The best and worst movies based on books, according to critics. Tell us, is there a book to movie character adaptation you either absolutely love or genuinely hate. The 15 worst book to film adaptations of all time taste of. As tomorrows big netflix release, the second goaround at adapting a series of unfortunate events, proves, adaptations of beloved source material are not easy to make books and film, like all. That said, not every book should actually be made into a movie. Apr 11, 2014 hearing that your favorite book is being turned into a movie can either be the best news in the world, or the worst. Richard matheson has been annoyed with the adaptations of his book i.
Simply put, the critics have not been kind to movies based on video games. This classic young adult saga was loved by many teenage girls and, let us admit it, many adults. Jan 12, 2017 as tomorrows big netflix release, the second goaround at adapting a series of unfortunate events, proves, adaptations of beloved source material are not easy to make books and film, like all. What filmmakers can learn from the failure of divergent. The best examples of novel adaptations are where the story has been changed drastically. Worst book to movie adaptations popsugar entertainment. Dec 24, 2019 here are the most important book totv adaptations coming our way in 2020, including outlander, impeachment. Could anime adaptations succeed where video game movies have. While the book is all about the religious guilt that racked early america, the movie is a steamy, rah. For every list of successful book adaptations such as game of thrones, big little lies, and friday night lights there are television shows that missed the mark. List of adaptations of works by stephen king wikipedia. Film critics praised the 1995 adaptation for retaining the warmth and wit of the original source material while bringing the words to life.
Why have so many recent ya adaptations flopped at the box office. Jul 17, 2019 hollywood doesnt have the best history adapting anime, but with several bigname adaptations in development, anime movies could succeed in a way video game movies have yet to. Kiera cass bestselling ya novel the selection will be getting a movie adaptation that will. Having worked on some very high profile book adaptations.
I could write a book about what a horrible job they did with this movie but im. There are three key issues with the goldfinch, and why the compelling story laid out in donna tartts novel didnt translate to the screen in this adaptation. Below, weve singled out 21 movies, all based on popular book series for. If you havent seen the film or the trailer, you can watch the latter here. Tell us a movie that either destroyed or nailed your. Successful book to movie adaptations diggypod blog. Its fair enough these adaptations will always be guaranteed large box office takings thanks to the books readers merely showing up to see. The performances were solid enough, but the film failed to really develop the characters in the same fashion as the book.
The most important booktotv adaptations coming in 2020. They tried and failed to turn this book into a scifi epic, but it was just boring and bad. Jul 24, 2017 book to movie adaptations that failed and why a movie can fail for many reasons whether its based on a book or not, such as bad writing, bad actors, bad productioncgi, and more. The spirits within, which holds a mere 44% approval rating. Tv guide has put together this 2020 reading list, picking out the most promising book totv adaptations headed our way in the new year so you can run to your local bookstore if you want to read ahead. Nov 11, 2018 among all the things that could increase a bookworms blood pressure there is one that beats them all.
This is a list of media based on work by stephen king including the richard bachman titles. Unfortunately, a purely glitzy, action packed movie will get a lot of bums on seats but this chic over substance approach and cgi overkill is not the winning formula to a quality movie. The popular book seriesturnedfilm has performed worse at the box office with each movie debut. The 15 worst book to film adaptations of all time taste. A prequel to the lord of the rings, the hobbittrilogy failed to live up to j. Hearing that your favorite book is being turned into a movie can either be the best news in the world, or the worst. A book is a book and a movie is a movie, and whenever the latter merely. The film has numerous changes to the plot and characters from the book, making the adaptation barely recognisable. Despite having great casting in martin freeman as bilbo, plus. In the movie adaptations, what do you consider is the biggest.
Scifi book to movie adaptations are a popular evolution in the genre and allows the fans of the greatest authors to relive their favorite literature moments as theyre brought to life by some of the most well known directors. From the scarlet letter to the nanny diaries, these movies made our list of the worst booktomovie adaptations. Stieg larssons pitchblack 2005 crime novel it came out here in 2008 was a runaway hit, then became two hit films. Iconic book scenes that werent included in the movie adaptations. A recent trend has been to position any given video game movie as. Why hollywood adaptations of anime movies are so bad. The wildly popular youngadult book series the mortal instruments by cassandra clare centers on clary, a halfhuman halfangel who discovers a world of demons, werewolves, and vampires. But sadly, it has been the one continually weak and overlooked element in all the failed comic book adaptations. This was the worst booktomovie adaptation ive ever seen, and. Why hollywood adaptations of anime movies keep flopping. Note that aside from creepshow 2, it chapter two, and doctor sleep, the sequels are only tangentially related to stephen kings work. The task of bringing to life a story that thousands, maybe millions, of people have each imagined clearly and uniquely in their minds would be daunting as hell. The 15 worst book to film adaptations of all time page 2. In fact, across the entire site, the highest rated video gamebased film is 2001s final fantasy.
Author picture of andrea reiher october, 2019 by andrea reiher. Mainly, this book is a collection of short stories by genre that were converted into movies. The selection by kiera cass to get a film adaptation at. Oct 25, 2019 this movie came out in 1939, but when adjusted for inflation, it remains not only the most successful movie adaptation of all time, but the most successful movie period. Sep 27, 2018 movies that were nothing like the book. Top 10 authors who hated their movie adaptations duration. The book sees its characters travel around a fictional universe and giving information on what to expect from different planets. What are common problems in film adaptations of books. It takes a lot of revamping of a book in order to make it a successful movie. Mar 28, 2016 the book was published in 1979, 26 years before its eventual film adaptation was released. Based on the first installment in douglas adams brainy scifi comedy series, this adaptation was behind the eight. While the golden compass was far from a proper adaptation of the first book. Of course, the book its based on is pretty darn racist, and the movie reflects that. You called it stenography in light, and said when a book tofilm adaptation sets out to be faithful to the source material, the best result is a skillful abridgment.
The 10 most badly bungled classicbooktofilm adaptations. But for those who have read and followed a book series, who have spent countless hours reading the words an author lovingly put down to convey their vision with their loyal readers, who have devoted years to to these characters who have become like family. Aug 26, 20 but sadly, it has been the one continually weak and overlooked element in all the failed comic book adaptations. But unlike mo and meggie, the movie failed the characters of the book to life.
The movie adaptation from new line cinema seemed promising with a cast that included helen mirren, brenden fraser, and andy serkis. Aug 09, 2017 10 book adaptations the whole world is still mad about. Ready player one i loved the eragon and percy jackson books, and yes, the movies were horrible, but i could watch them. Perhaps too much time had passed, with the public having lost interest in the book, but the film itself is a complete dud. Comment below and you could be featured in a future buzzfeed community post or video. If this process doesnt happen, the adaptation will usually kinda suck. But for every harry potter, katniss everdeen, or bella swan, there are five alex riders.
Aug 30, 2017 perhaps one of the most popular and controversial booktomovie adaptations is twilight. While original directorial films are even rarer than those dreaded reboots of classic movies nowadays, the movie industry continues to bloom in the world of booktofilm adaptations. Seuss beloved stories to featurelength have come out similarly mangled most notably the cat in the hat, which is less a movie and more a collection of failed mike myers bits, and the lorax, which replaces the book s ambiguous ending with a happy one that handily undermines the haunting message of environmental. Far from all inclusivethis list could go on and on and on until the cows come home. As of this writing, assassins creed is sitting with an unimpressive 20% on rotten tomatoes. For superhero movies, its hard to take a given characters long comic book history and boil it down into a streamlined essence and plot that both comic lovers and nonfans can enjoy.
Dec 08, 2017 adapting a book into a movie is no mean feat. For decades, readers repeated the same phrase when hollywood adapted a beloved novel for the screen. Most and least successful movie adaptations book riot. On the one hand, literature and film are very different mediums. Top 10 movie adaptations books and films have been joined at the hip ever since the earliest days of cinema, and adaptations of novels have regularly provided audiences with the. Gilliam has suggested that he believes the only proper adaptation of watchmen would be as a television miniseries. The harry potter series was adapted into 8 films over 10 years.
Comic book characters, particularly superheroes, have long been adapted into film, beginning in the 1940s with saturday movie serials aimed at children. The book was published in 1979, 26 years before its eventual film adaptation was released. Romances, breakups, weddings, fitness, fashion, and style. What happens when a director envisions it totally differently. Mar 30, 2016 if they adapt a book, then theyre not only guaranteed movie fans turning up to watch it, but fans of that particular book. Aug 15, 2017 the performances were solid enough, but the film failed to really develop the characters in the same fashion as the book. Superman 1978 and batman 1989 are two later successful movie adaptations of famous comic book characters. The spiderwick chronicles is another series that had a try at the movie biz, and while not a completely horrible adaptation, the movie tried to shove all five books into the same film. Why the goldfinch fails as a movie adaptation insider. If you thought launching a successful book series was a hard enough feat to achieve in life, just wait until hollywood comes aknockin to purchase the film rights. But for those who have read and followed a book series, who have spent countless hours reading the words an author lovingly put down to convey their vision with their loyal readers, who have devoted years to to these characters who have become like. The goldfinch movie was written by peter straughan, whose last screenplay 2017s the snowman also resulted in underperformance at the box office.
In time i may develop a similar article for horrible film adaptations of video games or cartoons. Movies based on books tend to boost sales of their source material as well, the report found. Hollywood studios have largely failed to adapt anime for western audiences. Adaptations can also fail if the filmmaker does connect with the material, but is way off. While this was a big issue in and of itself, as well as completely removing the fourth book, more people seemed to be put off by the fact that freddie. Enders game was a great book with a compelling twist ending that felt super rushed and silly in the film. Sep 20, 2018 however, adaptations are a hard game, and all the failed comic book films are a testament to this. According to variety, divergent will be concluding the series with a television movie and spinoff tv show.
I voted on both this list i did find about three books on this entire list i agreed with and the the book was better than the movie list, but i would agree that there should be a. In a world where failed attempts at genetic perfection leave every new generation dead by age 25, rhine ellery is. Stanley kubricks esoteric adaptation playfully toyed. Sep 19, 2016 sure its easier to watch a two hour movie, and most people who havent read the book do not even notice anything amiss with the adaptation.
Feb 12, 2015 why some book tofilm adaptations fail susie rodarme feb 12, 2015 twitter is abuzz right now with news about the cinematic marvel universe bringing spiderman into the fold, which naturally led to some passionate discussion about film adaptations. If they adapt a book, then theyre not only guaranteed movie fans turning up to watch it, but fans of that particular book. The filmmakers were up against some pretty hard odds with this one, but the main consensus is that they failed to accurately portray characters, making it. The movie is a decent book to movie translation, but it still cant touch the book. The line became a critical reflex in reaction to one. Some of the biggest movies heading to the screen in 2019 will be literary adaptations, drawn from popular novels, works of nonfiction, and classic spooky stories.
Its sad when a good book is made into a bad movie, because theres a lot of wasted potential, and its a great disservice to the book. In one case study, the film adaptation of daphne du. Here are seven of the worst book to tv adaptations that made it to air. Stanley kubricks esoteric adaptation playfully toyed with. Children of men is a futuristic, dystopian book to movie adaptation set in the year 2027. All were critical and commercial successes, and nearly all are considered to be very close adaptations of the books. In the early 2000s, blockbusters such as xmen 2000 and spiderman 2002 have led to dozens of superhero films. The 10 most badly bungled classic book tofilm adaptations. Learn more about the failed attempt by director terry gilliam to bring watchmen to the silver screen all the way back in the 1990s. From spielberg to hitchcock to multicultural films, this book allowed me to find stories for my class to read and this comparecontrast with the movie. Sure its easier to watch a two hour movie, and most people who havent read the book do not even notice anything amiss with the adaptation. What works on the page might not work at all on the screen.