{"id":101861,"date":"2018-03-08T14:51:07","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T14:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=101861"},"modified":"2018-03-08T14:51:07","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T14:51:07","slug":"the-space-between-the-stars-author-anne-corlett-on-the-sff-screen-adaptations-we-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/blog\/the-space-between-the-stars-author-anne-corlett-on-the-sff-screen-adaptations-we-need\/","title":{"rendered":"The Space Between The Stars author Anne Corlett on the SFF screen adaptations we need"},"content":{"rendered":"

SFF screen adaptations that need to happen immediately<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026and a few that are already on their way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like many avid readers, I\u2019ve always been wary of screen adaptations, particularly when it comes to books I loved. I still haven\u2019t got over the treatment meted out to Susan Cooper\u2019s The Dark Is Rising<\/em>,<\/strong> adapted for the big screen as The Seeker<\/em> <\/strong>and rendered almost unrecognizable in the process. When a production team get it right, however, taking a great book, a charismatic cast, spectacular cinematography and a memorable soundtrack, the end result can be something very special indeed.<\/p>\n

One of my favourite childhood films, The Last Unicorn<\/em><\/strong>, was an adaptation, and more recently I was impressed by the edgy screen serialisation of Margaret Atwood\u2019s The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the works of speculative fiction that I\u2019d like to see on screen in the future.<\/p>\n

Terry Pratchett\u2019s Night Watch books<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one is actually happening! There have been rumours about it for several years, but it has now been confirmed that BBC Studios will be bringing Vimes, Carrot, Vetinari and company to the small screen in a six part series, provisionally entitled The Watch<\/strong>.<\/em> There is a suggestion that this might be a returning series, which gives me hope of one day seeing my favourite Pratchett book, Night Watch<\/em><\/strong>, adapted for television.<\/p>\n

Good Omens \u2013 Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one is happening too! Filming is underway, with David Tennant and Michael Sheen in the lead roles, but fans of the book will have to wait till 2019 for the onscreen debut of the Them, and, of course, the Four Other Riders of the Apocalypse.<\/p>\n

Julian May\u2019s Galactic Milieu series<\/strong><\/p>\n

This classic SF series, consisting of Intervention<\/strong>, Jack The Bodiless<\/strong>, Diamond Mask<\/strong><\/em> and Magnificat<\/strong>, <\/em>would be tricky to film, given its focus on the powers of the mind, but I\u2019d like to see someone give it a go.<\/p>\n

Station Eleven<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emily St John Mandel\u2019s best-selling novel follows a travelling theatre troupe through a post-apocalyptic landscape. It looks like this will be hitting the cinema screens at some point, after producer Scott Steindorff acquired the film rights.<\/p>\n

The Night Circus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Erin Morgenstern\u2019s magical tale has also been optioned, but there is currently no information as to whether it will actually make it to the screen. I think I\u2019d like to see this one as a TV series, rather than a film. It feels like a story that needs a little space, and not to suffer from the tight time constraints of a big screen production.<\/p>\n

Never Ending Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I know. It\u2019s been done. And rather good it was too. But those who have read the book will know that the 1984 film only covered the first part of Michael Ende\u2019s exploration the world of human imagination. There was a sequel, but the less said about that, the better. This is another book that I\u2019d like to see as a TV series, with Bastian\u2019s journey fully realised, along with all of those enticing little glimpses of \u2018stories that shall be told another time.\u2019<\/p>\n

Katherine Kerr\u2019s Deverry Cycle<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started reading this series when I was 14. I finished when I was 34. It\u2019s an enthralling celtic knot of a story, with so many strands and so many past and present lives that I couldn\u2019t see how Kerr would draw them all together in a satisfying conclusion. She did, and I\u2019d love to see someone do the same with a screen adaptation. Unfortunately, the sheer scale of the project probably means that it won\u2019t be happening any time soon.<\/p>\n

Exodus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julie Bertagna\u2019s frighteningly plausible vision of a waterbound future is apparently being made into a screenplay, but I can\u2019t find any other information about the project. Bertagna\u2019s drowned world is beautifully realised and could be stunning on the big screen.<\/p>\n

The End We Start From<\/strong><\/p>\n

Benedict Cumberbatch\u2019s production company recently acquired the film rights for Megan Hunter\u2019s bravely pared-back tale of post-apocalyptic parenthood. Handled well, this could be something really special.<\/p>\n

Nod<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can imagine various different interpretations of Adrian Barnes\u2019 brutal dystopia, but my gut feeling is that this tale of sleepless, disintegrating humanity would best lend itself to the type of visceral cinematography seen in 28 Days Later<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Otherland series<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tad William\u2019s epic tale is set in a cyberspace that no longer seems as remote as it did back in 1996 when the first book was published. However, the scale and diversity of this imaginary world make it as fresh and compelling as ever, with huge scope for successful adaptation.<\/p>\n

Angelmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nick Harkaway\u2019s genre-crossing steampunk-ish<\/em> tale of international espionage and clockwork would be glorious on screen. By turns funny, moving and gently nostalgic, Angelmaker<\/em> is a quirky romp of a novel, and I\u2019ll be queuing outside the cinema if a screen adaptation ever becomes a reality.<\/p>\n

Finally\u2026The Space Between The Stars<\/em><\/strong>! I was once asked who I\u2019d like to play my main characters in a film adaptation, and I struggled to come up with many casting ideas. When it comes to locations, however, I have a whole film\u2019s worth of settings planned out in my mind. The second half of the book is set in the north-east of England, where I\u2019m from, and several of the locations actually exist. The Northumberland coast is a spectacularly beautiful part of the world, and I\u2019d love to see it brought to life on the big screen.<\/p>\n

The Space Between The Stars<\/em> is OUT NOW from Tor UK.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author Anne Corlett tells us which of her favourite books she’d most like to see brought to film or TV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":101862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[1,1624,1718],"tags":[6026,2247,6025],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/space-between-the-stars-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}