One of the most exciting parts of learning about a new book-to-movie adaptation is finding out how well the showrunners have brought the story to life. From the cast to the translation of scenes to the overall feeling that the story gives, seeing a book you enjoy on the big screen can be an exciting experience.
Here are a few things readers might look for when judging the adaptation of one of their beloved stories.
Plot
In some cases, minor adjustments to a story’s plot or certain scenes are necessary when translating a book to the screen. These adjustments can be made for many reasons, from making the content more relatable to viewers or fixing small quirks the author may not have liked. For example, in the upcoming adaptation of Better Late Than Ever by Tim Federle, the play Nate plans to audition for has been changed from E.T. to Lilo & Stitch. This switch is the type of thing that could’ve been done for many reasons. Still, if nothing else, this film’s target audience will instantly recognize the characters of Lilo & Stitch much more quickly than they might E.T.
Cast
Casting is another area where it’s essential to get things right. For example, in some books, a character’s appearance isn’t necessarily an important aspect. In many cases, though, an author frequently emphasizes certain physical traits, which is why changes to things such as hair color, nose shape, or eye color need to be considered carefully.
In addition to adaptions and novelizations, there are also tie-in editions of books that are movies. These editions normally include the same content as the original book, but the cover art is changed to match the movie adaption.
Scenes
All scenes in a book are important to the story, but some are less pivotal than others. Therefore, when turning a 700-page book into a two-hour movie, some content will need to be cut. For example, when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was adapted for film, several scenes involving a character’s attempts to unionize Hogwart’s staff were left out. Although those scenes were necessary for defining the character’s personality in the book, removing them left more room to elaborate on more pivotal scenes to the story.
Book-to-movie adaptations can be exciting for readers. Not only will they be eager to see their favorite characters brought to life, but it will be fun to re-live the story for the first time all over again. When the plot, cast, and scenes are done right, these adaptations can add a lot of fun to the experience of getting to know the characters and the world in which they live.
Movies from books seem to be all the rage lately. More and more movies based on books are popping up in theaters and drawing from existing fans of the book the movie is based on. These movies are known as adaptions (aka books that are movies).
Whether books that are movies were originally written by an author or a screenwriter, essentially the process is all about adapting a story to a new format in the hopes of reaching new people who will enjoy the original story in whatever way they prefer.
