In 2023 alone, there will have been over 90 movies and TV shows based on or adapted from books. The increase is largely fueled by the desire for economic gain. With an already-established storyline and dedicated fans, books provide an easy opportunity for entertainment studios to produce media.
Adapting or basing media products on books is nothing new, though. Companies have long used the strategy to promote profit. Fairy-tale-based films, such as early Disney princess movies, and superhero movies, adapted from comics, were some of the first on-screen adaptations of written works. Today, Marvel and DC superhero movies, both animated and live-action, consistently reach the top of the highest-grossing movies of the year. Disney classics, such as “The Little Mermaid” are being remade in live-action.
Wildly popular film series including “The Lord of the Rings”, “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games” are all also adaptations of popular book series by the same titles. These cases, along with superhero films, have arguably overshadowed the popularity of the original works.
These are only some of the most widely recognized examples of the last decades, however. Other, even more famous films are actually adapted from books. “Mean Girls”, “Jaws”, “Jurassic Park”, “Diehard” and “Legally Blonde” are just a few of the many culturally significant media that do not many realize are rooted in writing.
The entertainment industry’s rising interest in adapting books can be partly attributed to passionate readers. These well-established fanbases provide security for the success of a production. Regardless of the quality of the final product, audiences will flock to theaters and streaming services to see their favorite stories come to life. “I try to always read the book before watching the movie. Already being a fan of the story and being able to compare it to what’s on screen is a big reason why I end up watching, even if the adaptation is lackluster,” shared junior Jocelyn Bock.
The ongoing TV show “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, for example, is streamed by millions of fervent fans. Despite changing the main storyline of the original book series, social media attention and promotion have remained extremely positive. The recent release of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” demonstrates the same fan-driven attitude. The film, adapted from the 2020 novel by Suzanne Collins, is the prequel to the four “The Hunger Games” movies of the 2010s. Fans of the newest novel and those seeking nostalgia contributed to a domestic box office of over $160.5 million and an international box office of over $322.5 million.
“The Color Purple”, to be released on Dec. 25, is another book adaptation with high expectations and expected success. Alice Walker’s 1982 novel “The Color Purple” won both the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 1983 National Book Award. Such a prominent literary work garners intense media attention and ensures strong viewership.
Still, assured support is only one reason for books making it to the big screen. “The pessimist in me wonders if creativity and innovation are waning, so companies are falling back on the ideas already created and shared through the pages of the book,” said language arts teacher Jess Scadden. Scadden teaches Genre of Adaptation, a course that explores how literature has been used as a base for other mediums.
By basing a movie or show on a book, a general storyline is readily available. Writers still put in the work to alter characters, choose scenes and pick out details, but the job remains less creatively challenging than starting from scratch.
“Killers of the Flower Moon”, based on “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” by David Grann, and “Poor Things”, based on the book of the same name by Alasdair Gray, are recent, highly acclaimed movies. With star-studded casts and multiple expected Academy Award nominations, these films exemplify just how successful book-to-screen adaptations can be.
At the rate at which media for streaming services is released, adaptations also become an easier and faster way to produce content.
TV and movie adaptations are not solely beneficial to film studios, though. Selling film rights is just as advantageous to the authors of the books. Not only do they profit from the film or show itself, but increased media attention almost always increases book sales as well. “It is entirely feasible that authors write stories that they believe, whether correctly or not, will translate well to the screen. Films make more money than books and lead to more name recognition,” explained Scadden.
The popularity of literary-based visual media supports a multitude of authors and provides them with larger platforms to promote their work. In spite of the intent behind an adaptation, book sales and the revenue of the publishing industry are boosted.
While the current arrangement of on-screen adaptations is profit-driven, the mutual success of recent projects suggests more of the same to come in the future.
