7 Great Sci-Fi Books That Still Need A Movie or TV Adaptation

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Science fiction has always been a popular form of entertainment, especially in movies and TV. Its imaginative stories about distant planets, advanced technology, and space travel lend themselves well to visual storytelling. While many sci-fi films and shows are original, a lot of them are based on novels and short stories, bringing those written worlds to life on screen.

Many books have been adapted into films and TV shows, but there are still plenty of fantastic stories that haven’t been. These seven books are all excellent reads and would make compelling and exciting movies or shows.

7) We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Science fiction and stories of dystopian futures often go together, and many great novels in this genre have been successfully adapted into movies and TV shows. However, one particularly influential book hasn’t yet received that treatment: We, a novel by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, published in 1921. This book is considered highly influential – it directly inspired George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, and Orwell also believed Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was influenced by it.

As a huge sci-fi fan, I recently revisited We, and it’s seriously stuck with me. It’s set way in the future and follows D-503, a spaceship builder living in this incredibly strange place called the One State. Imagine a society built almost entirely of glass, where everyone is constantly watched and completely controlled by this central authority, the Benefactor. Everything is based on logic – they literally use math to justify everything. But things get interesting when D-503 meets I-330, who’s involved with a rebellion against the Benefactor. Suddenly, he starts questioning the whole system. It’s a really thought-provoking story that’s clearly influenced a ton of dystopian novels and films since it came out. It’s not quite as relentlessly depressing as 1984, but it deals with some really tough ideas, and honestly, I’m shocked it hasn’t been made into a movie yet!

6) Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

The novel Parable of the Sower is a popular choice for a future film or TV adaptation, but a live-action version hasn’t been made yet. A24 acquired the rights in 2021, but there haven’t been many updates since then. It’s unfortunate, as it’s a compelling book, and like a lot of science fiction, explores a dark, dystopian future.

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower is set in a 2025 ravaged by climate change and social injustice. The novel follows Lauren, a young woman with the ability to empathically feel others’ pain, as she flees her home and travels north. Along the way, she develops Earthseed, a new belief system centered on the idea that humanity’s future lies in spreading life to other planets. Exploring themes of wealth disparity, societal breakdown, and environmental catastrophe, Parable of the Sower is a compelling story ripe for adaptation, and as the first book in a duology (followed by Parable of the Talents), it has strong potential as the foundation for a larger franchise.

5) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, a well-known novel from her Hainish Cycle published in 1969, would make a fantastic movie or TV series. It has all the right ingredients: political intrigue, a compelling love story, exciting adventures, and thought-provoking explorations of gender. The story centers on Genly Ai, an emissary from Earth who travels to the planet Gethen to convince its people to join a galactic alliance. However, Genly struggles to complete his mission because the inhabitants of Gethen are ambisexual, making it difficult for him to understand their culture.

Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness is a complex but compelling story with strong potential as a TV series or film adaptation.

4) A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Published recently, A Memory Called Empire is the first book in a series by Martine. It centers on Mahit Dzmare, an ambassador from the small, independent space station Lsel Station. She’s sent to the vast Teixcalaanli Empire to investigate the death of the previous ambassador. Mahit must protect her station from being taken over by the empire while also dealing with the complex politics of the imperial court—a difficult task considering the empire’s size. With a dangerous secret hidden on her station, the story quickly becomes a thrilling sci-fi adventure.

As the first book in a planned series, and with author Arkady Martine skillfully weaving inspiration from the Byzantine Empire and other historical empires into the narrative, A Memory Called Empire feels like the start of something truly special.

3) Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

I’m keeping my eye on Binti, a novella by Nnedi Okorafor that Hulu announced they were developing for television way back in 2020. It’s the first in a series, which is always a good sign – it suggests there’s enough material for more than just a one-off project. The story centers on Binti, a young woman from the Himba people who leaves Earth to study at a university in space. But her journey takes an unexpected turn when the ship she’s traveling on is hijacked, throwing her plans into chaos. It’s a really intriguing premise, and I’m excited to see if it ever comes to fruition.

Binti is a beautiful and captivating story that blends space travel and adventure with deeper themes of identity, belonging, and self-discovery. Both the book and its sequels explore a wide range of experiences for the characters, making it a rich and complex narrative well-suited for adaptation into a visual medium.

2) Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Cyberpunk is an exciting sci-fi subgenre, and Snow Crash is a standout novel within it. The story takes place in a future America after a major economic downfall, where private companies have taken over many government functions. It follows Hiro Protagonist, a hacker and pizza delivery driver, as he explores the virtual world known as the Metaverse. Hiro soon uncovers a dangerous conspiracy involving a drug called Snow Crash, which threatens people both in the real world and their online avatars, with potentially devastating results.

Adapting Snow Crash would be visually spectacular thanks to its virtual reality setting. However, the story’s deeper themes – like the power of corporations, the blurring of lines between the real and virtual worlds, and questions of identity – are what truly make it perfect for a screen adaptation.

1) Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility explores thought-provoking ideas about time, memory, and the possibility of simulated reality, placing it in the realm of speculative fiction, but it’s also firmly within science fiction—and would make a fantastic TV series. HBO Max announced in 2022 that they would adapt this novel, along with Mandel’s The Glass Hotel, but the project hasn’t moved forward yet.

Okay, so I just finished reading Sea of Tranquility, and it’s really stuck with me. It jumps between a few different characters – there’s this guy who’s basically been banished from his family, a writer living on the moon who gets a weird warning about a future pandemic from a time traveler, and a woman dealing with a friend who vanished. At first, the stories seem separate, but they’re all connected somehow. And the time traveler’s storyline? It’s got this real mystery and even thriller vibe because he actually breaks the rules to help the writer. Honestly, it’s such a big, thought-provoking story, it feels like it would make an amazing TV series.

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2025-11-23 23:14