1. Cupid & Psyche by Apuleius. I imagine Matteo Garrone, the director of Gomorrah and The Tale of Tales, directing this adaptation. Because Tale of Tales was so visually stunning, I think he could direct another mythical/fantastical-themed film.

2. The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I imagine Paul Thomas Anderson (the director of Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and There Will Be Blood) adapting The Crucible. I sometimes joke that if Paul Thomas Anderson were to direct The Crucible, then he could get Daniel Day Lewis to star as John Proctor again.

3. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom. Because this book is about a singer/guitarist, I imagine Damien Chazelle, the director of Whiplash and La La Land, adapting this novel. La La Land has gorgeous cinematography. Thus, the shots of Spain in the ideal adaptation could be beautiful.

4. The Novels of George Eliot. George Eliot’s notable novels include Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, and Silas Marner. I imagine Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi, the creators of Showtime’s The Affair, adapting one of these novels into a screenplay. Of these novels, I have only read The Mill on the Floss. However, from my research on George Eliot, she does not have heroes and villains in her novels. In The Affair, there are no heroes, nor are there any villains. While Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi do not direct, I imagine them writing a very compelling screenplay. In terms of who could direct, I imagine Cary Joji Fukunaga doing so. He directed every episode of the first season of HBO’s True Detective. Because Fukunaga also directed the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre, I imagine him doing more adaptations of Victorian novels.

5. The Living End by Stanley Elkin. This is a funny religious satire novella about a man who dies and goes to Heaven, and Heaven turns out to be a theme-park in the city of Hell. I imagine Joel and Ethan Coen adapting this novella. The Coen brothers have subtly poked fun of religion in their films before. Additionally, Ethan Coen’s play Waiting from his anthology of short plays Almost an Evening is about a man in a waiting room waiting to go to Heaven.

6. The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope. I imagine Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amelie and City of Lost Children, adapting this mock-epic poem. Because his films are visually striking, I imagine him depicting the imagery of the sylphs really well. Additionally, there is a gnome in the story, and there is a gnome in Amelie. I also imagine Terry Gilliam, director of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Time Bandits, adapting the poem because he, his cinematographer, and production designers could create striking visuals as he did in his other films.

7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. I imagine Iranian director Majid Majidi making a beautiful adaptation of Paulo Coelho's inspirational coming-of-age novel. Majidi has made coming-of-age films that have touched the hearts of many film critics including Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise. Also, because The Alchemist takes place in the middle east, Majidi could direct gorgeous shots of that region being that he is from it.

8. “Hell is the Absence of God” by Ted Chiang. This is a devastating, but beautifully written short story by Ted Chiang, author of “Story of Your Life,” the short story that the film Arrival is based on. I am not going to give any summary of the story because it is very complex. Also, I do not want to give any spoilers. Anyhow, I imagine Terrence Malick adapting this story into a film because of the spiritual themes and imagery. Malick could make an adaptation of “Hell is the Absence of God” visually striking as he did with The Tree of Life and The Thin Red Line.

9. “Liking What You See: A Documentary” by Ted Chiang. Denis Villeneuve did such a great job adapting “Story of Your Life” into Arrival it is no question that he would succeed again in adapting another one Ted Chiang’s short stories. The story is about a new technology called calliagnosia, or calli, designed to alter people's perceptions, making them unable to judge people by their appearances. Because the short story is written in the style of a documentary, I imagine Werner Herzog adapting it since he has directed several documentaries as well as fictional films.

10. “Understand” by Ted Chiang. Again, another great science-fiction short story by the author of Story of Your Life or Arrival. However, if “Understand” was turned into a film, I do not think that “Understand” would be a grabbing title. “Hormone K” would be a better title being that that is the drug the protagonist takes in the story. In terms of directors who could adapt this short story other than Denis Villeneuve, I imagine Martin Scorsese and or Danny Boyle directing. Scorcese would be a good pick because there is a lot of character reflection and analysis in the story, and Scorsese is known for his first-person narrators. Danny Boyle would be another good match because he has explored drug addiction before in his film Trainspotting.