The idea of the “unfilmable” book adaptation is an inherent paradox; after all, if something is ultimately adapted into a film, it is by definition filmable. This term has nonetheless taken off in literary and film circles to describe something that was previously thought impossible to adapt on screen, or at least to adapt well — a useful abbreviation.
And now, with supposedly “unfilmable” books like Frank Herbert’s Dune and Liu Cixin’s 3 Body Problem having been recently adapted (to great critical success!), the industry is faced with more new and exciting questions about these works than ever before. What exactly makes a book “unfilmable” in the eyes of readers; how can a filmmaker overcome such challenges; and which books, if any, will be next? Let’s dive in to answer some of these questions ourselves.
What makes a book “unfilmable”?
The standard notion of an “unfilmable” book is one that is excessively complicated in worldbuilding, plot, structure, or all of the above. “Unfilmable” books are often sci-fi or fantasy stories that not only refute the laws of our current universe, but diverge from them so much that it’s difficult even for readers to imagine the details.
Dune is the classic example of this: it takes place thousands of years in the future, on planets we can barely conceive of, at an epic scale which would leave most filmmakers cowering. Even Denis Villeneuve — Dune’s most recent adapter, and widely touted as its most successful — built up to it over many years of epic films (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) … and still had to split his adaptation into two parts and cut quite a few details in order to make it more digestible.
In other words, even the most talented filmmakers in the world must make creative changes to turn a book from unfilmable to, literally, filmable. Intriguingly, this doesn’t always mean cutting out content; the Netflix version of 3 Body Problem arguably does the reverse, turning elements which are highly condensed or conceptual in the novel into more elaborate, tangible things in the TV show. For example, the Netflix 3 Body Problem sees one of the book’s main characters divided into multiple characters, and introduces certain scientific elements earlier than in the book, even pulling in details from the sequels.
But despite their rather different approaches, both Dune and 3 Body Problem attempt to address the same issue: how to make an “unfilmable” story accessible to a brand-new audience. Again, based on general reviews, both have been fairly successful — but it’s far too soon to say whether filmmakers have cracked the code on adapting the purportedly unadaptable.
These two adaptations also don’t encompass what I consider to be another type of “unfilmable” book, which are effectively the opposite in scale — works of a highly interior and peculiar nature, typically focusing on just one character or a small cast. Books by Virginia Woolf are often called “unfilmable” in this sense; Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness narration is incredibly difficult to adapt well, especially for a fantastical story like Orlando (though Sally Potter’s 1992 adaptation does a commendable job!).
Other examples of this type of “unfilmable” book might include Joyce, Faulkner, etc.; for a more contemporary example, I’d say that Ottessa Moshfegh is fairly unadaptable, though the recent adaptation of her first novel Eileen arguably proves me wrong. And all that isn’t even to mention books that are so famously convoluted on nearly every level — your Infinite Jests, your Gravity’s Rainbows — that many people consider them impossible to grapple with even on the page, much less onscreen.
In any case, we’ve established that there are many elements which can cause a book to be labeled “unfilmable” — but also, encouragingly, a few approaches to adapting them successfully. That still doesn’t answer the question of why unfilmable stories seem to be having such a moment in 2024… or indeed, of whether this trend will continue.
Why are these stories trending now?
Perhaps the clearest answer to the question of “why now?” is that we’re seeing a natural post-COVID spike of movies and shows which spent a long time in development. Throughout 2020 and 2021, creators were able to really wrap their heads around these concepts and figure out how to make them not just accessible, but exceptional; some filmmakers may even have chosen to work on certain projects because they had that extra time.
I’d guess that’s exactly what happened with 2023’s Poor Things — another story derived from a book which many would likely consider “unfilmable” for its odd framing devices, intense political critiques, and obscure satire of Victorian Gothic novels. Of course, those who have seen the film will know that Yorgos Lanthimos eschewed many of these elements to focus more intimately on the character of Bella Baxter. But the unorthodox atmosphere of the book remains impressively intact, and it seems the lengthy pre-production period must have contributed to that.
It’s also possible that COVID gave filmmakers not only more time, but also more incentive to work on bolder, more ambitious projects. Life is short, art is precious, and you can’t wait forever to take creative risks; I personally feel much more strongly about these things now than I did in 2019, and can only imagine that many creators feel the same. In that sense, perhaps the “unfilmable” trend is not merely a product of filmmakers having had too much time on their hands, but of a wider perspective shift that will continue into the 2020s.
On a related note, it also seems that around 2019-2020, we reached something of a cultural inflection point for movies that were big and flashy without really being different. After a decade of fairly homogenous Marvel movies dominating the box office, it makes perfect sense to me that filmmakers and audiences alike would be craving novelty — whether in the form of desert-based drugs and giant sandworms (Dune), multidimensional alien supercomputers (3 Body Problem), or a woman with the transplanted brain of an infant (Poor Things).
The final (admittedly less interesting) factor at play here is the ever-advancing nature of technology. CGI and other special effects have improved significantly over the last 5-10 years — even an SFX amateur like myself can gather as much by having recently seen Poor Things and Dune 2. Some filmmakers might just be waiting to adapt their magnum opus with suitable effects; after all, if David Cameron waited over a decade for technology to “catch up” to his vision for Avatar, why couldn’t other creators do the same?
Which books will be next?
Speaking of filmmakers waiting in the wings, let’s now consider what is perhaps the most compelling question of all: if “unfilmable” adaptations are all the rage, which problem-child books will be next? Here are my best predictions (note: not best wishes, which would be even more aspirational!) for three books to fill this niche.
Prediction #1: My Year of Rest and Relaxation
This one is a bit of a freebie, as Ottessa Moshfegh has already said that the screenplay for her 2018 novel — about a young woman who tries to sleep through an entire year — is underway. Still, plenty of books with major buzz go into development hell and never emerge; what makes MYORAR different is that Moshfegh and her collaborators have already laid the promotional groundwork with Eileen, and indeed, that Moshfegh herself is involved in the script… with none other than Yorgos Lanthimos attached to direct.
That doesn’t mean adapting My Year of Rest and Relaxation will be easy. The book is even more insular, and arguably much weirder, than Eileen. The dreamy ambience that cloaks it seems like it would be nearly impossible to translate onscreen, and I also find it hard to picture any well-known actress in the main role. Still, I have high hopes for Moshfegh’s adaptation — not least because she seems very pragmatic about the process. (“It’s a reinterpretation… a translation,” she’s said previously of adaptation. “It’s not supposed to be a carbon copy.”)
Prediction #2: Perdido Street Station
My second prediction comes courtesy of working backwards from other filmmakers with a penchant for the unfilmable — specifically, thinking about what Denis Villeneuve might wish to tackle post-Dune. China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station is an obvious contender: another sprawling work of speculative fiction with a cult following, and just enough magic (rather than pure sci-fi) sprinkled in to make it feel distinctive.
At the same time, Perdido Street Station contains some strikingly similar elements to Dune which are right up Villeneuve’s alley: powerful hallucinogenic drugs, monstrous insect-like creatures, and interdimensional travel, to name a few. But in truth, even if Villeneuve isn’t the one to adapt Perdido Street Station, the resounding success of Dune means it’s only a matter of time until studios come knocking on China Miéville’s door.
Prediction #3: A Wizard of Earthsea
My third and final prediction, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, has actually been adapted multiple times — but never quite to the author’s satisfaction. Although Le Guin herself passed away in 2018, I believe the time is ripe for an adaptation she would have appreciated, with technology and modern sensibilities having finally caught up to her deeply progressive writing and worldbuilding.
Indeed, the combination of the epic world of Earthsea and the non-traditional narrative of Ged battling his “shadow creature” seem like excellent fodder for a fresh adaptation. And with JK Rowling becoming more publicly controversial — not to mention the fatigue around squeezing yet more content out of Harry Potter — it seems inevitable that another epic wizardly story should come to the cultural forefront in the 2020s. Why not the Earthsea Cycle?
All that being said, one of the most exciting things about these “unfilmable” adaptations is that you can never truly predict what will come next. Who would have thought that after David Lynch — the veritable King of Weird — failed so spectacularly in adapting Dune, someone else could come along and knock it out of the park? Who would have thought that one of the biggest blockbusters of 2023 would be an adaptation of a 30-year-old Scottish political novel?
To that extent, all we can do is speculate. Fortunately, as the writers and filmmakers of these stories certainly know, the speculation really is half the fun.
