# Movie or Mini-series?



## Addison (Jan 8, 2016)

Although I missed the premier of the "Shannara" series, I got to wondering about something.

So many movies, mini-series and TV series are based off written works. Whether they're novels, short stories, novellas, essays and so forth. But what got me thinking is how, or what, sways a piece of literature to movie, tv show or mini-series? Seriously, imagine if Harry Potter, or LotR were a TV show or mini-series. Or the opposite.
Are there any literary works you love that has yet to be converted to a screen? If so, would you prefer it TV series, mini series or movie?


----------



## Stephyn Blackwood (Jan 9, 2016)

Personally, I think that films can never be long enough to tell the story of a book. Bits will always be missed out and fans will always bitch about how bits have been missed.
I myself am definitely guilty of this. I rant about how different GoT season 5 was to the books and how much certain aspects annoyed me (****ing Dorne...). But as a whole, I try to avoid such heavy criticisms, as I try to accept that it is impossible to cram in every tiny little detail.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen (Jan 9, 2016)

The Mistborn books. I could see them being either a movie or a fun TV series.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick (Jan 9, 2016)

Stephyn Blackwood said:


> Personally, I think that films can never be long enough to tell the story of a book. Bits will always be missed out and fans will always bitch about how bits have been missed.
> I myself am definitely guilty of this. I rant about how different GoT season 5 was to the books and how much certain aspects annoyed me (****ing Dorne...). But as a whole, I try to avoid such heavy criticisms, as I try to accept that it is impossible to cram in every tiny little detail.


GoT season 5 left fans with plenty of reasons to bitch, especially after season 4's epic awesomeness.

I do appreciate that book-to-film is not an easy thing to do and that GoT has more strengths than weaknesses. Things that went wrong in season 5 don't stop me from looking forward to season 6, though I'd say I'm "cautiously optimistic" (more than I was for Star Wars VII). I do hope the fans' complaints will be taken seriously. The creators should recognize that S4 > S5, and they should be intelligent enough to figure out why.

To answer the OP, I'm starting to appreciate the miniseries more than movies. It's a short sitting—an hour—and if episode 1 is entertaining, I can look forward to anywhere from 7 to 25 more episodes. (Or 5 more, in the case of _Police Squad!_ ...dammit.) I don't usually care if a show's based on a novel or it's just a made-for-television production. I like getting to see the same characters do other things. I think for book-to-film, a series is a great way to get every part of the book. (If only filmmakers wouldn't go out of their way to change the stories!) I'd rather have one or two chapters per episode, as opposed to a ten-hour trilogy for one book. (In fact, I didn't even bother to see _The Hobbit_.)


----------



## Ophiucha (Jan 14, 2016)

It's getting a movie adaptation next year*, but I think the _Dark Tower_ would make a great mini-series. It's too many books long to make a good movie series; it's no _Harry Potter_, I doubt moviegoers will stay interested for eight movies. But a high-budget miniseries? That could work beautifully.

* Or so Sony says, January 2017. By the sounds of it, they're still in talks with Idris Elba to play Roland, so I don't know how it can have a release in a year when they've not even written the contract for the guy playing the the main character.


----------



## NerdyCavegirl (Jan 17, 2016)

I second the Dark Tower. My mom isn't an epic fantasy person, but she loves Stephen King, and we both agree it's one of the best we've read. It really gets us thinking. Julie Of The Wolves, Tweaked, Island Of The Blue Dolphins, Stowaway, The Midwife's Apprentice, Dogsong, The Journey Outside, Star Dragon, Rebel Moon, the Matador series, the Earth's Children series, and People Of The Wolf would all make great movies. Also this one book I read in middle school for that Accelerated Reading thing....it was about two Korean brothers, sons of some noble, and one brother is supposed to compete against the emperor's son in a kite contest. Wish I  could remember the name....


----------



## Addison (Jan 19, 2016)

I got to thinking about LoTR and The Hobbit if they were instead TV shows or mini-series. They'd probably be small screen blockbusters. Also the writers and directors...or producers (not sure what the difference is) would be able to show more of the details and events that happened in the books while also expanding on some events on the way. 

Oh ho, what if the entire Brothers Grimm fairy tales were converted to TV? I don't mean like Once Upon a Time or Grimm. They're renditions of fairy tales. I mean a series where we see Jacob and Wilhelm in Germany going across their country, and others, encountering the people who experienced these tails or even joining them on the journey? Oh wow.


----------



## Incanus (Jan 19, 2016)

I would love to see LOTR done sort of like GOT-- one book =  one season, three seasons all together.  That way they could cover everything.  Of course, everyone would hate it because, in staying true to the book the tension level wouldn't be cranked up to maximum in each and every episode.

I'd also love to see Thomas Covenant this way.  Ten books should yield ten seasons (and they wouldn't have to wait for the books to be written, or worse, adapt books that haven't been published!)

@Addison--did you see the Terry Gilliam movie--The Brothers Grimm?  It's a bit like you describe, though it doesn't cover ALL the tales.


----------



## ChasingSuns (Mar 15, 2016)

There's a novel called A Gathering of Heroes that I used to read religiously when I was younger. It isn't the most amazing book in the world, but I think that it would make an excellent film. The entire book is basically one long siege, and there's lots of potential for really epic fights and whatnot.


----------

