Book-to-Movie adaptations in Hollywood are not an unusual scenario. There are so many movies that you have watched, and probably don’t know that they have been adapted from a novel. Most of the time, while adapting from a book, filmmakers tend to change a lot of things- alter the storyline, change character traits, edit out most parts, and make it not-as-great as the book. I’m sure that if you’re an avid reader, you’ve at least once in your life said “But the book was better than the movie!”, been there, done that. While most of them fail to follow the greatness of the books, there are some movie adaptions that are absolutely legendary and have been loved by all. Here are some of the best book-to-movie adaptations.
1. Harry Potter
It’s not a shock to anyone the legendary Harry Potter series makes the cut for one of the best movie series that has been adapted from a novel. J.K. Rowling’s work has gained the title of being the best-selling book series in history, so obviously, its movie adaptation also had to be perfect, and it did not disappoint. Despite having to cut down J.K Rowling’s work quite down a bit, the films remained faithful to the plot of the books and follow the storyline perfectly.
The film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the eighth and final movie of the series and was the most highly anticipated back in 2011, hence, leading to huge sales. It earned $1.34 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing book adaptation ever.
2. Hunger Games
The Hunger Games movie series is definitely one of the best book adaptations out there. If you’ve enjoyed reading the trilogy, I dare say you’ll enjoy watching the movie series even more. There is just something thrilling about the visuals of the movie, and seeing Katniss Everdeen survive throughout. The casting director surely did a great job on the cast. No one really could have played the role of Katniss Everdeen better than Jennifer Lawrence.
The Hunger Games is also one of the highest-grossing movie series that have been adapted from books. The second film in the franchise, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” came out in 2013, and became even more popular than the first one, earning $858.4 million.
3. Fight Club
When it comes to Book-to-Movie adaptations, there is no way that David Fincher’s creation doesn’t make the cut. Fincher brought Chuck Palahniuk’s genius writing to the big screen, and he did not disappoint. ‘The Fight Club’ is one of the most famous movies even after 20 years of its release. The film, as compared to the novel, moreover criticizes modern-day consumerism and the concept of masculinity.
Palahniuk himself has applauded Fincher’s adaptation, acknowledging that some changes had ought to take place. The film is absolutely brilliant and entertaining, with the perfect plot twist.
4. No Country for Old Men
‘No Country for Old Men’ is definitely one of the best book-to-movie adaptations. Created by The Coen Brothers, the film has won 76 awards, out of 109 nominations from multiple organisations. It has won four Oscars (including Best Picture), three BAFTAs, and two Golden Globes. The Coen Brothers stayed faithful to one of Cormac McCarthy’s greatest novels and created an equally amazing movie adaptation. Javier Bardem’s acting as the killer was brilliant and thrilling to watch and is a definite show-stealer.
5. The Chronicles of Narnia
This three-part movie series has been the favorite movie series for many of us in our childhoods. Out of the seven-book series, written by C.S.Lewis, three of them were adopted, namely The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008), and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). The first film comes in the list of the highest-grossing movies that have been adapted from books. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe grossed about $745 million at the box office, and all the movies combined grossed for $1.5 billion.
Also Read: Most Popular Books on ‘TikTok’ Everyone Must Know About
6. The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris’s novel, The Silence of the Lambs, is one of the greatest crime-thriller novels of all times, and Johnathan Demme’s movie adaptation of it certainly did it justice. The movie is very close to the novel, and I dare say that watching this particular movie adaptation may even be more thrilling than reading it- all thanks to Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins’ award-winning acting.
This movie won the Big Five at the Academy Awards: Best Film, Best Director (Demme), Best Actress (Foster), Best Actor (Hopkins), and Best Writing (Ted Tally), including many other awards from multiple organisations.
7. The Lord of The Rings
Peter Jackson’s trilogy of movies is pretty much the same as the books, except for a few changes here and there. The classic trilogy of fantasy epics was filmed over an amazing time period of just one year. It’s fair to say that Jackson very gave justice to J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novels and was able to create equally brilliant movies. The first film was released in 2001 to a massive box office intake of $833 million. Combined, the trilogy grossed has over $2.9 billion at the global box office.
8. Forrest Gump
‘Forrest Gump’ is a classic movie adaptation starring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis, that took away six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It’s one of those movies that you either absolutely love, or you don’t. The film made $678.2 million at the box office and was nominated for 6 Golden Globes, taking home three of them; including several other awards.
9. The Social Network
Here are another one of David Fincher’s creations. Released in 2010, ‘The Social Network’ was adapted from Ben Mezrich’s 2009 book, titled ‘The Accidental Billionaires’. The film portrays the founding of the social networking website, Facebook, and lawsuits filed by the various founders and early developers of the website. Mezrich’s novel was well researched and an outstanding story revolving around the founding of the site, and the movie, was equally entertaining and surprising.
10. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Jenny Han’s New York Times bestseller became an instant hit when it was adapted by Netflix into a movie. Not even long after it was released, it gained a lot of fan following. Viewers quickly fell in love with Peter Kavinsky’s charms and Lara Jean’s personality. A second and third part of the movie has also been adapted by Netflix from the three-part book of the same name, and while the last two parts were not-so-good, the first one is indeed one of the best-adapted rom-com out there.
Also Read: Top 10 Crime-Thriller Novels of all times that will blow your minds
