Topic: Can Hollywood create ANYTHING original anymore?

[IronDioPriest]

It's got Kate Beckinsale, so I'll probably see it, but still. This mega-trend of rehashing old films is getting a bit ridiculous.

TOTAL RECALL - World Trailer Premiere - This Sunday

[Weisshaupt]

It's got Kate Beckinsale, so I'll probably see it, but still. This mega-trend of rehashing old films is getting a bit ridiculous.

TOTAL RECALL - World Trailer Premiere - This Sunday

Way out of hand. Sad thing is there are just hundreds of good stories they still haven't done. I think its mostly because they are only interested in pushing the agenda  and not telling a story. Makes it hard to work with Authors who just want to tell their story and not push an agenda.   Ender's Game is still waiting...  and will probably be made a mess of.

And these re-hashes of Phillip K Dick stories.. man,  do they deviate from the plot. Hey! lets lift this one basic premise and then make a movie. But ultimately there are lot of Philip K Dick stories  that are quite good on their own.  A Scanner Darkly[/url is a good example of a Dick  novel translated to screen well. And man, if you want to keep your kids off drugs, make them read it.

But with the CGI there are so many movies that could be done now that couldn't before  that fit perfectly in the Hollywood pithy/pulpy zone and already have built in audiences. . McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern. The Piers Anthony Xanth series, or even just "On a Pale Horse", Niven's ringworld/ integral trees, dozens of other books by Orson Scott Card,  or if the Studio wants a challenge do Azimov's Foundation trilogy, or do a decent version of  Herbert's Dune.  It won't fit the Narrative but Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" would also be an excellent one to bring to the screen.

Maybe we should introduce one of these idiots to a library,and then accuse the studios of "being greedy" when they don't want to give the author a decent cut (which they deserve)

[trapeze]

I have wanted to see a decent treatment of the Foundation series for a long time.

Modern imaging technology makes a great number of science fiction stories possible. It is pure arrogance that allows crap like Cameron's "Avatar" to be made.

Other suggestions:

Phillip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld" series...or "Dayworld"
Fred Saberhagen's "Book of Swords" series...or "Empire of the East" series. I would mention the "Berserker" series but there's nothing new anymore about machines trying to destroy all organic life after "The Terminator" movies.
Just about anything ever written by Vernor Vinge..."True Names" or the "Realtime" series.
Larry Niven's "Dream Park" series. Or "Lucifer's Hammer." Or "Legacy of Heorot."
Fred Pohl's "Heechee" series.
Most all of the works by H. Beam Piper
Quite a bit of Jerry Pournelle's writings are screen-worthy.
Certainly Gordon Dickson's "Dorsai" could be made into an interesting movie. But there are others, too.
Selected works by Norman Spinrad..."Bug Jack Baron" immediately comes to mind. But there are others.
Has anything by Ted Sturgeon ever been made into a movie? No...I don't think so.
Joe Haldeman? Nope.

They could just randomly choose something off of this list.

Or this one.

The list goes on and on and on...

And, of course, the above suggestions are merely from one particular genre of fiction. There is no lack of imagination. There is only a dearth of vision in the film industry.

[trapeze]

One of the other things that irritates me is that the number of spy thrillers is so limited. Yes, there was the Bourne series (Ludlum) and most recently the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy movie (Le Carre) but for the most part Hollywood has been doing Clancy stuff. Well, at least until he totally cratered as a writer. Oh, yeah...and how could I not mention the utterly shameful devotion to James Bond?

It just seems to me that the spy thriller genre is huge and yet relatively unexploited.

That said, according to the Vince Flynn official website FAQ's:

Are they making a movie based on your books?
Yes, they are making American Assassin into a movie.  Oscar-winner Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) is attached to direct the film adaptation of American Assassin from a screenplay by Zwick and Oscar-nominee Marshall Herskovitz. CBS Films has optioned the rights for Flynn’s Mitch Rapp character with the intention of creating a character-based, action-thriller movie franchise.

[trapeze]

Now to be fair...

...they have, in recent years, devoted more and more screen time to comic book originated stories than I would have ever thought possible. The list of movies (more than a few very good) that came from comic book origins is too long to list. We're talking about dozens of big budget movies that turned out to be, more often than not, successful at the box office.

[LadyVirginia]

One of Brad Thor's books is being made into a movie also.  Hadn't heard about Flynn's.

There seems to be two kind of movies -- "blockbusters" and the niche movies (for a certain audience). So if there's only one or two expected blockbusters for the summer and the rest are niche movies and you're not in the niche (12 year old boy who likes naked girls and computers) well, then no movies for you if you're not interested in the "blockbuster".

When I do get to the movie theater I almost always come out wishing there were more movies to see on a regular basis.

Too bad the business model the studios use doesn't allow for moderate priced productions that offer a good return and feature decent stories. It's an all or nothing proposition it seems--gigantic hit or a cash cow that cleans up on sales to 12 year boys and their fathers. 

I think tv today offers more entertainment than movies right now.  Some of the shows today offer production comparable to movie standards.  And they do this week after week for months and for a lot less.   

[trapeze]

I have read one of Brad Thor's books...I think it was "Lions of Lucerne." I didn't much care for it...the characters seemed a bit two dimensional. Maybe his other books are better.

I can say the same for Ted Bell. I read "Hawk" and thought it was kind of dumb. The main character was like Batman without the suit and all the dark brooding. He could do literally anything. He was wealthier than anyone on the planet. The US government thought he was wonderful. Women everywhere wanted to sleep with him. Totally ridiculous. Again, maybe later books were better.

I read "The Jefferson Key" by Steve Berry and it was okay. Not great, but good.

OTOH, I have enjoyed most of Flynn's stuff. It seems more realistic and less fantastical or far fetched. Plus he gets to kill lots and lots of jihadis...always a plus.

I miss Michael Crichton. His worst stuff was usually better than a lot of junk written today. His books were fairly well researched...seemingly realistic...believable even when some of the concepts were purely speculative or outright BS. Good plotting, too.

[Libertas]

One of the other things that irritates me is that the number of spy thrillers is so limited. Yes, there was the Bourne series (Ludlum) and most recently the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy movie (Le Carre) but for the most part Hollywood has been doing Clancy stuff. Well, at least until he totally cratered as a writer. Oh, yeah...and how could I not mention the utterly shameful devotion to James Bond?

It just seems to me that the spy thriller genre is huge and yet relatively unexploited.

That said, according to the Vince Flynn official website FAQ's:

Are they making a movie based on your books?
Yes, they are making American Assassin into a movie.  Oscar-winner Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) is attached to direct the film adaptation of American Assassin from a screenplay by Zwick and Oscar-nominee Marshall Herskovitz. CBS Films has optioned the rights for Flynn’s Mitch Rapp character with the intention of creating a character-based, action-thriller movie franchise.

They better not get a diminutive weasle like Cruise to play Mitch Rapp, probably need a younger dude if they go with Assasin as the first flick, God knows who that will be. 
 

[ToddF]

Game of Thrones is proving that if done right, good literary Fantasy/Sci Fi can take the next step.  Problem is, so much of it is crap on the big screen.

And as someone has noted above, Robot/Foundation is begging for the Game of Thrones treatment...if done right.  if done wrong, it look like this drek

[LadyVirginia]

I have read one of Brad Thor's books...I think it was "Lions of Lucerne." I didn't much care for it...the characters seemed a bit two dimensional. Maybe his other books are better.

I can say the same for Ted Bell. I read "Hawk" and thought it was kind of dumb. The main character was like Batman without the suit and all the dark brooding. He could do literally anything. He was wealthier than anyone on the planet. The US government thought he was wonderful. Women everywhere wanted to sleep with him. Totally ridiculous. Again, maybe later books were better.

If you didn't like Lions you wouldn't like the others.  The last one seemed to be one long lecture on the state of affairs in the US--preaching to the choir and pulled me out of the story.

I like thrillers and action now. I used to read mysteries but don't really care for those any more.  I've heard of Ted Bell but Trap's description makes it sound silly.

I need some suggestions soooo I'm starting another thread.

[Sectionhand]

I watched "Office Space" last night which was a different twist on an old subject but it was pretty funny . It's difficult to come up with something new when there are supposedly only five different plot schemes in literature . The only other thing to do is portrayals of actual occurances but Hollywood even fvcks those up !

[Alphabet Soup]

Game of Thrones is proving that if done right, good literary Fantasy/Sci Fi can take the next step.  Problem is, so much of it is crap on the big screen.

And as someone has noted above, Robot/Foundation is begging for the Game of Thrones treatment...if done right.  if done wrong, it look like this drek

I had to see. Look at one review:

If IMDb allowed negative scores this film would deserve one. A chimpanzee with a home video camera could (and would) have made a better film than this on the first try. Just skip this junk.

!

[ToddF]

I remember watching it.  I always remember because if you were to ask me what's the best story that was made into the worst movie, that was it.

[Libertas]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/previewing-summers-distractions-listing-upcoming-silver-screen-releases

Dark Shadows, how original.  Saw the first trailer last night watching the Kentucky/Kansas game.  Johnny Depp as a weirdo character, how different!

Titanic 3D?!     No, I will kill myself before I submit to that torture!

Most of these I will avoid like the plague!