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Mar
12
BTT: Movie Potential
2009 at 11am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Okay, I posted this earlier today, and I saw that some of you commented on it, then my WordPress account wigged out and deleted it, and I couldn’t get it back. So, I’ve copied it in my from feed…my apologies to those of you who are seeing it twice.
This week’s topic: What book do you think should be made into a movie? And do you have any suggestions for the producers?
Or, What book do you think should NEVER be made into a movie?
I was just talking about this with some of my coworkers last week! Most recently, I think The Help (my review) has excellent movie potential. The characters are colorful and well-drawn, the dialogue is pitch perfect, and the story is just incredibly compelling. I’d love to see Whoopi Goldberg play Aibileen. I think Reese Witherspoon could do a great job playing Miss Hilly or Elizabeth, just depending…and Jamie Pressly would be great as Celia Foote. I’m not sure who I’d cast for Minny and Skeeter. There are some really touching scenes (and some really hilarious ones), and I’d be thrilled to hear this book was optioned for film.
Tiffany Baker’s The Little Giant of Aberdeen County (my review) also has good potential. If done well, I think it could be similar to Big Fish in that magical story kind of way.
I’d like to imagine that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would make a good movie, but I worry that the warmth of the language and all those great passages about books and what it is to love books would get lost, and it would end up as a love story.
As for what books I don’t think should ever be made into movies, I’m going to start with anything by Toni Morrison. I love her work, and I think a good deal of its value would be lost in translation. The gorgeous language, the multiple layers of meaning, the work you have to do to really understand it—all of those things make reader her books a challenging, meaningful experience, and I think they’d get lost in translation. Her writing is extremely literary and often difficult to “get” on the first pass, and I’d hate to see producers dumb it down to make the story more appealing for mass consumption.
And if her work is adapted for film (as Beloved has been), I definitely don’t think Oprah should be allowed to be in charge of it.
I also don’t think The Time Traveler’s Wife should be made into a movie, but the powers that be don’t seem to agree with me, because a film adaptation is currently in the works and scheduled for release next February. There’s just so much in the book that has to do with the characters’ internal conflicts and their struggle to accept and make sense of the situation, and I’m afraid that’s going to be lost. It is a beautiful love story, and I could probably enjoy that as a movie if I hadn’t read the book, but since I have read (and loved) the book, I don’t think the movie is going to work for me. I can see Rachel McAdams as Clare….but Eric Bana as Henry? Not so much.
What do you think? Any books you feel strongly one way or the other about?
No related posts.
The Help would make a great movie! I could totally see Reese Witherspoon in it too.
How about one of the worst books to movies you’ve seen? I could easily put PS I Love You (Ahern) as one of the more touching books I’ve read but a very disappointing movie, same with Nights in Rodanthe (Sparks). It’s harder to think of books I’d like to see in movie format only because the words (their meanings and flow) make the books special and movies don’t always capture that., maybe it’s really that we fall in love with the book and sometimes the movies just don’t hit those same emotions…
I’m not crazy about Eric Bana!
Just had to put that out there, haha.
Great suggestions! I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t read Guernsey, despite begging for it for Christmas, but I think I’m waiting for the “right” moment (i.e., when I’m all caught up on my ARC and promised-to-review books, I suppose) to enjoy it. I’m going to grab The Help soon, too — I put it on my wishlist as soon as I read your review!
I can’t think of a book off the top of my head that shouldn’t be made into a movie, but I haven’t ever seen the movie The Firm based on Grisham’s book. I loved the book and thought they’d just ruin it in the movie, like they always did Crichton’s books.
BTW–I’m with Megan–not a big Eric Bana fan…but for grins and giggles…the Stephanie Plum series should totally be movies…Sandra Bullock as Stephanie Plum!
There’s been a lot of buzz about The Help lately! I”ll have to read it soon.
Your comment on mine reminds me of how The Remains of the Day might turn out in film, which I have yet to see. Sometimes the beauty of words is inevitably lost when it’s transcribed to the visual realm.
I’m a bit reluctant to watching movies of books that I tremendously enjoyed, for fear of witnessing how the books are ruined.
I haven’t thought of Guernsey but I should, because it’s perfectly tailored for a movie. I read somewhere that Meryl Streep accepted the role of Vicki Myron for Dewey the library cat.
Everything is made into film these days. My kid just told me that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is going to be made into a film and they are turning to You Tube to cast the main characters. My son asked me permission to participate. Isn’t that wild? It was a cartoon but apparently it is cartoon to be live action.
Oh, The Help would indeed make a great choice. I didn’t think of it before, but I can see it now. I hope the powers that be see your suggestion!
I don’t think Guernsey would work. It sounds like it could at first, but you’re right in that it would probably turn into a simple love story, which cheapens it somewhat.
I’m going to lean towards Guernsey not working too, for the reasons you two mentioned, as well as for the fact that all the letters would have to be voice-overs as they showed people doing things (or something similar) and I think that would get REALLY old.
Guernsey should avoid the movie trap most definitely. It would lose all its charm.
I think City of Thieves would make a phenominal film. Julia Child’s story My Life in France is one of my favorite books and I fear ever seeing any sort of Julia Child movie. No one could play her!
[...] Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog discussed what books might be good (or bad) as movies. [...]
I am interested in the The Time Traveler’s Wife movie and don’t have any problem with either Rachel McAdams or Eric Bana. However, the repeated production delays and pushed-back release dates make me think that maybe the movie might kinda not be so good …
[...] BTT: Movie Potential [...]