“Thriller Books-To-Films: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly”

Thanks to Josh James for turning me onto this Deadline.com article by Mike Flemming:

The just completed Thrillerfest — think Comic-Con for thriller authors and their fans — featured a lecture that caught my eye. Sleepers author Lorenzo Carcaterra chose the 10 best thriller films made from books, the 10 worst, and the 10 he most wants to see get made.

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The 10 Best: The Bourne Trilogy, Silence of the Lambs, Day of the Jackal, 3 Days of the Condor, The Manchurian Candidate, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Getaway (Steve McQueen version), The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The French Connection, Patriot Games and Marathon Man (the last two tie for 10th).

The 10 Worst: The Getaway (Alec Baldwin version), The Eiger Sanction, The Osterman Weekend, The Manchurian Candidate (Denzel Washington version), The Sum of All Fears, The Da Vinci Code, Hannibal Rising, The Chamber, Hostage, Heat (the William Goldman novel adapted into a Burt Reynolds pic). Carcaterra hated the Richard Chamberlain TV adaptation of The Bourne Identity so much, he gave it dishonorable mention.

The 10 That Should Be Made: The Vince Flynn-written series about government operative Mitch Rapp (CBS Films is trying to make Consent to Kill, hoping Gerard Butler or Matthew Fox will star for Antoine Fuqua); Brad Thor ‘s Scot Horvath series; Lee Child’s series on hulking drifter Jack Reacher (last I recall, Cruise/Wagner had the rights, and while Reacher might be the top selling thriller protagonist without a film series, little has happened to get a film like The Killing Floor made); James Rollins’ Sigma Force series, William Diehl’s The Hunt, Bill Granger’s The November Man, Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Alon series, any of Matthew Pearl’s novels that include The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow and The Last Dickens; Christopher Reich’s Numbered Account; and PD James’ Innocent Blood and Jack Higgins’ Luciano’s Luck (tied for 10th).

Thriller is one of Hwood’s most reliable genres. Who doesn’t love to get swept up into a story where the Protagonist, typically an underdog and pitted against long odds, has to work their way through a hair-raising and often one-after-the-other set of complicated obstacles, all with their life and the lives of others in the balance?

BoxOfficeMojo.com breaks down Thrillers into four categories:

Thriller — Erotic [Top grossing film: Fatal Attraction at $156M]

Thriller — Political [Top grossing film: Air Force One at $172M]

Thriller — Psycho / Stalker / Blank from Hell [Top grossing film: Fatal Attraction]

Thriller — Serial Killer [Top grossing film: Hannibal at $165M]

All B.O. figures domestic since 1980.

What are your favorite thrillers, adaptations or not? 

Any other books you would like to see get made into a movie?

For the rest of the Deadline article, go here.

And thanks again to Josh for the heads-up.

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