Next Wave of Blockbuster Movies Featuring Fantasy, Suspense, and War

There are only a few books out there that could make great movies. For the most part, the book is much better than the silver screen version, especially when you read the book first. There are a couple reasons that a book may make a better movie though. If the book is not well known enough to have been read, you can just about bet that no one will compare the book to the movie. After the movie is released, the book will sell, but people will think of the movie first. Another reason is that the book was just lame, but the premise was good. There are several books that just stink, but they have a great idea and story line behind them. The fact that the author can't write to save their life does not mean that they can not think of a great story to tell. That is where movies can step in and save them. One other reason that a book would make a great movie is if it is action packed. It is very difficult to get the right action sequences in print. You will either get too descriptive and loose your audience, or you will not be descriptive enough and the scene will be flat. Even with a great description, there is much more that can be said for actually seeing the explosions and swords flying and guns blazing. Let's face it, the Matrix bullet dodging scene would not be the same in print. Here is a look at three books (or series) that I think should be made into movies.

Rain Of Death or Invisible Assassin By Roger Huff

Okay, so I am a little biased on this one since I am in the process of writing it. You can check out part one,two, and three, but it is still a work in progress. I personally think that this would make a great movie. I even have a partial cast list in my mind. The main character would be Justin Long (the computer geek from Live Free or Die Hard and Mac from the Apple Commercials). He would really fit the struggling computer geek turned action hero running like a scared little girl type role. Jack Nicholson would be the perfect SpaWar executive for this movie as well. The rest of the roles are pretty flexible and can be filled by any number of people. This is a story of a guy that stumbles onto a conspiracy involving a satellite that can target people with pinpoint accuracy from space. This satellite is going to be used to leverage defense spending in one way or another. He then is chased around San Diego in a run for his life as he tries to survive. I am still not sure if he makes it or not. Hopefully I can get the conclusion soon.

Dragon Lance Chroniclesby Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman

This first three book series in the Dragon Lance world is responsible for the amount that I read today. Believe it or not, I was not a big book worm when I was a kid. At about 12, I picked up the first in this series from a friend of mine. Three days later I was scrambling to buy the next book. I was hooked. It opened me up to the world of reading and I have never turned back. This is the story of a small group of friends that find some strange goings on in their world. They choose to investigate and meet up again in their hometown on a given date. These books start when they meet up again. Two new people show up and there is all kinds of problems starting all over the place. This is a fantasy type setting similar to Lord of the Rings. It involves a Kinder (a childlike race that has no fear), an elf, a half-elf, a dwarf, and some barbarians for flavor. This was an awesome book that could make a wonderful movie. With the huge push towards fantasy lately, I think it would be a huge success.

The Corps Seriesby W.E.B. Griffin

I am a little partial to this book as well. Not since Full Metal Jacket has a story so truthfully and honestly presented the tale of the Marine Corps. This is a World War two based set of novels that follows a young Marine in his climb through the ranks. There is action, intrigue, spy versus spy, thrills and even a romantic twist here and there. This was an awesome set of books that would transfer nicely to the big screen. If the novel was transcribed over to a script accurately and nothing was lost in the story line, as movies often are prone to do, this would make an excellent movie. There are several actors out there capable of portraying the lead role in this film, but with Matt Damon's success in the Bourne series and his ability to fill that type of role, I think he would be a great choice to lead this one.

There are many books out there that we think would make a great movie, but most people leave a theater mumbling about how the book was so much better. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, there are certain criteria for a book to make a good movie. These may transfer over nicely, but it may also ruin a great story. I would still go to see any one of these movies in hopes that it would augment the book and not detract from it. The only bad part would be not if, but when they destroy the original book like they so often do in movies. If it looks really lame, I'll just wait for the dollar theater, if there still are any outside St. George, Utah (that was the last one I saw still operating). Just like good movies, the dollar theater is a dying breed.