Brilliant books that need to be turned into movies

At times it might appear that every book ever published finally mutates into a film. Of course this isn’t the case. For every Misery, The Lord of the Rings and Trainspotting (to pick three successful adaptations at random), there are a multitude of books waiting to receive the Hollywood treatment.

Some are considered unfilmable, but that doesn’t preclude ambitious directors bringing the likes of Dune, Naked Lunch and Life of Pi to life.

Other books appear ready-made for the cinema, and yet, they still haven’t been adapted. What follows then are 9 of our favourite books that we feel should be made into movies…

Brilliant books that need to be turned into movies

Not to be confused with the recent Netflix movie of the same name, this is a sprawling, epic blockbuster of a novel, The Power of the Dog was written by Don Winslow over six years as he meticulously researched the Mexican drug wars with the attention to detail of the cops he often writes about. Art Keller is a DEA operative whom over 30 years attempts to take down the drug lords of Mexico. Invoking the brutality of Elmore Leonard and the cinematic genius of Quentin Tarantino, this is just begging for a Hollywood makeover.In 2015 Fox reportedly paid $6 million for the film rights to both The Power of the Dog and its sequel, The Cartel, with Ridley Scott producing. Whether this will ever happen now that Disney owns Fox remains to be seen.

Ralph Ellison’s acclaimed first novel was one of the most important books of the 20th Century, describing as it does a pivotal moment in black and American history. The story of a man who is invisible because people refuse to see him, the adventures contained therein would light up the screen, both as entertainment, and, crucially, as a historical document. Spike Lee would bring an effervescent hand to this we reckon. Hulu apparently is making a TV series out of the novel, but we have yet to see anything of it.

The best book-to-film adaptations ever made.

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As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.