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35 Best Movies Based on Books That Are Actually Worth Watching

By Anna Moeslein

35 Best Movies Based on Books That Are Actually Worth Watching

There are a lot of movies based on books. There are very few good movies based on books.

That's not a knock on Hollywood–it can be challenging to fit a novel's worth of plot and character development into a few hours of entertainment. That's why the best films based on books often feel more like a companion piece than a true retelling of a best-selling paperback. Some, like the 2019 movie adaptation of Little Women , play with the story or add in new scenes to appeal to a modern audience. Others benefit from the glitz and glam that Hollywood brings. Netflix's film version of To All the Boys I've Loved Before , for example, comes with an engaging soundtrack that elevates the romance onscreen.

Below you'll find some of the best movies based on books available for streaming right now. We also included the real-life novels that inspired them so you can add to your reading list. No chance of boredom here. (Need more? We've also got a guide to the best movies based on romance novels .)

All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Lady Chatterley's Lover.  Jack O'Connell as Oliver Emma Corrin as Lady Constance in Lady Chatterley's Lover. Cr. Parisa...

1. Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2022)

The book: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence's novel about an affair between a gamekeeper and an upper-class woman is notorious for its explicit descriptions of sex—so much so that the book was banned for obscenity in several countries. Onsreen, stars Emma Corrin and Jack O'Connell have a natural chemistry that only adds to the steaminess.

Available to stream on Netflix

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Keira Knightley 2005  Focus Featurescourtesy Everett Collection

2. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

The book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Jane Austen's classic story of love and bad first impressions has been adapted many times over. But this film version, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, takes a more realistic approach than other film versions. As a result, enemies turned lovers Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy come to life onscreen.

Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK from left KiKi Layne Stephan James 2018. ph Tatum Mangus © Annapurna Pictures Courtesy...

3. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

The book: If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

James Baldwin's 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk , about a young woman trying to clear the name of her boyfriend after he was wrongfully accused of a crime in New York, is an incredible read. So only someone with a vision like Barry Jenkins, who wrote and directed this adaptation, could bring it to the big screen. The Oscar-nominated film received numerous awards, including a best supporting actress win for Regina King's performance.

Available to stream on Hulu

The book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum  What can be said about The Wizard of Oz that you don't already...

4. The Wizard of Oz

The book: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

What can be said about The Wizard of Oz that you don't already know? The 1939 classic starring Judy Garland enhances L. Frank Baum's children's fantasy novel through its innovative use of Technicolor, memorable performances, and a beloved score that includes “Over the Rainbow.”

Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video

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LITTLE WOMEN from left Laura Dern as Marmee Meryl Streep as Aunt March Florence Pugh as Amy 2019.

5. Little Women (2019)

The book: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

There's a reason Little Women has been adapted for film seven times. Louisa May Alcott's semiautobiographical novel about sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy has stood the test of time, and it's still just as relatable now as it was in 1868, when it was published. The most recent remake stars Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and Saoirse Ronan and is arguably the best interpretation of Alcott's story.

Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video

These Top-Rated Lubes Smooth Everything Out

6. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

The book: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Where do we even begin with this one? The fashion! The romance! The drama! Constance Wu and Henry Golding lead the romantic comedy about a Chinese American woman who travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. His family is one of the richest and well-known families in the country, and his mother is not exactly welcoming of her son's new romance.

Available to stream on HBO Max

GONE GIRL Rosamund Pike 2014. ph Merrick MortonTM  copyright ©20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reservedcourtesy...

7. Gone Girl (2014)

The book: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

We could write a dissertation about Gone Girl, and it still wouldn't be long enough to dive into the complicated issues tackled in the movie. Here's what you need to know: The David Fincher–directed mystery movie is about a husband who becomes a suspect in his wife's disappearance. The thriller tackles parenting, manipulation, misogyny, and most of all, marriage. When it comes to movie adaptations of books, this is near the top of the list.

A SIMPLE FAVOR from left Henry Golding Anna Kendrick 2018. ph Peter Iovino. ©Lionsgatecourtesy Everett Collection

8. A Simple Favor (2018)

The book: A Simple Favor: A Novel by Darcey Bell

Nothing's simple about A Simple Favor . Perhaps the best part of the crime thriller is Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick's odd yet enthralling dynamic. You'll be scratching your head from start to finish as you try to figure out what exactly is going on in the film.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY from left Kate Winslet Emma Thompson 1995. ph © Columbia Pictures  courtesy Everett Collection

9. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

The book: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Another Jane Austen movie makes the list because…well, there are just so many good adaptations of her work. Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet lead this film about a sensible and reserved older sister, Elinor, and her romantically inclined and eagerly expressive younger sister, Marianne.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Anne Hathaway Meryl Streep Emily Blunt 2006

10. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

The book: The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel by Lauren Weisberger

Meryl Streep plays the coldest, scariest, most intimidating boss at the fictional fashion magazine Runway . Anne Hathaway's character is clueless and unfashionable, and fancies herself a serious journalist. Their characters clash yet somehow find a way to work together. The movie is elevated by the performances, and you might find yourself surprisingly moved at the end.

Image may contain Human Person Clothing Apparel Hat Whoopi Goldberg and Face

11. The Color Purple (1985)

The book: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The story of Celie (played by Whoopi Goldberg) is one that will stay with you. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Alice Walker and portrays the problems Black women faced during the early 20th century, including domestic violence, poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie's journey spans a 40-year time period.

Image may contain Goldie Hawn Human Person Hair Suit Coat Clothing Overcoat Apparel Bette Midler Blonde and Teen

12. The First Wives Club (1996)

The book: The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith

We love everything about this movie: the acting, the humor, and the friendship of three reunited friends. The film follows the women, played by Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, deciding to get revenge on their ex-husbands after the death of a close friend.

Image may contain Lana Condor Human Person Bag Handbag Accessories Accessory Purse and Sitting

13. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

The book: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Laura Jean and Peter Kavinsky's romance is sure to go down as one of this generation's most popular love stories. The trilogy of teen romantic comedy books by Jenny Han turned Netflix movies are popular for a reason. Yes, there are some common tropes used in the plot. However, the film adaptations somehow still feel fresh, unique, and effortlessly heartwarming.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Rupert Grint Daniel Radcliffe Emma Watson 2007

14. The Harry Potter series (2001–2011)

The book: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Who could have known that the boy who lived would start an international phenomenon? Readers and audiences of all ages have been obsessed with the Wizarding World for decades, and it's easy to see why: The friendship, the magic, the excitement and the humor are as enthralling in the movies as they are in the books.

Available to stream on Peacock

Image may contain Clothing Apparel Human Person and Octavia Spencer

15. Hidden Figures (2016)

The book: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

If you're in the mood for a feel-good movie, then look no further. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe star in this movie about the three Black women who worked at NASA during the early years of the space program. They were an integral part of launching astronaut John Glenn into orbit. This true story is most likely not one you learned about in school.

Available to stream on Disney+

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Jodie Foster 1991

16. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The book : The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter, who famously asks Jodi Foster's character, “Well, Clarice…have the lambs stopped screaming?” If you don't know what that means, there's only one way to find out: Queue up the classic thriller for movie night.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY Matt Damon Jude Law Gwyneth Paltrow 1999

17. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

The book: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

This sexy classic is actually part of a series about the Tom Ripley, a social-climbing mimic who will lie, cheat, and even murder his way up the ranks of wealthy midcentury Manhattanites. The movie features Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, and Jude Law at their golden, glowy, youthful best, and a striking performance from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

IT from left Jack Dylan Grazer Jaeden Lieberher Chosen Jacobs Wyatt Oleff Sophia Lillis Jeremy Ray Taylor Finn Wolfhard

18. It (2017)

The book: It by Stephen King

This chilling horror classic has terrified generations. In a small New England town, a group of unlikely friends find themselves caught in the clutches of a mysterious shape-shifting killer who takes the form of whatever you fear most.

Image may contain Clothing Apparel Human Person Heather Matarazzo Tie Accessories Accessory Suit Coat and Overcoat

19. The Princess Diaries (2001)

The book: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

The ultimate glow-up! Mia Thermopolis is an awkward, nerdy high school outcast who discovers she's actually royalty in this modern twist on the Cinderella story. Peppered with observations about friendship, love, and growing up, the books are as funny as the movie. The young adult book series, written like a diary, will make you fall even more in love with Mia than the film adaptation did. Don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting to wear Doc Martens after reading.

Image may contain Kieu Chinh Lauren Tom Human Person Tamlyn Tomita Food Meal Rosalind Chao Restaurant and Tsai Chin

20. The Joy Luck Club (1993)

The book: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Chinese American immigrant experience is explored in detail in this adaptation of Amy Tan's novel, which follows a group of women living in San Francisco's Chinatown as they support one another through heartbreak and triumph.

THE PRINCESS BRIDE from left Wallace Shawn Robin Wright Andre the Giant 1987 TM  Copyright © 20th Century Fox Film...

21. The Princess Bride (1987)

The book: The Princess Bride by Willam Goldman

This beloved classic is like five fairy tales combined into a sparkling family comedy that's much easier to follow than the book it's based on. Featuring a host of quirky character actors and quotable lines, this is essentially a meme factory from before there was such a thing. Don't fight Grandpa; it's time for a love story (you'll get that reference once you watch the movie).

ELECTION Reese Witherspoon 1999

22. Election (1999)

The book: Election by Tom Perrotta

This dark comedy about the ruthlessness of politicians features a breakout performance from a young Reese Witherspoon and taught a generation to recognize the Tracy Flicks in their lives. It's become a catchword often hurled unfairly at women with ambition, but it also accurately describes the kind of earnest yet hollow striving we see in so many people, no matter their gender, today.

The Shawshank Redemption

23. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The book: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

The highest-rated movie on IMDb, this classic is parodied (and homaged) all over the place, a favorite of both fans and critics. It's a drama, to be sure, but as far as prison stories go, watchable and even a little hopeful.

ATONEMENT James McAvoy Keira Knightley 2007. ©Focus Featurescourtesy Everett Collection

24. Atonement (2007)

The book: Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan

Beware: This story is a bummer. Though famous for its library sex scene and the debut of a young Saoirse Ronan, Atonement is mostly a war story, and a devastating one at that. No one gets away clean in this tale of love, loss, lies, and regret.

JURASSIC PARK from left Laura Dern Sam Neill 1993. ph Murray Close  © Universal Studios  courtesy Everett Collection

25. Jurassic Park (1993)

The book: Jurassic Park: A Novel by Michael Crichton

This blockbuster keeps getting rebooted for a reason: It's just cool to watch dinosaurs chase people! Yes, there's a lesson here about overstepping the bounds of science and hubris in the face of nature, but mostly, T-Rex go chomp-chomp.

Image may contain Human Person Clothing Apparel Suit Coat Overcoat Performer and Artur Rojek

26. The Godfather trilogy (1972–1990)

The book: The Godfather by Mario Puzo

The greatest achievement in the history of American cinema? This crime epic has been praised for its performances, filmmaking, quotable lines, and archetypal characters. It's rich with symbolism and history, but actually a straightforward and pleasant watch. Never meandering or slow, the story is gripping, if devastating.

The White Tiger

27. The White Tiger (2021)

The book: The White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga

This film adaptation of Aravind Adiga's 2008 novel follows a man named Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav, in his first leading role) who was born into poverty and uses his wit and cunning to build a successful career as an entrepreneur.

THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY Andra Day as Billie Holiday 2021. ph Takashi Seida  © Paramount Pictures  Courtesy...

28. The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

The book: Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari

Andra Day was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress for her portrayal of legendary singer Billie Holiday in this biographical film, which was based in part on Johann Hari's book about the history and impact of drug criminalization.

Image may contain Furniture Brie Larson Hammock Human and Person

29. Room (2015)

The book: Room by Emma Donoghue

Both the book and the film adaptation of this intense story follow a kidnapped young woman and her son, who we learn was born in captivity. When they finally escape their abuser, the child gets to experience the outside world for the first time in his life.

EMMA Anya TaylorJoy as Emma Woodhouse 2020. © Focus Features  courtesy Everett Collection

30. Emma (2020)

The book: Emma by Jane Austen

Jane Austen's novel, about a spoiled heiress who amuses herself by meddling in the lives of her neighbors, has been adapted to film before. But the 2020 version, starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the titular role, is one of the best thanks to its excellent casting, whimsical costume and set design, and modern approach to the source material.

The book Emma by Jane Austen  Yes Emma again One of Jane Austens best books it also inspired this comingofage teen...

31. Clueless (1995)

Yes, Emma again! One of Jane Austen’s best books, it also inspired this coming-of-age teen comedy starring Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, and Paul Rudd. Says screenwriter and director Amy Heckerling, “I loved [ Emma ] when I read it in college—it’s the most modern story with the most perfect character, the most lovable, flawed person that you’re rooting for. Then I looked at what could make the bones for the present day high school teenagers, and if I ever thought like, wait, how would this happen, I would just go back to Emma and there were the answers.”

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER from left Logan Lerman Ezra Miller Emma Watson 2012. ph John Bramley©Summit...

32. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

The book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Movie adaptations across all genres exist, and that includes YA Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, and Logan Lerman lead this coming-of-age drama about a shy teenager experiencing the many highs and lows of freshman year of high school.

The book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien  Epic fantasies naturally translate well to the big screen but nobody...

33. The Lord of the Rings series (2001–2003)

The book: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Epic fantasies naturally translate well to the big screen, but nobody does it like this movie series . And now you can follow up your rewatch by diving into Rings of Power, a new TV show that's set thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings .

The book Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by Wang Dulu  Directed by Ang Lee this epic was a critical and commercial success...

34. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

The book: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Wang Dulu

Directed by Ang Lee, this epic was a critical and commercial success with 10 Oscar nominations, including one for best picture and a win for best foreign language film.

The book The Paddington books by Michael Bond  We didn't think Paddington a beloved fictional character in children's...

35. The Paddington movies (2014, 2017)

The book: The Paddington books by Michael Bond

We didn't think Paddington, a beloved fictional character in children's literature, could get any cuter—and then we saw him on the big screen. In fact, Paddington 2 ranks among our favorite movie sequels of all time. If you can watch it without crying…how?

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best fiction books made into movies

25 Books Being Made into Movies and Series in 2023 and 2024

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Emily Martin

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at [email protected].

View All posts by Emily Martin

Here are 25 books that are being adapted into movies or series in 2023 and 2024. Some of these projects have hard and fast release dates. Some of them have trailers. Some only have a cast list and a vague promise of a release sometime in 2023 or 2024. Of course, new info about these projects are coming out all the time. But at the time of publication, here are the all the most recent details we have about all these upcoming films and TV series. Get excited! There’s a ton to look forward to in the next year or so.

Young Adult Adaptations

aristotle and dante book cover

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Lin Manuel-Miranda is producing this YA adaptation, which is written and directed by Aitch Alberto in her feature directorial debut. Aristotle and Dante stars Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as two teens living in El Paso in 1987. The film premiered at the 47th International Toronto Film Festival on September 9, 2022. A wide theatrical release is scheduled for release on September 8, 2023. If you can’t wait til then, here’s a first look at the movie!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cover

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Based on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games prequel novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the origin story of Panem President Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth in the new film. The film also stars Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird. Other members of the cast include Josh Andrés Rivera, Hunter Schafer, Viola Davis, and Peter Dinklage. Director Francis Lawrence is returning to the franchise to direct with a script by Michael Lesslie. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes released a teaser trailer and is premiering in theaters on November 17, 2023.

its not summer without you book cover

It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty is coming back for a second season on Amazon Prime video, and it will be based on the second novel in Jenny Han’s series, It’s Not Summer Without You. Everyone you loved from season 1 is returning, and joining the cast are Kyra Sedgwick and Elsie Fisher. Season 2 released on July 14th, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video.

heartstopper volume 2 cover

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Speaking of sophomore seasons that recently wrapped production, Heartstopper season 2 is out! The new season introduces Bel Priestley as Naomi, Ash Self as Felix, and Thibault De Montalembert as Nick’s father Stephane. The first season of Heartstopper followed the first volume of Alice Oseman’s graphic novel, and based on the casting announcements, it’s safe to assume this next season will follow volume two. Netflix released  Heartstopper  season 2 on August 3, 2023!

uglies book cover

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

YA dystopian adaptations are still going strong in 2023. Netflix is also adapting Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies into a movie! The film is produced by Joey King, who is starring as Tally Youngblood. Uglies will also star Keith Powers, Brianne Tju, Chase Stokes, and Laverne Cox. Filming took place in Atlanta, GA, in December 2021. The movie is expected to drop on Netflix at some point in 2023, but a release date hasn’t been announced yet.

the cover of Turtles All the Way Down

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down was optioned for film immediately upon its release in 2017. Filming wrapped in Cincinnati last June, with Hannah Marks directing. The movie adaptation stars Isabela Merced as Aza Holmes and Cree Cicchino as Daisy Ramirez. “The movie really stays true to the book in so many ways. I think we really worked hard on making it a faithful adaptation,” said Marks . “And beyond that, it’s pretty cool that we have two teenage Latina leads in the movie, which hasn’t been done very much before. And the girls were absolutely terrific and great for representation, but also great for their characters.” Turtles All the Way Down will premiere on HBO, but a release date hasn’t been announced yet.

american born chinese book cover

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese is being adapted into an action comedy TV series on Disney+. Destin Daniel Cretton directed the series, and Charles Yu and Kelvin Yu wrote it. It stars Michelle Yeoh, Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Daniel Wu, Ke Huy Quan, Jim Liu, and Sydney Taylor. It premiered on May 24, 2023 on Disney+. Here’s the trailer!

Literary Fiction Adaptations

Book cover of Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel Black Cake will soon be a series on Hulu. Before the novel was even published, Oprah Winfrey’s production company Harpo Films purchased the TV rights. The series will star Adrienne Warren, Mia Isaac, and Ashley Thomas. A release date hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s expected to premiere in late 2023.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker book cover

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple was adapted as a film in 1985. Then it was adapted as a musical. Now the musical is being adapted into a film, set to be released on December 25, 2023. The movie is directed by Blitz Bazawule and adapted for the screen by Marcus Gardley. It stars Fantasia as Celie Harris Johnson, Colman Domingo as Albert “Mister” Johnson, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Corey Hawkins as Harpo Johnson, Danielle Brooks as Sofia, H.E.R. as Mary Agnes (“Squeak”), and Ciara as Nettie Harris.

the cover of Lessons In Chemistry

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

The Lessons in Chemistry series is due to release on Apple TV+ on October 13, 2023. The series is executive produced by Brie Larson, who will also star as Elizabeth Zott, a female scientist in the 1960s who uses a cooking show to educate women about science. Also starring are Lewis Pullman, Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Patrick Walker, Thomas Mann, Kevin Sussman, and Beau Bridges. Filming wrapped in August 2022.

Horror Adaptations

Book cover of Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Last Voyage of the Demeter , based on Dracula by Bram Stoker

There have been plenty of Dracula adaptations, but 2023’s The Voyage of the Last Demeter is based specifically on one chapter of the classic horror novel, “The Captain’s Log.” The film is directed by Norwegian film director André Øvredal. It stars Corey Hawkins, Ailsling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, and David Dastmalchian. The Last Voyage of the Demeter was released on August 11, 2023 from Universal Pictures. Here’s the trailer!

The Fall of the House of Usher cover

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

Mike Flanagan is back again with another highly-anticipated horror adaptation for Netflix. The cast for this Edgar Allan Poe adaptation will include a lot of Flanagan project regulars, including Rahul Kohli, Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Henry Thomas, T’Nia Miller, and Kate Siegel. Mark Hamill has also joined the cast. The series will be released on Netflix on October 12, 2023.

The Changeling book cover

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

After several years in development, The Changeling is finally being adapted as a series for Apple TV+, with Lakeith Stanfield attached to star as Apollo. Kelly Marcel wrote the script, and Melina Matsoukas is directing. The first episode is set to release on September 8, 2023.

Mystery/Thriller Adaptations

Book cover of Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie

A Haunting in Venice, based on Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

Kenneth Branagh is adapting a third Hercule Poirot novel to follow Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile . Branagh will again star as Poirot, who is now retired and must solve a murder after a guest at a séance he attends is killed. The film will also star Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Kelly Reilly, and Michelle Yeoh. It’s scheduled to be released on September 15, 2023.

leave the world behind cover

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

Rumaan Alam’s psychological thriller is being adapted as a film, produced by Alam, Barack and Michelle Obama, Tonia Davis, Daniel M. Stillman, and Nick Krishnamurthy. The film stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, and Kevin Bacon. A full trailer has not been released yet, but you can catch a small glimpse of the movie in Netflix’s 2023 preview . Leave the World Behind will be out on December 8, 2023.

eileen by ottessa moshfegh book cover

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

The psychological thriller Eileen premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The film stars Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway as two women working in a juvenile detention facility. Eileen is directed by William Oldroyd, and the novel was adapted by the author Ottessa Moshfegh and her husband, Luke Goebel. The film will be released theatrically this December from Neon.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Adaptations

Dune by Frank Herbert book cover

Dune by Frank Herbert

Fans of Dune won’t have to wait much longer for part 2 to release. The second half of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune will be out on November 3, 2023. The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, will see the return of many of the stars of the first film, including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem. Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, and Tim Blake Nelson will be joining the cast.

spaceman of bohemia book cover

Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař

Adam Sandler is starring in the upcoming adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař’s Spaceman of Bohemia for Netflix. The film, entitled simply Spaceman , is directed by Johan Renick with a script by Colby Day. Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano will also star. While Netflix has not announced a specific release date for this project, the streaming service has said that we can expect the film to release in 2024.

Wicked Cover

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Universal is adapting the Tony Award-winning musical Wicked, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, into two films. The movies will star Cynthia Ervo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. The films are directed by Jon M. Chu. Recently, Chu shared a first look at the upcoming movies on his Instagram . The first Wicked movie is scheduled to release in theaters on November 27, 2024.

Romance Adaptations

Red White Royal Blue cover

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Amazon Studios is adapting Casey McQuiston’s debut novel Red, White, and Royal Blue into a film. It stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Henry and Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex Claremont-Diaz. Uma Thurman will also star as U.S. President Ellen Claremont, the mother of Zakhar Perez’s character. Filming wrapped in August 2022, and the movie premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 11 of this year!

the cover of Romancing Mister Bridgerton

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

Bridgerton season 3 is probably one of the most highly anticipated adaptations on this list, and it will be based on Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mister Bridgerton, which follows the love story of Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton, and Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan. Filming is still underway for the third series, so we might have to wait for this one until 2024. In the meantime, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is out now!

cover image of The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Beth O’Leary’s novel The Flatshare was adapted into a TV series in the UK in December 2022. It’s scheduled to release in the U.S. at some point in 2023. The series stars Jessica Brown Findlay as Tiffany “Tiffy” Moore and Anthony Welsh as Leon Twomey, two strangers who share a flat together but never interact due to their conflicting schedules. Through notes left in their shared living space, the two start to form a friendship…and maybe more. Here’s the trailer!

the perfect find cover

The Perfect Find by Tia Williams

This romcom was adapted for the screen by Leigh Davenport and directed by Numa Perrier. The film stars Gina Torres, Keith Powers, and Gabrielle Union, who is also a co-producer. While a trailer has not been released, here’s a first look at some images from the movie . The Perfect Find released on Netflix on June 23, 2023.

Nonfiction Adaptations

Book cover of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Martin Scorsese has directed a film adaptation of David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and it clocks in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. Ahead of its theatrical release, it’s debuting at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, Tantoo Cardinal, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow. It will be released in theaters on October 20, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. It will also be released streaming on Apple TV+ on an unspecified date.

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo book cover

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

The series adaptation of Three Women was originally scheduled to release on Showtime in 2022. But even though a full season was already filmed, Showtime scrapped the show. Now, Three Women is moving to Starz. A release date has yet to be announced. The series stars Shailene Woodley, DeWanda Wise, Betty Gilpin, Gabrielle Creevy, Blair Underwood, and John Patrick Amedori.

Love film adaptations and books being made into movies? Here are more 2023 adaptations to get excited about (and some you might have missed).

best fiction books made into movies

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33 Best Movies Based On Books

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Are you looking for something to watch tonight? Peruse fantastic movies based on books that actually get it right! We promise (or so we hope) that these movies won’t ruin your favorite books.

Movies Based On Books with orange background and bowl of buttered popcorn, film board and rolls of film along the bottom

Table of Contents

Which Was Better? The Book or Movie?

Books to movies is always a contentious topic. People are either thrilled, nervous, or utterly horrified when their favorite book becomes a movie. Plus, which was better? The book or the movie?

Here at TUL, we champion good books made into movies, especially ones that make us laugh out loud and transport us via the big screen.

However, it is also no secret that sometimes movies adapted from books completely miss their mark or take controversial liberties, casting terrible actors, altering plot essentials, and showcasing a plethora of historical inaccuracies.

Maybe that character didn’t look or sound the way we expected. And, why did the screenplay writer change the outcome? Why?!

So, what are the best movies based on books – the ones that get it mostly right – spawning fan fiction, cult classics, and endless adaptations for decades to come?

Pop that popcorn, grab a blanket, and keep reading for our top books that are movies – from two avid readers and book bloggers (one of whom also has her MLIS degree). We’d love to know your favorites in the comments. Let’s get started!

Best Movies Based On Books That Get It Right

To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Poster with notecard with red bird torn in half and image of top of white man with glasses in jacket and tie

1. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

One of the classic movies based on books is To Kill A Mockingbird , starring Gregory Peck in his iconic role as progressive lawyer Atticus Finch.

Horton Foote adapted the screenplay from Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, and Robert Mulligan directed the adaptation.

The film went on to win three Academy Awards, and it’s now widely recognized as one of the greatest American productions of all time.

In fact, in 1995, the Library Of Congress selected To Kill A Mockingbird for preservation in the National Film Registry , formalizing its position as a cultural touchstone.

Mean Girls film poster with three women wearing pink in a group and red haired woman wearing red on the side

2. Mean Girls (2004)

Not all books that are movies mirror the book’s plot or content.

When comedy darling Tina Fey secured the rights to adapt the self-help parenting book Queen Bees And Wannabes , she had no idea how she was going to turn Rosalind Wiseman’s advice and insights into a movie.

Fey drew on her own experiences at Upper Darby High School, as well as the book, to write the teen comedy Mean Girls .

When naive home-schooled teenager Cady settles in Illinois and attends a traditional high school for the first time, she struggles to navigate an unfamiliar world of cliques and bullying.

The film went on to gross $130 million and has developed a cult following among millennials around the world.

Little Women 2019 Movie Poster with four white women of varying ages looking out a window

3. Little Women (2019)

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is one of those books turned into movies several times over, and each has been better than the last.

The most recent version was directed by Greta Gerwig and released to massive critical and popular acclaim in 2019.

It’s the seventh such adaptation of the 1868 novel, and perhaps the most significant departure from its plot and dialogue.

Despite the changes, however, the story remains true: four young women, coming of age in a world that is radically changing, towards the end of the Civil War.

The movie also has serious star power, with household names like Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, and Emma Watson playing major roles.

The Color Purple Movie poster with image of woman sitting in a chair looking out curtained window with orange sun or moon

4. The Color Purple (1985)

Oprah Winfrey is best known as the O.G. Queen of Daytime Television, but she’s also a serious actress.

Her most acclaimed role was that of Sofia in The Color Purple , one of the most powerful books to movies that you’ll ever see.

Adapted from Alice Walker’s beloved novel of the same name, the heart-wrenching story at the heart of both formats is a testament to the strength and resilience of black women.

As well as Winfrey, who plays the intimidating powerhouse Sofia, the film also stars Whoopi Goldberg in her break-out role as the protagonist/narrator Celie, and Danny Glover as her abusive husband.

They were directed to perfection by the master of the craft, Stephen Spielberg.

If you love Southern movies , check out these Southern books .

Thank you for smoking Film Poster with cigarette butt replacing person's head in suit and tie

5. Thank You For Smoking (2005)

Comedy movies based on books are always a gamble: will the humor of the page translate to the screen?

The gamble pays off in Thank You For Smoking , the dark satire based on Christopher Buckley’s 1994 novel of the same name.

It stars Aaron Eckhart in one of his most underrated and brilliant roles, as Nick Naylor – spokesperson for a tobacco company charged with lobbying the government and the public on behalf of cigarettes.

His best friends are lobbyists for the firearms and alcohol industries, and they call themselves the MOD Squad: Merchants Of Death.

It’s every bit as dark, hilarious, and insightful as you might imagine.

Discover even more thought-provoking books .

Bridget Jones Diary Movie Poster with two white man looking over shoulders of white blonde woman holding a red journal with pen to her lips

6. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

What about movies based on books that are based on books? It sounds like a tongue twister, but it’s a real thing.

Bridget Jones’s Diary was a 1996 epistolary novel loosely based on Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice before it became a classic British romantic comedy film starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth (as the iconically sexy Mark Darcy).

While the ties to the original Austen text are loose (and she’d probably be baffled if she could see what her story has become), they tug on the same heartstrings.

Bridget’s pursuit of love and self-fulfillment is every bit as wonderful as Elizabeth Bennet’s, except that it’s placed in the slightly more relatable setting of ‘90s London.

Read even more books about books and writers .

The Princess Bride Film Poster with people sitting in open doorway with clouds and mountains

7. The Princess Bride (1987)

The Princess Bride is a cult classic.

The beautiful Buttercup, betrothed against her will to the repellent Prince Humperdink, is kidnapped by bumbling outlaws only to be rescued by her former farmhand and one true love, Westley.

It’s ridiculous, it’s hilarious, it’s over-the-top, it’s very touching – and it’s another one of the truly great books made into movies!

The 1973 fantasy-romance-adventure-comedy novel of the same name was American writer William Goldman’s most popular work, hands down, but it achieved true cultural cut-through and reached cult status with the 1987 film adaptation.

The family-favorite film has, in turn, inspired any number of books based on its content and cultural reception: oral histories, fan fiction, cookbooks, and more!

Watch even more wedding-themed movies .

Hidden Figures Movie Poster with three black women in dresses walking forward with sky and rocket in background

8. Hidden Figures (2016)

It’s a travesty that Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson – three incredible black women, mathematicians who played an essential role in NASA’s Space Race – remained largely unknown for so many years.

Margot Lee Shetterly, whose father worked with these kick-ass women back in the day, brought their story to the world with her book Hidden Figures .

It reached an even wider audience when it was one of the many books turned into movies in 2016.

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe, the film went on to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture – and to gross $236 million, making it one of the most profitable movies of the year, to boot.

Read about even more inspiring women in history – fictional and real.

The Devil Wears Prada Movie Poster with red high heeled shoe with heel as devil's pitchfork

9. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

The Devil Wears Prada for a list of the best movies based on books!? Groundbreaking. (If you’ve seen it already, you get the joke.)

Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel of the same name made a big splash, as rumors flew that the iconic villain Miranda Priestley was, in fact, based on Weisberger’s own former boss, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

When the movie adaptation came out, Wintour – to her credit – was in the front row at the premiere and told Barbara Walters that she thought it was “really entertaining.”

The cast is a who’s who of beloved thespians: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci. Plus, the mid-noughties fashion is to die for!

The Princess Diaries Film Poster with older and young white woman with young woman wearing red lipstick, sunglasses and headphones

10. The Princess Diaries (2001)

Of all the things that could have ruined Mia Thermopolis’s life, “discovering she’s actually a princess and next-in-line to the throne of a small, wealthy European nation” hadn’t even crossed her mind.

And yet, that’s what happened in a series of epistolary young adult novels by Meg Cabot.

The first installment, published in 2000, was adapted the following year into a fabulous film starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews.

Unusually, for books that are movies, the screen adaptation of The Princess Diaries glosses over some of the grittier aspects that Cabot explored in the books to make a shiny, fresh, and fun film that the entire family can enjoy.

Fight Club (1999) Movie Poster with two white men one in white collared shirt and the other in tee and sweater

11. Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club has a reputation as the kind of film That Guy will talk your ear off about – but it’s actually quite good for iconic books to movies.

Director David Fincher used every tool in the box to bring Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel to the screen.

First, have a stellar cast (Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter). Second, add a few homoerotic overtones to the script.

Third, hire a team of special effects geniuses to pull off the “big twist” in the most believable way possible.

And, most importantly, make sure the studio executives hate it – that almost guarantees a film’s future status as a cult classic!

The Social Network Movie Poster with half of white man's face with green eye looking foward

12. The Social Network (2010)

Few people realize that The Social Network , the true(ish) story of the development of Facebook, is not one of the best movies based on a true story – it’s one of the best movies based on books, too!

The Accidental Billionaires was Ben Mezrich’s 2009 novel, based on his conversations with Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and the reams of court documents generated by the various cases relating to the multi-billion dollar company.

Despite these claims to its veracity, it didn’t make much of a splash until Aaron Sorkin adapted it for the big screen.

The finished product stars Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and pre-Spiderman Andrew Garfield as his (now former) best friend and co-founder.

The Other Boleyn Girl Movie Poster with woman in fancy green dress leaning over and man and blonde woman to her left

13. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson vying for the attention of Eric Bana, in sexy Tudor period costumes? Yes, please!

The Other Boleyn Girl is one of many historical-romance drama movies adapted from books, but it’s a stand-out for its spectacular casting and sizzling sexual tension.

The source material is Phillippa Gregory’s series about the various romances and foibles of Henry VIII and his court.

Naturally, the film is rife with historical inaccuracies, which sent the critics into a frenzy – but who cares?

If you’re coming to historical romance dramas looking for accuracy, you have bigger problems.

Atonement Film Poster with image of white brunette woman on top resting chin on hand and white brunette male outdoors below

14. Atonement (2007)

Of all of the Ian McEwan books made into movies, Atonement is (so far) the pick of the bunch.

It’s a romantic war drama and “crime” movie based on his novel of the same name, chronicling a shocking crime and its consequences over the course of a generation.

Director Joe Wright summoned the same team that worked on his adaptation of Pride And Prejudice (2005), including Keira Knightley for another starring role, and they managed to make more movie magic.

With stunning visuals (including that iconic scene with Knightley in That Green Dress), and powerful performances, this is a breath-taking film that will stay with you for days after the credits roll.

If you enjoy Atonement , watch even more dark romance films , including a few movies from books like Revolutionary Road , Lady Chatterley’s Lover , and Lolita .

The Hate U Give Movie Poster with young Black woman in red sweatshirt and pants holding a sign with the title

15. The Hate U Give (2018)

Not all young adult books turned into movies are fluffy rom-coms or dystopian adventures. Some of them have a serious social justice message, like The Hate U Give .

Based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Angie Thomas, it follows the story of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who witnesses the shooting death of her (black male) friend at the hands of a police officer.

Even though this movie came out prior to the worldwide #BlackLivesMatter protests in 2020, its premise has only become more resonant over time.

With the issue of police violence and racial justice front of mind for all generations, this movie is a must-watch, just as the book it is based on is a must-read.

Room Film Poster with young white woman with red-brown hair holding a young boy wearing hat and jacket

16. Room (2015)

Room is one of the most haunting movies based on books you’ll ever see.

It’s based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue, which in turn was inspired by the real-life crimes of Josef Fritzl.

If you need a refresher, Fritzl held his daughter captive and subjected her to horrific abuses for over two decades; she gave birth to seven children over that time, three of whom remained in captivity with her.

The film tells a version of this story where a young woman raises her son, born to her anonymous captor, in a single 11 ft. x 11 ft. room.

When they finally escape, they struggle to adjust to a life outside the bounds of the room.

It is a captivating performance by Brie Larson, as the mother, and Jacob Tremblay, as her five-year-old son.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest film poster with man in black and white wearing hat and jacket and looking up

17.  One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Ken Kesey’s philosophical psychological novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is surely one of the most unusual books to movies.

The story is set in an Oregon psychiatric institution, examining the effects of institutionalization and antiquated psychiatric practices.

While the book is narrated by “Chief” Bromden, the mute Native American patient with a unique perspective on what he sees unfold on the ward, the movie focuses more on the antics of Randle McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) and one of cinema’s most haunting villains, the terrifying Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).

The film was one of the very few to win all five major Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture.

The Shining Movie Poster with white man with teeth barred and a white brunette person screaming on the other side of the door

18. The Shining (1980)

The Shining is one of those movies based on books where it’s impossible to tell which is more popular, the book or the film.

The book made Stephen King the King Of Horror, a shudder-inducing spine-chilling story about a crazed alcoholic writer working as an off-season caretaker at an eerie empty hotel.

Stanley Kubrick, himself a titan of his craft, saw great potential in the story and made a few adjustments to bring it to the big screen (to King’s barely-contained chagrin).

Jack Nicholson plays the role of Jack Torrance, the film’s protagonist and villain, to absolute perfection.

Even if you’ve never seen the film, you’re surely familiar with his iconic line: “Here’s Johnny!”. It’s even been remixed into a techno song!

Watch more movies about hotels , or read these books set at creepy hotels .

Crazy Rich Asians Movie poster with Asian man in suit and woman in red dress with arms around each other

19. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Kevin Kwan’s satirical romance novel, Crazy Rich Asians , made one heck of a splash.

It’s another one of those #Bookstagram-famous books turned into movies success stories.

The 2018 film adaptation was a major critical and commercial success, grossing over $238 million worldwide.

Five years in the making (rights were secured shortly after the book was first published in 2013), the all-Asian cast flew between New York City, Malaysia, and Singapore for filming.

The result is well worth it: a glorious celebratory film, with plenty of laughs and gorgeous visuals, with the kind of representation viewers, hadn’t seen since The Joy Luck Club .

American Psycho Movie Poster with image of man in suit and tie holding a knife with a reflection of a person in it

20. American Psycho (2000)

Movies based on books can sometimes add intriguing layers to the source material, as was the case with American Psycho .

Bret Easton Ellis’s transgressive fever-dream novel satirizes the hyper-masculine Yuppie culture of early ‘90s New York.

The first-person narration leaves a lot of conclusions for the readers to draw for themselves.

In the more visual medium of film, director Mary Harron had the opportunity to guide the viewer to a definitive conclusion about the protagonist’s reality.

It stars Christian Bale in one of his most iconic roles (who could forget the business card scene?) and a very-early career Reese Witherspoon.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Movie Poster with green brick wall background and two younger white boys one with a red haired girl resting her head on his shoulder

21. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

Of all the LGBT young adult books made into movies, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is undoubtedly the one that stayed most true to the author’s vision.

That’s because Stephen Chbosky, author of the novel of the same name published in 1999, wrote the screenplay and directed the film himself.

It’s highly unusual that an author retains artistic control over a movie adaptation, and it’s abundantly clear that it was the best way of bringing this heart-wrenching story to the screen.

The main character, Charlie, is a troubled teenager, unknowingly affected by PTSD while suffering all of the usual ravages of adolescence.

It debuted to a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012.

If you are looking for books or movies on friendship , this is it.

Explore more iconic books (and the movies they sparked) from the 90s .

Misery Movie Poster with image of dark house with small light in dark snowy mountains

22. Misery (1990)

Misery is one of the stand-out books to movies, for several reasons.

Firstly, Stephen King – author of the horror novel of the same name – has said that it’s one of his favorites (and given how much of his work has been adapted for the screen, that’s saying something).

Secondly, it gave Kathy Bates a career-defining role as the villain, nurse Annie Wilkes, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

(That also makes Misery the only film based on a Stephen King novel to win an Oscar.)

And, finally, it’s just a damn good horror film.

It’s hauntingly intimate, with an author incapacitated and held hostage by his “number one fan” at her secluded house and forced to write a new story just for her.

You’ll never fangirl over your favorite author’s work the same way ever again!

Pride And Prejudice Movie Poster with dapper white man and woman with rolling green grass in background

23. Pride And Prejudice (2005)

Of all the movies based on books, there are probably none more contentious than Pride And Prejudice adaptations.

Jane Austen’s classic novel sets a high bar, widely considered to be the most beloved book in English literature; any production team willing to take that on better be up to the challenge.

While the 1995 BBC miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth is typically preferred by traditionalists (and women with a penchant for men in soaking-wet white shirts), the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden is more widely accessible and better for general audiences.

The passion between the two leads smolders on screen, as much as Elizabeth Bennett’s and Mr. Darcy’s do on the page.

Gone Girl (2014) Movie Poster with man walking in dark landscape with clouds and setting sun

24. Gone Girl (2014)

It’s particularly hard for writers and directors of books turned into movies to maintain the suspense and tension of a big twist ending.

The team behind Gone Girl nailed it – perhaps the trick was having Gillian Flynn, author of the novel of the same name, write the screenplay herself and work closely with the production team.

Plus, the cast – including acting superstar Ben Affleck – could draw on their real-life experiences of media harassment to bring a level of authenticity to the otherwise unlikeable and unreliable main characters.

(Fun fact: production of Gone Girl had to shut down for four whole days when Affleck, a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, refused to wear a New York Yankees cap in a vital scene.)

The Wolf Of Wall Street Movie Poster with white man in suit and tie and gaggle of a variety of people behind him

25. The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)

Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese has made quite a few books that are movies, but the best is surely The Wolf Of Wall Street .

He turned disgraced former stockbroker Jordan Belfort’s memoir into a $392 million film that took the Guinness World Record for the most swears in a motion picture.

It’s a high-octane black comedy, and you’re likely to feel a little drugged and dazed by the time the credits roll.

It focuses on the narcissism and greed that led Belfort and his co-conspirators to defraud thousands of unwitting investors, and the lavish lifestyle they enjoyed as a result.

The Time Travelers Wife film poster with white brunette woman laying down and white man resting head on top of her

26. The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana have beautiful on-screen chemistry in The Time Traveler’s Wife , the 2009 movie based on Audrey Niffenegger’s best-selling novel of the same name.

McAdams is the titular wife, a woman fated to fall in love with a man (Bana) who abruptly travels through time.

Naturally, this causes a few headaches in their relationship, not the least of which is the genetic mutation he can’t help but pass along when they try to have children.

This is one of those books to movies that are guaranteed to make you cry, whichever format you decide to enjoy.

If you enjoy time travel movies, you might also appreciate these time travel books .

Plus, you know we love librarians , and Henry works for the library in Chicago.

Gone with the Wild film poster with image of white man and woman kissing

27. Gone With The Wind (1939)

Movies based on books don’t always age well. Gone With The Wind – both the Margaret Mitchell novel and the film of the same name – were wildly popular when they first came out.

However, with the progression of cultural sensibilities, they have fallen somewhat out of favor. The epic historical romance at the heart of the story isn’t really the problem (though it’s rife with problematic elements); it’s the perpetuation of Civil War myths and black stereotypes that really grate for a contemporary audience.

That said, it’s still worth watching this classic romance with a critical eye. It’s a visually stunning film, with iconic lines (“Frankly, my dear…”) and Clark Gable as the dashing romantic villain Rhett Butler.

Adaptation film poster with man's face in flower container and the flower or plant is tipped over and broken

28. Adaptation (2002)

Movies based on books are one thing, but what about movies based on the struggle to turn a book into a movie?

It sounds convoluted, but Adaptation proves the concept can work!

It’s a very meta-comedy directed by Spike Jonez, based on his own difficulties adapting Susan Orlean’s 1998 best-seller The Orchid Thief .

The story follows a screenwriter battling a severe case of writer’s block (not to mention a freeloading twin brother and a list of mental illnesses as long as your arm) and his increasingly ridiculous attempts to write a film script that adequately captures the book’s content.

Meryl Streep was so keen to star in this movie that she took a considerable salary cut to make it happen.

Susan Orlean called Streep’s performance “one of her favorites” by the actress, and despite her initial reservations, she loves the film.

Girl Interrupted Movie Poster with white person with green eyes face up close

29. Girl, Interrupted (1999)

You may not remember, but a lot of big names appeared in Girl, Interrupted , one of the last movies adapted from books in the golden era of the ‘90s.

Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Brittany Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Moss, Jared Leto – all of them appeared in this psychological drama film based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir of the same name.

Jolie in particular won a whole shelf of awards for her performance, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

It’s a must-watch for all former angsty teenage girls and anyone who won’t let go of their inner edgy emo-kid.

The Notebook Movie Poster with white man holding white woman in blue top in the rain and they are kissing

30. The Notebook (2004)

The Notebook is not only the ultimate romantic sob-fest film, it’s also undoubtedly one of the best movies based on books.

Nicholas Sparks’s 1996 novel of the same name didn’t make much of a splash until Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams (and their undeniable, electric chemistry) brought Noah and Allie to the silver screen.

Their love story begins in the 1940s when they were young and naively assumed that class differences and world conflicts couldn’t tear them apart.

In the present(ish) day, an elderly man reads a woman a story about the two young lovers, keeping her entertained on yet another endless day in a care home.

If you’re not surrounded by crumpled Kleenex by the time the final credits roll, your heart must be made of stone.

Find even more books set in North Carolina .

More books turned into movies – from Christine

Where The Crawdads Sing movie poster with image of person's head and neck with long hair blowing over eyes

31. Where The Crawdads Sing (2022)

Growing up in the marshes of North Carolina, the community has always shunned impoverished Kya Clark, who raises herself at a young age.

When the town’s rich and popular quarterback is found dead around her home, Kya is charged with his murder.

Can her lawyer get her out? How did this happen, and who killed Chase Andrews? What will become of Kya?

For books that are movies causing quite the stir, the controversy with popular Where The Crawdads Sing resides not with the adaptation but instead with the author.

Watch (and read) this one with awareness as Delia Owens is wanted by the African police for questioning in regards to a suspicious murder of a man from Zambia.

Read more books about North Carolina on our sister site, Uncorked Asheville, and enjoy this Where The Crawdads Smash literary cocktail.

Find more book information for Where The Crawdads Sing here .

A Man Called Otto Movie Poster with image of white man in coat walking down residential street

32. A Man Called Otto (2023)

TWs suicide and death of a spouse

For books made into movies more than once, A Man Called Otto is based on Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove , which features a strong middle-aged character .

And let’s face it, this is one of the saddest books and movies sure to make you cry. (And no, the cat does not die…)

Otto is a grieving widower in his 60s with a heart condition. Devastated over the loss of his wife, he’s a bit of a curmudgeon, especially toward his fellow neighbors.

While attempting to hang himself, a new neighbor interrupts him, saving his life not just once but throughout the course of the movie.

Deeply touching, we watch as Otto saves an old man from dying on the train tracks, teaches a neighbor how to drive, helps a transgendered teen, and finds a renewed sense of purpose and hope in his life.

As we headed to the restroom after the movie, you could easily tell by the nose-blowing who just came out of our theater.

A Man Called Otto is the ultimate story about friendship . Discover even more books to movies in 2023 .

Coraline movie poster with image of animated young person looking through an opening with light

33. Coraline (2009)

If you enjoy animated fantasy movies , Coraline might just be one of the creepiest movies based on books for you.

Plus, Gaiman is a prolific author – and supporter of libraries.

When Coraline and her family move into a new home, her parents are too busy to care much about her.

This is why when Coraline finds a hidden fantasy world within her home filled with all of the things she wants from life, she questions if she should stay.

Is the grass always greener on the other side?

While Coraline is marketed as a children’s movie, just know that it can be a bit disturbing for younger kids.

Watch even more terrific haunted house movies – a few of which are also books made into movies.

Grab the best books to movies here :

  • Audible Plus : From Amazon, listen to Amazon Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks. They add new titles every week.
  • Book of the Month : Get the month’s hottest new and upcoming titles from Book of the Month. You might snag an early release or debut author. Along with selecting a book a month, find terrific add-ons, both trendy and lesser-known titles.
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  • Express VPN – Using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allows you to view movies worldwide – and they help keep your information safe. Our writers couldn’t have such diverse film reviews without using a VPN.

What are the best books turned into movies?

Which was better: the book or the movie?

Did the movie do the book justice? Was there an instance where you enjoyed the movie better than the book?

Were you ever upset that a movie diverged too much from the book? Lastly, what do you consider to be the best movies based on books?

Let us know your favorite (and least favorite) books that are movies in the comments.

This books to movies list is part of the Uncorked 2023 Reading Challenge .

Save These Books That Are Movies For Later:

Books Turned Into Movies Pinterest Pin with orange background and bowl of buttered popcorn, film board and rolls of film along the bottom

Sheree Strange

Sheree (pronouns: she/her) is a writer and book reviewer living on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation (known as Sydney, Australia). She has been reviewing books on her blog, Keeping Up With The Penguins , since 2017. She reads books of all kinds and shares her thoughts on them all across the internet.

Christine Owner The Uncorked Librarian LLC with white brunette female in pink dress sitting in chair with glass of white wine and open book

Christine Frascarelli

Christine (she/her) is the owner, lead editor, and tipsy book sommelier of The Uncorked Librarian LLC, an online literary publication showcasing books and movies to inspire travel and home to the famed Uncorked Reading Challenge.

With a BA in English & History from Smith College, an MLIS from USF-Tampa, and a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship in Christine's back pocket, there isn't a bookstore, library, or winery that can hide from her. Christine loves brewery yoga, adopting all of the kitties, and a glass of oaked Chardonnay. Charcuterie is her favorite food group.

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14 Book-to-Screen Adaptations to Catch in 2022

B ook-to-screen adaptations are big this year, giving plenty of fodder to anyone who loves to debate which was better: the book or the movie. From adaptions like Netflix’s recent Anatomy of a Scandal , based on Sarah Vaughan’s best-selling novel, to an upcoming take on Sally Rooney ‘s Conversations With Friends on Hulu, readers eager to lay eyes on the characters they’ve only visualized in their heads are sure to be thrilled.

Here are 14 book-to-screen to look forward to in 2022.

Anatomy of a Scandal (Netflix, April 15)

Prepare for slow-burning suspense in this #MeToo-era courtroom thriller, which centers on bad behavior among Britain’s elite. James (Rupert Friend), a prominent politician, and his wife, Sophie (Sienna Miller), are seemingly thriving until James is accused of professional misconduct—and then of far worse things. The novel, published in 2018, was adapted for Netflix by David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson. The six-episode TV version is a timely examination of entitlement and consent.

Heartstopper (Netflix, April 22)

Heartstopper , Alice Oseman’s sweet webcomic—which began in 2016 and was eventually published as a series of graphic novels—charts the relationship between Charlie and Nick, two grammar-school boys who unexpectedly fall for each other. While the eight-part Netflix series is unlikely to stop your heart, it will almost certainly warm it.

Under the Banner of Heaven (FX and Hulu, April 28)

Jon Krakauer’s 2003 true-crime bestseller is being adapted into a seven-episode limited series. It investigates the gruesome 1984 murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her infant daughter in Salt Lake City. Andrew Garfield portrays Detective Jeb Pyre, a devout Mormon who has to wrestle with his faith as he untangles the killings—and how they relate back to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Conversations With Friends (Hulu, May 15)

Perhaps you, too, have been waiting for another adaptation of a Sally Rooney novel since you finished binging Normal People . It’s finally here: the Irish author’s debut novel will be reimagined as a 12-episode series starring Alison Oliver, Joe Alwyn, Sasha Lane, and Jemima Kirke. It follows a pair of best friends—Frances and Bobbi—as they become close with an eccentric married couple and explore their sexuality, testing the boundaries of their friendship.

Where the Crawdads Sing (In theaters July 15)

Delia Owens’ best-selling 2018 novel is finally getting the big-screen treatment. The story focuses on Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who was abandoned at a young age and raised herself in the North Carolina marshes. Years later, the lonely, mysterious girl is accused of murdering town heartthrob Chase (Harris Dickinson), who’d fallen for her but kept their romance secret from his family. Reese Witherspoon is among the movie’s producers, and Olivia Newman is directing. (Taylor Swift recently revealed that she wrote a song for the movie, but she’s faced backlash because of Owens’ controversial involvement with a poaching incident.)

Salem’s Lot (In theaters Sept. 9)

A small New England town is invaded by vampires in Salem’s Lot , the latest Stephen King thriller being adapted into a movie. (The novel—King’s second, published in 1975—was also the inspiration for a 2004 TNT miniseries.) It’s about Ben (Lewis Pullman), a troubled writer who heads home to Jerusalem’s Lot in Maine, where his childhood demons transform into real ones. He bands together with a group of locals to fight the evil vampires.

She Said (In theaters Nov. 18)

New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor won a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for breaking the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal—which helped birth the #MeToo movement. They chronicled how they did it in She Said , a 2019 book that whisked readers behind-the-scenes of their investigative reporting. Now, Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are set to portray the journalists in a movie adaptation of the high-profile, game-changing case.

Luckiest Girl Alive (Netflix, 2022)

Jessica Knoll , who wrote the 2015 thriller Luckiest Girl Alive , also penned the screenplay for the movie adaptation, which is due this year—starring and produced by Mila Kunis . The story, which was partly inspired by Knoll’s personal experiences, is about a woman who’s reinvented herself after being raped as a teenager. Years later, she seemingly has it all—until her past comes roaring back, fraying the edges of her carefully constructed life.

A Man Called Otto (In theaters Dec. 25)

In Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s delightful debut novel, A Man Called Ove , the titular curmudgeon has a heart that’s too big—literally, but also, it turns out, metaphorically. That story is getting the big-screen treatment in the U.S., following the success of a Swedish adaptation that was nominated for a 2017 Academy Award. Ove has been renamed the more-pronounceable Otto in this iteration, which stars Tom Hanks (whose wife, Rita Wilson, is among the producers).

The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime Video, TBD)

Before To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , there was The Summer I Turned Pretty . Jenny Han’s YA romance trilogy, which launched in 2009, is set to premiere as a Prime Video series this year. It’s about Belly (Lola Tung), a teenage girl who gets a crash course in love when she develops a relationship with two boys who fight for her affections. Expect a fun, fluffy coming-of-age story that makes you long for youthful summers spent at the shore.

Pieces of Her (Netflix, currently available)

What happens when you think you know everything there is to know about your mother—and then find out she specializes in secrets? That question is at the heart of Karin Slaughter ’s stirring novel, which was the basis for this eight-episode inaugural season. Andy (Bella Heathcote) and her mother (Toni Collette) are caught up in a shooting at a local diner, which ignites a media firestorm—and forces Andy to realize her mom has an entire shocking history that’s been long concealed.

Death on the Nile (HBO Max and Hulu, currently available )

Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) puts his “little grey cells” to fine use in this movie adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic murder-mystery . It takes place on a glamorous cruise ship headed down the Nile River in 1937, as newlyweds Linnet (Gal Gadot) and Simon (Armie Hammer) celebrate their marriage. Things get complicated when Simon’s scorned ex-girlfriend, Jackie (Emma Mackey), shows up, and even more so when Linnet ends up dead. Even if you know exactly what the brilliant detective Poirot will figure out, it’s fun to watch the puzzle pieces click into place.

No Exit (Hulu, currently available)

In this thrilling movie based on the 2017 novel by Taylor Adams, a woman named Darby (Havana Rose Liu) becomes stranded at a rest stop where she’s forced to shelter with a group of strangers. That could be uncomfortable during the best of circumstances, but the tension grows quickly when she discovers a young girl tied up and gagged in one of the stranger’s vans—clearly, a kidnapping in progress. Darby has to figure out who’s responsible and how to save the child, and herself, in this claustrophobic adaptation.

Pachinko (Apple TV+, currently available)

Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko , a sweeping historical fiction novel published in 2017, was beloved by many readers—like Barack Obama, who recommended it for its resilience and compassion. The saga follows a Korean immigrant family across four generations. In March, an eight-episode adaptation premiered on Apple TV+ as one of the biggest multilingual shows ever . The series stars Jin Ha, Minha Kim, and Lee Minho.

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Read these 20 epic science fiction books before they’re made into movies

Rick Marshall

If you’re still not feeling great about heading to a movie theater, you’re not alone. Fortunately, you don’t need to leave home to get ahead on the upcoming sci-fi movies hitting theaters in days and months to come. There’s a long list of movies based on sci-fi novels, comic books, and short stories currently in various stages of development, so you can always get ahead of the curve by checking out the source material for some of the biggest films headed to theaters.

Time Salvager

The book of joan, the comet cycle, hold back the stars, the forever war, children of time, way station, saying goodbye to yang.

  • Logan’s Run

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Sleeping giants, robopocalypse, the tempest.

  • Fortunately, the Milk …

Rendezvous with Rama

To give you a sneak peek at the future of sci-fi cinema, we’ve put together this list of some of the best sci-fi stories that have big-screen adaptations in the works right now.

By Frank Herbert

Widely regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi novels of all time, Herbert’s  Dune has been adapted for the screen multiple times over the years, with various filmmakers putting their spin on the generation-spanning saga of rival families vying for control of the planet Arrakis. The original novel follows Paul Atreides, whose family’s stewardship of the planet is brought to a violent end, thrusting Paul into the center of a conflict that ranges from the far reaches of the interstellar society to the ground beneath the sands of Arrakis.

In February 2017, Legendary Entertainment announced that  Sicario and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve was attached to helm a new adaptation of Dune . Oscar-nominated  Call Me by Your Name actor Timothee Chalamet was cast as Paul Atreides in July 2018, with Rebecca Ferguson ( Mission: Impossible — Fallout ) later cast as Paul’s mother , Lady Jessica. More high-profile cast members subsequently joined the project, including Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Charlotte Rampling, and Oscar Isaac. The film is scheduled to hit theaters October 22, 2021.

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By Wesley Chu

Wesley Chu’s 2015 novel unfolds in a future that has seen mankind depart Earth to colonize the stars, leaving behind a bleak, toxic planet. The protagonist is a convicted criminal whose psychological profile makes him the ideal candidate for an agency that sends people back in time to recover valuable resources and treasures from mankind’s history on Earth to prolong the species’ future. On his final mission, he saves a female scientist destined to die, turning them both into fugitives in the future timeline.

Paramount Pictures picked up the rights to Chu’s novel before it even hit shelves, and Michael Bay is attached to direct the adaptation. There’s no word on when the project will go into production or what sort of timeline (pun totally intended) the studio is envisioning for it at this point.

By Lidia Yuknavitch

The Book of Joan is a retelling of the story of Joan of Arc set in a post-apocalyptic future in which humanity has left the Earth to live on a floating platform far above the surface. The story   follows a young woman who leads a rebellion against the police state that governs this new society. The book was published in April 2017 and was celebrated for its strong feminist themes.

In early 2017, Stone Village Productions won a bidding war for the rights that was reportedly very competitive , and now Scott Steindorff ( The Lincoln Lawyer ) and Dylan Russell ( Penelope ) are attached as producers on the film. There’s no word on a production timeline for the film at this point.

By Benjamin Percy

Novelist and comic book writer Benjamin Percy kicked off a new trilogy with the June publication of  The Ninth Metal , the first of three stories collectively known as The Comet Cycle. The saga unfolds in the aftermath of a meteor shower that has disastrous effects on Earth, but also leads to the discovery of an entirely new metal with world-changing properties. The series explores the ramifications of the new gold rush the discovery launches, and the myriad ways the meteor shower changes life on Earth.

In September 2018, filmmakers The Russo Brothers — who helmed both Avengers: Infinity War and  Avengers: Endgame , among other Marvel blockbusters — optioned the rights to develop The Comet Cycle as a new movie franchise. There haven’t been any updates since that initial announcement (likely due to the filmmakers’ busy schedules), so it’s unknown where the adaptation stands at this point.

By Katie Khan

Two star-crossed lovers find themselves adrift in space, untethered from their spacecraft, with only 90 minutes of oxygen left in each of their tanks. As they attempt to figure out a way to survive their predicament, their memories drift back to the world they left behind: A utopian Earth that brought them together but never felt like home.

With its blend of romance and sci-fi themes, Katie Khan’s debut novel has been described as “ R omeo & Juliet meets  Gravity .” An adaptation of the novel, set to be directed by  Five Feet Apart filmmaker Justin Baldoni from a screenplay by I Am Not Okay With This writer Christy Hall, is in the works.

By Joe Haldeman

Another Nebula Award winner,  The Forever War  tells the story of a soldier recruited to battle an aggressive alien species light-years from Earth. He discovers that traveling to and from the battlefield has actually caused several decades to pass on Earth. Coming home to an Earth very different from the one he left, he’s uncertain whether this new world was indeed worth fighting for.

Ridley Scott first announced he was adapting  The Forever War in 2008, but the project fell into development limbo until Warner Bros. Pictures picked up the rights to the story again in 2015. Prometheus and Passengers writer Jon Spaihts is penning the script for the film, and Channing Tatum is attached to star in it. There’s no release date for the film.

By Ernest Cline

The follow-up to Ernest Cline’s runaway hit Ready Player One  — which found its way to the screen in 2018 with Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair —  Armada  follows a high-school student who discovers that his favorite online game might actually be a sophisticated simulator training him to thwart an impending alien invasion. As he gets pulled deeper into the secrets surrounding the game, he finds the history of both video games and his family are woven together in unexpected ways.

The hype surrounding  Ready Player One led to the movie rights for  Armada being sold off before the sci-fi book even was published. Universal Pictures nabbed the movie rights to  Armada in December 2012, and the film is currently in development at the studio. There is no release date set for the Armada movie  at this point.

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By Jeff VanderMeer

Set in a post-apocalyptic future where the products of biotechnology and genetic engineering run wild dominate the remains of civilization,  Borne follows protagonist Rachel as she discovers a strange, anemone-like creature while scavenging and soon discovers it might be more than it appears. The surreal sci-fi story comes from the mind of Jeff VanderMeer, whose Southern Reach trilogy won a long list of literary awards and inspired the criminally underappreciated 2018 film Annihilation .

Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to  Borne in 2016, with  Annihilation producers Scott Rudin and Eli Bush attached to serve in similar roles on the adaptation of  Borne . There’s no word at this point on when the project is expected to begin production.

By Adrian Tchaikovsky

When the last humans left on a dying Earth are forced to flee the planet, they set off in search of a fabled, far-off planet that’s already been terraformed and prepared for their arrival. There’s only one catch: The planet is occupied, but not by humans.

That’s the basic synopsis for Tchaikovsky’s 2015 novel  Children of Time , and it was enough to catch the attention of  The Hunger Games and  Twilight studio Lionsgate and its subsidiary, Summit Entertainment. The studios bought the feature rights to the story in 2017, and screenwriter Colby Day was hired that October to adapt the story for the screen. Still in the development phase,  Children of Time doesn’t yet have an official release date.

By Clifford D. Simak

This Hugo Award-winning novel tells the story of Enoch Wallace, the guardian of a cosmic way station on Earth that serves as a hub for intergalactic travelers. His position had seen him bestowed with all kinds of alien gifts — from vast knowledge to virtual immortality — but all of these gifts have made him aware of humankind’s impending destruction, and the only way he can save the human race.

Netflix partnered with  Cloverfield and  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves to adapt the novel in September 2019, with Reeves’ production studio developing the film as a large-scale, sci-fi thriller.

By Alexander Weinstein

One of several short stories included in Weinstein’s collection titled Children of the New World : Stories , Saying Goodbye to Yang is set in a world where families often purchase child-like robots to serve as live-in babysitters and teachers for children. When one family’s robot begins to malfunction, it prompts a desperate search for a way to save a member of their family that has become so much more than a babysitter.

Saying Goodbye to Yang was optioned in June 2018, with  Columbus filmmaker Kogonada attached to adapt and direct the movie. The adaptation was given the title After Yang , and Colin Farrell signed on to star in the film in early 2019. Farrell was later joined in the cast by Jodie Turner-Smith ( Queen & Slim ) and Justin H. Min ( The Umbrella Academy ). Filming began in May 2019, but the movie’s status is unknown at this point, with no release date assigned to it.

Logan’s Run

By william f. nolan and george clayton johnson.

This 1967 novel is set in a dystopian future where resources are scarce, which leads society to implement a rule that requires everyone over the age of 21 to voluntarily end their lives. When one of the agents tasked with killing citizens who “run” from the rule decides to run himself as his time comes due, it sets off a chain of events that shakes the very foundation of this dark human civilization.

The novel was adapted into a 1976 film starring Michael York that was nominated for three Academy Awards and won one for its visual effects. A remake was first announced back in the 1990s, and an update in July 2015 had X-Men franchise screenwriter Simon Kinberg penning yet another draft of the script. The studio also is reported to be considering a female lead for the adaptation.

By Robert A. Heinlein

The winner of the Hugo Award in 1967, Heinlein’s celebrated novel chronicles a lunar city’s revolution after years of serving as a penal colony for Earth. The story follows the revolt from its earliest stages to its final outcome and explores a future in which humanity must contend with the ramifications of extending its reach beyond Earth.

In March 2015, X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer announced plans for an adaptation of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress based on a script penned by Arrow series producer Marc Guggenheim. Given Singer’s well-documented troubles — which culminated in his abrupt departure from the director’s chair on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody   — it’s uncertain whether this adaptation still is moving forward. However, the title of the film is expected to be changed to Uprising if it does proceed.

By Sylvain Neuvel

This debut novel tells the story of a young girl who falls through a weak spot in the ground one day and lands in the palm of a giant, mysterious metal hand. Years later, that girl is a physicist still trying to unravel the mystery of the metal hand, and her quest for answers sends her around the globe as the mystery deepens.

Neuvel’s self-published novel was optioned almost as soon as it was published. The last update on the project (from 2016) indicates Spider-Man franchise producer Matt Tolmach will oversee the adaptation ,  with  War of the Worlds screenwriter David Koepp penning the screenplay. The big-screen version of the story is expected to be retitled The Themis Files  and is envisioned as the first chapter of a trilogy.

By Andy Weir

Andy Weir followed his 2011 novel  The Martian — which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated 2015 movie of the same name — with this 2017 book set more than 60 years in the future. Published in November 2017, the story follows smuggler Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara, who finds herself caught up in a dangerous conspiracy on the lunar city of Artemis.

Given the success of The Martian , it should come as no surprise that the rights to make a movie based on  Artemis were picked up by 20th Century Fox months before the book hit shelves. In September 2017, directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller were attached to helm the adaptation of  Artemis — making it the pair’s first project on the calendar after exiting Disney’s Solo: A Star Wars Story .  Captain Marvel and Tomb Raider  screenwriter Geneva Robertson-Dworet joined the project in July 2018.

There is no release date set for the film at this point.

By Daniel H. Wilson

Robopocalypse describes the origins, evolution, and culmination of mankind’s devastating global battle with an artificial intelligence that takes over automated services and machines. Much in the same way  World War Z chronicled humanity’s war with zombies through a collection of fictional accounts from the front lines, the story unfolds from the perspective of several characters in different locations around the world as they watch the world change dramatically — and often horrifically — in front of their eyes. The characters eventually find themselves playing integral roles in the war that will decide humanity’s fate.

The book was optioned by Steven Spielberg in 2011, with the filmmaker planning to direct the adaptation himself from a script by  The Cabin In the Woods screenwriter and director Drew Goddard, but the project was put on hold in 2013 to further develop the script and make it a more manageable production. In March 2018, Spielberg passed the project to Michael Bay to direct, and the Transformers franchise filmmaker aims to make it one of his next projects.

By Gerry Dugan and David O’ Sullivan

Set in the year 2024, this comic book series unfolds in a world where a massive security breach has made online privacy a thing of the past. The cyberpunk-noir saga follows a pair of couriers — dubbed “Paper Jockeys” — who are tasked with delivering secrets the old-fashioned way: With a briefcase and a gun.

In May 2018, Lionsgate won a bidding war for the adaptation of Analog , which will be penned by Ryan Condol, the creator of USA Network’s alien-invasion series  Colony . Chad Stahelski, who directed  John Wick for Lionsgate, is expected to be behind the camera for the big-screen version of Analog , which doesn’t yet have a release date scheduled.

By Julie Cross

Another story envisioned as the first chapter in a trilogy, Julie Cross’ 2012 novel is a time-travel adventure that has its teenage protagonist accidentally discovering his ability to move through time after he witnesses the murder of his girlfriend. That discovery puts him in the crosshairs of a shadowy government agency and in the middle of a time-spanning war as he struggles to save the life of the girl he loves without ripping apart the fabric of time.

The rights to the novel were picked up by producing partners (and brothers) Scott and Sean Cross — who aren’t related to Julie Cross — as well as Mimi Polk Gitlin, a former producing partner of Ridley Scott who teamed with Scott to co-produce the 1991 classic  Thelma and Louise . There’s no official development timeline or release date announced for the film.

Fortunately, the Milk …

By neil gaiman.

Acclaimed storyteller Neil Gaiman and comic book artist Skottie Young collaborated on this 2013 story about a father who goes out to get some milk, only to get caught up in a wild adventure involving time travel, a stegosaurus piloting a balloon, and a volcano god, among other unexpected obstacles.

In 2015, it was reported that  Shaun of the Dead and  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World filmmaker Edgar Wright was attached to direct Johnny Depp in an adaptation of the story, with Bret McKenzie of  Flight of the Conchords  penning the script. That combination had 20th Century Fox in early talks for the rights to the film, but it almost seems too good to be true — which is probably why we haven’t heard anything about the project since that initial announcement.

By Arthur C. Clarke

Set in the 22nd century, this story follows the crew of the exploration vessel Endeavor as they investigate a massive, cylindrical alien starship that has entered the solar system for unknown reasons. With only a limited amount of time to explore the strange craft, the human scientists attempt to unlock its mysteries before it journeys out of range.

Morgan Freeman has been a vocal proponent of adapting  Rendezvous with Rama since the early 2000s and has repeatedly attempted to garner support for a film based on the 1973 novel. David Fincher was attached to direct the project at one point, but it slipped into development limbo due to difficulties in securing an acceptable script and funding. Freeman reiterated his interest in producing and starring in an adaptation of the story during a 2012 interview , but there haven’t been any more updates since that time.

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Rick Marshall

The science-fiction genre has a vast smorgasbord of cheesy films stretching way back to the early days of cinema. Such pictures are known for their weird stories, unrealistic dialogue, low-budget productions, and exaggerated acting.

While many of these films have been panned by critics and audiences alike, some of them have garnered success for being "so bad, they're good." Whether or not they have been held up by a dedicated fan base, these seven movies stand out as the cream of the cheesy sci-fi crop. Flash Gordon (1980)

The 1980s was a pretty stellar time for cinema, and this is especially true for science-fiction films. Some of the most iconic movie franchises of all time were born from the sci-fi hits released in that decade.

From wild, action-packed adventures to frightening cosmic horror to profound philosophical studies, the genre of Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein made fantastic cinematic strides that ignited audiences' imaginations. Since TV and film continue to invoke people's nostalgia for this bygone era, it's only fair to take a look at the sci-fi films that made the '80s a special time for countless people. 10. RoboCop (1987)

For some reason, movies just feel different in the summer. Maybe it's because summer makes us ready for fun and adventure, or maybe it's because this is the season when Hollywood releases its biggest and best blockbusters of the year. Summer is also a great time for sci-fi movies too since many tend to be released as summertime blockbusters, creating an unexplainable connection between the genre and season.

2023 is an especially great year to stream some great sci-movie as well since we've had a surprising lack of sci-fi adventures this summer, aside from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and They Cloned Tyrone (which is more of a dark mystery than sci-fi anyways). Luckily, streamers like Max (formerly HBO Max) have a large library of fantastic new and classic sci-fi movies perfect for watching on a summer night. So grab some popcorn, turn on the surround sound, dim the lights (and maybe grab a friend or two), and check out these 5 epic sci-fi movies streaming on Max that are perfect for summer. Armageddon (1998)

30 Books to Read Before They're 2020's Most Popular Movies and TV Shows

Time to cross these classics off your list.

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Clearly, these movies aren't regurgitations of the original books , but expansions of them. Netflix's modern-day take on The Baby-Sitter's Club , for example, has inspired audiences to look inward. On that note, here are the stories we suggest reading before they're made into movies and TV shows in 2020. That way, when you watch the film, you're really seeing the whole picture. Trust us—when you walk into the theater for the epic Dune in December, you'll want to know as much about Frank Herbert's intricate work as possible.

Scholastic Inc. Kristy's Great Idea by Ann M. Martin

TV Show:   The Baby-Sitter's Club

Ann M. Martin's popular book series got a heart-warming (and refreshingly modern) tribute in a new Netflix show. Claudia, played by Momona Tamada , is especially a fan favorite. Now, the big question:  Which baby-sitter are you ? 

Cast:  Momona Tamada, Sophie Grace, Shay Rudolph, Malia Baker, Xochitl Gomez, Alicia Silverstone

R elease Date:  July 3, 2020 on Netflix

Image Comics The Old Guard by Greg Rucka

Movie: The Old Guard

The Old Guard  is shaping up to be 2020's best superhero movie. Andy (Charlize Theron) has seen it all—literally. She's part of an elite class of mercenaries, rendered immortal in battle. After centuries without a new person joining their ranks, Nile (KiKI Layne) arrives. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood, the woman behind  Love & Basketball , is garnering acclaim for the blockbuster you can watch at home. Just wait until "the boyfriend speech"—you'll know it when you see it. 

Cast:  Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ngo Thanh Van, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli

Release Date:  July 10, 2020 on Netflix 

Gallery Books The Outsider by Stephen King

Movie:   The Outsider

Ready to be spooked by Halloween-approved fare ?  The Outsider  is a grim Stephen King adaptation about an inexplicable phenomenon. How can a killer be two places at once?

Cast:   Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo , Bill Camp, Paddy Considine, Julianne Nicholson, Jason Bateman

Release Date:  January 12, 2020 on HBO Max

Hogarth Normal People by Sally Rooney

TV Show:  Normal People

Sally Rooney's sensation of a novel was turned into a sensation of a Hulu show (how fitting). Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) are drawn to each other in high school in Ireland. But for years after, they just can't manage to get together without at least  some drama. Follow their years-long, aching saga of a love story.

Cast:  Paul Mescal, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sarah Greene

Release Date:  April 26, 2020 on Hulu

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Miniseries:  Little Fires Everywhere

Celeste Ng's suburban-set page-turner  Little Fires Everywhere  made for quite a thought-provoking TV show.  Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington play polar opposites Elena Richardson and Mia Warren, whose lives collide after Mia and her daughter move to Shaker Heights, OH . The show makes some definite changes from the book –even the ending is different .  

Cast:  Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Joshua Jackson, Lexi Underwood, Megan Stott

Release Date:  March 18, 2020 on Hulu

365 dni by Blanka Lipińska

Movie:   365 Days

If you're fluent in Polish, we're officially jealous. 365 Days , an adaptation of Blanka Lipińska's Polish-language book trilogy, became an instant sensation when it dropped on Netflix, inspiring memes and plot hole investigations . The books give a preview for what's to come in Laura ( Anna-Maria Sieklucka ) and Massimo ( Michele Morrone ) future. If you don't read Polish, check out these steamy erotic novels instead . 

Cast:  Michele Morrone, Anna-Maria Sieklucka

Release Date:  June 7, 2020 on Netflix

HMH Books for Young Readers The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Movie: The Willoughbys

The Willoughbys  is worth watching for the cast alone. But the fact that the animated movie is  also  clever and family-friendly is a plus. The movie is about a group of siblings who run away from their objectively terrible parents. 

Cast:  Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Will Forte, Alessia Cara, Jane Krakowski

Release Date:  April 22, 2020 on Netflix 

Harper Perennial I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

TV Show: I Know This Much Is True

Mark Ruffalo plays identical twins in this miniseries, based on Wally Lamb’s New York Times bestseller and award-winning book. From the same childhood conditions, two boys diverge on very different paths. 

Cast:  Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo, Archi Panjabi, Aisling Franciosi, Kathryn Hahn, Imogen Poots

Release Date:  May 10, 2020 on HBO Max

Harpercollins The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Movie:  The One and Only Ivan 

Originally meant to premiere in theaters,  The One and Only Ivan  is instead coming to Disney+. Follow a gorilla and an elephant on their trek to escape from the mall where they're held in captivity. 

Cast:  Angelina Jolie, Sam Rockwell, Brooklynn Prince, Bryan Cranston

Release Date:  August 14, 2020 on Disney+

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Movie: The Turning

Henry James’s novella, The Turn of the Screw , plays tricks on readers—just like kids (or ghosts?) play tricks on the book’s main character, a nanny living on in an isolated manor. In  The Turning ,  James’s chilling story unspools out in modern-day Maine, where a nanny (Mackenzie Davis) is saddled with two creepy kids.  Stranger Things ’s Finn Wolfhard plays every babysitter’s worst nightmare. Is something supernatural afoot? It's up to you to decide. 

Cast: Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince

Release Date: January 24, 2020

The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Movie: Dolittle

The stars of Hollywood are lining up, two-by-two, to provide the voices of animals in this whimsical animated adaptation of  Doctor Dolittle.  Robert Downey, Jr. plays Doctor Dolittle himself, a man gifted with the ability to communicate with animals. He and Eliza Thornberry should go into business.

Cast:  Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Holland, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Selena Gomez, Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes, Octavia Spencer, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Craig Robinson and Carmen Ejogo 

Release Date:  January 17, 2020

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Movie:  To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

Far and away, the teen rom-com  To All the Boys I Loved Before  was Netflix's runaway hit of 2018. Lara Jean Song Covey’s (Lana Condor) romantic saga continues in the trilogy's second installment, based on Jenny Han's novels. Are you rooting for Lara and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), or Lara and one of the other boys she loves? 

The Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher, Janel Parrish

Release Date: February 12, 2020

Penguin Books Emma by Jane Austen

Movie:  Emma

For her fifth novel , Emma ,  Jane Austen’s goal was to write a  “heroine whom no one but myself will much like." Enter: Emma Woodhouse. Austen’s meddling, match-making 21-year-old heroine was last played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1996 movie adaptation. Anya Taylor-Joy, of horror movies The Witch and Split , is the new face of Austen’s iconic satire about growing up, still relevant over 200 years later. But Austen was wrong about one thing: We can't get enough of Emma.

The Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Josh O’Connor

Release Date: February 21, 2020

CreateSpace Classics The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Movie: The Call of the Wild

Though Harrison Ford's grizzled face takes up most of the movie poster, the main character in  The Call of the Wild  is actually a mutt called Buck. Raised as a domesticated (and spoiled) house dog in California, Buck's life changes when he's captured and sold in Alaska. After a series of terrible masters, he finally meets John (Ford). Together, they follow the call of the wild. 

Last adapted in 1935, The Call of the Wild  is  getting a makeover only possible with the latest movie-making technology. Buck is not a real dog, but a CGI animation. 

The Cast: Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

Movie: The Invisible Man

H.G. Wells's classic sci-fi novel,  The Invisible Man is about a scientist who learns how to harness invisibility. After countless adaptations, the slim 1897 novel is getting its most modern twist yet. The 2020 version of  The Invisible Man  takes elements of Wells's novel to craft a haunting, timely psychological thriller. 

Cecilia, played by The Handmaid's Tale's  Elisabeth Moss, is a woman fighting off a threat no one else can see. Supposedly, her abusive ex-boyfriend, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), has taken his own life. But Cecilia can't shake the feeling that Adrian is still following her. Is Cecilia crazy, as everyone seems to think? Or is she onto something? Produced by horror guru Jason Blum,  The Invisible Man  is sure to be as scary as it is thought-provoking. 

The Cast:  Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge

Release Date:  February 28, 2020

Beatrix Potter The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Movie: Peter Rabbit  2: The Runaway

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,  is the sequel to the 2018 film  Peter Rabbit . While Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) and Bea (Rose Byrne) are away on their honeymoon, Peter Rabbit (James Corden) goes on an adventure of his own. 

Cast:  Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, James Corden, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie

Release Date:  April 3, 2020

Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love by Matthew Logelin

Movie:  Fatherhood

Matthew Logelin's memoir,  Two Kisses for Maddie , is the definition of a tear-jerker. Logelin describes raising his daughter after his wife (and childhood sweetheart) died soon after childbirth. Naturally, the movie adaptation is going to be equally devastating. Kevin Hart stars in and produces the film version, renamed  Fatherhood . 

Cast:  Kevin Hart, Alfre Woodard, DeWanda Wise, Lil Rel Howery

imusti David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Movie:   The Personal History of David Copperfield

The Personal History of David Copperfield , adapted from Charles Dickens's 1850 novel, is a ground-breaking example of colorblind casting: Dev Patel plays David Copperfield, an orphan trying to make his way through Victorian England. From the start, writer and director Armando Ianucci ( Veep )  envisioned Patel in the role.  “It’s a film about someone who spends most of his life worrying about whether he fits in,” Ianucci told  The Hollywood Reporter .   

After premiering at movie festivals in 2019, the star-packed film racked up incredible reviews . 

The Cast: Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Aneurin Barnard, Ben Whishaw, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Gwendoline Christie, Benedict Wong

Release   Date: May 8, 2020

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Movie: The Woman in the Window

Fans of  Gone Girl   and  The Girl on the Train , listen up. You'll want to see  The Woman in the Window , an Amy Adams-helmed adaptation of A.J. Finn's bestselling thriller. Anna Fox (Adams) is a recluse, spending her days locked up in a New York apartment and spying on neighbors. She's convinced she sees a crime committed in a nearby apartment. But can she trust her instincts?

Cast:  Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Brian Tyree Henry, Wyatt Russell

Release Date: May 15, 2020 

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Movie:   Artemis Fowl

It only took two decades, but Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl  is finally getting a big-screen adaptation. Colfer's eight-book children's fantasy series, first published in 2001, follows the adventures of Artemis Fowl (Ferdia Shaw), a 12-year-old millionaire and criminal mastermind who becomes enmeshed in a fairy underworld. 

The project took a notoriously long road to the big screen . Disney began development on  Artemis Fowl  all the way back in 2001; finally, in 2013, Kenneth Branagh came on as a director. This could be the start to a new franchise.  

The Cast: Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Tamara Smart, Nonso Anozie, Josh Gad, Judi Dench

Release Date: May 29, 2020

Headshot of Elena Nicolaou

Elena Nicolaou is the former culture editor at Oprah Daily. 

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best fiction books made into movies

  • Movies Made from Unfilmable Books
  • The Greatest Movies Based on Books
  • The Best TV Shows Based on Books
  • After the Movie Ended
  • The Best Movies Adapted from Children's Books
  • Banned Books Made into Movies
  • Underrated Movies Based on Books That Were Banned
  • 20 Movies Based On Books That Are Nothing Like ...
  • 13 Book Adaptations That Nailed It The Second Time
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  • 15 Terrible Book-To-Movie Adaptations That Comp...
  • Great Books That Deserved Better Movies
  • When Authors Actually Liked the Film Versions
  • Movies Based on Stephen King Works

The Best Books That Were Adapted Into Oscar-Winning Movies

Ranker Film

People usually assume that books are better than their film adaptations, but that may not be true for the books on this list. All of these books were turned into movies that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, so an argument can be made that the movie adaptations were just as good, or (gasp!) even better than the original source material. Of the 87 movies that have won Academy Awards for Best Picture so far, 40 were based on or inspired by books. Some are faithful book-to-movie adaptions, while others use creative license and are loosely based on books. 

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

The Godfather

The Godfather

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Bridge over the River Kwai

The Bridge over the River Kwai

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump

Dances with Wolves

Dances with Wolves

Schindler's Ark

Schindler's Ark

A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash

A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash

Rebecca

Twelve Years a Slave

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Around the World in Eighty Days

Around the World in Eighty Days

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy

Mutiny on the Bounty

Mutiny on the Bounty

Out of Africa

Out of Africa

In the Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night

The French Connection

The French Connection

All the King's Men

All the King's Men

From Here to Eternity

From Here to Eternity

The English Patient

The English Patient

Ordinary People

Ordinary People

How Green Was My Valley

How Green Was My Valley

Terms of Endearment

Terms of Endearment

Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer

Gigi

  • Entertainment
  • Watchworthy

Looking at the best, worst, and most unforgettable adaptations of books to the big and small screens.

Movies Made from Unfilmable Books

The Best Sci Fi Books

Find a great science fiction book, 25 best science fiction book movie adaptations.

best fiction books made into movies

There’s a special, deep satisfaction when a great science fiction book becomes a great movie.

Dune

Movie: Dune – 1984

Dune is the best-selling science fiction book of all time. The movie adaptation is perhaps not amazing, but it’s still fun, well-cast, and bold. Also, as of this writing, a new one is supposed to come out next, and I’m darn excited for it.

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for….

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

“I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings .” —Arthur C. Clarke

The War of the Worlds

Movie: War of the Worlds – 1953 & 2005

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the modern version of War of the Worlds movie.

The War of the Worlds is one of the earliest and best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth, and has influenced many others, as well as spawning several films, radio dramas, comic book adaptations, and a television series based on the story.

Starship Troopers

Movie: Starship Troopers – 1997

This movie is big, dumb fun.

Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids.

Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job…

“Nothing has come along that can match it.” —Science Fiction Weekly

The Hunger Games

Movie: The Hunger Games – 2012

The costumes were a little much, but everything else about this adaptation of the YA dystopian tale was enjoyable.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago, the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual event called, “The Hunger Games,” a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

“A violent, jarring, speed-rap of a novel that generates nearly constant suspense. . . . I couldn’t stop reading.” —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

The Girl With All the Gifts

Movie: The Girl With All the Gifts – 2016

I enjoyed the book so much that I was thrilled they made a decent movie out of it.

The Girl With All the Gifts is a wonderful book, which is odd praise for a story about zombies. But it’s surprisingly thoughtful, and at times, even tender, all while managing to be a fast-paced thriller. Every day I looked forward to reading it.

In a post-apocalyptic England, Melanie, along with other children, is imprisoned in a windowless bunker. They are all strapped down and muzzled whenever they leave their cells. No adult is allowed to touch them under any circumstances. Given who these children are, these are reasonable precautions. Then the installation is attacked, and Melanie is freed along with several adults, some who want her alive, some who want her dead, and others who want her dissected.

“Original, thrilling and powerful.” ―The Guardian

Who Goes There?

Movie: The Thing – 1951, 1982, 2011

The 1982 version ROCKS.

An Antarctic research camp discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien. The creature revives with terrifying results, shape-shifting to assume the exact form of animal and man, alike. Paranoia ensues as a band of frightened men work to discern friend from foe, and destroy the menace before it challenges all of humanity.

“One of the finest science fiction novellas ever written.” —Science Fiction Writers of America

Story of Your Life

Movie: Arrival – 2016

This was a smart, wonderful movie. The linguist in me loved it.

Includes “Story of Your Life” the basis for the major motion picture Arrival .

Stories of Your Life and Others delivers dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar, often presenting characters that must confront sudden change—the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens—with some sense of normalcy.

“Blend[s] absorbing storytelling with meditations on the universe, being, time and space. . . . raises questions about the nature of reality and what it is to be human.” —The New York Times

The Handmaid's Tale

Movie: The Handmaid’s Tale – 1990 TV: The Handmaid’s Tale – 2017

The 1990 movie wasn’t a huge hit, but the recent TV show sure is.

Environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive.

“ The Handmaid’s Tale deserves the highest praise.” —San Francisco Chronicle

The Iron Giant

Movie: The Iron Giant – 1999

I found this movie surprisingly touching, and I saw it as an adult.

A mysterious creature stalks the land, eating barbed wire and devouring tractors and plows. The farmers are mystified—and terrified. Then they glimpse him in the night: the Iron Giant, taller than a house, with glowing headlight eyes and an insatiable taste for metal. The hungry giant must be stopped at any cost.

Only a young boy named Hogarth is brave enough to lead the Iron Giant to a safe home. And only Hogarth knows where to turn when a space-bat as big as Australia, hungry for every living thing on Earth, darkens the sky.

“Written with such great gusto, with such vivid precision, that children will sit spellbound in their ringside seats.” —Publishers Weekly

The Body Snatchers

Movie: Invasion of the Body Snatchers – 1956, 1978

The 1956 version still holds up. Seriously.

Originally published in 1955, Jack Finney’s sinister SF tale has outgrown the initial debate about whether it satirized Communism or the conformity of US society at the time, to become a classic of paranoia; an examination of our fear of ‘the other’.

Altered States

Movie: Altered States – 1980

This movie completely freaked me out as a kid. Also, the video of “Take On Me” from the 80s band A-ha pays homage to this movie in one scene. The film was adapted from Chayefsky’s only novel, and he wrote the screenplay (his final one).

Edward Jessup is a psychopathologist who, while studying schizophrenia, begins to think that our other states of consciousness are as real as our waking states. He begins experimenting with sensory deprivation using a flotation tank, but things don’t get out of control until he introduces a powerful hallucinogen into the experiment.

Ready Player One

Movie: Ready Player One – 2018

It was impossible to make the movie as good as the book, but it was still a great time.

If you’re a child of the 80s, reading Ready Player One is like mainlining heroin-strength nostalgia. It’s so ridiculously fun that I frequently imagined author Ernest Cline giggling and saying to himself, “I can’t believe I’m getting away with this!”

In the dystopian future, teenage Wade Watts searches for a mysterious Easter egg in a worldwide video game called the OASIS. Finding the Easter egg will cause him to inherit the ownership of the OASIS and billions upon billions of dollars. Of course, he’s not the only one looking for it.

I listened to the audiobook version of Ready Player One , and loved it. Narrator Wil Wheaton nailed it.

Solaris

Movie: Solaris – 1972, 2002

The 2002 version of this movie is slow and thoughtful, a great antidote for too many exploding-spaceship movies.

Author Stanislaw Lem has the best aliens, mostly because he makes them completely and profoundly, well, alien. Communication with them is often impossible, and the humans that attempt to interact with them are well intentioned but unsuccessful. Lem’s humans are some of the best in science fiction, as well: they screw up, are late, fail to see the whole picture, act irrationally, and even the brightest of them can be swayed by vanity and pride.

It’s possible to argue that Stanislaw Lem is the best science fiction writer ever, and Solaris is his most famous book.

When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.

Jurassic Park

Movie: Jurassic Park – 1993

I think this movie was actually better than the book. Honestly, I’ve never liked the way Michael Crichton ended any of his books. The ideas were great, but the endings? Feh!

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and the entire world can visit them—for a price.

Until something goes wrong. . . .

“Wonderful . . . powerful.” —The Washington Post Book World

All You Need Is Kill

Movie: Edge of Tomorrow – 2014

Another Tom Cruise movie that surprised me by how good and well-made it was.

When the alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor called a Jacket and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On his fifth iteration, he gets a message from a mysterious ally—the female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Is she the key to Keiji’s escape or his final death?

A Clockwork Orange

Movie: A Clockwork Orange – 1971

I saw this movie WAY too young (not my parent’s fault). It aged me quickly.

Alex is a teen who talks in an inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom.

“A brilliant novel… [A] savage satire on the distortions of the single and collective minds.” ―New York Times

Paprika

Movie: Paprika – 2006

I’m not a big fan of anime, but Paprika is wildly imaginative and a lot of fun.

When prototype models of a dream-invading device go missing at the Institute for Psychiatric Research, it transpires that someone is using them to drive people insane. Threatened both personally and professionally, brilliant psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba has to journey into the world of fantasy to fight her mysterious opponents. As she delves ever deeper into the imagination, the borderline between dream and reality becomes increasingly blurred, and nightmares begin to leak into the everyday realm. The scene is set for a final showdown between the dream detective and her enemies, with the subconscious as their battleground, and the future of the waking world at stake.

“Yasutaka Tsutsui is the doyen of avant-garde Japanese writers. His work is by turns innovative, thought-provoking and–not least–extremely entertaining.” —The Independent (UK)

doyen: senior member of a body or group (I had to look it up)

Metropolis

Movie: Metropolis – 1927

I loved this movie when it came out remastered in 1984 and filled with 80s songs. While that version got a Razzie for Worst Musical Score, in 2012 the DVD received the Saturn Award for Best DVD/Blu-Ray Special Edition Release.

Thea Von Harbou’s magnificent novel Metropolis is sadly unappreciated and ignored. The book, a novelization of the screenplay the author wrote for her husband Fritz Lang’s film masterpiece of the same name, was a clever marketing move since the sales of one would drive the sales of the other. Yet the two existed as independent works of art.

Soon after the film premiered, the film studio made drastic and clumsy cuts that made the plot impossible to follow. Censors, exhibitors, and distributors further slashed the film to under 90 minutes from its original length of 153 minutes. Consequently, the film’s reputation for unprecedented spectacle and imagination was forged by its transcendent and timeless visual beauty. And Van Harbou’s novel was largely dismissed as an informational bridge between the film’s original storyline and the multiple butchered versions.

The novel has always stood on its own as a work of art, a work of romantic notions and hard experience, exploring the limits of thinking or clubbing our way out of life’s most horrific challenges.

Annihilation

Movie: Annihilation – 2018

A good, weird movie that came from an ever better and weirder book.

In the dream-like Annihilation , a section of the Californian coast has turned so strange that it’s now called Area X. This happened thirty years ago, and no one on the outside knows why everyone inside Area X died, why there are weird structures inside, or why there’s a border you can’t get through except through one invisible entrance. Is it a slow alien invasion, a mass hallucination, or something else?

Annihilation covers the twelfth expedition into Area X, where the members have given up their names and refer to each other only by profession: the biologist, the linguist, and so on. All the previous expeditions into Area X have ended in death, madness, or cancer.

This book is a gentle ride into subtle weirdness. You don’t get too many straight answers about what Area X is or is even like on the inside. Some things are normal, some fantastical, and most of it messes with your head. It all feels truly alien and you get the sense that this is going to be impossible to understand, no matter how many facts you have at your disposal.

The Road

Movie: The Road – 2009

Gloomy, dark, and powerfully acted. Not for everyone.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

“Illuminated by extraordinary tenderness. . . . Simple yet mysterious, simultaneously cryptic and crystal clear. The Road offers nothing in the way of escape or comfort. But its fearless wisdom is more indelible than reassurance could ever be.” —The New York Times

Minority Report

Movie: Minority Report – 2002

Another Tom Cruise film on this list. The Scientology thing gives me the willies, but I do like his movies.

Minority Report focuses on the use of precognition in law enforcement, that is, arresting people before they commit a crime. There are some unpleasant consequences to this.

“More than anyone else in the field, Mr. Dick really puts you inside people’s minds.” —Wall Street Journal

The Martian

Movie: The Martian – 2015

I enjoyed the book so much that I was really pleased to see how faithful the movie was to it.

The Martian is one of the most enjoyable science fiction books I’ve ever read. An astronaut is left behind on Mars, and must survive by himself for over a year, using only his wits and what was left behind by a few previous missions.

Author Weir does a masterful job in creating his highly likable, intelligent, and deeply human protagonist Mark Watney. The science in The Martian is hard and feels as real as stone.

This book is a great combination of man vs. nature à la Jack London, with the inventiveness of MacGyver, moments of laugh-out-loud humor, page-turning pacing, and plot twists that are surprising but in hindsight feel inevitable.

All in all, a good story well told.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey – 1968

People often find 2001 gripping, fascinating, or really boring. I’m a big fan of HAL, myself.

Director Stanley Kubrick worked closely with author Arthur C. Clarke to craft the screenplay for 2001 . They started with Clarke’s short story, “The Sentinel,” and began adding to it. The novel and the screenplay were written in parallel, and there are numerous differences between the two.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Movie: Blade Runner – 1982

This is still a great movie. Period.

By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They’ve even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans can wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and “retire” them. But when cornered, androids fight back—with lethal force.

The Children of Men

Movie: Children of Men – 2006

Dark and gritty dystopia with zero teen angst.

The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.

“As scary and suspenseful as anything in Hitchcock.” —The New Yorker

8 thoughts on “ 25 Best Science Fiction Book Movie Adaptations ”

Yes, John Carpenter’s The Thing does rock! Still one of my favorite movies.

I have fond memories of 1984, but haven’t seen it since it’s release! Would definitely be on my list though.

Good choices. Now, do a list of the top 25 that didn’t get made into movies, no matter the reasons.

Good list and little here that I disagree with. Except for Starship Troopers: “This movie is big, dumb fun.” I think it’s big, smart fun. Paul Verhoeven knew what he was doing. For sure it’s got lots of fun thrills, but it’s so over the top that he’s making some other points as well.

Children of Men is a fine film…didn’t realise it was based on a book. I was absolutely enthralled with the Annihilation series of books. Perhaps inevitably then, I was sorely disappointed by the film. What a mess!

No 16 is wrong, you have a review of ‘The day of the Triffids’ under the heading of ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’.

Fixed; thanks for the correction.

I love Metropolis. It’s handprints are everywhere in popular culture. Unfortunately, it has the most nothing ending off any film I’ve ever seen.

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Screen Rant

10 incredible sci-fi books that still need movies.

From explorations of alien worlds to visions of a dystopian future Earth, these incredible sci-fi novels are crying out to be adapted into movies

  • Sci-fi movies offer limitless creative possibilities and can visually awe audiences, as demonstrated by the success of Dune.
  • Adapting sci-fi books into films allows for exploration of societal and technological questions, creating thought-provoking and subversive cinema.
  • From The Dispossessed to Kindred, there are numerous sci-fi novels that could be translated into thrilling and intellectually stimulating movies.

This article contains discussions/references to slavery Sci-fi movies let filmmakers make truly creative movies by thinking outside the bounds of our time and societies, and there are plenty more ground-breaking stories waiting on bookshelves for a chance to be explored on screen. The recent success of Denis Villeneuve's 2021 Dune, an adaptation of Frank Herbert's space epic, shows that even the most complex and lore-heavy sci-fi books can be translated well on screen, and sci-fi settings make for particularly awe-inspiring visuals. Although 2022 saw a sci-fi slump , there are many books that could get the industry back on track, with ideas that would make for fantastic movies.

As well as new success stories like Dune , some of the best sci-fi movies were adapted from classic books. Both Blade Runner and Total Recall were based on Philip K Dick's works (though given catchier titles), while HG Wells, George Orwell, Isaac Asimov, and sci-fi pioneer Mary Shelley were also among the giants of literature to have seen their novels adapted. Sci-fi literature tells readers things about themselves, and makes them ask questions about their society, technology, and what the future could hold. Adapting them can create exciting, subversive, and thought-provoking films.

10 The Dispossessed, By Ursula Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin looking serious in an interview

The late Ursula Le Guin was an absolute master of science fiction, and in her Hainish Cycle books, she explored real and imagined aspects of human culture. One of these books, The Dispossessed , presents a unique utopia and dystopia, and tells the story of an idealist scientist who travels from the anarchist world to a capitalist one. The character development of Shevek, the physicist who is left aghast by his first taste of a capitalist society, is tied to the book's dual setting. It would lend itself to a very cinematic approach, immersing viewers in the worlds and showing, rather than telling, Shevek's uneasy journey through them.

9 Neuromancer, By William Gibson

'Neuromancer' video game cover, featuring pixelated man with goggles on

William Gibson coined the terms "cyberspace" and "meatspace", and his hugely influential work (and very confusing sci-fi story ), is arguably the original cyberpunk novel. There could be no Matrix without Neuromancer, which follows hacker Henry Case's chaotic journey in virtual and physical worlds, meeting powerful AIs. There is a lot of appetite for well-done, thoughtful cyberpunk franchises, with the Blade Runner sequel and Altered Carbon series seeing success, and no other work encompasses the genre's ideology and tropes as well. Wholly original, action-packed, complicated, and deeply weird, Neuromancer is mind-bending and psychedelic on screen.

8 The Forever War, By Joe Haldeman

Joe Haldeman talking to camera

The Forever War is a high-concept and action-packed novel about a future war against aliens. While pulpy at times, it doesn't glorify war, instead showing its hollowness and the despair of its soldiers. Haldeman wrote a grittier take on a war novel after fighting in Vietnam. The battle scenes would make for a thrilling action movie, but one that also critiques the tropes of such movies, giving it a more interesting spin. A movie has apparently been in the works for a while, with Ridley Scott slated to make it in 2008. However, it seems to have stalled, with news drying up after Warner Bros. got the rights in 2015 .

7 The Tiger Flu, By Larissa Lai

An image of a tiger lying down

Larissa Lai's body horror-tinged dystopian novel offers an utterly original plot, rejecting all cliches to create a story of a post-oil world in the shadow of abandoned moon-sized satellites, a plague decimating the male population, and a genetically engineered community of women who can regrow organs. It follows two teenage girls: Kora, who lives in a city being decimated by the flu, and Kirilow, part of a matriarchal village of clones who keep each other alive by moving their organs. With its wholly unique take on questions of gender, sexuality, medicine, tech, and more, The Tiger Flu deserves to be made into what would be one of the most thought-provoking sci-fi movies around.

6 Embassytown, By China Miéville

An image of the Embassytown book cover

Miéville's intriguing and subversive take on confrontation with aliens completely different from ourselves would make a tricky but rewarding movie, providing audiences with huge depths to dive into. The main character lives in a human enclave of an alien city, surrounded by a species so different from humans that it's impossible to communicate with them. It's an idea that sounds a little similar to Arrival on its surface. However, Embassytown is more thoughtful and creative. This kind of high-quality, high-effort sci-fi deserves to be on screens, if nothing else than as an antidote to the Marvel-ization of the genre.

5 We, By Yevgeny Zamyatin

1956 movie of 1984 by George Orwell, showing Big Brother on a screen

We, published in 1924, did 1984 before George Orwell did (and they did it better). It explores a nightmarish future world of authoritarianism, surveillance, and a rejection of the animal natures of humanity, with people even being given numbers rather than names (the protagonist is called D-503). Zamyatin's writing in part reflected his own experience of repression; his book wasn't allowed to be published in the USSR until 1988 (via NY Times ). We is already being made into a Russian movie, but an English language one can also give it a wider reach and give audiences a more absurdist-tinged perspective on sci-fi dystopias.

4 He, She And It, By Marge Piercy

Marge Piercy looking serious in an interview

Considered a feminist fiction classic, as well as an intriguing sci-fi novel, this cyberpunk adventure follows a woman called Shira, who programs a cyborg named Yod after a bitter divorce. Comparisons are drawn between Yod and the Golem of Prague, another artificial man, from Jewish folklore. The relationships between the characters, especially between Shira and Yod, form the core of the plot, and would add a lot of human drama to a movie. A film would also be timely as He, She And It addresses questions about artificial life (which is more relevant than ever as AI gains ground).

3 The Left Hand Of Darkness, Also By Ursula Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin looking serious in a photo

In another Hainish novel by Le Guin, a Terran called Ai visits a planet where people are what Le Guin calls "androgynous" until they want to mate, where they take on a sex. It's a concept Le Guin used to challenge readers' conceptions and assumptions surrounding gender and sex, and she explored this further in a companion short story. As well as its high-concept premise, The Left Hand of Darkness is also a tense journey through a snowy wasteland, making for a solid sci-fi adventure film with an intellectual heart.

2 Kindred, By Octavia Butler

Dana talking to someone in Kindred

This radical time travel story, by another legend of the sci-fi genre, has been adapted for TV recently. However, it made changes from the book and got mixed reviews. It would make a great time travel movie as it would avoid issues caused by having to drag on plot points and invent new ones in order to fill multiple seasons of a show. In Kindred, Black protagonist Dana is transported back in time against her will to a 19th-century US plantation and becomes enslaved. It's a tense, dark story that also puts ideas of power under a microscope, so has a lot to offer to movie audiences.

1 In The Heart Of The Valley Of Love, By Cynthia Kadohata

An image of a tree in a desert

Adjacent to science fiction rather than hard sci-fi, this is an off-beat, intimate novel about a teenager's life in a future America that has been shaped by pollution, water shortages and widening gaps between rich and poor. It's meandering, muted and sparse plot-wise, following protagonist Francie's life and relationships. The dream-like writing and setting in the Californian desert would make for a beautiful and melancholic indie sci-fi movie, and it has a unique, intangible quality that would mean it would stay with viewers long after they left the theater.

Best sci-fi movies based on books

From the page to the big screen, these are the best sci-fi movies based on books.

Best sci-fi movies based on books

A picture might be worth a thousand words, but these pictures owe their existence to some of the finest sci-fi novels out there. These are the best sci-fi movies based on books.

It's easy to see why Hollywood loves turning books into movies - you get an established story, characters, and fanbase.  That fanbase can be a double edged sword though if your adaptation fails to live up to expectations. That wasn't a concern for the movies below though, which more or less smashed it out of the park. We've got a great mix of sci-fi classics from renowned directors, some decades in the making, and even one book that was written alongside the movie.

Of course, it’s hard to please everyone and we all have our own ideas of how characters look and speak, how world’s are visualized, and what we dream up in our heads when reading these epic novels. But these movies have built wonderfully on their original stories and taken on an appeal all of their own. These are, in our humble opinion, the best sci-fi movies based on books.

If you’re excited by these entries and you’re eager for more, we’ve also put together the best sci-fi tv shows based on books because books aren’t just for feature length movies. And if that hasn’t quite quenched your thirst, for sci-fi hits we have also collated some of the best space movies and best space horror movies . Or if you’d rather pick up a book, this list of the best space books are well worth a read.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey

  • Release date: April 3, 1968
  • Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

Reshaped for the big screen by award-winning director Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Interestingly though, the book was in fact published after the film and was notably worked on by both Kubrick and Clarke alongside the creation and filming of the movie. It’s the story of an unusual artifact uncovered on the surface of the Moon. 

Both mankind and a supercomputer called HAL 9000 set out to find its origins while traveling through time and space. It’s a multi award-winning movie from the sci-fi realm and it’s got one hell of an epic soundtrack to boot.

  • Buy or rent 2001: A Space Odyssey on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy 2001: A Space Odyssey the book at Amazon
  • Release date: October 22, 2021
  • Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya

From Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name comes Dune . Set on an inhospitable desert wasteland of the planet Arrakis, the story follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he takes on his role of stewarding the galaxy's most dangerous planet. Why is it so dangerous? Well, it is home to a psychedelic space drug known more commonly as “spice” (or melange) that can both extend human life and enhance mental abilities.

What follows is a dispute of intense proportions between battling planets that only those most fearless survive. Denis Villeneuve, the man behind such other sci-fi wonders as Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, takes the directorial seat for this epic adaptation and brings Arrakis to life. This movie only covers the first half of the novel, so you’ll have a part two to look forward to.

  • Buy Dune the book at Amazon

3. Starship Troopers

  • Release date: November 7, 1997
  • Cast: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer

First published as a two-part serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction by Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers follows a young soldier, Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), as he joins a futuristic military unit, the Mobile Infantry. He rises through the ranks during an interstellar war that pits him and his fellow soldiers against a race of giant alien bugs. 

It’s all out warfare and survival of the fittest intertwined with some high school sweetheart love. A wicked and wonderful sci-fi movie adaptation that ticks a lot of boxes. Would you like to know more?

  • Buy Starship Troopers movie on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy Starship Troopers the book at Amazon
  • Watch Starship Troopers now on DIRECTV , Spectrum on Demand , and STARZ  
  • Release date: November 11, 2016
  • Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Another on our list by Denis Villeneuve, mentioned before for his 2021 adaptation of Dune, comes 2016’s Arrival – a stunning visualization of a short story from Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others. Here, linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is brought in with her team to interpret the language of extraterrestrials who have arrived in their spaceships across Earth. 

Like many in this list, Arrival is intense, gripping, and breathtaking in nature as the very fate of humanity hangs in the balance. This sci-fi epic tells the story of a world faced with unthinkable choices and with some epic plot twists along the way.

  • Buy Arrival on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy Stories of Your Life and Others at Amazon
  • Watch Arrival now on DIRECTV , EPIX , Hulu , Paramount+ , and Spectrum on Demand

5. Ready Player One

  • Release date : March 29, 2018
  • Cast: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline depicts a world where virtual reality provides a second home called the OASIS for those wishing to escape a suffering Earth in 2045. The creator, James Halliday, passes away but leaves his fortune to any player that can uncover all the Easter eggs that he’s hidden within the OASIS. 

With such a prize at stake, factions form to grind out Halliday’s memories and discover the hidden keys. One solo player, Wade (Tye Sheridan), sets out on his own personal quest alongside friends he’s made within the game. An exhilarating combination of sci-fi, gaming, and the technology we dream about.

  • Buy Ready Player One on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy Ready Player One the book at Amazon
  • Watch Ready Player One now on DIRECTV , HBO Max , Spectrum on Demand , and truTV  

6. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

  • Release date: April 29, 2005
  • Cast: Martin Freeman, Yasiin Bey, Sam Rockwell

From the famous six-book series by author Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the only movie adaptation with no sequel in sight, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is whisked from the mundanities of everyday life by his friend, Ford (Yasiin Bey), and informed that he has in fact been saved from Earth’s impending doom. 

Doom aside, Ford, an alien himself, introduces Arthur to his collection of friends aboard the spaceship and they embark on an adventure across space to discover the meaning of life.

  • Buy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the book at Amazon
  • Watch The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy now on DIRECTV , HBO Max , Hoopla , and Spectrum on Demand  

7. War of the Worlds 

  • Release date: June 29, 2005
  • Cast: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins

H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds was taken into the loving hands of Steven Spielberg as he shaped this movie adaptation of the same name. Starring Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, an alien invasion comes to Earth and everyone must fight for survival. Ray, uniting with his family (a standout role for Dakota Fanning, playing Ray’s daughter Rachel), tackles both the impending doom on civilization and bringing himself and his loved ones back together. It’s a movie filled with a whole lot of suspense!

  • Buy War of the Worlds on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy The War of the Worlds the book at Amazon
  • Watch War of the Worlds now on DIRECTV , Sling TV , Spectrum on Demand , and truTV  

8. Blade Runner

  • Release date: June 25, 1982
  • Cast: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young

From prolific sci-fi writer, Philip K. Dick, comes the movie adaptation of his famed novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1982, this is what was imagined to be Los Angeles in 2019... but, as we know, that’s not quite the case. 

Blade Runner follows Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), an ex-policeman given a special mission to hunt down and eliminate four escaped androids, which ultimately leads Deckard to question his own existence. Stunning visual style, expert pacing, and deep musings on what it means to be human make Blade Runner an all time classic.

  • Buy Blade Runner on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the book at Amazon

9. The Martian

  • Release date: October 2, 2015
  • Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars left to fight for his survival and signal to Earth for rescue. Award-winning director Ridley Scott takes on this novel of the same name by Andy Weir as we watch with bated breath for almost two and a half hours as a man cut off from civilization uses minimal resources to survive on an inhospitable planet. 

Presumed dead after a huge storm, it’s a race against time as Mark fights for his life whilst NASA and his fellow astronauts figure out a way to bring him home. It’s also worth noting that The Martian pays great attention to scientific accuracy, making it one of the most realistic space movies we’ve ever seen.

  • Buy The Martian on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy The Martian the book at Amazon
  • Watch The Martian now on DIRECTV , fuboTV , FXNow , and Spectrum on Demand  

10. The Hunger Games

  • Release date: March 23, 2012
  • Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

From the best-selling trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is the first of four movies. A dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting takes this story to North America, split into 12 districts, each varying in degrees of poverty and desperation. At the center, the Capitol of Panem, runs a nationally televised event called The Hunger Games. 

For this, a boy and a girl are randomly selected from each district to compete in a battle royale, fighting to the death to become the one survivor and district winner. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) nominates herself as tribute to protect her younger sister and embarks on a terrifying fight for survival.

  • Buy The Hunger Games on Blu-ray at Amazon
  • Buy The Hunger Games the book at Amazon
  • Watch The Hunger Games now on DIRECTV , EPIX , Hulu , Roku , and Spectrum on Demand  

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Grace Dean

Grace is a freelancer who started writing for Space.com since 2021. She's a huge fan of movies, TV, and gaming, and if she's not clutching her Xbox controller or scanning the streaming platforms for the next must-watch shows, you'll find her spending copious amounts of time writing about them on her laptop. Specialties include RPG, FPS, and action-adventure games as well as 80s sci-fi movies and book adaptations. 

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15 Nonfiction Books That Became Movies With Fascinating Stories

Chux Dezman

From regular movies to Netflix, Amazon Prime movies, and more, each year, we are seeing more books that are turned to great movies. While the big screen is dominated by the adaptation of fictional books, there are also many nonfiction books that became movies and they have so much to deliver, probably even better than fiction.

Apart from having it at the back of your mind that these nonfiction adaptations are real things that happened, they also come with all the entertainment values that you get with fiction and they cut across genres.

Nonfiction Books That Became Movies

1. travelling to infinity – jane hawking.

best fiction books made into movies

This is one of the nonfiction books that became movies and it was written by the first wife of one of the greatest American scientists, Stephen Hawking. In the work, Jane Hawking captures her marriage to Hawking and all the challenges that fame brought as well as the battles she faced being married to someone who needed care at all times. She also captured their traumatic divorce as well as reconciliation.

A very emotional work, it has been adapted into the film, The Theory of Everything which was directed by James Marsh. It has won various awards and nominations including Oscar nominations for the best adapted screenplay, best actress, and best original score. Eddie Redmayne took home the Academy Awards for best actor as well as the Golden Globe Award.

2. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption – Laura Hillenbrand

Nonfiction Books That Became Movies

In this 2010 biographical work, the story of survival and perseverance is captured in a very interesting manner. It tells about Louie Zamperini, a US Olympia who served in the Second World War. Zamperini grew up as a troublemaker who ends up representing the US at the 1936 Olympics. When World War II came, his career ended and he joined the air corps. By the time the war was over, he had become a survivor- coming out of a plane crash, surviving 47 days on a raft, and surviving Japanese prisoner-of-war camps where he was brutalized for two-and-a-half years.

The book has been adapted into the 2014 film, Unbroken which was directed by Angelina Jolie. With Academy Awards nominations, it won a Hollywood Film Awards, MPSE Golden Reel Awards, and Saturn Awards, among others.

3. Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family – Nicholas Pileggi

Nonfiction Books That Became Movies

When he was just 11, Henry Hill began his journey into becoming a notorious criminal. He rose from one rank to the other. 4 years into his life of crime, he was arrested for using stolen cards but would not cooperate with the police. This won him the respect of the mafia boss and American mobster, Paul Vario. The book goes on to tell how Hill would rise and fall as a criminal who later became a police informant.

The book was adapted into the 1990 Martin Scorsese directed movie Goodfellas . The movie got five BAFTA awards and six Academy Awards nominations.

4. A Night to Remember – Walter Lord

Nonfiction Books That Became Movies

In this book, Walter Lord is able to capture what is still seen as the most accurate events of the sinking of the Titanic. Written masterfully, this 1955 work is based on the interviews Walter carried out with survivors of the tragedy. Everything from the tragedy itself to the reaction of crew members and passengers.

Among nonfiction books that became movies, the book has been adapted into a movie using the same title in 1958. The British drama-film was directed by Roy Ward Baker and it still remains one of the most compelling Titanic stories told.

5. Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 – Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell

best fiction books made into movies

First published in 1994, this non-fiction work is based on the actual events of April 1970 which saw the failed Apollo 13 lunar landing. The mission which became the third in the Apollo program that was aimed at landing man on the moon was aborted after an onboard explosion of a liquid oxygen tank.

The work has been adapted into the Ron Howard directed movie, Apollo 13 of 1955.

6. The Accidental Billionaires – Ben Mezrich

This book which is titled The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal was written and originally published in 2009. It tells the story of how Facebook began and how Mark Zuckerberg who is the protagonist of the work became the main man behind the social networking site after outplaying his other friends.

The book which ended at a time when legal battles were still being fought between those involved, was adapted into the 2010 film, The Social Network which was directed by David Fincher and made by Columbia Pictures.

7. Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History – George Crile

This book captures what is arguably the biggest covert operation in history. It tells of how US Senator Charlie Wilson got involved in the Cold War as well as the arming of the Jihad freedom fighters in Afghanistan. Among nonfiction books that became movies, one may easily have the feeling that this will be a boring one to watch, but it is not. It is packed with political intrigues, action, and suspense.

The book has been adapted into the film, Charlie Wilson’s War in 2007. It was directed by Mike Nichols and has got both Golden Globes and Academy Awards nomination Mike Nichols.

8. In the Heart of the Sea – Nathaniel Philbrick

In 1820, the Whaler Essex was lost in the Pacific Ocean after it was attacked by a sperm whale. While in the open ocean, those that survived fed on those that died in the tragedy and when that was not even enough, they had to sacrifice some for others to live. The travails were captured in different works including In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex which was published in 2000.

In 2015, it was adapted into a film of the same name.

9. The Perfect Storm – Sebastian Junger

Written by Sebastian Junger, this work tells the story of events of 1991 in which the Andrea Gail boat and its crew members were caught in a massive storm that destroys its antenna and leaves the crew lost. With much effort to save their lives, no one on the ship returns home, not even their bodies.

The book was adapted into a movie in 2000, three years after it was released. The tragic movie was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and it got two Academy Awards nominations.

10. Dead Man Walking – Helen Prejean

Nonfiction Books That Became Movies

In this work, Helen Prejean captures the story of a convicted killer who has been sentenced to death. Prejean, a reverend sister, looks at the life of the murderer as he awaits his fate as well as the rage of the families of those who have been killed as well as those whose job is to carry out the execution. She tries to balance all these in relations to Christian teaching of love and forgiveness, ending with a masterpiece of a book.

The book was adapted to a movie in 1995 and was directed by Tom Robbins. The movie got four Academy Awards nominations, from which it won one, as well as a Golden Globes nomination.

11. All the President’s Men – Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

This is one of the most important books out there on investigative journalism. But more than that,  it is also important as that book that brought down a president. It tells about Watergate in a way only it tells. The book chronicles the investigations of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward on the Watergate scandal. The book was adapted into a movie in 1976.

12. The Wolf of Wall Street – Jordan Belfort

The Wolf of Wall Street is a memoir of Jordan Belfort, a young man employed into a Wall Street brokerage firm. He would go on to found his own firm which he uses in defrauding people of millions. While he keeps having the time of his life, the FBI and SEC close in on him.

The book was adapted into a very successful 2013 movie which was directed by Martin Scorsese.

13. Schindler’s Ark – Thomas Keneally

This is an award-winning book novel which tells about a Nazi Party member, Oskar Schindler who saves the lives of 1200 Jews from concentration camps in Germany and Poland. The work is a historical fiction which means that there is some part of it that has been fictionalized even though most of it is actually from events in the past.

It has been adapted into the 1993 film, Schindler’s List and was directed by Steven Spielberg.

14. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote

In 1959, there was a murder in the farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. This non-fiction novel is on the murder which had four members of the Herbert Clutter family as the victims. Inasmuch as there were other works of nonfiction on the crime, this book is considered to be one of the most important.

It was adapted into a movie of the same name in 1967 and was directed by Richard Brooks.

See Also: 52 Spectacular Non-Fiction Books You Need To Read

15. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game – Michael Lewis

This is one of the great sports nonfiction books that became movies. It looks at how baseball teams pick their players based on statistics of performance rather than scouts who have always been highly skilled in getting the right players for teams.

It was adapted into a sports film in 2011 and was directed by Steven Zaillian.

Chux Dezman

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Best Movies Based on Non-Fiction Books, Ranked

It isn't just fiction books that are adapted into movies. Here are the best movies based on non-fiction books.

When we think about books that were adapted into movies , most of the time we think of fiction. Whether it’s an epic fantasy series come to life such as The Lord of the Rings , or a thrilling sci-fi story such as Dune , none of it is ever based on true stories. However, there are just as many non-fiction books out there as there are fiction.

Whether it be a biography of an important person or a retelling of a historical event from someone who was there to witness it, it’s important to remember that it all exists. These books too can influence movie adaptations, ranging from war movies to romances to comedies. Though you might not even recognize that some movies were book adaptations of true events, these are just a few of many out there that fall into this category.

10 Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights Movie

The sports drama Friday Night Lights is based on the book written by H.G. Bissinger titled Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream . In Odessa, Texas, the Permian High School football team begins practice for the coming season with a lot of pressure on their backs. The town has high expectations for the team to make it to and win the state championships thanks to their star running back.

They suffer through many issues along the way, including the running back suffering from a leg injury in the first game that puts him out of playing for the rest of the season. The book chronicled much of this story, but instead of making it something inspiring and talking about how the boys came together to try and get the win, it criticized life in the town and the pressure the adults put on these kids who still had to worry about school as well.

9 Mean Girls

The plastics clique in Mean Girls

The popular teen comedy Mean Girls is actually mostly based on Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. This book takes an in-depth look at social cliques and bullying in high schools, especially relating to the negative and often damaging effects they can have on teenagers. The movie’s writer, Tina Fey, also included some of her personal high school experiences to shape the story.

When Cady Heron leaves a life of homeschooling years behind and enters a public school for the first time, she has a rough first day. As she tries to find her place in the school she learns a lot about the different cliques and how being popular isn’t necessarily good.

Tom Hanks as Sully in Sully

Based on the autobiography Highest Duty, Sully is about Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger in the event dubbed The Miracle on the Hudson. The movie dramatized the moment from 2009 when US Airways Flight 1549 lost power in the middle of the sky after running into a flock of birds that took out the engines.

Related: Best Book to Film Adaptations, Ranked

Sully was the flight’s captain, who had to find a way to bring a plane with no power back to the ground safely to save the passengers as well as avoid smashing into any buildings. Ultimately, he managed to make an emergency landing in the middle of the Hudson, but the movie doesn’t end there. Sully’s career is on the line as the media continues to follow him and the story closely, with people doubting the engines were so damaged he couldn’t have landed at one of the nearby airports instead.

7 The Wolf of Wall Street

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street is a comedy crime movie based on Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name. In 1987, Jordan Belfort managed to become a Wall Street stockbroker and was quickly enticed by the corruption and fraud around it, but unfortunately lost his job again soon after due to the largest one-day stock market drop in history.

Determined to not quit, he tries to get rich in a different way, making a small fortune at a brokerage firm that specialized in penny stocks instead. Then, after befriending his neighbor Donnie Azoff, they found Stratton Oakmont together, which specialized in stock market fraud to make the pair get rich quick. Jordan was eventually caught, but it’s thanks to this that he was able to write an account of his actions to be turned into a movie.

6 The Sound of Music

Julie Andrews as Marie in The Sound of Music

Though it might surprise some people, the popular musical The Sound of Music is based on the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers , written by Maria von Trapp herself. It all takes place in 1938 when we meet Maria, who is studying to become a nun. However, her lack of discipline is seen as a problem, and instead of keeping her, she’s given the opportunity to go be a governess to the seven children of retired naval officer Captain von Trapp.

Though the kids seem adamant to dislike her at first, she continues to treat them with kindness even through whatever they do to her, slowly allowing them to warm up to her. However, as World War II begins to rage around them, they soon realize they can no longer stay in Austria and work together to flee the war. In both the memoir and the musical, their story and struggles won’t be forgotten.

5 The Big Short

The Big Short

Another comedy crime movie is The Big Short , based on The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. It talks about how the 2007-2008 financial crisis was caused by the housing market crash. Three separate but concurrent stories make up the movie as they all take place in the years leading up to the 2007 housing market crash.

First, hedge fund manager Michael Burry discovers the housing market is unstable and decides to bet against, or short, market-based mortgages, allowing him to profit. In the collapse, his proposal and efforts earned over two billion dollars in profits for everyone involved. Second, executive banker Jared Vennett discovers and understands Burry’s analysis and decides to follow suit for profit. Along the way, he discovers a lot of other friends and partners are beginning to do the same, especially after investigations revealed mortgage brokers were making profits by selling their deals to Wall Street and creating the bubble that eventually burst. Lastly, young investors Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley learn about the upcoming crash and intend to make some money as well.

As they look further into it and invest their money, they quickly become horrified by what these banks are doing and try to take it to the press before it’s too late, but the press’s bias and influence get in the way, and ultimately it isn’t reported on before the crash can happen.

4 Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can

The crime comedy Catch Me If You Can is rooted in questionable truths, as no one is sure that the story that came out of the semi-autobiographical book of the same name, written by Frank Abagnale Jr., is entirely real. Still, it was interesting enough to catch Hollywood’s eye, bringing the long con to life on the big screen.

Frank grew up witnessing his father’s many attempts at conning people, influencing his own attempts later on in life. After a nasty divorce between his parents, he runs away from home and begins a small con to try and earn money. Its roaring success lets him get bolder, impersonating an air pilot and even forging airline payroll checks to earn himself millions. Eventually, the FBI catches wind of this and tries to chase him down, but he’s determined to keep switching identities and fake jobs in order to get away from them.

3 The Pianist

Adrien Brody as Władysław Szpilman in The Pianist

The Pianist is based on an autobiographical book written by Władysław Szpilman, a pianist, composer, and Holocaust survivor . Szpilman was a Polish Jew, who was playing a piece live for the radio when Germany invaded Poland and the station was destroyed. Though he and his family think things will be over quickly after Britain and France declare war on Germany, no aid arrives, and Germany seizes control of Poland.

He and his family are persecuted with the rest of the Jews and eventually forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, which Szpilman alone manages to escape from after being singled out by a friend in the police who recognized him. He was turned into a slave laborer instead of being sent to an extermination camp, and after smuggling weapons into the ghetto for a Jewish revolt, he escapes the ghetto fully and goes into hiding. Without the help of his friends, and the luck of a friendly German officer willing to help him hide, he might have never survived the war.

2 Goodfellas

Goodfellas

The Academy Award-winning movie Goodfellas is based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. This mafia movie follows the story of Henry Hill, who was enamored by criminal life in Brooklyn when he was young. He gets involved in a local mafia and begins as a fence, slowly working towards committing more serious crimes.

Related: Movies That Completely Changed the Book's Ending

From covering up a murder of theirs to beginning to smuggle drugs, to even raiding the JFK airport and stealing six million dollars worth of cash and jewelry out of their vault, there was a lot he and his group did. He even spent several years in jail after he was arrested, and was released on bail a few times as well. Ultimately, however, he had to choose to live the exciting life of a gangster that he loves or become an informant, enroll in the witness protection program, and keep his family alive.

1 Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, though the setting is changed from the 19th century Congo to the middle of the Vietnam War . Captain Benjamin Willard is tasked with finding Colonel Walter Kurtz, a promising officer who had gone mad and now threatens the army. Willard is to remove Kurtz from command however he can.

Joining a Navy patrol boat that is already headed into the jungle said to be Kurtz’s last location, he hopes the boat will go far enough up the river so that he can reach his goal. He turns the crew into his allies as they spend time together, but as the jungle grows thicker, they begin to run into increasingly dangerous territory that only impedes their progress and threatens to not let them out alive, much less put an end to the fanatical Kurtz and everyone who still followed him.

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The Best Fiction Books » Comics & Graphic Novels

The best graphic novels that were made into movies, recommended by walt hickey.

You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything by Walt Hickey

You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything by Walt Hickey

Transforming a graphic novel into a movie might seem straightforward, but not everything that works on the page makes sense on the screen. Walt Hickey , winner of the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting, recommends five outstanding comics that were turned into films—with varying degrees of fidelity, and varying degrees of success.

Interview by Uri Bram

The Best Graphic Novels That Were Made into Movies - Watchmen by Alan Moore

Watchmen by Alan Moore

The Best Graphic Novels That Were Made into Movies - Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

The Best Graphic Novels That Were Made into Movies - I Kill Giants by J.M. Ken Niimura & Joe Kelly

I Kill Giants by J.M. Ken Niimura & Joe Kelly

The Best Graphic Novels That Were Made into Movies - Nimona by ND Stevenson

Nimona by ND Stevenson

The Best Graphic Novels That Were Made into Movies - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki

best fiction books made into movies

1 Watchmen by Alan Moore

2 heartstopper by alice oseman, 3 i kill giants by j.m. ken niimura & joe kelly, 4 nimona by nd stevenson, 5 nausicaä of the valley of the wind by hayao miyazaki.

What determines whether a graphic novel is suitable for screen adaptation?

To make a graphic novel into a good movie requires an excellent graphic novel, and also requires the person who is adapting it to be willing to make really strong choices.

Lots of people who are casually looking at the space will look at a comic and think, ‘Perfect. They’ve made an excellent shot list with which I can make a movie.’ Oftentimes, movies that are filmed by viewing the comic as the pre-visualization will flop because the graphic novel is a fundamentally unique and imaginative medium that can do things with color that a director can only dream of.

Adapting a graphic novel or a comic into a film requires the audacity to maintain the heart of the story, to maintain the characters and understand what made people love them to begin with, and the willingness to take the necessary choices to make it suit a significantly shorter runtime, a significantly less complicated plot, and a visual medium where one’s hands are tied, compared to what can be done on the page.

You’ve worked on comics yourself; specifically, in 2022, you and your colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for your graphic reportage on the plight of the Uyghur community in China. Can you tell us more about that project?

In 2021, I worked on, reported, and edited a comic profiling Zumrat Dawut, a Uyghur woman who, during her life in Western China, was arrested, sent to a detention facility, and tortured. Thanks to some dogged work from her husband, she was empowered to escape, and was able to flee the country and get to safety. A detention camp is not exactly an easy place to get a camera into. As a result, there was very little visual representation of the conditions and the difficulties that people faced in this system in Xinjiang province.

We adapted her story in a comic book format as a way to illuminate a very big problem that hadn’t been sufficiently illustrated in the press through traditional visual means, and to tell an incredibly searing and touching story about a woman who endured a lot and, I’m very glad to say, eventually made it to a safe place.

I’m really glad to hear that. Let’s talk about your recommendations: the first is Alan Moore’s groundbreaking 1980s comic Watchmen , can you please introduce us to this work?

I picked Watchmen for a lot of reasons. It’s arguably the most important comic book ever made. It fundamentally changed the way that the entire world viewed comic books and what they could accomplish, and everything that came after it is fundamentally different than all that came before it. The other reason I picked it is because if I did not pick it for this list, there would be pitchforks outside of my apartment, and I did not want that.

Typically, Silver Age comic books tended to be formulaic. We were very much at the start of something. We were watching people tackle a new medium and find how we can tell superhero stories within it.

Then, you get to the 70s and 80s, and you can watch the generation that was raised on comics come into its own. They take on those comic books and make them into plotlines more ambitious than anything you’d ever seen. Good examples of that are what Walt Simonson was doing with the Thor comics, and what Chris Claremont was doing with the X-Men comics. They took characters that had been established for mythology or ripped as genetic freaks, and they turned them into bold and audacious stories about enormous mythological consequences, consequential people’s lives, and day-to-day experiences of discrimination at the time, and adapted it for the era of LGBTQIA+ rights.

In the 1980s, you saw the comic medium get stocked with more talent than it’s ever had before, including people who were taking a somewhat critical or reactive eye to everything that had come before, and that’s when you get to Watchmen .

“We’re fundamentally visual creatures”

Watchmen is a revelation. It takes the characters that had been left in the dustbin of comic book history, reinvigorates them, and tells a story of realism and verisimilitude. What would actually genuinely happen if Superman was real? What would happen if God was American? What would happen if you had vigilantes roaming the streets? What if these people accumulated some degree of celebrity?

For a while, it was considered to be definitively, absolutely, no questions asked, un-remake-able. You could not make a film out of it; you could not make a television show out of it. This was held to be the gold standard of inability to adapt. Now we have two adaptations.

We have the 2009 Zack Snyder Watchmen film, which is very true to the comic illustration. He takes lots of the illustrations from the comic and very directly adapts them. And, we have the recent HBO, Damon Lindelof-led miniseries, which takes this as an inspiration. This is a world in which the events of Watchmen have happened. Necessarily, the world has changed as a result, and here are the people who are within it. It’s a world that explores some of the themes that are unexplored and explored within Watchmen itself.

This is my list of the best comics that have ever been adapted; not the best comic adaptations, necessarily. As far as graphic novels go—just in terms of historical import, its quality, the fact that the entire comic book world is unrecognizable after its creation, and the fact that to this day we’re still reconciling what this comic started, in terms of more nuanced portrayals of comic book heroism—you have to start the list with this one. Again, I’m begging people to leave their pitchforks at home.

You say the world was different before and after Watchmen —how so?

Watchmen introduces a new degree of moral complication. Not only had it never been imagined in comics before this, it was not printable. In many cases, these heroes are terrible people. They’re essentially archetypal figures that, in any of the pages that came before, would have been celebrated or had their edges sanded off. They are turned into monsters.

It forces us to contemplate the implications of a superpowered world in a way that has become very popular these days. You can look at shows like Invincible and The Boys . You can look at any of these postmodern takes. Some groups of people having significant amounts of power over other groups of people has ramifications that hadn’t been explored. You had the specific elements of it, such as with great power comes great responsibility, and you had different motivations and empathies for different kinds of characters.

The idea is that if the world was as it appears in the comic books we all know and love and contained the heroes that we all know and love, this world would be terrible; it would be worse. It would give power to terrible people and then celebrate them as heroes. That was a question for the entire format that only Alan Moore could pursue.

I’m talking about it at surface level because Watchmen needs to be read to be beheld. It’s fair to say that it was asking questions that not only hadn’t been asked before but hadn’t even been in the lexicon of superhero comics before then.

Your next recommendation for us is Heartstopper , by Alice Oseman , which started as a Tumblr webcomic. Can you tell us more about this work?

Let’s jump to the present. Heartstopper is an ongoing, bestselling graphic novel series and is extremely popular. If you walk into Barnes and Noble, they will practically hit you in the head with it immediately. You might know it because it is a massive Netflix hit . The reasons I wanted to talk about Heartstopper are some of its content, as well as what it means for our current era.

You came to me asking about graphic novels, and this is a very strange term that, at some point, meant a very specific novel designed to reach a very specific audience and write one single, defined story. Over time, it came to mean the collected editions of a larger comic book, whether or not they were conceived of as a novel in and of themselves.

Heartstopper started out as a webcomic. It was part of a new wave of comics— the vertical-scrolling comic that was innovated in South Korea and spread to the United States, specifically through platforms like Webtoon and Tapas (formerly known as Tapastic, originally as Comic Panda).

It is the most successful of its generation at this point, I would argue. There are a number of other comics that are extremely good and competitive, and some of them are in various different states of adaptation; but, as we speak in 2023, it is undeniable that Alex Oseman’s Heartstopper has been one of the most commercially and critically successful comics of this entire decade.

Heartstopper takes place in England at a public school (UK equivalent of prep school). It’s a gay romantic story between a somewhat geekier kid and a guy on the rugby team. It shows how the two protagonists, Nick and Charlie, confront the world around them, and the latent homophobia around them, but it’s a very pleasant read. ‘Cozy’ is a word that many would use to describe it.

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While its plot—and this is not intended to diminish it—is not necessarily breaking any new ground; the manner in which it’s told is extremely compelling. Oseman’s art style has a reality to it that people really gravitate towards.

The series has been ongoing for a number of years now. It started in 2016. The understanding is that it’s in its final act now. The comics that are going to be coming out on the internet, and then published and aggregated, are winding towards their conclusion. It is impossible to think of a webcomic that has been more explosively successful as an adaptation than Heartstopper has been.

It is a sign of the times that even as we have countless superhero movies and dramas, and superheroes are becoming the definitive genre of our time, the comic that is arguably the most successful right now is Heartstopper . It is doing bananas numbers on Netflix. It was in the top 10 English language titles almost immediately. Based on Netflix’s methodology, within the first week, it got 24 million hours viewed. It is a juggernaut, in a way that is fundamentally difficult to comprehend.

One of the things that I enjoy about this in particular is that I have a very special place in my heart for LGBTQIA+ comics. There’s been a renaissance on the Web when it comes to the ability to tell stories about gay and lesbian and trans people, in a way that has never been offered through mainstream channels. Some of the most vibrant and exciting communities and conversations online around comics take place inside these communities.

This is, bar none, the most successful comic, but also the most successful of that world. It is a mainstream moment for a subculture that I have long been very fond of. That there’s an incredible amount of good work going on is very cool to see.

Your next recommendation for us is I Kill Giants , by writer Joe Kelly and artist J. M. Ken Niimura. Can you tell us more about this work?

I Kill Giants was published by Image Comics in 2008 and was adapted into a feature film, which came out in 2017 and starred Zoe Saldana. I will be the first to say I did not care for the film very much at all. We have talked about what makes a successful adaptation and what makes an unsuccessful one. I think that the work that they were adapting may not have been the best suited for the film. Comics can do things visually that movies can’t, and this is an example of a book where I think the silver screen just came up short compared to the visuals of the book.

I will tell you straight up right now, of all the things that I am recommending on this list, this is one of the most searing and beautiful and compelling and interesting short stories that I have ever read. It is a magnificently drawn, beautiful limited series. There’s a genuine chance that as I describe some of the plot elements to you, I’m going to cry.

It’s about a girl who lives by the sea. She is a bit of an outsider. Every night she takes her big hammer and goes out to the sea and fights and kills giants. It’s very much a fantasy construction that is getting her through some interesting and difficult times. My voice is cracking because this is one of the best and most emotionally resonant books that I’ve ever read.

I am very happy that the people who made it got paid for the movie rights. I wish that the movie was as good as this. When we were talking about what you can do in the comic book medium in such a short amount of time, in such a parsimonious space, across just seven issues, this is a really good read. It is genuinely a remarkable book, and it’s definitely worth reading.

You make me want to read it. When you say comics can do things visually that movies can’t, what do you have in mind?

Limitations do exist within comics, but the visual language and the mechanisms with which you can tell stories in comics are unmatched by any other medium. You can get some more verisimilitude with film, but with film you can’t get the degree of imagination, visual flourish, and ambition of what you can represent, that you can on a two-page spread in a comic book. You can draw what you know.

With enough work, anything can be drawn and illustrated. When it comes to how you are able to tell stories by blending the visual with action and words, graphic novels are fundamentally different creatures from traditional novels. You’ll feel empathy far more readily with the protagonist of a graphic novel than you will with the protagonist of a novel.

I know that because I’ve worked in comic book storytelling when it comes to adapting news stories, such as the profile of Zumrat Dawut that we discussed earlier. We’ve seen stories of people that, when they’re in print, don’t necessarily resonate. You’re able to bring new perspectives to stories when you have a character that people can identify and see and fall in love with.

We’re fundamentally visual creatures. There is really no way around it. Comic books are not simply screenplays for eventual movie adaptations, and they are not just books that have pictures in them. In and of themselves, they are a truly exciting art form that allows you to tell stories that you can never tell otherwise.

That resonates for me. But you’ve mentioned that some movie adaptations of comics do work out well, and on that note your next selection for us is Nimona , by Eisner Award winner ND Stevenson. Can you tell us more about this science fantasy graphic novel and its film adaptation?

Nimona is the work of ND Stevenson, who went on to co-create Lumberjanes . He is extremely talented. He has been the showrunner, developer, and executive producer of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power . He’s a classic rising star within art and animation.

Nimona was his first book. He did it as a thesis. This is such a cool thing about how creative work is done today: you can go back on ND Stevenson’s Tumblr from 2012 through 2014 and see him come up with the idea for this book, develop these characters, sketch them out, and develop a comic about them.

It’s a compelling book. It’s a little bit about queerness; it’s about identity. The main character is a shapeshifter and works with people who potentially have different morals and values than she does to take on the Institute, a big bad imperial and fascist apparatus. It is a charming, pretty, very good-looking book. It is visually innovative and it’s visually striking.

Nimona was adapted into a film. It was the last production of Blue Sky Studios, which was the computer animation studio that had been owned by Fox. When Fox was bought by Disney, Disney killed Blue Sky Studios. For a while, it looked like this film, which had so much heart put into it, was not going to get released. Eventually, they were able to cut a deal and sell it to Netflix.

The film has some serious Oscar juice behind it. It has received a lot of attention. It’s a lovingly crafted film. The animation style is very aligned with the comic itself. I think that this is an example of a really successful adaptation. In taking a webcomic and adapting it into a television show, you are taking some liberties, you are compressing character arcs, and doing all that kind of stuff.

Watchmen , somewhat notoriously, had a unique experience with adaptation despite being considered impossible to adapt. I Kill Giants , I think, was slightly botched. Nimona is a really good adaptation that, out of anything that we’re going to talk about today, best nails the source material.

Your last recommendation for us is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki . Can you tell us more about this classic manga comic that became a beloved movie?

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind  is a manga comic written in the eighties by Hayao Miyazaki, who would go on to become an acclaimed director. It would inspire his early feature-length film of the same name, which would go on to lay the groundwork not just for Studio Ghibli, not just for Japanese animation, but, I would argue, for animation in general, and for so much of what we’ve been able to see that medium accomplish over time.

If you want to tease it back to where it all began, the Nausicaä manga is where he was understanding how stories worked. You can see he always had a very intuitive sense of how these things proceeded, but I think you can see him becoming more and more imaginative as he writes this manga. You can see him working with different ideas that eventually show up in other places.

There’s a book called Shuna’s Journey, first published in 1983, that came out in English recently. You can see so many of the visual elements that he was working through in real time in Shuna’s Journey appearing in Nausicaä and in some of his later films.

Nausicaä was a big hit. The 1984 film adaptation was a big deal for many reasons, both for film and for the entire industry within Japan. Just in terms of these graphic novel series that can sometimes see an adaptation happen, it is genuinely worth a read.

It is charming. It reads very well. It is a little bit of its time, but you can tell that this is a guy who wanted to do his version of the Odyssey , just as he was developing. I think he’s at the height of his creative talents now, but you can tell that he already had a mastery of the craft back then. It has all the elements of what would become his career: his fascination with visually striking objects, his staunch environmentalism, flight. You can see it all here. It’s the blueprint for everything that he’d be doing for the next three decades.

The influence of his films and his aesthetics in general are everywhere, particularly within American comics, which are trying to evoke some of the Japanese perspective. I think that the entire world would be unrecognizable without this specific comic existing.

Speaking of the influence of comics on our world, your new book You Are What You Watch talks about how pop culture more broadly affects everything we do — can you tell us more about the book?

You Are What You Watch is all about the science of how pop culture impacts the world as a whole—whether that’s our society, our minds, our identities. Whether seeing somebody have a gay relationship in Heartstopper sparks something in you, whether I Kill Giants allows you to cope with grief or stress, these things leave us fundamentally changed in a way that, historically, we haven’t given them enough credit for.

In the book, I try to explore all the different ways in which our society—our science, our military, our minds, our bodies, our psychology, how we see the world and the people within it—is affected by things like this.

Time and time again, we have seen movies act as mechanisms for empathy. Various studies have been conducted in individual capacities showing that. For instance, people who had a very strong relationship with Harry Potter books while they were growing up tended to have a more favorable attitude towards immigrants, refugees and people who were potentially in a state of difficulty in their lives.

One of the things that I mention in You Are What You Watch is tourism. I think that people’s worlds really are broadened by reading because they will oftentimes embark to the very places that they see. The Lord of the Rings movies were a gigantic motivation for a ton of people to start traveling to New Zealand.

For a decade now, Japan has seen a surge in tourism, based on the Pokémon films and the Miyazaki movies. Americans want to visit the country that has produced so many of these interesting and beautiful objects that we’ve come to love. You can see people’s perceptions of the world around them consistently adapt, based on what they see in books.

December 2, 2023

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

Walt Hickey

Walt Hickey

Walt Hickey is the Deputy Editor for Data and Analysis at Insider News . In 2022, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting.

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

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Yardbarker

Popular books that were made into terrible movies

Posted: December 8, 2023 | Last updated: December 8, 2023

<p>Adapting a popular book into a movie is a risky proposition. No matter how good the film is, some people will always say, “the book was better.” Even worse, the film could just straight up be viewed unfavorably. Sometimes, even good books are turned into not-so-good movies, many of which also flop at the box office. Here are some popular books that were developed into unsuccessful movies.</p>

Adapting a popular book into a movie is a risky proposition. No matter how good the film is, some people will always say, “the book was better.” Even worse, the film could just straight up be viewed unfavorably. Sometimes, even good books are turned into not-so-good movies, many of which also flop at the box office. Here are some popular books that were developed into unsuccessful movies.

<p>To be fair, it was a bold choice to adapt Maria Semple's "Where'd You Go, Bernadette." The book is told through a series of letters, emails, and other pieces of ephemera. Still, Richard Linklater was directing, and they had the amazing Cate Blanchett to play Bernadette. Despite that, the movie landed with a thud and didn't even make its budget back in the box office.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/25_great_albums_from_bad_artists_120823/s1__31275875'>25 great albums from bad artists</a></p>

"Where'd You Go, Bernadette" (2019)

To be fair, it was a bold choice to adapt Maria Semple's "Where'd You Go, Bernadette." The book is told through a series of letters, emails, and other pieces of ephemera. Still, Richard Linklater was directing, and they had the amazing Cate Blanchett to play Bernadette. Despite that, the movie landed with a thud and didn't even make its budget back in the box office.

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<p>Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy is an extremely popular fantasy novel series. As such, when it was announced that his books would be turned into movies, there was a ton of excitement from fans. “The Golden Compass” featured big names like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and also polar bears in armor. While the film made money, by the standards of a big, epic potential blockbuster it was a flop and a disappointment, and critics gave it mixed reviews as well. The other two books were never adapted into movies. They've tried the whole "His Dark Materials" thing again as a TV show, but it hasn't really taken off either.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Golden Compass” (2007)

Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy is an extremely popular fantasy novel series. As such, when it was announced that his books would be turned into movies, there was a ton of excitement from fans. “The Golden Compass” featured big names like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and also polar bears in armor. While the film made money, by the standards of a big, epic potential blockbuster it was a flop and a disappointment, and critics gave it mixed reviews as well. The other two books were never adapted into movies. They've tried the whole "His Dark Materials" thing again as a TV show, but it hasn't really taken off either.

Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.

<p>Unless you have kids of a certain age, you probably aren’t familiar with the “Judy Moody” series of books. That may have been a problem, as the summer flick based on the books ended up completely falling flat at the box office. Even the presence of Heather Graham as Judy’s aunt was unable to help the movie make back its budget.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_50_best_albums_of_2023_120823/s1__39624312'>The 50 best albums of 2023</a></p>

“Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer” (2011)

Unless you have kids of a certain age, you probably aren’t familiar with the “Judy Moody” series of books. That may have been a problem, as the summer flick based on the books ended up completely falling flat at the box office. Even the presence of Heather Graham as Judy’s aunt was unable to help the movie make back its budget.

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<p>OK, so maybe it isn’t accurate to call “Battlefield Earth” a popular book, unless you are talking about members of a certain organization. Still, it certainly sold its copies, regardless of quality. Plus, we had to talk about this movie, given that it is one of the biggest flops ever. In addition to failing at the box office, “Battlefield Earth” is considered one of the absolute worst films in the history of the medium.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“Battlefield Earth” (2000)

OK, so maybe it isn’t accurate to call “Battlefield Earth” a popular book, unless you are talking about members of a certain organization. Still, it certainly sold its copies, regardless of quality. Plus, we had to talk about this movie, given that it is one of the biggest flops ever. In addition to failing at the box office, “Battlefield Earth” is considered one of the absolute worst films in the history of the medium.

<p>Kids have been reading “The Giver” in school for years at this point. It’s a staple of middle-school English classes. As such, when it finally got turned into a movie it seemed like a great idea. Plus, Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep were in it! However, “The Giver” barely made a dent in theaters, seemingly being forgotten the second it was released. Maybe too many people didn’t like having to read the book for school?</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/15_songs_with_a_lyric_thats_frequently_misheard/s1__38375822'>15 songs with a lyric that's frequently misheard</a></p>

“The Giver” (2014)

Kids have been reading “The Giver” in school for years at this point. It’s a staple of middle-school English classes. As such, when it finally got turned into a movie it seemed like a great idea. Plus, Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep were in it! However, “The Giver” barely made a dent in theaters, seemingly being forgotten the second it was released. Maybe too many people didn’t like having to read the book for school?

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<p>There have been A LOT of Stephen King adaptations. There have been successful ones, failures and also “The Shining,” which is considered an iconic movie even if King himself didn’t like it. “The Dark Tower” is a sprawling, somewhat insane book series and trying to turn it into a movie was a daunting task. It didn’t work out because apparently you can’t shove a ton of stuff into one 95-minute movie. The film adaptation landed with a thud, only making $113.2 million in worldwide box office numbers.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Dark Tower” (2017)

There have been A LOT of Stephen King adaptations. There have been successful ones, failures and also “The Shining,” which is considered an iconic movie even if King himself didn’t like it. “The Dark Tower” is a sprawling, somewhat insane book series and trying to turn it into a movie was a daunting task. It didn’t work out because apparently you can’t shove a ton of stuff into one 95-minute movie. The film adaptation landed with a thud, only making $113.2 million in worldwide box office numbers.

<p>Though author Orson Scott Card has turned out to be a problematic figure, his sci-fi novel “Ender’s Game” is deeply beloved by many fans of that genre. There had been excitement about a potential movie version for years, and then, finally, it happened. It seems that only people who loved the book were interested in seeing the film, though, and even some book lovers (and Card haters) probably skipped it. Even though Harrison Ford was in it, and even though “Ender’s Game” had a budget of around $115 million, it barely broke even at the box office.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/dad_rock_the_25_best_songs_about_fathers_112523/s1__32214056'>Dad rock: The 25 best songs about fathers</a></p>

“Ender’s Game” (2013)

Though author Orson Scott Card has turned out to be a problematic figure, his sci-fi novel “Ender’s Game” is deeply beloved by many fans of that genre. There had been excitement about a potential movie version for years, and then, finally, it happened. It seems that only people who loved the book were interested in seeing the film, though, and even some book lovers (and Card haters) probably skipped it. Even though Harrison Ford was in it, and even though “Ender’s Game” had a budget of around $115 million, it barely broke even at the box office.

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<p>Poor Kevin Costner. He had a real rough stretch there in the mid-'90s. First, there was the “Waterworld” fiasco. Then he personally directed an adaptation of the post-apocalyptic novel “The Postman” that takes place in the far-flung future of…2013. Costner pulled out all the stops, as the movie cost $80 million. The film didn’t just flop with critics, but it also died at the box office, making only $20 million. That’s a staggering financial flop. At least Costner could go back to making movies about baseball.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Postman” (1997)

Poor Kevin Costner. He had a real rough stretch there in the mid-'90s. First, there was the “Waterworld” fiasco. Then he personally directed an adaptation of the post-apocalyptic novel “The Postman” that takes place in the far-flung future of…2013. Costner pulled out all the stops, as the movie cost $80 million. The film didn’t just flop with critics, but it also died at the box office, making only $20 million. That’s a staggering financial flop. At least Costner could go back to making movies about baseball.

<p>Despite being a book about a murdered girl, “The Lovely Bones” was a huge bestseller. It seemed inevitable that it would get turned into a film, and it wasn’t just any adaptation. Peter Jackson, the man behind the “Lord of the Rings” movies, directed the project. Stanley Tucci did get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but the movie did not live up to the popularity of the book, getting shrugged off and only being a marginal success financially.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/20_facts_you_might_not_know_about_scrooged_120823/s1__36656165'>20 facts you might not know about 'Scrooged'</a></p>

“The Lovely Bones” (2009)

Despite being a book about a murdered girl, “The Lovely Bones” was a huge bestseller. It seemed inevitable that it would get turned into a film, and it wasn’t just any adaptation. Peter Jackson, the man behind the “Lord of the Rings” movies, directed the project. Stanley Tucci did get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but the movie did not live up to the popularity of the book, getting shrugged off and only being a marginal success financially.

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<p>In short, the people behind “The Girl on the Train” were really hoping to recapture the runaway success of “Gone Girl.” They found a pulpy thriller book that was super successful and then tried to turn the beach read into a hit movie. It was almost like an assembly line project. It made money but it wasn’t a hit, and it didn’t get anywhere near the success of “Gone Girl.” Plus, critics didn’t really like it at all. Given the expectation, this qualifies as a disappointment, especially since it had an air of cynicism around it.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Girl on the Train” (2016)

In short, the people behind “The Girl on the Train” were really hoping to recapture the runaway success of “Gone Girl.” They found a pulpy thriller book that was super successful and then tried to turn the beach read into a hit movie. It was almost like an assembly line project. It made money but it wasn’t a hit, and it didn’t get anywhere near the success of “Gone Girl.” Plus, critics didn’t really like it at all. Given the expectation, this qualifies as a disappointment, especially since it had an air of cynicism around it.

<p>The adaptation of John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” was hugely successful, so the film industry decided to try its luck again by adapting an early book from the YA author. Unlike “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Paper Towns” was just sort of a bland mess. It was a low-budget movie, so it made money, but nobody, other than some teens who love any tragic romance story, seemed to really like it. “Paper Towns” has a 56 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and on Metacritic.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/25_underrated_science_fiction_movies_120823/s1__39032104'>25 underrated science fiction movies</a></p>

“Paper Towns” (2015)

The adaptation of John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” was hugely successful, so the film industry decided to try its luck again by adapting an early book from the YA author. Unlike “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Paper Towns” was just sort of a bland mess. It was a low-budget movie, so it made money, but nobody, other than some teens who love any tragic romance story, seemed to really like it. “Paper Towns” has a 56 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and on Metacritic.

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<p>The Netflix series based on the “Series of Unfortunate Events” book series seems to be successful, maybe because it can stretch the story out over many episodes and also because people love binging. This earlier attempt to adapt the strange comedic of the fake author of Lemony Snicket’s books tried to adapt three novels in one film. That may have proved unwieldy, and even Jim Carrey couldn’t make the movie a box office success. The film had a massive budget of $140 million but only made $209 million. That killed any plans of it being a movie franchise.</p>

“Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2004)

The Netflix series based on the “Series of Unfortunate Events” book series seems to be successful, maybe because it can stretch the story out over many episodes and also because people love binging. This earlier attempt to adapt the strange comedic of the fake author of Lemony Snicket’s books tried to adapt three novels in one film. That may have proved unwieldy, and even Jim Carrey couldn’t make the movie a box office success. The film had a massive budget of $140 million but only made $209 million. That killed any plans of it being a movie franchise.

<p>It’s been a while since a Tim Burton movie really clicked with people. Even his “Alice in Wonderland” films, which made a ton of money, have no real cultural impact. While Ransom Riggs’ debut novel “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” doesn’t have the same cache of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” stories, it has a ton of fans. Alas, as is the case with Burton films these days, the critics were mixed on it, and it needed the worldwide box office to help it make a profit, as it only made $87.2 million in the United States and Canada.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_20_hardest_games_for_the_original_nes_console_101223/s1__35984774'>The 20 hardest games for the original NES console</a></p>

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” (2016)

It’s been a while since a Tim Burton movie really clicked with people. Even his “Alice in Wonderland” films, which made a ton of money, have no real cultural impact. While Ransom Riggs’ debut novel “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” doesn’t have the same cache of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” stories, it has a ton of fans. Alas, as is the case with Burton films these days, the critics were mixed on it, and it needed the worldwide box office to help it make a profit, as it only made $87.2 million in the United States and Canada.

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<p>Due to the dystopian YA boon, including films like “The Hunger Games” series, suddenly there were YA series being turned into potential movie franchises left and right. That’s how we got three “Maze Runner” movies. The attempt to turn the six “Mortal Instruments” books into a movie series didn’t go quite like the “The Hunger Games.” The first film, “City of Bones” was a lackluster offering, and plans for a sequel were canceled. So much for all the other books in that series.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” (2013)

Due to the dystopian YA boon, including films like “The Hunger Games” series, suddenly there were YA series being turned into potential movie franchises left and right. That’s how we got three “Maze Runner” movies. The attempt to turn the six “Mortal Instruments” books into a movie series didn’t go quite like the “The Hunger Games.” The first film, “City of Bones” was a lackluster offering, and plans for a sequel were canceled. So much for all the other books in that series.

<p>We’ve got one more YA adaptation for you. It’s the typical story. You take a popular YA sci-fi or fantasy series and try and turn it into a hit film franchise. “I Am Number Four” has a weird title, and critics hated it. “I Am Number Four” was never No. 1 at the box office, as it debuted second, which is a disappointment for a film like this. Once again, a potential film franchise ended after the first movie.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_20_best_keanu_reeves_roles_092323/s1__28744963'>The 20 best Keanu Reeves roles</a></p>

“I Am Number Four” (2011)

We’ve got one more YA adaptation for you. It’s the typical story. You take a popular YA sci-fi or fantasy series and try and turn it into a hit film franchise. “I Am Number Four” has a weird title, and critics hated it. “I Am Number Four” was never No. 1 at the box office, as it debuted second, which is a disappointment for a film like this. Once again, a potential film franchise ended after the first movie.

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<p>There have been a few adaptations of “Gulliver’s Travels,” which makes sense given that the book was written in the 1700s and has become an iconic piece of literature. We can’t speak to all the takes on the story of a man traveling through different worlds, but the one starring Jack Black was a massive flop. Critics savaged it, and the movie debuted at No. 8 in the box office. Black also got nominated for Razzy but lost to Ashton Kutcher.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“Gulliver’s Travels” (2010)

There have been a few adaptations of “Gulliver’s Travels,” which makes sense given that the book was written in the 1700s and has become an iconic piece of literature. We can’t speak to all the takes on the story of a man traveling through different worlds, but the one starring Jack Black was a massive flop. Critics savaged it, and the movie debuted at No. 8 in the box office. Black also got nominated for Razzy but lost to Ashton Kutcher.

<p>Poor Dr. Seuss. “The Cat in the Hat” is a book that seemingly everyone has read or is at least familiar with. And then it got turned into this monstrosity. Mike Myers looks like a nightmare as the titular Cat in the Hat, and there have been rumors that he starred in the movie to make up for not making a movie based on his “SNL” character Dieter. It’s a total disaster despite only being 82 minutes long, and it barely made a profit.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_20_best_movies_built_for_nostalgia_112523/s1__26010308'>The 20 best movies built for nostalgia</a></p>

“The Cat in the Hat” (2003)

Poor Dr. Seuss. “The Cat in the Hat” is a book that seemingly everyone has read or is at least familiar with. And then it got turned into this monstrosity. Mike Myers looks like a nightmare as the titular Cat in the Hat, and there have been rumors that he starred in the movie to make up for not making a movie based on his “SNL” character Dieter. It’s a total disaster despite only being 82 minutes long, and it barely made a profit.

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<p>The book “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” was weirdly successful. It followed in the mashup footsteps of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” taking advantage of a strange, brief moment that this sort of thing was able to capture the zeitgeist. By the time the film version of the novel about the 16th President of the United States fighting vampires came out, people seemed over it. In addition to being a bad movie, somehow it cost $99.5 million to make. It brought in $116.4 at the box office.</p>

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” (2012)

The book “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” was weirdly successful. It followed in the mashup footsteps of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” taking advantage of a strange, brief moment that this sort of thing was able to capture the zeitgeist. By the time the film version of the novel about the 16th President of the United States fighting vampires came out, people seemed over it. In addition to being a bad movie, somehow it cost $99.5 million to make. It brought in $116.4 at the box office.

<p>Do you think Tom Hanks can do no wrong? Think again! He, and Bruce Willis, starred in this failed adaptation of a Tom Wolfe novel. Despite also being directed by Brian De Palma, this movie was a huge bomb — one of the biggest of all time. We’re talking about a movie that made only $15.6 million against a $47 million budget.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/beloved_movies_from_the_1970s_that_still_hold_up_today_110923/s1__32912261'>Beloved movies from the 1970s that still hold up today</a></p>

“The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1990)

Do you think Tom Hanks can do no wrong? Think again! He, and Bruce Willis, starred in this failed adaptation of a Tom Wolfe novel. Despite also being directed by Brian De Palma, this movie was a huge bomb — one of the biggest of all time. We’re talking about a movie that made only $15.6 million against a $47 million budget.

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<p>When you are adapting an American classic, you have to tread carefully. Turning “The Scarlet Letter” into something of an erotic thriller starring Demi Moore and Gary Oldman feels like a bit of a misstep. Roger Ebert famously loathed this movie, but at least he saw it. The film, which was nominated for seven Razzies, barely made more than $10 million at the box office.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Scarlet Letter” (1995)

When you are adapting an American classic, you have to tread carefully. Turning “The Scarlet Letter” into something of an erotic thriller starring Demi Moore and Gary Oldman feels like a bit of a misstep. Roger Ebert famously loathed this movie, but at least he saw it. The film, which was nominated for seven Razzies, barely made more than $10 million at the box office.

<p>Frank Herbert’s “Dune” is an insane novel, which is part of why it has become a sci-fi classic. Fans of sci-fi and fantasy tend to be REALLY into their genres. David Lynch, a straight-up weirdo in his own right, seemed like a good fit to try and turn the book into a movie. It…didn’t work, though it was interesting in its ambition. The film was a flop, but at least Sting was in it. Now, Denis Villenueve has managed to do a successful job with "Dune," though he had to break it into two films.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/sitcom_actors_who_became_dramatic_stars/s1__33741728'>Sitcom actors who became dramatic stars</a></p>

“Dune” (1984)

Frank Herbert’s “Dune” is an insane novel, which is part of why it has become a sci-fi classic. Fans of sci-fi and fantasy tend to be REALLY into their genres. David Lynch, a straight-up weirdo in his own right, seemed like a good fit to try and turn the book into a movie. It…didn’t work, though it was interesting in its ambition. The film was a flop, but at least Sting was in it. Now, Denis Villenueve has managed to do a successful job with "Dune," though he had to break it into two films.

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<p>Douglas Adams is one of the most beloved writers of his era, but adapting him has proved hard. He’s also got a real British sensibility, which means that translating his work to a big-budget American movie is a daunting proposition. Martin Freeman and Mos Def are solid actors, but they aren’t the kind of big names who draw people in. “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is a perfectly fine movie, but it didn’t live up to the hopes of Adams fans or box office expectations.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (2005)

Douglas Adams is one of the most beloved writers of his era, but adapting him has proved hard. He’s also got a real British sensibility, which means that translating his work to a big-budget American movie is a daunting proposition. Martin Freeman and Mos Def are solid actors, but they aren’t the kind of big names who draw people in. “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is a perfectly fine movie, but it didn’t live up to the hopes of Adams fans or box office expectations.

<p>The book “Billy Bathgate” by E.L. Doctorow hasn’t had a long shelf life as a classic novel, but it was hugely successful when it came out. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was the runner-up for the Pulitzer. The movie starred Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and, hey, Bruce Willis. Maybe putting Willis in your period piece is the issue. “Billy Bathgate” made $15.5 million at the box office despite costing $48 million to make.</p><p>You may also like: <a href='https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/20_facts_you_might_not_know_about_a_charlie_brown_christmas_120823/s1__38681769'>20 facts you might not know about 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'</a></p>

“Billy Bathgate” (1991)

The book “Billy Bathgate” by E.L. Doctorow hasn’t had a long shelf life as a classic novel, but it was hugely successful when it came out. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was the runner-up for the Pulitzer. The movie starred Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and, hey, Bruce Willis. Maybe putting Willis in your period piece is the issue. “Billy Bathgate” made $15.5 million at the box office despite costing $48 million to make.

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<p>In the wake of thrillers like "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train," we got "The Woman in the Window," a 2018 novel that topped the 'New York Times" bestseller. The movie adaption came to Netflix with Oscar nominee Amy Adams as the lead. And yet, the movie was basically not talked about, and when "The Woman in the Window" did get mentioned it was usually with disparagement.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

"The Woman in the Window" (2021)

In the wake of thrillers like "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train," we got "The Woman in the Window," a 2018 novel that topped the 'New York Times" bestseller. The movie adaption came to Netflix with Oscar nominee Amy Adams as the lead. And yet, the movie was basically not talked about, and when "The Woman in the Window" did get mentioned it was usually with disparagement.

<p>Some may argue about including this adapation or the one from the ‘70s starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. However, “The Great Gatsby” is maybe THE quintessential Great American Novel. When you adapt F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic story, the stakes are higher, and you have to deliver. Did “The Great Gatsby” starring Leonardo DiCaprio make money? Yes, a decent amount, though it wasn’t a huge moneymaker given that it cost $105 million to make. It also polarized critics quite a bit, given how bombastic and over the top it is. We’re still ready to call it a disappointment.</p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Did you enjoy this slideshow? Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

“The Great Gatsby” (2013)

Some may argue about including this adapation or the one from the ‘70s starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. However, “The Great Gatsby” is maybe THE quintessential Great American Novel. When you adapt F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic story, the stakes are higher, and you have to deliver. Did “The Great Gatsby” starring Leonardo DiCaprio make money? Yes, a decent amount, though it wasn’t a huge moneymaker given that it cost $105 million to make. It also polarized critics quite a bit, given how bombastic and over the top it is. We’re still ready to call it a disappointment.

Did you enjoy this slideshow? Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.

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IMAGES

  1. 20+ Best Books Made into Great Movies

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  3. Top Ten must read books that were made into movies! in 2020

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  4. 15 of the Best Books Made into Movies

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  5. 37 Best Books Made Into Movies Shelf You Can Read Now

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  6. 11 Awesome Books That Became Movies

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  1. ⚔️Fantasy books made into Popular TV shows⚔️#goodomens#booktube #got #lordoftherings

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  3. Reading 2023's Best Fiction Books 🏆Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Vlog

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  5. Books or Movies ? |Part 5| #shorts #trending #viral #books #quiz

COMMENTS

  1. 40 Best Books Made into Movies

    Looking for your next great book? Read four of today's bestselling novels in the time it takes to read one with Reader's Digest Select Editions. And be sure to follow the Select Editions page on...

  2. 35 Best Movies Based on Books That Are Actually Worth Watching

    1. Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022) The book: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence D.H. Lawrence's novel about an affair between a gamekeeper and an upper-class woman is notorious for its...

  3. Books Made into Movies (869 books)

    Listopia Books Made into Movies Your favorite books that have been made into movies... whether you liked the movie adaptation or not. flag All Votes Add Books To This List ← Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next → 869 books · 398 voters · list created July 10th, 2008 by Jessica Haider (votes) .

  4. 25 Books Being Made into Movies and Series in 2023 and 2024

    Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz Lin Manuel-Miranda is producing this YA adaptation, which is written and directed by Aitch Alberto in her feature directorial debut. Aristotle and Dante stars Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as two teens living in El Paso in 1987.

  5. 33 Best Movies Based On Books

    1. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) One of the classic movies based on books is To Kill A Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck in his iconic role as progressive lawyer Atticus Finch. Horton Foote adapted the screenplay from Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, and Robert Mulligan directed the adaptation.

  6. 14 Book-to-Screen Adaptations in to Watch in 2022

    April 21, 2022 3:42 PM EDT. B ook-to-screen adaptations are big this year, giving plenty of fodder to anyone who loves to debate which was better: the book or the movie. From adaptions like ...

  7. 10 Books Being Made into Movies in 2023

    The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Life of Pi. Fight Club. What do these fan favorites all have in common? They're all beloved book-to-movie adaptations, of course. Some of the best books also...

  8. 20 Epic Science Fiction Books Being Made Into Movies

    Widely regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi novels of all time, Herbert's Dune has been adapted for the screen multiple times over the years, with various filmmakers putting their spin on the...

  9. 38 Books Being Made Into Movies and TV Shows in 2021

    Omar Sy plays Assane Diop, a man who learns to become a skilled thief through studying LeBlanc's novels. After season 1's cliffhanger, we're excited for Lupin to return in the summer of 2021 . Starring: Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, Soufiane Guerrab, Clotilde Hesme. Released On: January 8, 2021 on Netflix.

  10. Books Made Into Movies in 2023

    Agatha Christie's books are constantly being turned into movies and TV series, and 2023 is no exception. British actor Kenneth Branagh is back as her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, for a third time. The movie is called A Haunting in Venice and the book it's based on A Hallowe'en Party, one of the later Christies, written when she was 78.

  11. 30 Books Being Made Into Movies and TV Shows in 2020

    1 Scholastic Inc. Kristy's Great Idea by Ann M. Martin Now 20% Off $6 at Amazon $7 at Macy's TV Show: The Baby-Sitter's Club Claudia, played by Momona Tamada Which baby-sitter are you R July 3, 2020 on Netflix Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 2 Image Comics The Old Guard by Greg Rucka $17 at Amazon Movie: The Old Guard The Old Guard

  12. Best Books That Were Made Into Movies (75 books)

    Join Goodreads Listopia Best Books That Were Made Into Movies books that were made into movies or were based on a movie. flag All Votes Add Books To This List 75 books · 24 voters · list created February 15th, 2010 by James james James (votes) .

  13. Books Turned Into Movies That Ended Up Winning Best Picture

    All of these books were turned into movies that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, so an argument can be made that the movie adaptations were just as good, or (gasp!) even better than the original source material. Of the 87 movies that have won Academy Awards for Best Picture so far, 40 were based on or inspired by books.

  14. Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books Adapted Into Movies

    Science fiction or fantasy books adapted into movies flag. All Votes Add Books To This List. 1: The Lord of the Rings by. J.R.R. Tolkien. 4.53 avg rating — 670,687 ratings. score: 991, and 10 people voted Want to Read saving… Want to Read ...

  15. 25 Best Science Fiction Book Movie Adaptations

    25 Dune by Frank Herbert - 1965 Movie: Dune - 1984 Dune is the best-selling science fiction book of all time. The movie adaptation is perhaps not amazing, but it's still fun, well-cast, and bold. Also, as of this writing, a new one is supposed to come out next, and I'm darn excited for it.

  16. 10 Incredible Sci-Fi Books That Still Need Movies

    8 The Forever War, By Joe Haldeman. The Forever War is a high-concept and action-packed novel about a future war against aliens. While pulpy at times, it doesn't glorify war, instead showing its hollowness and the despair of its soldiers. Haldeman wrote a grittier take on a war novel after fighting in Vietnam.

  17. Best sci-fi movies based on books

    1. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Reshaped for the big screen by award-winning director Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Interestingly though, the book was in fact ...

  18. 10 Books That Were Made Into Great Movies

    Except when it isn't. From Mario Puzo's The Godfather to Larry McMurty's Terms of Endearment, sometimes great works of literature are turned into just as memorable films. The following list of 10 books that were made into great movies include bestselling novels, Academy Award-winning films and works of art that have stood the test of time.

  19. 15 Nonfiction Books That Became Movies With Fascinating Stories

    1. Travelling to Infinity - Jane Hawking The Theory of Everything ( Image Source) This is one of the nonfiction books that became movies and it was written by the first wife of one of the greatest American scientists, Stephen Hawking.

  20. Best Movies Based on Non-Fiction Books, Ranked

    6 The Sound of Music. 20th Century Fox. Though it might surprise some people, the popular musical The Sound of Music is based on the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, written by Maria ...

  21. YA Novels Made Into Movies (177 books)

    Listopia YA Novels Made Into Movies Teen books made into movies. flag All Votes Add Books To This List ← Previous 1 2 Next → 177 books · 280 voters · list created June 14th, 2009 by Laura (votes) .

  22. The Best Graphic Novels That Were Made into Movies

    5 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. W hat determines whether a graphic novel is suitable for screen adaptation? To make a graphic novel into a good movie requires an excellent graphic novel, and also requires the person who is adapting it to be willing to make really strong choices. Lots of people who are casually looking ...

  23. Popular books that were made into terrible movies

    Adapting a popular book into a movie is a risky proposition. No matter how good the film is, some people will always say, "the book was better." Even worse, the film could just straight up be ...

  24. Books That Should Be Made Into Movies

    Books That Should Be Made Into Movies This is a list of books that are not movies now but should be in the future. If you would like a book-to-movie remake, there is another list where you can add it, so please do not post those here.