Best-selling books don’t make for Hollywood Blockbusters
By Kaitlyn Aiello
According to Amazon.com, customers rated Stephanie Meyers’ popular book “Twilight” with 4 stars, while the movie received 3.5. The same goes for Nicholas Sparks’ “Dear John” and also “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jody Picoult.
While it is impossible to take every detail from a 500-page book and create a two hour-long film, producers are missing the bigger picture. Endings are altered, characters and details are changed and the storylines we all have grown to love suddenly no longer seem to fit.
In-depth descriptions of characters are typically what make us fall in love with them, but we are oftentimes disappointed when the movie cannot meet our expectations. There is a big difference between the precision of a book and that of a movie.
Take the first “Twilight” movie for example, the author repeatedly recounts Bella cooking dinner for her father, but in the movie it is changed to them eating at the local diner. While this may seem like a small change, it is during these home cooked meals that readers are able to learn more about the characters.
A more extreme storyline change would be in the last “Harry Potter” film when the death of one character Peter Pettigrew ultimately never happens.
In 2011, the films “Water For Elephants,” “The Help,” “Breaking Dawn,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” were released. All having only thing in common – they were written and respected, first, as popular novels. Which comes as no surprise since in children’s books alone, there have been close to 25 turned into movies in the past year.
As for what we can expect for the upcoming New Year, we already have an idea. New Years Eve is in theaters now and although it was not a book first, the trailers before the opening credits seem all too familiar. As a majority have been released already, in two different formats, hardcover and paperback. Perhaps the film industry is lacking in original ideas and turning to novels as a quick fix to their creative block.
Keep your eyes out for the latest books turned into movies as 2012 opens, starting with “The Hunger Games” written by Suzanne Collins and “The Lucky One,” a love-story by Nicholas Sparks.