alternatehistory.com

In "That Wacky Redhead," I have mentioned the attempt by MGM/Universal to bring Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant to the silver screen that resulted in a (to massively understate matters) rather large difference in opinion as to how to procede from the material.

But there are several other possible novel-to-film projects in alternate history that just beg to be explored. Here are a few WIs:

1: Instead of Alien, the Scott Brothers decide to pick up a property 20th Century Fox had optioned, Larry Niven's Ringworld.

2: While going over the manuscript of the novelization of Star Wars with author Alan Dean Foster, George Lucas picks up an author copy of The Tar Ayim Kang, pronounces it good, and asks if he could produce a series of Flinx and Pip movies. He himself will be too busy with Star Wars and Indiana Jones to actually direct them, but he's seen this short by this Canadian guy named James Cameron called Xenogenesis that makes him almost the perfect director for this.

3: While brainstorming for the ideas that ultimately created the short lived show Wizards and Warriors, one of the CBS producers got the grand idea of producing a show set in either Terry Brooks' Shannara or Landover, or Raymond Feist's Midkemia/Kelewan. WI he had managed to convince a few more of his fellows?

4: Before landing The Dresden Files, the Sci-Fi Channel (now Sy-Fy) was in heated negatiations for the rights to Glenn Cook's Garrett, PI Noir Fantasy and Robert Asprin's Captain Phule Millitary SF Spoof series. WI they had landed the rights to both Ca. 2005? Farscape was off the air by then, and the only really big shows left were Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica. (Eureka would be next year.)
Top