Matthew Reilly has optioned the rights of several of his novels to different movie corporations in order to allow them to be adapted into either films or television series.
As of early 2024, no film or television adaptions of Reilly's written works have been officially announced as having entered the production stage.
Novels Currently set for Adaptation[]
Contest[]
During an interview piece with Australian Story (October 2021), Reilly was confirmed to be continuing to develop an adaptation of Contest [1].
Hover Car Racer[]
The rights to produce a film adaption of Hover Car Racer currently belong to Disney. On January 11, 2012, it was reported that plans to make the film were going ahead, with the film to instead be titled Hovercar. The script is being worked on by Superman Returns writer Dan Harris.
Shane Schofield Series[]
After completing the first draft of The Five Greatest Warriors, Matthew Reilly was approached by a Hollywood producer to adapt Scarecrow into a screenplay. It was to be the first in a series of Shane Schofield movies, which Matthew Reilly said was okay with him, "but structurally it means introducing characters like Scarecrow and Mother and Book and Fox within the framework of the story in Scarecrow, as opposed to (the prequel) Ice Station."
In the interview at the end of The Three Secret Cities (released 30th October 2018) Reilly noted that there had been discussions to adapt the Shane Schofield novels in a TV limited-series.
At the end of the interview in The One Impossible Labyrinth (released 12th October 2021), when asked if he would direct a movie from one of his novels, Reilly answered: "Two words. Ice Station", hinting that there are plans for him to develop an adaptation.
The Great Zoo of China[]
On January 28th 2016, Reilly tweeted that the movie rights to The Great Zoo of China had been optioned by TriStar Pictures.
Reilly confirmed in the interview at the end of The Four Legendary Kingdoms (released 18th October 2016) that meetings with TriStar (though mentioned as Sony, which owns TriStar as a subsidiary) were still ongoing.
The Tournament[]
Reilly confirmed in the interview at the end of The Four Legendary Kingdoms (released 18th October 2016) that he has written a screenplay for an adaption for The Tournament.
Jack West Jr Series[]
In the interview at the end of The Four Legendary Kingdoms (released 18th October 2016) Reilly mentioned that he had been in talks with an (unnamed) screenwriter to develop the Jack West stories for television.
In the interview at the end of The Three Secret Cities (released 30th October 2018) Reilly noted that there had been continued discussions to adapt the Jack West novels in a TV limited-series.
Others[]
Liberty Supersprint[]
In 2007, Reilly wrote a half-hour television script titled Literary Superstars. The script was picked up by Darren Star (Sex and the City) and bought by Sony Pictures for the ABC Network. Jenna Elfman signed on to play the lead role. The pilot episode was at the casting stage when the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike began, paralyzing Hollywood. The pilot was placed on indefinite hiatus before ultimately being dropped by the ABC.
Interceptor sequel[]
In October 2021, Australian Story featured an insight into Matthew Reilly, during which it was confirmed that Reilly was developing a sequel to Interceptor with Beattie [1]
Trivia[]
- While none of Reilly's works have yet been adapted for film or television (as of 2023), Reilly made his directorial debut with the original film Interceptor.