Anyone ever turn a Novel into a Script?

clouddog said:

Just wondering. This January I read a book that I liked better than any i've read in 10 years. I just Facebook messaged the author. I'm a bit nervous, but I guess he can only not reply, and I know he won't be rude. In fact he even said he abhors people who can't even be bothered to write back, so in fact the worst he can say is no.

He may want me to contact his agent. Anyone done this? Anyone thought of doing it but the rights were too expensive?

I have got the perfect book for it, and I really feel great about this idea, but aoahahwow my god, I wonder how much it would cost to get royalties.

I've said i've only written one play

he may have advice at the least

Thanks

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I don't, I think, understand what you want to do - is this a self-pub?

Do you have connections to producers? What royalties?

I used to do film-making, and I turned a script into a novel. Believe me, they are two different worlds!

cornflake said:

I don't, I think, understand what you want to do - is this a self-pub?

Do you have connections to producers? What royalties?

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What I was wondering too. This isn't something I'd think anyone should be approaching a person about unless they've got the means to make it happen.
Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems to be more a case of - I love your book and it would make a great movie! which may be a nice sentiment, but ...

Curious what the book is though, now. It should be obvious, however that what makes for a good book doesn't necessarily make for a good film and vice versa.

It's hard to calculate an average, but a six-month option on a recent novel will normally be in the high hundreds to a few thousand. If it's a new novel from a popular author, the option may well cost many thousands and has probably already been snapped up. Older books go cheaper if no-one's shown any interest in them for a while. The author might even accept a nominal payment on the promise of something more substantial down the line. It's all negotiable.

I've written screenplays (find me on IMDB) but only once did I ever TRY this...

And it wasn't exactly a novel. It was a memoir of sorts and I failed miserably.

I like to think that it wasn't all because of me...

But more because of what the original writer wanted out of it all.

In other words, he didn't want to give up ANYTHING.

I would say it depends on the book/author. If you're on the same scale as he is (i.e. best seller and you're an established screenwriter), go for it. Unfortunately, unless it's a lesser known book/author or something maybe indie published, it's probably either going to cost you a lot of money to option the book or already has been optioned.

As Interrobang suggested, try something older that might not have the demand as it used to. An example was in 2010, a movie called "The Killer Inside Me" was released, based on the Jim Thompson novel of the same name. His novel was from 1952. From it's release until the early '00's, there were different Hollywood names attached to it to make a movie (Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Stacy Keach, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, etc), but it never was made. It seemed to drop out of favor, but in 2009 it gained attention again and was finally released (stars Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson). The person who finally got to write it and get it made, did so cheaply.

If it's something small, and both you and the author are lesser known, you may be able to team up to make it a movie out of pocket. Just be aware that most of the time, the author has some form of power to okay the original script.

Finally the biggest trick is not overwriting. Just because the novel is long, don't write an extremely long script. Rarely does that work or is affordable to make (Godfather is an exception to the rule). You'll have to cut scenes/dialogue out that originally were in the novel. If you're doing it out of pocket to make yourself, you may even have to change a character to match your actor.

If you have the time and really enjoyed the book, write the script. Never hurts and if you really enjoy the book, it would be fun for you to see how it would look in script form. Just don't get your hopes up too high. Good luck though. I hope it works out for you.