Hollywood loves science thrillers. Like, Michael Crichton might have a shopping list that's still unoptioned, but we doubt it. Yet the latest best seller to go big-screen - New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell's Blink - is nonfiction about the human ability to make highly accurate snap judgments. Not exactly a movie waiting to happen. But Gladwell cashed in for $1 million, and Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star as - wait for it - a guy who makes highly accurate snap judgments. Now we wonder what other keenly observed paperweightsé we could pitch to Hollywood. Baby, get our agent on the line. - Adam Rogers
From Big Think to Blockbuster?
The Elegant Universe
by Brian Greene
Book: Inconsistencies between quantum theory and relativity produce alternate universes and string theory.
Elevator Pitch: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman meets Wild Things
Movie: Brilliant quantum physicist (Jessica Alba) goes undercover to solve the murder of her sister, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.
Freakonomics
by Steven D. Levitt
and Stephen J. Dubner
Book: Econometrics shows truths behind human behavior.
Elevator Pitch: Glengarry Glen Ross meets Catch-22
Movie: Zany layabout (Will Ferrell) and his accountant sidekick (Chris Rock) take over a shady real estate agency and turn the business around with wacky insights into the minds of consumers. Steve Martin plays their hapless client.
The Wisdom of Crowds
by James Surowiecki
Book: Groups of people - markets, voters - make eerily good decisions.
Elevator Pitch: Liar Liar meets The Federalist Papers
Movie: Selfish stockbroker (Colin Farrell) promises his girlfriend (Kate Winslet) that he'll spend a week asking people's opinions before proposing. His buddies get wise and conspire to lead him astray.
Who Moved My Cheese?
by Spencer Johnson
Book: A parable about mice and humans in a maze offers ways to handle change.
Elevator Pitch: How to Win Friends and Influence People meets The Running Man
Movie: Gladiator mice (CG, voiced by Ryan Reynolds and Kirsten Dunst) fight an evil corporation (led by Christopher Lee) in a deadly maze. Tim Burton directs.
credit Brooke Williams
Blink author (and executive producer) Malcolm Gladwell.
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