YA Books on the Big Screen

DrummerGirl · Nov 19, 2009

Hey, there are tons of YA novels being made into big screen movies...

Which one's are you excited about?

I can't wait for 'Tomorrow When the War Began' coming out in 2010, by John Marsden. I first read the first book in the series like 14 years ago! I love that series so much, I feel nervous that they might not do it justice - I don't think they can make it as good as it played out in my head

.

Also, pumped about 'The Hunger Games' and 'The Forest of Hands and Teeth,' which has been bought by a studio (but they havent committed to shooting it yet).

Plus I think 'Wings' will make a cute little Disney debut.

Recently watched 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.' Kind of unsure why, out of all the cool YA stuff around, that that one was picked to be made into a movie?

What books would you love to see made into movies?

(And, hi, I'm newish around here - only recently found this site - I've already spent hours reading through ancient posts...)

lilymeade · Nov 20, 2009

Um... I'm not really sure. They say Hollywood is running out of ideas, so that's probably why they're adapting so many novels.

YAwriter72 · Nov 20, 2009

Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series. I would love to see that come to life on the big screen. They are amazing books and I think we need something besides vampires now!

Kathleen42 · Nov 20, 2009

I'm curious to see how they'll handle Hunger Games (I actually wrote a blog post on it earlier this week).

I'm, personally, looking forward to Looking for Alaska and Wicked Lovely.

kaitlin008 · Nov 20, 2009

I think Wicked Lovely will come out really well as a movie. And Hunger Games will be...interesting (if it's made). I think it would be a great movie, but the teens killing each other is kind of horrifying, even just to visualize. I definitely want to see it, though.

Kathleen42 · Nov 20, 2009

kaitlin008 said:
I think Wicked Lovely will come out really well as a movie. And Hunger Games will be...interesting (if it's made). I think it would be a great movie, but the teens killing each other is kind of horrifying, even just to visualize. I definitely want to see it, though.

Yeah. That's why I posted about it. The basic premise is quite similar to Battle Royale and when I first saw that my reaction was "No way will this ever get distribution in the US".

free_cashews_on_me · Nov 20, 2009

I'm super-psyched for It's Kind of a Funny Story movie.

But this is only because that is my favorite book of all time.

kaitlin008 · Nov 20, 2009

Kathleen42 said:
Yeah. That's why I posted about it. The basic premise is quite similar to Battle Royale and when I first saw that my reaction was "No way will this ever get distribution in the US".

I read that blog post, and I thought it was a really good point. My mom just read the book (Hunger Games, not Battle Royale) and enjoyed it, but was also disturbed. I think it would be a hard movie to watch if you weren't going into it prepared for the premise.

Kathleen42 · Nov 20, 2009

kaitlin008 said:
I read that blog post, and I thought it was a really good point. My mom just read the book (Hunger Games, not Battle Royale) and enjoyed it, but was also disturbed. I think it would be a hard movie to watch if you weren't going into it prepared for the premise.

Thanks.

The only thing I can figure is that they'll imply violence more than show it.

It's such a toss up. Battle Royal, for example, is really interesting and thought provoking but I completely see why it's never gotten US distribution. I liked it but part of me has always wondered if it's right to like it.

One thing I hope stays intact is the quasi social commentary about the entertainment industry. Not sure it will, but I thought that was a great thing that set the book apart.

wandergirl · Nov 20, 2009

the first thing that pops into my mind is slasher pics & torture porn, which often features teens. not that Hunger Games should be in that category (god forbid), but those all are hugely popular in the US, and pretty much anything goes. I do think HG will feature more implied violence, though, just to keep it PG13.

Tuuli · Nov 20, 2009

I'm looking forward to the City of Bones. The role of Jace will be hard to fill, though. I wasn't a big fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, so I might skip on that one. I would definitely go see Wickedly Lovely. I haven't read Hunger Games yet, but it is on my list of must reads. And apparently Blind Writer's book The Duff has also been optioned, so we'll see if that goes anywhere in the end. And yes, I'm looking forward to New Moon. It can't be any worse than Twilight. I hope.

kaitlin008 · Nov 20, 2009

The Duff will be awesome WHEN (because I'm confident it'll be when, not if) it comes out as a movie.
Forest of Hands and Teeth could go either way, I think. There was so much introspection in the book that I'm finding it a little hard to picture as the movie, but there was also plenty of action, so we'll see.

Also, Kirsten & Kathleen, I think you're right about Hunger Games probably being more implied violence.

YAwriter72 · Nov 20, 2009

Tuuli said:
I'm looking forward to the City of Bones. The role of Jace will be hard to fill, though. I wasn't a big fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, so I might skip on that one. I would definitely go see Wickedly Lovely. I haven't read Hunger Games yet, but it is on my list of must reads. And apparently Blind Writer's book The Duff has also been optioned, so we'll see if that goes anywhere in the end. And yes, I'm looking forward to New Moon. It can't be any worse than Twilight. I hope.

YES!!! OMG I loved that series. Chase Crawford would be good as Jace I think.

I did not like Forest of Hands and Teeth at all.

Kats · Nov 20, 2009

Kathleen42 said:
I'm curious to see how they'll handle Hunger Games (I actually wrote a blog post on it earlier this week).

I'm, personally, looking forward to Looking for Alaska and Wicked Lovely.

Looking for Alaska is being made into a movie? Cool! I didn't know Tomorrow When the War Began was either, I will definitely check that out as I loved the books.

I think the Forest of Hands and Teeth would make an awesome movie, and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater would be pretty good too (I think it's been optioned).

Kathleen42 · Nov 20, 2009

Kats said:
Looking for Alaska is being made into a movie? Cool! I didn't know Tomorrow When the War Began was either, I will definitely check that out as I loved the books.

I think the Forest of Hands and Teeth would make an awesome movie, and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater would be pretty good too (I think it's been optioned).

I think both of those have been optioned.

According to IMDB, Looking For Alaska will be release in 2010.

Kitty Pryde · Nov 20, 2009

I know "Here, there be dragons" was optioned, but I don't know if they started making the movie. I think it will be awesome--lil CS Lewis and lil JRR Tolkein travel to the land of all imaginary places and have adventures. Also, there are dragons.

Skye Jules · Nov 20, 2009

A Great and Terribly Beauty is supposed to be made into a movie. I'm curious about that.

strawberryblondie · Nov 20, 2009

Yes Shiver has been optioned and that's the one I'm looking forward to the most because I loved that book! I'm also looked forward to Hunger Games and Wicked Lovely.

Renee Collins · Nov 20, 2009

Kathleen42 said:
Thanks.

The only thing I can figure is that they'll imply violence more than show it.

It's such a toss up. Battle Royal, for example, is really interesting and thought provoking but I completely see why it's never gotten US distribution. I liked it but part of me has always wondered if it's right to like it.

One thing I hope stays intact is the quasi social commentary about the entertainment industry. Not sure it will, but I thought that was a great thing that set the book apart.

One thought I had about the Hunger Games being made into a movie was that it would, in effect turn us—the viewer—into the people at the Capitol.

In the book, we are in Katniss' head and we understand her planning/thought process. I'm not sure they can do that with a movie. Also, I worry that the movie producers would fall prey to spicing it up, and showing us the other players, or Haymitch etc. So we will all be watching something similar to what the people in the Capitol and all around the districts are watching.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but it made me think. That said, Im sure I'll go see it, so I don't know what that says about me.

Kathleen42 · Nov 20, 2009

Renee Collins said:
One thought I had about the Hunger Games being made into a movie was that it would, in effect turn us—the viewer—into the people at the Capitol.

In the book, we are in Katniss' head and we understand her planning/thought process. I'm not sure they can do that with a movie. Also, I worry that the movie producers would fall prey to spicing it up, and showing us the other players, or Haymitch etc. So we will all be watching something similar to what the people in the Capitol and all around the districts are watching.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but it made me think. That said, Im sure I'll go see it, so I don't know what that says about me.

That's an awesome point and one I hadn't thought of.

~*Kate*~ · Nov 20, 2009

Kathleen42 said:
That's an awesome point and one I hadn't thought of.

Seconded. I hope the filmmakers are as smart as Renee.

It would be interesting to see the characters from the Capitol, with all their crazy beauty fads. Those were some of my favorite images from those books.

Sage · Nov 20, 2009

Renee Collins said:
One thought I had about the Hunger Games being made into a movie was that it would, in effect turn us—the viewer—into the people at the Capitol.

In the book, we are in Katniss' head and we understand her planning/thought process. I'm not sure they can do that with a movie. Also, I worry that the movie producers would fall prey to spicing it up, and showing us the other players, or Haymitch etc. So we will all be watching something similar to what the people in the Capitol and all around the districts are watching.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but it made me think. That said, Im sure I'll go see it, so I don't know what that says about me.

That's an excellent point!

maddicharmed · Nov 20, 2009

I'm pretty much excited about all of them to be honest, but I'm really excited about the Hunger Games! I want to see how they handle this on the big screen, but I reckon they will do a good job.

City of Bones is optioned, so I really, really, really hope that they pick this up. That would be amazing because it is my favourite book series.

Mad Hatter · Nov 20, 2009

Hopefully Shiver becomes a movie. Also, I can't wait for If I Stay to come out-looks very interesting. And definitely the Hunger Games.

DrummerGirl · Nov 20, 2009

Kathleen42 said:
Thanks.

It's such a toss up. Battle Royal, for example, is really interesting and thought provoking but I completely see why it's never gotten US distribution. I liked it but part of me has always wondered if it's right to like it.

Have heard a lot about Battle Royal. Would love to see it/read it.

It's weird, when I read books, I get so caught up in the plot, I don't seem to get too worried about the violence/horror of it all. In 'The Forest of Hands and Teeth' Carrie Ryan only has a few scattered paragraphs describing the mangled sinewy and grotesque unconsecrated - which were creepy - but then, even though they are present for large slabs of the book, I kind of don't "see" them - I'm just watching the main characters and the unconsecrated are a background blur. In a movie though - it would be a lot more confronting and horrorish. It probably wouldnt even be a movie I'd want to see if I hadnt read the book.

The same with The Hunger Games. In a movie, there's potential for it to be very visually disturbing.

I think when I read, my mind must automatically PG13 everything?

Also excited for Alaska. Love boarding school stuff.

YA Books on the Big Screen

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