Hot on the heels of last week's news that Boom! Studios' Unthinkable was picked up for a major motion picture, it got me thinking to the amount of indie and alternative comics that have made for great non-typical comic book films. Ghost World, American Splendor, Road to Perdition and A History of Violence are all fine films that received critical acclaim, yet many common-folk fail to realize their origins as a comic.
What other indie books would be primed to make a splash at the box office? And hey, if any movie studios need a consultant on these kinds of things...I'm your man.
10. Queen & Country
Although there is apparently a film version of Greg Rucka's Queen & Country in development hell, the powers that be best get this one moving (though hopefully with better results than Oni Press' other comic-turned-film Whiteout), because this spy thriller is a surefire blockbuster if done right. I suspect a movie version would focus less on the politics of the series and more on the intrigue and the action. With the Bourne movies so successful and the public's need to always blow shit up so high, Queen & Country is a prime candidate for an adaptation.
9. Love & Rockets
While Watchmen was long considered to be "unfilmable", it eventually got made. Though it was a mixed bag for most, in my opinion it was a pretty successful adaptation, at least as good as it could've been. But if Zack Snyder really wants to be able to go around and tell people he filmed the impossible, let's see him get the ball rolling on a Love & Rockets adaptation. With multiple narratives and various side stories by Los Bros Hernandez, I have many doubts that Love & Rockets could be a coherent, mainstream film. An artsy television program maybe, but I am simply itching for someone to attempt a film version, just so I can read all of the forum troll fallout.
8. The Unknown
What Mark Waid has created in The Unknown's Catherine Allingham is a great central character for what could potentially be a string of hit films. While the box office certainty of a female lead isn't very promising (I'm sorry, but it's the truth: film studio execs are d-bags), the promise of paranormal activity and bloody violence is always a good selling point.
Get a couple of upper B-listers on board and some lucky studio might have a surprise hit on their hands, spawning into that key industry buzzword, a "franchise".
7. Bizarre New World
Skipper Martin's Bizarre New World is full of quirk, but it's also a surprisingly realistic look at what would happen to an ordinary man who suddenly discovered his ability to fly. Coupling this new found power with a very realistic father-son relationship could prove to be an unexpected formula for a fun and heart warming family film. Everyone loves fun and heart warming.
6. Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth
Ready? I'm going to lay this out for you. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, you are guaranteed an Oscar for taking this role. Director, screenwriter, etc., whoever you may be: Oscar nominations at least. The potential of infinite sadness is too great to ignore, and the Academy would surely eat that shit up. Of course I'd love to see Jimmy Corrigan as a film, but it would take a lot of chopping and angering of the die hard fans in order to make it clock in at an acceptable length.
5. Path
As I recently discussed in CraveOnline's new feature, the Indie Double-Take, Path would be a great animated film that delivers plenty of laughs and one hell of an intense message that would resonate with kids and adults for years to come. With CG animation bordering on banality, using Path as a full on comeback for 2D animation would be stellar. Something tells me that The Princess & The Frog won't quite do it.
4. Gemma Bovery
Gemma Bovery is a strange tale to be sure, and a film would have to be just as bizarre. The story follows a local baker who becomes obsessed with the titular Gemma, one half of a new couple in town. Though he never significantly interacts with the focus of his attentions, the baker, Joubert, somehow starts connecting pieces of Gemma's life to the classic novel Madame Bovary.
With its wide array of cast members, a film version has Robert Altman written all over it. Though that is sadly impossible, Gemma Bovery could very well be one of the most intriguing films ever based off of a comic book. With literary references, voyeurism and loneliness all rolled into one, Posy Simmonds' book has potential to be a cinematic experience like few others.
3. Mouse Guard
As cute and cuddly as members of the Mouse Guard are, they are badasses in their own right, battling snakes and other beasts whilst trying to survive. As with Path, my one mandate for converting this to film is that it has to be 2D animation. Remember how awesome The Secret of Nimh was? Yeah, like that.
2. La Perdida
Jessica Abel's La Perdida is a quintessential tale of a young person "finding themselves", as main character Carla attempts to relocate herself to Mexico City in an attempt to connect with her Mexican heritage, and become an ordinary citizen of Mexico instead of a transplanted American. Of course, altering one's identity isn't as easy as it seems, and Carla's hardships while living in Mexico ultimately make her grow as a person and become the woman she wants to become.
It's a pretty classic concept, but La Perdida's cultural standpoint and intense approach to character study really make a film version a front runner for genuine Oscar-fodder.
1. Blankets
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Talk about what the Academy loves, and Craig Thompson's acclaimed Blankets has it all. Growing up. Coming of age. Down syndrome. Religion. Family drama. Heartbreak. All the necessary requirements to gain that illustrious golden statue are present, and it's high time that someone cashed in.
Blankets is a work of art; the images themselves are more than half of what make this story so intriguing. Visually, Blankets might not be able to translate completely, but the story itself is potent enough to provide a launching pad for some young actor and clog up the awards scene from the usual suspects.
