Quite frequently, popular books and classic novels are adapted into films. Turning books into movies can be very beneficial for both authors and Hollywood because people who have read the novels usually want to see the movie version, and people that think the movie looks entertaining will want to read the novel prior to seeing the movie. On top of this, some love the movie so much that they pick up the book in response!
Throughout the history of film, many famous and popular books have been transformed into movies such as Les Misérables, On the Road, and The Great Gatsby. Some more recent book-to-movie productions are The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the Twilight saga, and The Hunger Games.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a very popular novel amongst young adults. It is a coming-of-age story of an introverted boy, Charlie, and his transition from middle school to high school. The story covers many important teenage themes such as sex, drugs, alcohol, physical/sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, and family issues. The movie version of the novel was released October 12, 2012. Senior Noshin Chowdhury saw the movie without reading the novel prior. She believed the movie was easy to understand, and she has already seen it three times. When asked if the movie made her want to read the original novel, she replied, “[The movie] made me want to see how the book was set up, but I still haven’t had time to read it.” Junior Hannah Dougan, similar to Chowdhury, loved the movie as well; however, Dougan actually read the book before seeing the movie. “When I heard the movie was coming out, I forced myself to read the book because I felt like if I read the book, then I would be more emotionally invested and interested in the movie,” added Dougan.
Often, a novel that has sequels, known as a saga, is adapted into films. One popular saga that had teenagers obsessing for the past few years was the Twilight saga. Fans obsessed over the novels and the characters by Stephanie Meyer, and it only got worse when the first novel’s film version was released November 21, 2008. The films definitely increased the saga’s popularity. Fans would sport “Team Jacob” and “Team Edward” shirts and wait at theaters on extensive lines for hours before the midnight showing, waiting to be admitted in. Even though there were only four books in the saga, the director decided to split the final book into two separate movies. The final movie in the Twilight saga was released November 16, 2012. “I read all the books and saw all the movies, but the last movie was definitely my favorite. It had a different ending than the last book in the saga but it still made sense and my caused my jaw to drop,” said senior Emily Provencher.
The most recent trilogy that has become almost as popular as the Twilight saga is The Hunger Games trilogy. The Hunger Games trilogy is about a young woman, Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a futuristic country called Panem that is controlled by an evil dictator, President Snow. Each year, the country hosts an event called the Hunger Games in which two 12-18 year-olds from each of the 12 districts are selected to compete in a “fight-to-the-death” until there is only one person left standing. Presently, only the first book has been turned into a film, and it was released on March 23, 2012. Senior Kris Kozlowski, who read the books and saw the first movie thought, “The book was more descriptive, but the movie did a good job of portraying the story and the characters.” He added, “The only thing I would change about the movie would be to make it longer and include more of the violence that took place in the book.” Senior Michelle Pasquale, who saw the movie but did not read the books, enjoyed the movie but felt like the beginning was somewhat mundane. The expected release date of the sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is November 22, 2013.
Another traditional move for directors is to transform classic novels into movies, even if a film version already exists. Recently, Les Misérables, which is both a famous novel and play, was made into a film. This novel, play, and movie takes place in 19th century France, and it is about Jean Valjean, who, for decades, “has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole,” according to IMDB.com. Valjean agrees to care for a factory worker’s daughter, Cosette, and the fateful decision changes their lives drastically. The film version was entirely sung and there were no speaking parts whatsoever. The cast, which consisted of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried, did all of the singing with no lip-synching or voice-overs at all. While many people loved the play and/or book, some people felt the movie was not as enjoyable. One of those people was senior Ethan Ramos:“I personally didn’t understand why everyone liked it so much. I fell asleep at one point, and I didn’t like how there was absolutely no talking throughout the entire movie – solely singing.” On the other hand, senior Alexis Miele loved both the book version and movie version. “It was worth all the hype. I was crying my eyes out the entire time,” added Miele.
Also, a less famous classic, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, was adapted into a film and released May 23, 2012. On the Road is about a young writer, Sal Paradise, who “has his life shaken by the arrival of free-spirited Dean Moriarty and his girl, Marylou,” according to IMDB.com. The trio travels across the country and encounter a mix of people that impact their lives in different ways. Senior Kenny Tousignant read the novel and saw the movie and said, “I definitely recommend people to both read the book and see the movie if you want the full experience. The book is a classic and the movie does it justice.”
In addition to Les Misérables and On the Road, The Great Gatsby movie is about to be released May 10, 2013. The release of the movie version of this classic novel has a lot of people talking. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the main character, Jay Gatsby, who finds himself “drawn to the past and the lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor,” according to IMDB.com. The release of this movie already has a lot of people talking. Miele said that The Great Gatsby was one of her favorite books that she read in Hawthorne High School and she will probably re-read the book before seeing the movie.
As manifested by all of these examples, when novels are adapted into films, it not only increases the movie’s popularity and hype but it also reinforces the interest in the novel too. Even though people customarily feel that books are always better than movie versions, it is always interesting to see a book come to life.