3. Sabriel - Garth Nix
Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Hobbit made fantasy cool again. The Hunger Games has made a female protagonist cool for the first ever, apparently (judging by the media fanfare). Is the time not ripe for a cinematic adaptation of Garth Nix's Sabriel? Sure she carries a bandolier full of bells instead of a bow and arrow, but Sabriel fights zombies, which is cool. Also, she has a talking, snarky cat. The magic system Nix created in Sabriel (and the sequels that comprise the entire Abhorsen trilogy, plus the short story collection) is by far one of the best I've read in any contemporary fantasy, and maybe one of my favorites of all time. Not only the magic system, but the worlds of Ancelstierre and the neighboring, magical Old Kingdom are ripe with juicy details. The Abhorsen's home in the river, the Clayr and their glacier, the ships in Holehollow...all of those would make for some gorgeous cinematography. Add to that the fearless and resourceful heroine of Sabriel and you have some grade A movie material. There was some noise about a script being finished and a project being pitched to studios a few years back, but the 2008 writer's strike made short work of that. With any luck, Nix is still holding onto the script he came up with (yes, he was involved in the adaptation, thankfully) as well as the entire pitch package.