10 Remarkable Books That Haven’t Been Adapted Into Films

Many of cinema’s greatest achievements have their roots in exceptional literature, such as James Jones' From Here To Eternity and Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men. These literary gems offer filmmakers a wealth of material to craft unforgettable movies. Yet, numerous outstanding books, ranging from timeless classics to modern masterpieces, remain untouched by the film industry. This could be due to authors withholding rights or the perception that certain stories are too complex to adapt. Regardless of the reasons, it’s unfortunate that these incredible works haven’t made it to the big screen. Below, we highlight 10 books that are ripe for cinematic adaptation.

10. The Dark Tower Series (Stephen King)

Given that almost every Stephen King novel has been adapted into a film—from Carrie and Cujo to Firestarter and Misery—it’s astonishing that his magnum opus, The Dark Tower series, remains untouched by Hollywood. Even his shorter works, like Stand By Me and The Green Mile, have found their way to the silver screen. The primary obstacle to adapting The Dark Tower is its sheer scale, cost, and technical complexity. The series, which follows Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, on his epic quest to pursue “the man in black” across a sprawling desert, spans eight novels totaling 4,250 pages. Director Ron Howard once attempted to bring the series to life through a combination of feature films and TV tie-ins, with Javier Bardem set to play Roland. However, studios ultimately balked at the projected $300 million budget.

9. The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen)

Jonathan Franzen’s National Book Award-winning novel, which delves into the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, is both humorous and deeply moving, resonating with universal truths. While many family-centric books have been adapted into films, The Corrections has yet to make the leap. HBO once planned to adapt it into a TV series starring Anthony Hopkins as the family patriarch, but the project never came to fruition. The book’s episodic structure, following multiple family members, makes it ideal for television or film. Producer Scott Rudin secured the rights in 2001, but no adaptation has materialized. Franzen himself expressed a desire to see Gene Hackman portray Alfred, the family patriarch, but the film remains unrealized.

8. A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engle)

Since its publication in 1962, A Wrinkle In Time has remained a beloved classic, never going out of print. The story follows a young girl whose father, a government scientist, vanishes after working on a mysterious project called a Tesseract. The book has earned numerous accolades, including the Newbery Medal and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Despite its acclaim, it has never been adapted into a major motion picture. Disney produced a TV movie in 2003, but it failed to capture the book’s depth and was criticized for omitting its more mature themes. This science fiction tale, filled with fantastical planets and alien beings, has the potential for a stunning film adaptation. However, its complex themes, including quantum physics, have deterred filmmakers.

7. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude is a cornerstone of Latin American literature and a defining work of magical realism. The novel chronicles the rise and fall of the fictional town of Macondo through the lives of multiple generations of the Buendía family. Its use of magical realism, blending the fantastical with the mundane, has made it a literary masterpiece. Despite its global acclaim, the book’s intricate narrative and surreal elements have made it a challenging candidate for film adaptation. Some suggest it could be adapted in the style of magical realism films like Amélie and Chocolat, both of which earned Oscars. However, Marquez has yet to grant rights for a film version of his celebrated novel.

6. Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)

Cormac McCarthy’s 1985 novel Blood Meridian is often hailed as his greatest work. While other McCarthy novels like The Road and No Country For Old Men have been successfully adapted into films, this one remains untouched. The story, which follows a young protagonist known as the Kid as he joins a brutal gang of scalp hunters, is considered too graphically violent and racially charged for mainstream cinema. Additionally, the novel’s dense and complex language, combined with its historical depiction of Native American massacres along the U.S.-Mexico border in the 1850s, has deterred filmmakers from attempting an adaptation.

5. The Stand (Stephen King)

Another Stephen King classic, The Stand, is often regarded as his magnum opus. While a poorly received TV miniseries was produced in 1994 featuring Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald, fans have long awaited a proper feature film adaptation of this 1978 novel. This post-apocalyptic horror and fantasy epic, spanning 823 pages, tells a timeless tale of good versus evil among survivors of a devastating plague. Despite numerous attempts and rumors of adaptations—including recent speculation about Warner Bros. and director Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars)—no official project has materialized. Many in Hollywood consider the book’s vast scope too challenging to condense into even a lengthy film.

4. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)

John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, published in 1980, is celebrated as one of the funniest books ever written. It follows the eccentric Ignatius J. Reilly, a misfit whose misadventures in New Orleans are both hilarious and poignant. Despite interest from directors like Harold Ramis, John Waters, Stephen Fry, and Steven Soderbergh, no adaptation has succeeded. Soderbergh came close, but Hurricane Katrina disrupted filming plans in New Orleans, leading him to declare the project cursed.

3. Roger's Version (John Updike)

While John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick became a successful film in the 1980s, many of his other works, including Roger’s Version, remain unadapted. This novel, exploring themes of midlife crisis, forbidden attraction, and existential questions about God, has the potential for an Oscar-worthy film. Although the rights were optioned shortly after its 1986 publication, no production has moved forward, leaving this compelling story untapped for the big screen.

2. Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)

This is not a reference to the science fiction novel The Invisible Man, which has seen multiple film adaptations. Instead, this is about Ralph Ellison’s groundbreaking 1952 debut, a cornerstone of 20th-century literature. The novel follows an unnamed Black narrator who feels invisible due to society’s refusal to acknowledge him. Winning the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, the book delves into themes of racial identity, black nationalism, and individuality. Despite its acclaim, some argue the novel’s intellectual depth makes it unsuitable for film, while others believe its relevance has diminished in modern times. Director Spike Lee has reportedly pursued an adaptation for years, but the project remains unrealized.

1. The Catcher In The Rye (J.D. Salinger)

J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher In The Rye is perhaps the most famous book never adapted into a film. Despite interest from renowned directors like Martin Scorsese and Sofia Coppola, Salinger consistently refused to sell the rights. The story of disenchanted teenager Holden Caulfield, who criticizes Hollywood’s superficiality, has remained untouched by the film industry. Even after Salinger’s death in 2010, his longtime agent, Phyllis Westberg, confirmed that no adaptations would be permitted, as Salinger believed a film version would feel artificial. This has not deterred numerous actors and filmmakers, from Jerry Lewis to John Cusack, from attempting to secure the rights.