I am trying to compile a list of books made into movies. I love to read the books before I see the movie. I know about the HP books, Twilight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
Revolutionary Road,
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, The Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. I know there are more I just can't think of them right now. So anyone interested in adding to my list of Books made into Movies please post away. This will help add to my ever growing TBR list.
Thanks...
Hi Crazy, here are just a few off the top of my head (and my library):
LA Confidential by James Ellroy - an excellent movie, but a book that has to read.
1984 by George Orwell - a really quite good version of a classic book.
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - disappointing movie, although Stephen Fry's narration and Bill Nighy's Slartybartfast make up for it somewhat.
Farenheit 451 by
Ray Bradbury - the movie version is by one of the new wave directors, and pretty good especially considering the almost total lack of special effects.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick - a staggering number of films have been made from Dick's books, but Bladerunner is an enduring classic.
American Psycho by
Bret Easton Ellis - the movie version plays up the comedy elements nicely, while sidelining some of the horrific parts of a story many considered unfilmable.
Notes on a Scandal by
Zoe Heller - both the film and the book are excellent.
Rum Punch by
Elmore Leonard - filmed by Quentin Tarantino as Jackie Brown, and arguably his best film. For other good Leonard adaptations your best bet is probably Get Shorty.
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan - this creepy book was made into a good, if flawed film, starring a pre-fame Daniel Craig.
Well, I think I've had my tuppence worth. I've tried to only suggest either good adaptations, or ones that missed but were from good source material. What does anyone else suggest?
Message edited by its author, Jan 23, 2009, 8:11pm.
Can't believe I forgot
Fight Club! Trust me, that is an excellent movie, as is No Country for Old Men, which I haven't read.
Let's be better to Cormac McCarthy
All the Pretty Horses and
The Road (2009 release) are both movies.
Bram Stoker's
Dracula has been adapted numerous times.
Beowulf (makes one vomit, really)
some Italian guy did the
Canterbury Tales: there is much nudity, but it is all in the spirit of the Tales, which are pretty bawdy.
Moby Dick has been adapted.
Away from Her by
Alice Munro was a short story that became a movie...in fact, that might be an interesting category in itself: short stories that became movies.
I know the Edmonton Public Library has compiled a comprehensive
Books Into Movies list (including a few short stories made into movies, as suggested by cray8).
Edited to add that LT taggers have caught some the library has missed, including
Barry Lyndon by W.M. Thackeray, made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick.
Message edited by its author, Jan 23, 2009, 9:23pm.
Wow Thank you LT members. You guys are doing great. Now I have some of those books and didn't even realize they were movies. Thanks for the links too. I know I will be adding to my wish list at Borders and Amazon. I am going to add some now:
The Client by John Grisham
The Firm by John Grisham
I will have to check out the made into movie tag and the Edmonton Library list. Thanks again I really didn't expect this many replies or books made into movies. I sure have a lot of books to read let alone movies to see.
The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte (The movie is called The Ninth Gate).
The Other Boleyn Girl
Shopaholic
Books by Jane Austen
The Three Musketeers
The Count of Monte Christo
Atonement
The Devil wears Prada
I am compiling a list of these books. My goal is to read as many of these books as possible. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.
There are hundreds and hundreds more...
But skip the movie with the same name as
The Orchid Thief. The book was an excellent nonfiction account of orchid collecting and poaching, the movie had nothing to do with it.
Oh, you should probably also skip the movie with the same title as
The Perfect Storm. Great book, crappy movie.
I see a trend here. I apparently have a problem with nonfiction books being turned into movies. Ah, but here's an exception:
Into the Wild was pretty good in both genres.
I usually do skip the movies or if I do watch them I tend to not like them as much as the books.
Yes it could. That is why I am working on a list. Yet it is fun....
Well I have only gone through post #2 & 3 for the titles so far and I am up to 28 books. That is not including the Harry Potter books. With them am Twilight I will have over 30 books to my list. This is going to take me a long time which is okay with me.
#33: I use that site for all my movie checks. I didn't even think to do a check on there. Now according to that list there are over 2,000 movies, Ugh, that is a lot of books I need to purchase/read.... Thanks. I will bookmark that page for future reference.
Oh, and the Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot of course!
I think I may have to try and work on my list some more... Thanks everyone for all the titles...
Freaky Friday
Johnny Tremaine
Toby Tyler
The Rescuers
The Series of Unfortunate Events
The Cat in the Hat
Horton Hears a Who
The Island of the Blue Dolphins
Holes
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Jumanji
The Polar Express
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Incredible Journey (the old movie had the same title, the newer one was called Homeward Bound)
The Dark is Rising
Inkheart
Eragon
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Meet Kit: an American Girl
Heidi
The Jungle Book
Madeline
Pollyanna
Curious George
MASH
Topper --the film series was made in the 30's probably; I stumbled across the book in the 80's while working at the university library. I remember laughing out loud while reading it.
Giant
Show Boat
Daddy Long Legs (Fred Astaire & Leslie Caron)
Jubilee Trail
Nicholas and Alexandra
National Velvet
The Maltese Falcon
Rebecca
Jurassic Park
The Andromeda Strain
The Bourne Identity
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Jane Eyre
Little Men
omg, this is so addictive! I swear these titles just keep popping in my brain at odd moments...
OK, Hollywood's been at this from the very beginning:
The Birth of a Nation (1915) based on book "The Clansmen"
The Yearling
Auntie Mame
The Pit and the Pendulum
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Escape to Witch Mountain
The Thin Man
The Three Musketeers
The Man in the Iron Mask
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Sex and the Single Girl
So Big
Gentle Ben
Jaws
The Red Pony
Up the Down Staircase
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Roots
Lonesome Dove (do TV mini-series count?
Brian's Song
Paper Moon (book title Addie Pray)
Airport
All the President's Men
I know what you me #52. When I created this thread I didn't expect that many replies let alone this many movies. I know some have been repeated but I will work through that.
Thanks to all for your input. :)
I was just being cheeky with >25 and >30. I was referring to a Leonard Malton's 2008 Movie Guide. The 18,000 entries very frequently mention "based on a novel by..."
I either A)spend too much time reading; B)spend too much time watching Turner Classic Movies; C)know too much trivia; D) am just a little obsessive or E)all of the above
The Deep End of the Ocean
Message in a Bottle
The Notebook
The Horse Whisperer
Almost anything Dickens or Dumas wrote
All the President's Men
Go Ask Alice
Black Beauty
I think I may also be all of the above #57. I do prefer to read the book prior to watching the movie. I am going to try and work some more on my list tonight. I think I will need about a full 72 hours of no interruptions (ha ha, will never happen) to really finish this list. ;)
Lets not forget basically everything written by Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm's Brothers
Two movies I first saw many years ago that served as introductions to two writers are:
Holy Matrimony based on Arnold Bennett's comic novel Buried Alive
Three Came Home based on the book by the same title written Agnes Newton Keith.
#38 - Re: The Shining by Stephen King.
This has famously been filmed twice. The Stanley Kubrick version is excellent, and the source of the famous "Here's Johnny" image of Jack Nicholson breaking through the door.
Stephen King thought this version didn't do justice to the source material, so made his own version: it's truly execrable.
Gorillas in the Mist
Midnight Express
Not Without My Daughter
there are actually more nonfiction than I first thought...
I just watched {Gigi} this weekend and the announcer said that it was based on a book by Collette.
I recently read Heart of Darkness and the editor said that Apocalypse Now was based on this story. Alos, I don't think I saw Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil on anyone's list.
Oh--One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest
To Kill a Mocking Bird
Message edited by its author, Feb 19, 2009, 10:31pm.
this "books into movies" thing is everywhere! First I found it here, then I just got my book fair kit at school; the theme: "Lights! Camera! Book Fair! Reading Makes You a Star". So our school is doing a whole family reading night with that theme. Then last night I was at the public library, and they had a display of books into movies! It's deja vu all over again....
Oh wow that is weird. I guess they figure so many people go and see movies and love them may as well as get them to read the books too.
That was my theory. Today I used this thread to make posters (small ones, letter size, six to a page) for my classroom with the banner "You've seen the movie, now read the book." A few kids did seem interested, so maybe it'll take.
Here are a few more:
Nim's Island
Hotel for Dogs
City of Ember
not to mention the many Stephen King books turned into movies (Misery and Cujo come to mind)
Alex Rider ''Storm breaker'' but its a childs novel/movei
last year I did a display in my library "Read Any Good Movies Lately?", with popcorn, film canister, etc. and books.
Just saw a trailer the other day, they are remaking Escape to Witch Mountain
Well, besides Transformers and its sequel, and
InkHeart.
How about Hellboy?
There are so many books that have been made into movies. I don't know if I will be able to read most of them. I just saw that Lifetime is making Nora Roberts book into a movie. For the life of me I can't remember the name of it.
I think they are doing several; it's Nora Roberts Month or something on Lifetime Channel. Northern Lights,
Tribute and a couple others I forget. But if you watch Lifetime they are showing the ads all the time.
I don't think anyone's mentioned comic books...that list goes on and on also
Superman
Batman
Spiderman
Fantastic Four
I know there's probably more, I never really read comics except Archie. :)
Hey, didn't they make a tv movie about Archie some years ago??
Well if we're getting into comic books.....
Ironman
The Incredible Hulk
The Avengers
Josie and the Pussycats
Electra
Daredevil
X-Men
The Punisher
Also...
Alice in Wonerland
Dancing at Lughnasa10 000 Leagues under the Sea
The AbyssMore Comics
Constantine
Ultra Violet
Sin City
Hell boy
the Flash (TV)
Aeon Flux
The Phantom
Well I didn't see this on any ones list:
The Soloist by Steve Lopez new movie just released this weekend.
I really have to keep working on my list because this thread is long and I think I only have about 20 to 30 of the books listed. Thanks again to everyone for all your input
#70 emaestra > I hope your idea worked with the kids. I love it when I see a child reading because of the movie.
Different Seasons by Stephen King - three of its four stories have been made into movies. Stand By Me ("The Body", in the book) and The Shawshank Redemption ("Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption") have already been mentioned; "Apt Pupil" was also made into a movie, with the same name. As far as I know, "The Breathing Method" hasn't.
The First Wives' Club by Olivia Goldsmith (movie wasn't very faithful to the book, though)
The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis
Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss - became the movie A.I.
Sliver by Ira Levin
Hondo by Louis L'Amour
Actually, I think "Dead Poets Society" is a movie turned into a book, and not vice versa.
#92 - now THERE's an idea for a thread! (It'll be rather shorter, of course). I'll kick off with any number of Star Trek novels written by James Blish.
I think the trickier thread would be to name books that were turned into movies where the movie title was different than the book....
Immediately coming to mind for me:
Smoke Signals based on Sherman Alexie's book of short stories
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven great book and great movie.
I thought of a few that I don't think anyone else listed. While 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was listed, I did not see Mysterious Island or From the Earth to the Moon.
Some war stories:
Sink the Bismarck
The Longest Day
A Bridge to Far
The Dam Busters
Midway
Run Silent, Run Deep
The Enemy Below
Damn the Defiant
Captain Horatio Hornblower
Khartoum
Under the adventure category:
King Solomon's Mines
The Man Who Would Be King
The Jungle Book
Don't forget To Kill A Mockingbird!
and Where the Wild Things Are
I was just thinking that same thing today. I hate seeing movies before I read the books.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
is a movie from 1945 but I think they just released a new version in the UK this year.
I saw a horrible, horrible thing today. The
Where the Wild Things Are Movie Storybook. Um, it was already a book? Do we really need the great Sendak pictures replaced by movie stills?
I just saw a preview for
The Lovely Bones looks like they might have jazzed it up significantly for the Hollywood debut...
Jarhead hasn't been mentioned yet, and doesn't make it high on the Made Into Movies tag page. Was a really good movie, in my opinion.
Message edited by its author, Oct 25, 2009, 7:48am.
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