14. Death: The High Cost of Living
A spin-off from Neil Gaiman's fabulous Vertigo mini-series The Sandman, Death: The High Cost of Living explores the fable that Death takes human form once every 100 years, in order to stay in touch with humanity. Death does this to understand some of those who will eventually end up with Death in hell. The comic is a sincere look at life, love and death and could be adapted in infinite ways.
How Close Is It To Being Made?: New Line Cinema had been working on an adaptation for years with Guillermo Del Toro executive producing and Gaiman himself writing and directing. A dream team combo on paper, the film was to go under the title Death and Me. Sadly, the film was placed on indefinite hold a little while back and WB don't currently have plans to resurrect it.
Casting Choice: Shia LaBeouf was the suggested lead and he was passionate about starring in it. He could still play Sexton if the development was to be reprised soon.
Suggested by Jack Carver
13. Black Hole
Set during the mid 1970's, Black Hole is a coming of age drama that follows the story of four teenagers, Chris, Rob, Keith and Eliza over one summer in Seattle. They all contract a sexually transmitted disease that causes the person to mutate. The mutations vary from person to person and in severity, where one might have grotesque boils all over their face, another will just grow a small mouth on their neck, as was the case with Rob. However, the result is always that you become a social outcast. You have sex, experimentation with drugs and awkward relationships as the teenagers learn to cope with their strange disease. Burns said the mutations are a metaphor for sexual awakening and the transition into adulthood but it can also be read as a metaphor for HIV and Aids. The story was made up of 12 issues and released between 1995 - 2005 with Burns winning the Harvey Award for Best Inker in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
How Close Is It To Being Made?: Black Hole has attracted the attention of Hollywood a few times over the years. In 2005, French director Alexandre Aja was reported to be adapting it for the big screen. Then in 2006, Neil Gaiman confirmed in Time magazine that he and Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary were writing a screenplay. And in 2008, Variety magazine reported that David Fincher will be directing but by 2010, Gaiman, Avary and Fincher all left the production to focus on other projects. As of now, Black Hole is in production limbo. The comic has a lot of David Lynch type surreal imagery that make up the dreams of the teenagers after they have contracted the disease. These involve everything from drowning to people pealing off their own skin. It can be quite gruesome at times. Where David Fincher could have captured the 1970's setting perfectly as he demonstrated in ''Zodiac,'' when you read the comic, you also get visions of ''Videodrome,'' ''Scanners'' and ''The Fly'' which makes you think immediately of David Cronenberg. There is no mistake that Cronenberg would be perfect in the directors chair, the mutations are right out of the classics he has directed in the past and as ''A History Of Violence'' and ''Eastern Promises'' showed, he can tell a good story when needed.
Casting Choices: Burns drew the comic to make it look like a teen horror film from the 70's with ''Carrie'' being the most obvious infulence. In true 1970's tradition, the cast would mostly have to be actors in their 20's portraying teenagers but this would give the roles a lot more credibility. As much as I hate to say it, Robert Paterson would be quite good as either Rob or Kieth, he's shown he can put in a credible performance as he has in ''Cosmopolis.'' Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) would make a pretty good Eliza. Dakota Fanning is an accomplished actress already and wouldn't have a problem with the Chris role, and perhaps Thomas Dekke who was John Connor in the Terminator TV series would be good as Kieth. Whichever actors or actresses are eventually cast, they will have to be prepared to do nudity.
Suggested by Amarpal Biring
12. Spider-Man: The Night Gwen Stacy Died
When Spider-Man's nemesis the Green Goblin discovered that he was really high school geek Peter Parker, the hapless teenager would've never guessed this would lead to the death of his great love, Gwen Stacy. The Goblin threw her off the Brooklyn Bridge to certain death but when Spider-Man caught her with his webbing, he snapped her neck in the process and killed her instantly. So in fact, it was Spider-Man's actions that killed her. Though even if he hadn't caught her with his web, as the Goblin says, the fall alone would have killed her. Either way, Gwen was doomed. This moment has become seared in to the consciousness of Spider-Man fans and for fans who grew up post-Gwen Stacy's death, one can easily forget how shocking her death must have been. Killing off a hero's love interest wasn't and still isn't something that's done in comic books or mainstream films all that often, and never in this manner.
Gwen Stacy, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, made an appearance in Spider-Man 3, mostly as a plot device to make Mary Jane jealous. The character finally got her due when she was established as the main love interest in The Amazing Spider-Man. As played by Emma Stone, Gwen is a very beautiful and likable presence in the film. She and Garfield's Peter Parker have a sexy and cute chemistry that brings the movie to life. Their performances make us believe in Peter and Gwen's young love, setting solid ground work for Gwen's death to be truly heartbreaking in a later film. Her death would seem likely since the ending of the film foreshadows it. Peter breaks his promise to Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy, to keep away from Gwen in order to protect her from Peter's enemies. Peter breaking his promise establishes the unbearable guilt he'll feel when he's responsible for one of his enemies killing her. I think if done right, her death will be one of the most emotionally resonant scenes in a superhero film ever. The question remains, will we see this event in the next film or in the final film of the proposed trilogy?
Suggested by Andrew Edward Davies