Maybe it’s just me but I feel like recently every famous book has a up coming movie adaption or said to become a movie soon. I’m honestly so sick and I tried of this and I don’t see why people can’t create new stories.
When authors write books they intend it for reading, they rarely think about “oh I wonder how this will look on screen” and I feel like that’s why a lot of book to movie adaptations fail because they can’t quite capture the elements of a book.
One reason I love books more than movies is cuz I get to be in that persons mind and know every single thought and feeling that goes through their head which then allows me to empathize with the character but with movies it’s only a visual representation, you only feel what you see.
This is only an observation tho but I feel like directors should try to focus more on screenwriters and gain stories from them rather than trying to turn every book into a movie
by Pandora_Shylock
27 Comments
What do you want
Wake me up when they’ve made a The Name of the Wind movie.
Anyway, your comment about authors writing books to be read doesn’t seem to apply to authors like Brandon Sanderson and Andy Weir.
“every book” has been turned into a movie since movies have existed
You sound young (not meant as a slam, btw). Books have been made into films since the beginning of movies.
No one is making you watch the adaptations.
So stop watching those movies and read books instead? There are plenty of movies based on original source material.
>I’m honestly so sick and I tried of this and I don’t see why people can’t create new stories.
Because no one is seeing those films. Everything that is an adaption comes with a built in audience which means some amount of guaranteed money. Did you go and pay to see Anora? Did you see the Brutalist? Will you see Warfare?
Don’t watch them?
> I feel like directors should try to focus more on screenwriters and gain stories
There are a lot of directors who use original scripts from screenwriters. You just don’t know who they are, so you assume they don’t exist. What was the last independent film festival you attended?
My main problem is they keep fucking it up. Screenwriters keep taking on stories people obviously love, then turning around and making weird changes because they think they’re better than the actual author or something.
I’ve had several series come out in the last years based on books I loved. Every single one has disappointed me. At this point I just don’t watch TV adaptations.
It’s not compulsory to watch the film of books you’ve read.
I find it hard to be annoyed by films I haven’t watched, so perhaps don’t watch them?
This isn’t anything new. A lot of tv and movies are based off of books.
If you don’t enjoy them, don’t watch them.
With that said, most books don’t get these so it’s far from the majority.
You have the option not to watch the movie, but you do know that they do have to get the author’s permission to make the movie, right? So authors do want to see their stories on the screen.
I just ignore them. In fact, ever since I was a kid, if I see a movie that looks interesting I automatically check if there’s a book,then I read that instead. I also won’t watch a movie if I’ve read the book, I’ll usually just read the book again. I never even watched LOTR or GOT, and never will.
A movie being made doesn’t take away the book. If you don’t want to watch the movie, don’t.
The most annoying part of this is those stickers on book covers or the non-sticker emblem they put on more recent printings.
I didn’t buy a book cause it had this on it recently.
Hollywood has been out of ideas for a long time. And a lot of producers don’t want to take a chance on new ideas, cause they might not get those sweet profits.
My bad, we’ll stop now
It’s likely because there’s an existing audience for the IP the film is based on. Production companies these days aren’t willing to take as many risks as they were in the past. Using books or video games allows for a factoring in of minimum expected sales based on the popularity of the IP, added to the usual factors. Modern films basically now have to make all their money at the box office given there’s not a big of an aftermarket life in streaming versus that of physical dvd sales etc.
Don’t watch them then 👍
>When authors write books they intend it for reading, they rarely think about “oh I wonder how this will look on screen”
Speak for yourself. As a person who enjoys money, I’d love to sell some movie rights. And I’d love the exposure that would bring to my books.
You’d be surprised how many movies are based off of books and you most likely don’t know it. Example: pretty much all of Dennis Lehane’s bibliography
This is not a new phenomenon. Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick’s filmographies, two of the most legendary filmmakers to ever live, are mostly adaptations of books.
Jurassic Park, The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Silence of the Lambs, Schlinder’s List, Jaws, are some of the greatest movies ever made. They’re all based on books.
If anything we need more books turned into movies, it would be a net plus for society and for the film industry. More people would get into reading books because of movies and more jobs for people wanting to make it into Hollywood.
Movies are struggling to draw in audiences so they bank upon book adaptations drawing in the pre-existing fanbase. As much as people say “be original Hollywood! Another remake/reboot? Another adaptation?” there’s plenty of good original movies that end up failing at the box office while the reboots/remakes/adaptations get all the attention.
> When authors write books they intend it for reading, they rarely think about “oh I wonder how this will look on screen” and I feel like that’s why a lot of book to movie adaptations fail because they can’t quite capture the elements of a book.
I agree with this, especially if a book is very driven by internal thoughts. A screenwriter has to fill the screentime with original stuff to make it adaptable and it’s not always as good.
I’m not bothered by it though. I don’t watch adaptations I’m not interested in, and if I turn it on a specific adaptation on a streaming servcie and I’m not feeling that it’s as good as what I experienced in the book, I just stop watching and move on.
I am not sure you know the real definition of literally.
Stop reading popular books.
I’m not sure the authors of those books would agree with you.
The history of film is adaptation from books and other sources. Also, there are some very famous examples (2001, Dances with Wolves) of the book being written with the purpose of being turned into a film.
Everyone thinks they want originality but the fact is that “audiences” (broad category) are lazy and like to know what they’re getting when they watch a movie. This is why the trends have gone in the direction of more IP, sequels, adaptations over the years. I guarantee you the movie Where the Crawdads Sing would have made no $$ if it weren’t based on a book.
Also keep in mind it’s very hard to make a profit off of book sales alone for most authors. Selling film rights helps the author!
Dont read the most popular books.
And adaptations aren’t new.
And the optimistic way to view them is that the story expands to a larger audience. If my story was adapted into other artforms, I’d be honored.
How does this hinder your reading experience?