Which 40K Novels would make into the best Movies?

[imperialsavant]

O.K. Folks, which 40K movies could be made into good Movies & not just for us 40K fans but ones that might succeed at the Box Office.

When you think of many Sci-Fi Movies, Starship Troopers, Star Wars & ones like Van Helsing etc some of the Dan Abnett Inquisitor ones sound like a chance, the Caiphus Cain series & maybe even the DA written Iron Snake one?

Whats your thoughts??

[The West Coast Knight]

The Space Wolf books with the story of Ragnar and how he came from a native Fenris man to a Wolf lord.

Love the William King books.

[Vash113]

This is going to sound brutal but none... not... a... single... one. The plots are either long, winding, full of things non-40k fans won't understand or are just plain bad. The Inquisitor novels were great... wouldn't make good movies though. Some of the Guard books were pretty good... wouldn't make good movies though. The Space Wolf novels were great... wouldn't make good movies though.

A movie set in the 40k universe would almost have to be action and for an action movie to be effective it needs to have lots of action without too many long pauses in between. None of the 40k books I can think of would fit that without having to either massively alter or simplify the plots.

When you think about it the Inquisition books have long periods of investigating, talking, plot twists, intersperced with short but somewhat intense action scenes. But that would leave your average action movie fan bored out of their minds, mystery fans wondering why there's a car chase in the middle of their nice plot, and most non-40k fans wondering what on earth is going on.

The Guard books also tend to have plots that really only make a whole lot of sense or are very interresting with some contextual knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Gun Heads is kinda stupid and pointless unless you really know the symbolic importance of the Fortress of Arrogance, otherwise it seems unbelievably stupid that a whole army would be sent to the slaughter to recover a rusted piece of junk tank... most people not familiar with 40k would just wonder why they don't just build a new one and to explain it would take a sizeable ammount of information.

The Space Marine books also tend to have a lot of contextual significance, which to stand alone would require a great deal of rather dull exposition. Not to mention while awesome in many ways, Space Marine Characters are difficult to portray, would almost have to be rendered in CGI, actors in costumes look wonky, and the pseudo-religious-monkish attitudes and doctrines could cause audiences problems.

So overall I can't think of a single 40k novel that would without some truly monolithic changes make a good movie. Some of the short stories might translate alright into an expanded script format, they tend to be shorter on the heavy plot, with less pauses in between action and with less exposition.

[Shadow Queen]

Storm of Iron, the HH books and the arbite books.

[mysterex]

Any of the Ciaphas Cain books, especially the first one. A lot of the rest of the 40k fiction would just end up "effects" movies while Cain is entertaining even without the action.

[Schnitzel]

A movie set in the 40k universe would almost have to be action and for an action movie to be effective it needs to have lots of action without too many long pauses in between. None of the 40k books I can think of would fit that without having to either massively alter or simplify the plots.

Yes, because dialogue heavy movies are terrible and never do well. I mean seriously, Pulp Fiction was all senseless gunslinging and action right? The Dicinci Code was just some boom boom action with Jesus thrown around for the sake of some sort of plot yeah? Heaven have mercy that a movie actually have something other than big explosions and car chases everywhere!

I'm not trying to flame you or anything here, but your argument seems very closed minded to me. Sorry.

[DoctorEvil]

Yes, because dialogue heavy movies are terrible and never do well. I mean seriously, Pulp Fiction was all senseless gunslinging and action right? The Dicinci Code was just some boom boom action with Jesus thrown around for the sake of some sort of plot yeah? Heaven have mercy that a movie actually have something other than big explosions and car chases everywhere!

I'm not trying to flame you or anything here, but your argument seems very closed minded to me. Sorry.

I agree with you Schitzel, but I think his point is the movie would never be as good as the books. But I believe that's true of ANY movie that is adapted from a book.

Take the DaVinci Code. It was an entertaining movie, but nowhere near as good as the book. That's true of most of the Grisham movie adpations too. The Lords of the Rings trilogy were GREAT movies, but the hardcore fans of the book complained about all the things they left out.

That's always the problem with adapting the written word to the screen. Movies are constrained by time limits. No studio is going to make a 12 hour movie just so they can accurately adapt a book. 90 minutes is the goal, which they will stretch to 2-3 hours if necessary. Studio executives just don't believe that audiences will sit through a movie that is much over 3 hours. That kind of constraint will always limit what directors or producers can do in terms of content.

Over all I would say most 40K novels are BETTER suited to movie adaptions than novels by John Grisham or Dan Brown. Most of them are dialogue/action filled romps that could easily be made into a fine action film. Dan Abnett in particular writes in a cinematic style.

[firestorm]

This is going to sound brutal but none... not... a... single... one. The plots are either long, winding, full of things non-40k fans won't understand or are just plain bad. The Inquisitor novels were great... wouldn't make good movies though. Some of the Guard books were pretty good... wouldn't make good movies though. The Space Wolf novels were great... wouldn't make good movies though.

A movie set in the 40k universe would almost have to be action and for an action movie to be effective it needs to have lots of action without too many long pauses in between. None of the 40k books I can think of would fit that without having to either massively alter or simplify the plots.

When you think about it the Inquisition books have long periods of investigating, talking, plot twists, intersperced with short but somewhat intense action scenes. But that would leave your average action movie fan bored out of their minds, mystery fans wondering why there's a car chase in the middle of their nice plot, and most non-40k fans wondering what on earth is going on.

Absolutely agree with you. Any attempt at a 40k movie would condense, water-down and alter the setting and background that it would anger us fan-boys and leave everyone else wondering what the fuss is about.

A mini-series, on the otherhand...

[Faultie]

I could see a few being really good, but certainly not all of them. There needs to be a certain mix of different things for a successful transition to movie-ness.

1: Execution Hour - This has it all. A few strong main characters (Captain Semper, Confessor Devane, Marshal Byzantane, that stranivarite guy, etc.), action of all types (ground combat, fighters, warships, planet-destroyers, etc.), a mystery, a climactic battle at the end, and it's none of the battles are so lopsided that you know how they'll play out. It's not so much a "war movie" as a Master and Commander in space.

2: Nightbringer - Similar to Execution Hour, but with more focus on ground combat (there is some space fighting), a little more intrigue, and, of course, SPACE MARINES! It also has a nice climax, an unspeakable evil, and a bit of mystery as well. Also, Space Marines.

3: Crossfire - A movie adaptation would have to be a much more cerebral movie, as it's not filled with unending action, but is much more of a thriller/whodunit and inspector type movie. I think it could be adapted quite nicely, as could any of the =I= books, for a nice space mystery. My only fear would be that, unless done very well, a casual movie-watcher might not piece together clues and make connections that someone familiar with the 40k universe would see as obvious. I say Crossfire because it was the first one, and it is good, but I think Blind might actually make a better thriller, as it's more confined and focused on a singular event.

Any of the other books that is well rounded, has strong character development, as well as a variety of different settings, storylines, and action events, would make a good adaptation to screen. I don't know that we'll ever see one, but select Black Library material lends itself to screen treatment.

[Atrotos]

Dan Abnett's Brothers of the Snake has it all. Space Marines, constant action, a plot that doesn't rely on 40k background but will still make 40k fans happy.

Just imagine the phalanx fighting the ork horde on the big screen! EPIC!