Amazon Studios to adapt Iain M Banks "Culture" series

[TheHoodedClaw]

I know there's plenty Iain (M) Banks fans on here. Crumbs:

 

[TruXta]

Subscribed

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Ooooh

 

[butchersapron]

Dennis Kelly who did Utopia. That's a good start.

 

[DotCommunist]

After Netflix' Altered Carbon my optimism is tempered with mild caution but I have always said phlebas is well filmable. Inversions would be my choice tho.

 

[The Octagon]

The budget will need to be astronomical, in 2 minds about whether they should start with Consider Phlebas tho, it's an unconventional intro to The Culture, but it does have great set pieces to translate onto screen.

 

[Crispy]

[Heavy Breathing]

 

[Santino]

Use of Weapons would be amazing if they can pull it off. But the whole thing is a huge challenge, I don't think any of the books will make good series without very significant adaptation.

 

[DotCommunist]

The budget will need to be astronomical, in 2 minds about whether they should start with Consider Phlebas tho, it's an unconventional intro to The Culture, but it does have great set pieces to translate onto screen.

opens with horza watching the shitwater rise as his voiceover does expositionary things, boom, rescue idiran blows out the wall. Raid on the O, MindHunt. Shapechanging shennanigans and the pirate crew. The island of cannibals. Its all there.

 

[Santino]

opens with horza watching the shitwater rise as his voiceover does expositionary things, boom, rescue idiran blows out the wall. Raid on the O, MindHunt. Shapechanging shennanigans and the pirate crew. The island of cannibals. Its all there.

Open on the Mind being hunted by Idiran soldiers, then turning to camera and saying 'I expect you're wondering how I got in this mess.'

 

[Crispy]

TV SFX are good enough now. Discovery looked incredible. The Expanse looked great and that was on a much smaller budget. I'm not worried about how it looks. I'm worried about how it's written and directed.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Use of Weapons would be amazing if they can pull it off. But the whole thing is a huge challenge, I don't think any of the books will make good series without very significant adaptation.

True. Player of Games is probably the most straightforward, but how to do the game of Azad in a non-ridiculous way onscreen? Banks didn't even try all that much in print.

 

[maomao]

After Netflix' Altered Carbon my optimism is tempered with mild caution but I have always said phlebas is well filmable. Inversions would be my choice tho.

I struggled with Phlebas in places because there was too much description of action and my badly coordinated brain couldn't cope. Probably means it would make a great film though. Inversions would be a very very odd one to start with.

If I was drawing up a plan I would initially skip Inversions and Matter as being too far from the culture and Excession for having too many important characters that are spaceships.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Have Amazon done anything that's actually good yet?

 

[joustmaster]

They better not fuck it up

 

[The Octagon]

I struggled with Phlebas in places because there was too much description of action and my badly coordinated brain couldn't cope. Probably means it would make a great film though. Inversions would be a very very odd one to start with.

If I was drawing up a plan I would initially skip Inversions and Matter as being too far from the culture and Excession for having too many important characters that are spaceships.

Excession is one of my favourite books but my brain can't even conceive how you'd translate that to TV.

As long as they don't start with The State of the Art and then utilise a human 'fish-out-of-water' protagonist to introduce the rest, ugh.

 

[Orang Utan]

Would Banks have been happy with this?

 

[Santino]

Would Banks have been happy with this?

I seem to remember him saying in an interview that he'd like to see Consider Phlebas made into a film.

 

[Voley]

Would Banks have been happy with this?

Do you mean working with a company like Amazon? I wondered that.

 

[Orang Utan]

Do you mean working with a company like Amazon? I wondered that.

aye, Jeff Bezos being the richest man in history

 

[Chilli.s]

Ambitious Amazon.

 

[DotCommunist]

Have Amazon done anything that's actually good yet?

not to my eye. Man In The High Castle was great to look at but no...

 

[Voley]

American Gods was Amazon I think. I enjoyed that.

 

[The Octagon]

Have Amazon done anything that's actually good yet?

Sneaky Pete, Marvellous Ms Maisel, Transparent, and a few others. Not all to everyone's taste but critically acclaimed.

 

[maomao]

Every Amazon Original I've watched has been awful (including MitHC) but I haven't watched American Gods yet.

 

[DotCommunist]

American Gods is good- its not great, but it is good.

 

[cheesethief]

I am very excited about this, and equally concerned they'll fuck it up. Banks is sci-fi royalty, if they besmirch his good name I'll be very cross...

 

[Voley]

American Gods is good- its not great, but it is good.

Yeah I thought that, too. I'm a bit of a sucker for anything with Ian McShane being sweary in it mind. It got me to read the book though - first Neil Gaiman I'd ever read apart from Coraline and I thought it was ace. He comes across as a decent sort on Twitter, Neil Gaiman. Very encouraging of young writers - he replied to Cloo's little girl once.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

American Gods was Amazon I think. I enjoyed that.

American Gods was made for the Starz network. Amazon just has the international rights.

 

[Cloo]

We loved American Gods. It had its weaknesses but we both loved the way that it was telly that looked like art - really beautiful.

I'm a little scared about telly doing Culture. OTOH these days we've seen evidence that TV is not scared to go as dark as Culture needs. Would love to see some of Iain M's fantastic female protagonists bought to life well.