So with my excitement over seeing Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2 accompanied with just finishing the Hunger Games Trilogy it got me thinking, why do some book series succeed as movie franchises and others “fail”? Granted, my definition of “fail” is very much like Charlie Sheen’s definition of “winning” – very subjective. I have no training whatsoever in being an author (grammatically I struggle to use of good & well and their & there correctly) but I have flown over a million miles in my life (not exaggerating) & always have a book or 3 with me. I also wouldn’t know how to produce, direct or be a “key” grip on a movie, although I have watched more than my fair share; some good, some not, and some that star Lindsay Lohan. Anyway, it got me thinking about a couple of book series I enjoyed…and the accompanying movies.
The Good
The Lord of the Rings – I think this turned into one of the most visually appealing movie 
translations of a book series – as well as the only reason I put up with the endless “Who are you wearing” questions during the 2003 Academy Awards when Return of the King won best picture. In addition to the cinematography, special effects & action, there actually was some quite good acting (Éowyn’s “silent” love of Aragorn, and Sam carrying Frodo at the end of the movie come to mind). Funny, in retrospect, I went back and re-read the books, and found them less fun than I originally remembered (too many names to remember and those god-forsaken songs to sift through). However, I still believe that the movies were a masterpiece conversion, especially by (channeling the voice of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter) – “Omitting - that which should be omitted”
Harry P
otter and the…(Insert cool book title here) –Speaking of Harry…The books have sold 450M copies. It is the highest grossing movie franchise of all time (seven films released grossing $6.3 billion worldwide). What more is there to say? Well, there is plenty more but since Pottermania is running wild right now, there is no need to repeat all the awesomeness that is Harry. Now excuse me while I go eat some Bertie Botts flavored beans.
Honorable Mention: James Bond
The Bad
The Chr
onicles of Narnia – I struggled with the placement of this one as I felt the first book/movie was excellent but that it went downhill from there. With worldwide box office receipts totaling almost 1.5B, it’s hard to label this series “bad”…yet I will. It may not be fair to just say the movies went downhill after the first one, because I also felt the books did as well. Part of that is due to the changing out of the main characters every 2 books or so. The reason I typically like book series is that I get attached to the characters and like to see them grow from book to book. So this may be less of an indictment of the translation of the book to a movie and more of the loss of characters I can stay connected with – which somehow became more irritating to me in the movie version. However, I can’t shake the feeing the loss of connectedness to the characters as the movies go on is also attributed to how the storytelling was converted to the screen – with a focus more on special effects than story. Two more movies have been signed with 1 more book still undecided. I also know that I will go see it, although I will hate myself for it, so it cancels itself out.
A Series o
f Unfortunate Events - Here we have a best-selling book series that sold over 60M copies, yet I found myself almost bored with the movie adaptation. The movie combined the first 3 books, understandable in a 13 short book series, but it seemed to play havoc with the timeline as well as the “feel” of the story. Jim Carey played an over the top, comical Olaf which was different than the serious and dour Olaf from the books. Granted, why hire (and pay) “Ace Ventura” if you don’t want that “over the top-ness”, but for me, it took away what was special about the books. Although the movie did gross 118M in US (210M worldwide), no sequels are currently being planned.
Honorable Mention: Cirque Du Freak
The Ugly
The Left
Behind Series – How can a 16 book series that sold between 65- 100M copies (depending who you quote),had 4 books occupying the 4 top slots of NY times best seller list at the same time, have video game, graphic novel and a young kid book series tie-ins fail as a movie franchise? The easy answer could be “They cast Kirk Cameron in the star role, and Mike Seaver is no Buck Williams”. Yet Fireproof was an amazingly touching movie and that also starred the same guy who was on the cover of Teen Beat (I have a sister so it wasn’t me who got Teen Beat each week…Honest!). Some may say the topic is too “religious”, although I would refer them to Passion of the Christ & The Ten Commandments (plus Fireproof) as a counter point. With a built in audience and a story full of interesting characters, espionage and “stuff blowing up”, you would think the movie would be worth spending some decent cash on even if it doesn’t have a car that turns into a robot (OK Autobot – whatever!!). The movie was so full of cheese, it lost all semblances to the book – even though the plot lines were fairly close. Cloud Ten announced they plan to remake the series with increased production values – but my confidence is low.
Percy J
ackson & the Olympians – I can’t stress how disappointed I was in the movie translation of the first book of this 5 book series (that at one point was on the NY Times Children’s Best Seller list for 177 weeks). Not that there weren’t some visually appealing scenes, but it just proves that special effects cannot save a movie, especially one that veered so far off the path of the book. Heck, the main “bad guys”, Ares & Kronos, were for all intents and purposes, left out of the movie. I don’t know if they thought it was too complicated for a movie, but I think anyone that read the books, must have had the same thing happen to them as they watched the movie…which was a constant inner voice that said “Wait, this wasn’t what happened” in almost every other scene.
Honorable Mention: The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
So what does it take to successfully transition from print to video? Obviously a good book for starters. Staying true to the story (edit where appropriate but don’t massively rewrite!) Use Special Effects to enhance the written word – not to replace it. The right casting for sure (Thank you to Chris Columbus for casting Daniel Radcliff instead of Haley Joel Osment as our boy Wizard). And a bit of luck doesn’t hurt. What other book series did or did not succeed as a movie in your eyes?
translations of a book series – as well as the only reason I put up with the endless “Who are you wearing” questions during the 2003 Academy Awards when Return of the King won best picture. In addition to the cinematography, special effects & action, there actually was some quite good acting (Éowyn’s “silent” love of Aragorn, and Sam carrying Frodo at the end of the movie come to mind). Funny, in retrospect, I went back and re-read the books, and found them less fun than I originally remembered (too many names to remember and those god-forsaken songs to sift through). However, I still believe that the movies were a masterpiece conversion, especially by (channeling the voice of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter) – “Omitting - that which should be omitted”
Harry P
otter and the…(Insert cool book title here) –Speaking of Harry…The books have sold 450M copies. It is the highest grossing movie franchise of all time (seven films released grossing $6.3 billion worldwide). What more is there to say? Well, there is plenty more but since Pottermania is running wild right now, there is no need to repeat all the awesomeness that is Harry. Now excuse me while I go eat some Bertie Botts flavored beans.
Honorable Mention: James Bond
The Bad
The Chr
onicles of Narnia – I struggled with the placement of this one as I felt the first book/movie was excellent but that it went downhill from there. With worldwide box office receipts totaling almost 1.5B, it’s hard to label this series “bad”…yet I will. It may not be fair to just say the movies went downhill after the first one, because I also felt the books did as well. Part of that is due to the changing out of the main characters every 2 books or so. The reason I typically like book series is that I get attached to the characters and like to see them grow from book to book. So this may be less of an indictment of the translation of the book to a movie and more of the loss of characters I can stay connected with – which somehow became more irritating to me in the movie version. However, I can’t shake the feeing the loss of connectedness to the characters as the movies go on is also attributed to how the storytelling was converted to the screen – with a focus more on special effects than story. Two more movies have been signed with 1 more book still undecided. I also know that I will go see it, although I will hate myself for it, so it cancels itself out.
A Series o
f Unfortunate Events - Here we have a best-selling book series that sold over 60M copies, yet I found myself almost bored with the movie adaptation. The movie combined the first 3 books, understandable in a 13 short book series, but it seemed to play havoc with the timeline as well as the “feel” of the story. Jim Carey played an over the top, comical Olaf which was different than the serious and dour Olaf from the books. Granted, why hire (and pay) “Ace Ventura” if you don’t want that “over the top-ness”, but for me, it took away what was special about the books. Although the movie did gross 118M in US (210M worldwide), no sequels are currently being planned.
Honorable Mention: Cirque Du Freak
The Ugly
The Left
Behind Series – How can a 16 book series that sold between 65- 100M copies (depending who you quote),had 4 books occupying the 4 top slots of NY times best seller list at the same time, have video game, graphic novel and a young kid book series tie-ins fail as a movie franchise? The easy answer could be “They cast Kirk Cameron in the star role, and Mike Seaver is no Buck Williams”. Yet Fireproof was an amazingly touching movie and that also starred the same guy who was on the cover of Teen Beat (I have a sister so it wasn’t me who got Teen Beat each week…Honest!). Some may say the topic is too “religious”, although I would refer them to Passion of the Christ & The Ten Commandments (plus Fireproof) as a counter point. With a built in audience and a story full of interesting characters, espionage and “stuff blowing up”, you would think the movie would be worth spending some decent cash on even if it doesn’t have a car that turns into a robot (OK Autobot – whatever!!). The movie was so full of cheese, it lost all semblances to the book – even though the plot lines were fairly close. Cloud Ten announced they plan to remake the series with increased production values – but my confidence is low.
Percy J
ackson & the Olympians – I can’t stress how disappointed I was in the movie translation of the first book of this 5 book series (that at one point was on the NY Times Children’s Best Seller list for 177 weeks). Not that there weren’t some visually appealing scenes, but it just proves that special effects cannot save a movie, especially one that veered so far off the path of the book. Heck, the main “bad guys”, Ares & Kronos, were for all intents and purposes, left out of the movie. I don’t know if they thought it was too complicated for a movie, but I think anyone that read the books, must have had the same thing happen to them as they watched the movie…which was a constant inner voice that said “Wait, this wasn’t what happened” in almost every other scene.
Honorable Mention: The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
So what does it take to successfully transition from print to video? Obviously a good book for starters. Staying true to the story (edit where appropriate but don’t massively rewrite!) Use Special Effects to enhance the written word – not to replace it. The right casting for sure (Thank you to Chris Columbus for casting Daniel Radcliff instead of Haley Joel Osment as our boy Wizard). And a bit of luck doesn’t hurt. What other book series did or did not succeed as a movie in your eyes?
Great job Dave, I think you placed chronicles right. I would say series would be ugly. Interested to know what you thought of The Golden Compass, it worked for me... perhaps a decent is in order, lol. Also what about Eragon? I didn't think it was terrible, but would say bad probably.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff. I thought of both of those but I was limited in that I didnt read Golden Compass (saw the movie) and the Eragon books are waiting on my bookshelf (I was distracted by Hunger Games). However, my perspective of only seeing the movies were that I couldnt get into the Golden Compass (although I wanted to - I mean fighting Polar Bears!) and I did enjoy Eragon for the most part and am looking forward to reading the books. Maybe i'll have a different perspective after reading Eragon. Do you recomend reading Golden Compass?
ReplyDeleteOh I haven't read either, I was really just basing it on the movie itself which I think u got it right anyway.
ReplyDeleteYou should attempt to read the True Blood books. Alan Ball's HBO version deviates significantly, and is FAR superior to the books. I've tried to read the books multiple times, but I can't get past the first few pages because they're so poorly written. There are tons of book fans, but I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting as typically I look the books better than any movie or TV adaptation. I did hear the book kills off L and the show doesn't (need to confirm when I start season 2). I love the show although want more supernatural (granted only on Season 1). I may try to read 1 but may be hard going in that order (show then book)
ReplyDelete