you can have awesome (or crappy) actors and actresses who either bring the character to life or don't work at all. But the world? You can't fix. That's actually set in the stone of the writer's imagination. Sometimes they'll fiddle with the details in the movie but not THAT much, you know? So I definitely agree with you on SFF worlds and epic world building.
1. Across the Universe by Beth Revis -- I worry that they wouldn't get the ship right on this one. Plus, since it's more character-driven, I don't know if they'd have enough plot to fuel this. I have a sneaking suspicion they'd overdo the romance too.
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (My Review | Goodreads) - I think they'd get the Asian setting right, but worry about the Lunar/mind powers.
4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (My Review | Goodreads) - this I REALLY want to see on screen. If not this, then its sequel. They would probably change the world a bit to portray the war in a more epic fashion, but I think I'd actually be fine with that so long as I got to see the characters and the creatures come to life.
8. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (My Review | Goodreads) - OMG YES THIS WOULD BE SUCH AN EPIC FILM. Characters and the horse race. A HORSE RACE. A DEADLY ONE. Probably the one on your list I most agree with.
9. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (My Review | Goodreads) - I love S&B, but I'm not convinced it'd make for a good adaptation either. The Shadow Fold could be really epic, but since there are only two scenes with it and the rest are her fitting in, I wonder if it'd work as well.
10. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (My Review | Goodreads) - Also another one that could work because they'd probably amp up the Hunger Games / competition factor, I'd assume. And they could draw in huge crowds just with the female assassin.
Have you read the Bone Season? I think you commented on my review... but it's getting a lot of attention b/c Samantha Shannon was compared to JK Rowling. Her world is so expansive and the battles feel very cinematic - that one would also translate to screen well. Also, I mostly thought of her because Shannon analyzed the Throne of Glass world (http://www.samantha-shannon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/we-have-darkness.html) and made me appreciate all those details so much more!
Re: the Harry Potter movie series. If I remove myself from the story a bit, kind of squint my eyes, and try to enjoy the movies as separate entities in the Harry Potter universe, then yes, I like them. They're really well done.
DeleteBUT. Without those conditions, if I were to really evaluate them and compare them against the book series - they're pretty terrible. I could nitpick those movies within an inch of their LIFE. My feelings for the books are so strong, that no movie adaptation could come close - except when I separate them in my mind.
Anyways, I agree with the comments you made about my movie choices; a lot of them would probably not work well as movies or else would have to have significant changes made. But in an absolutely PERFECT world? I would love them.
I have read The Bone Season... and to be honest, I wasn't very wowed by it. The exposition was way too heavy and confusing, but I guess that may be what you would expect for the set-up of a world in the first book of a seven book series. It was SUCH an original concept - I may like it better as a movie if they can find a way to make the exposition less boring.
SO with you on Across the Universe!
ReplyDeleteSo far Hollywood hasn't had a very good track record of producing good YA book-to-movie adaptions, which is a SHAME, and only proves that they care more about earning money than anything else! :( But you're right: it is kind of hard to please fans, heh. Especially the crazy ones. Like us.
ReplyDeleteI've only read about... three books you listed down? But I've got two of the unread ones waiting on my shelf, so that counts? (Okay, it doesn't.) But I still agree with you. I think Shadow and Bone would make a WONDERFUL film. They just need to get the Darkling and Mal right, then all would be well. And if I'm not mistaken, I think DoSaB has already been optioned for film, though I haven't heard anything else about it.
And I agree with Christina's comment about The Bone Season! I know you felt so-so about it, but it does have some pretty cool battle scenes, and the world building is pretty wicked. As for film adaptions for my favorite books... The Hunger Games was okay, I guess. I definitely enjoyed the book better. But I think HP was really well done! Well, not the first few films (those were still nice, though), but I enjoyed the last few. As for Percy Jackson. UGH. Don't even get me started on how horrible both The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters films were. So disappointed.
Great list, Aylee!
The Scorpio Races & Across the Universe are excellent choices!! I still need to read Cinder. Ah! It's been on my TBR stack for awhile now.
ReplyDelete-Emily @ Emily Hearts Books
My list
Oh I DEFINITELY agree with you regarding The Knife of Never Letting Go. I think that is actually in the works to be made into movies, is it not? Blood Red Road, Shadow and Bone and The 5th Wave would also be fantastic. Haven't read the other ones though! :) Great list.
ReplyDeleteYay Dustlands! Features on my list too :-) Actually haven't read any of the others....
ReplyDeleteAgree about the 5th wave! great reads
ReplyDeletehttp://spicedlatte.blogspot.com/
Alright, I'll admit it...I haven't read any of these, BUT many are on my wish list and I do own The 5th Wave.
ReplyDeleteAs for book to move adaptations, I'm mostly satisfied. I see them as different entities and while they don't always make the movie as true to the book as they could (or fans would like) it doesn't tend to bother me much. :)
-lauren
Totally agree with Throng of Glass
ReplyDeleteUhm, holy hell I agree with everything you said about book-to-film adaptations and a bit fat YES to Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Throne of Glass AND Cinder ♥ Shadow and Bone, Across the Universe, Dustlands, Scorpio Races and 5th Wave are all still (regrettably) on my wishlist/TBR shelf. AWESOME choices doll ^^ I want to see all these movies :D
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, The Scorio Races and Cinder would be amazing! They're the only ones on your list that I've actually read, but I think they're great choices :)
ReplyDeleteWe have some of the same books on our lists. For some reason this does not surprise me. I think Daughter of Smoke and Bone would make a fantastic movie, but I think that if they are going to do it, it will not be good.
ReplyDeleteGreat list Aylee.
Wow, I can't believe I haven't read any of the books on this list yet! I have some serious catching up to do! :O
ReplyDeleteTop Ten Tuesday
GIVEAWAYS: American Girl on Saturn and Heist
I've only read Cinder and The Scorpio Races. Such a bad book blogger I am :) But Cinder is on my TTT, too. I would love to see that as a movie. I just read The Scorpio Races. Such a beautiful story. I would love to see who they cast as Sean!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're totally right - they need to be done right! If they destroy books I love it will be heart breaking. That being said I would LOVE a Cinder, 5th Wave, Shadow and Bone and Throne of Glass movie AND I just heard yesterday that a Daughter of Smoke and Bone movie is moving forward so yay!
ReplyDeleteThe Done Right part is key. So few are. I'd love to see a Scorpio Races movie made by a very artsy, quality director.
ReplyDeleteThey are actually going to make a movie of DoSaB and I'm rally curious to see how it all turns out. I mean, come on, I want like a 17 hour long movie with ALL the details of EVERY page. Good choices you have up there, Aylee! SaB would also make a nice movie (although I'm yet to get my copy and read the book). ;)
ReplyDeleteSarika @ The Readdicts
Of your list, I would love to see the Mounstrologist, Cinder and Dust Lands the most :D
ReplyDeleteI thought The Scorpio races was becoming a movie? I remember hearing that awhile back. I love book adaptations, if done right. It is when they try to cram 3 books into one film that I get annoyed. Good choices though, I'd like to see many of those on film for sure.
ReplyDeleteI have only read two of these, Across the Universe and Cinder, and I agree they would be fantastic films!
ReplyDeleteOooh I would love to see some Lunar Chronicles movies! Those are some of my favorite books!
ReplyDeleteWay to go, self for not reading a single book on this list. I already own Cinder, though so I should get to that. I love The Starkillers Cycle so I'm sure I'll enjoy Throne of Glass.
ReplyDeleteThat's all I can say about your list, sadly. =/
Shadow and Bone and Cinder would make AWESOME movies. I'd love to see them on the big screen some day. Throne of Glass would be great too, and I'm not sure how exactly they'd do The Scorpio Races, but if done right, it could be fab on film as well!
ReplyDeleteI do love atmospheric books! And I like that you stuck to a specific genre/subset. I did that as well. I 100% agree about The Scorpio Races and Shadow and Bone and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Haven't read all of the other ones you listed, but I have heard good things about The Monstrumologist, Blood Red Road, and The Knife of Never Letting go. I'm sure I'll agree with you on those as well, once I finally get around to them!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Across the Universe, 5th Wave, and Scorpio Races are already in the early stages of movie making :) I hope they are done right as well! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Across the Universe, 5th Wave, and Scorpio Races are already in the early stages of movie making :) I hope they are done right as well! :)
ReplyDeleteShadow and Bone seems to be a popular want for movie! I think I need to bump it up my to-read stack. :)
ReplyDeleteHere are my Top Ten .
There are soo many books that should be made into movies. All of them! Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Across the Universe would both be on my Top 10 list, too. I'm currently reading Days of Blood and Starlight and I'm falling in love with Karou and her world again:)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read The Scorpio Races because I'm currently reading the Raven Cycle Series right now and I'm so taken aback by Maggie's writting style. Its simply amazing. I hope you get a chance to read that series, too. I'm sure its something you'd enjoy.
ReplyDeletethe fifth wave is actually getting a movie adaption! chloe moretz is playing cassie and i think itll be released next year?
ReplyDeleteYup, I have heard that! Pretty exciting as I think it will be a phenom movie.
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