10. The Flash- dozens of superheroes have been adapted into film, so why hasn't the Flash been given a go yet? Ok, yes, it's because Warner Brothers has no idea how to properly adapt a superhero unless it's Batman or Superman, but if you're looking for a hero who can serve as an untapped resource in terms of box office potential, the Flash is your man. While Green Lantern was an admirable attempt to introduce another DC hero, with the concept of an epic space opera, it was largely a misfire that failed to set the box office on fire. The Flash can correct that mistake.
In a world of technology that's constantly forcing people to move faster, the Flash can be the epitome of this ideal. Here's a guy who is faster than anyone on the planet, who perceives time and the rest of the world as being slower than he is. A guy who, instead of forcing himself to play catch up with society, must slow down to truly appreciate it. Think Ferris Bueller's famous catchphrase, and the Flash as the living embodiment of it. Add in his status as a forensic scientist (think CSI with superpowers), add in Matrix-style bullet time fight sequences, and the character's trademark wit, and you have a hit movie on your hands.
9. Runaways- Marvel seems to be the king of comic book adaptations right now, so why doesn't Marvel Studios take a chance and adapt the Runaways? There was an arc written by Avengers director Joss Whedon, and the series itself is phenomenal. The series tells of six children who learn that their parents are super villains who are plotting the downfall of humanity, so they run away with their parents' stuff to become super heroes and avenge the wrongs of their families. It's an ingenious concept, with aliens, mutants, crime lords, time travelers, sorcerers, mad scientists, cyborgs, dinosaurs, vampires, gods, and the occasional mainstream superhero thrown into the mix.
The characters feel real, conveying actual teenage angst that doesn't come across as the type of emo-Twilight drivel Hollywood normally feeds us. The action is great, the writing is solid, there's always some humor thrown into the mix, and at the end of the day it comes off as one of the best series Marvel has, if vastly under appreciated. If this doesn't become a movie at some point in the future, then Hollywood is wasting an enormous opportunity to appeal to the teen demographic without talking down to it.
8. Neil Gaiman's The Sandman- Neil Gaiman has emerged within the past few decades as one of THE quintessential sci-fi/fantasy authors. The Sandman, a comic book series published under DC's Vertigo imprint, is considered by many to be one of his greatest works. It relates the tale of Morpheus, aka Dream of the Endless, as he navigates a saga filled with epic fantasy that draws from several mythologies.
One of the few comics to make it onto the New York Times Best Seller list (along with Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns), there was serious talk of making a movie out of the acclaimed series back in the '90s. Several scripts were written, but the project never got off the ground. What a mistake. An amazing series that deals with supernatural and abstract concepts in a novel and sophisticated way, a proper adaptation done with the right budget and casting could be the breakout fantasy hit Hollywood needs in this dark, post-Harry Potter world.
7. Assassin's Creed- Believe it or not, there are several video games out there with enough story to actually encompass a believable film. However, one of the best games that I think is suited to the cinematic format is none other than the Assassin's Creed series. A science fiction/historical epic, a proper Assassin's Creed film would cover the evil Templars as they force former Assassin Desmond into a machine called the Animus, which forces him to relive the genetic memories of his ancestors in various historical eras.
Altair of the Crusades, Ezio of the Renaissance, and Connor of the American Revolution are the protagonists players have stepped into the shoes of throughout the series. This would totally make a kick-ass film series if done correctly, tracing Desmond's different ancestors throughout history as their memories become his in his quest to bring down the Templars and become the ultimate Assassin. The game is already a perfect blend of action, characterization, and story that combines sci-fi with ancient history. Translating it to the screen, if done right, will result in the first film based on a video game that is wholly embraced by gamers and moviegoers alike, all without compromising what made the game so special in the first place.
6. Justice League- This is really a no-brainer when it comes to adapting comic books to film. The Avengers have happened, so now it's the Justice League's time to shine. I know the concept is possible, at least on the small screen. Bruce Timm and Paul Dini's acclaimed Justice League cartoon from the early 2000's is proof enough of that. If WB can bring the same attention to story and character that the cartoon did, a Justice League film could make a killing at the box office, possibly even moreso than the Avengers due to the presence of truly iconic superheroes like Supes, Bats, and Wonder Woman.
Right now it's considered a pipe dream, but then again so was Avengers at one point. Its very existence has proved to the world that the audience loves good comic book movies that stay true to the spirit of the source. If WB locks in someone like Chris Nolan, Geoff Johns or Paul Dini to write and direct, we'll get a solid film that balances action with ample character development for the various Leaguers, making the film feel genuine and not half-assed the way Green Lantern was.
5. Wonder Woman- Yeah, another comic-based property, but considering it's mostly comics that are the well for film ideas these days, it's to be expected. More than any other superhero, I desperately think we need a film for Wonder Woman. Next to Superman and Batman, she's the most iconic hero of the DC pantheon, and definitely the most recognized female crimefighter. To those who say that a female hero can't be interesting or make a good film, they're dead wrong when it comes to Wonder Woman. Her entire origin is rooted in Greek mythology. Her arch enemy is Ares, the Greek God of War. Strip away the invisible plane and modernize the costume to something more Greek-inspired, and we're in business.
The fact of the matter is, Wonder Woman shouldn't even play like a conventional superhero story. It should, essentially, be like a cross between 300 and Clash of the Titans, with the Spartans and demigods replaced by armored supermodels. Wrap your mind around that concept, and tell me it wouldn't be awesome. Marvel has their mythological hero with Thor adapting the Norse myths. Wonder Woman's Greek mythos would be the perfect antithesis to that. We need a good film for her to prove that superhero films with female leads can work just as well as male ones, and that girl heroes can be more than just supporting players or the stars of really bad spin-offs (Supergirl, Catwoman, and Elektra, I'm looking at you).
4. Y: The Last Man- Now THIS is a comic book worth adapting. I came across Y: The Last Man very recently, but the series has completely blown me away. The very idea of the series has so much appeal to a wide variety of demographics that film studios would be foolish to pass this up. Picture if you will, a world where there are no men, only women. All mammals with a Y chromosome are wiped out by a mysterious plague, and females are given free reign over the Earth. Now imagine that one man, and his pet monkey, were the lone survivors, and had to trek through this new world to ensure the survival of the human race. It's an ingenious concept.
Women would pay to see how the world would change if they were in charge, and men would relate to the last man, Yorrick Brown, a hilarious everyman who suddenly finds himself the most valued person on Earth as the world's most eligible (and only) bachelor. The story and characters are so realistic that filmmakers wouldn't have to change much from the comic. The premise is so cinematic in and of itself that adapting it will be a piece of cake. The only challenge would be how to condense the 60 issue story into a more manageable run time. If it were up to me, I'd either go the Lord of the Rings route for film or the Walking Dead route for TV-make it as a nine hour long film split into a trilogy, or a serialized TV show that can adapt an issue per episode. Either way, this series just screams for an adaptation, and I sincerely hope it gets around to being made.
3. Halo- Hollywood, could it really be any more simple? Halo is the most iconic video game series of the last decade. It has its own heavily crafted mythology, filled with memorable characters like Captain Keys, the AI Cortana, and of course Spartan 117 himself, the Master Chief. It has veritable threats including the various alien races of the Covenant, the zombie-like parasitic Flood, and the leftover ringworld technology of the Forerunners. The main series already has an arc that, with a little simplification, can be translated to film very easily.
Worried about Chief having enough character or ruining him by taking his helmet off? Put the emphasis on Cortana, or at least a core squad of Marines or ODST's, as your POV characters so the audience can connect with them. Adapt Halo: Reach first then segue into a second film based entirely on the first game, followed by a final film that adapts 2 and 3 together. If it's done correctly, Halo could be as epic as Lord of the Rings, only, you know, in space. In fact, it could even be a next generation Star Wars. The potential is there, Hollywood. Get on it immediately.
2. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune- In terms of video game adaptations, if Halo can be the next Star Wars, then Uncharted can be the next Indiana Jones. The games, which follow the globetrotting adventures of treasure hunter Nathan Drake, are already praised for essentially being playable films. They're that cinematic. If that's truly the case, making them into actual films should be relatively simple. If done right, Uncharted can be the modern-day Indiana Jones film we all wanted Crystal Skull to be. It's one of those games that has so much attention poured into making believable characters and a realistic story that film studios would be complete idiots to not consider making this a high grade film franchise.
1. Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space- This is my absolute number one choice for a work of fiction that has yet to be adapted into film, simply because it completely baffles me that no one has even considered it. All of the other works that I have mentioned have, at the very least, been talked about for film or TV adaptations. What frustrates me is that this series has not. Harry Potter, Twilight, and more recently the Hunger Games have made me see the potential young adult book series have to become box office juggernauts. NEVER underestimate the power of a loyal fanbase of teen readers. Pendragon has quite the fan following, myself included. It may not be as large as Potter, Twilight, or the Games, but it's large enough to create a built-in audience. I mean, if books like Percy Jackson, Eragon, The Golden Compass, or even I Am Number Four can be auctioned for films, then surely Pendragon has a shot, right?
The series tells the tale of a teen named Bobby Pendragon, who discovers that he is part of an elite team of warriors called Travelers, gifted with special abilities, who make use of portals called Flumes to travel to different dimensions, called Territories, in order to save them from being corrupted by an evil shape shifting demon called Saint Dane. He is whisked away to a multitude of worlds, including an underwater world, a jungle world occupied by humanoid cat people, a decaying world where people live inside a virtual reality, and even three seperate time frames for Earth, including one during the Great Depression and an era thousands of years in the future. He writes down his adventures in journals and sends them home to his best friends, Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde, who go from observers to active participants in Bobby's travels as the series progresses. Like Harry Potter and Hunger Games, it's a coming of age tale, one that ingeniously incorporates riveting action, genuine pathos, and engrossing sci-fi/fantasy elements into a complex narrative that gets better with each book.
From the moment I started reading this ten-book series, I knew that it would make for a perfect set of films. With today's technology, we have the capabilities to bring the territories of Halla to life, both the unique worlds and the extraordinary peoples who occupy them. If you thought Avatar immersed you in the environment and culture of an alien world, you haven't seen anything yet. With the right cast, script and director, not to mention a hefty budget, this could be the next box office juggernaut, powerful enough to eclipse Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games. I want this series to be a set of films, or at the very least an ambitious TV miniseries, within my lifetime, or my continuously wavering faith in Hollywood will be completely lost.
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