Books have inspired some of our greatest films. And these are simply some of the best adaptations.
They say the book is always better than the movie. Well, not always. Hollywood relies on novels and nonfiction tomes for films big and small, and occasionally the on-screen version becomes the definitive edition of the story. Whether it’s the feminist twist put on American Psycho or the prestige drama of The Godfather, sometimes the movie is in fact better than the book. Here are 10 times the adaptation trumped the original.
While Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel about a great white shark that preys on a beachside town was a massive bestseller, it pales in comparison to Steven Spielberg’s film. Benchley and screenwriter Carl Gottlieb adapted the story for the screen only a year after the book came out and omitted several of the novel’s subplots in favor of a focus on the hunt for the shark. The film became the highest-grossing movie in history at the time, establishing itself as an instant classic. In particular, Spielberg cleverly hid the shark from view for most of the movie, amping up the suspense and using tension instead of violence to incite fear in the viewer. The book, on the other hand, was a bit more graphic. If you didn’t even realize this was a novel first, well, we don’t blame you.
In American Psycho, released in 1991, Bret Easton Ellis spends pages and pages describing the horrific acts his serial-killing protagonist does to people, especially women. It’s … a lot. Thankfully, the film adaptation, co-written by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner and directed by Harron, reimagines this graphic misogyny in a pitch-perfect satire that takes aim at consumer culture. The movie, which stars Christian Bale as the murderous Patrick Bateman, captures the spirit of the novel, as well as some of its violence, without getting bogged down in Ellis’ descriptions. Plus, the movie’s soundtrack is fantastic.
Reese Witherspoon’s Tracy Flick may be one of cinema’s most annoying characters — but also one of its most memorable. In Alexander Payne’s Election, Tracy proves that ambition and overachievement are positive attributes, no matter how irritating they might be. The film was adapted from Tom Perrotta’s 1998 novel, which came out only a year before the movie. While the book is enticing and contains many of the same beats as Payne’s film, Witherspoon’s eager portrayal of Tracy sets the on-screen iteration apart. It’s a case where both versions are good — as is Perrotta’s recent sequel Tracy Flick Can’t Win — but because of the stellar performances, we have to go with the movie on this one.
We’re here to say that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little soapy romance, and author Nicholas Sparks’ book certainly fits the bill. His novel, The Notebook, released in 1996, was generally well received, but it wasn’t until the book was adapted into a movie by screenwriters Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi that the story felt fully human. The 2004 film was directed by Nick Cassavetes and featured Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple hopelessly in love, with a rain-soaked kissing scene that will live on in cinematic history. The soapiness was still there, but Cassavetes opened up the possible audience for the story in a broader way.
Chuck Palahniuk first set out the rules of fight club in his twisted 1996 novel, a compelling read that introduced the reckless, unreliable Tyler Durden. But it was really David Fincher’s on-screen take on the story that cemented it in pop culture. Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter, the Jim Uhls-penned movie brought out the chaotic nature of the relationship between the narrator and Tyler Durden, which is best experienced visually thanks to the final twist. Palahniuk was a fan of the movie (which isn’t always the case with authors), and it’s best to see the two as companion pieces that augment the overall themes. And while you can certainly imagine the fight scenes in the novel, it’s far more impactful to see Pitt’s bloodied face on your TV.
The twisted tale of Norman Bates began in Robert Bloch’s 1959 book Psycho, which became a very influential horror novel and later spawned three sequels. Soon after its release, Joseph Stefano adapted the story into a screenplay for the film, which became Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous thriller. The movie generally follows the book’s plot, with mostly the same characters, but due to Hitchcock’s intense directing style, the film carries a more memorable visual quality, even when things are left to the imagination. Psycho earned four Oscar nominations and has since been listed as one of the best films of all time, fully cementing the movie as the superior take. Once you see it, you’ll never be able to take a shower again.
While Tina Fey’s hilarious high school comedy Mean Girls may have been totally fetch, its source material was slightly less so. Fey’s screenplay was based in part on Rosalind Wiseman’s Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence, which was basically a self-help book for angsty teen girls in the early ’00s. The movie, which stars Lindsay Lohan, played with some of the themes in Wiseman’s tome, including looking at “girl behavior” and bullying, but the movie was an entirely new story with some of the decade’s most quotable lines. It was so good, in fact, that it’s since become a Broadway musical, and a movie adaptation of that musical is currently in the works. You could read about the psychology behind teen girls, or you could just watch them plot their way to the top.
Anyone who’s read Michael Crichton’s science-fiction novel Jurassic Park, published in 1990, knows it’s a solid read. It feels both plausible and exciting, two things you want from a story about dinosaurs returning to walk the Earth. But let’s not kid ourselves: Steven Spielberg’s 1993 movie is one for the ages, upstaging the book. The film, which starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough, has spawned an entire franchise, which lives on to this day and has become a frequently referenced standout in Hollywood history. That moment when the water glass shakes with the impact of the T. rex’s footstep? Unfortunately, a book just can’t capture your anxious anticipation with such fervor. Ironically, the novel began as a screenplay, which proves that even Crichton knew his dinosaurs would live best on the big screen.
Mario Puzo co-wrote the screenplay for The Godfather with director Francis Ford Coppola, so the author himself gets some of the credit for the Oscar-winning film being better than its source material. Puzo’s novel, about a New York Mafia family led by Vito Corleone, featured more backstory and a slightly different ending than the movie, which concludes on a less-positive note. The film, a true showcase for the acting abilities of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, remains one of the most celebrated movies of all time — and for good reason. The drama is heightened on the screen thanks to the cast, and we all know that actually seeing a horse’s head in real life is unforgettable.
Did you know Die Hard, everyone’s favorite action-packed Christmas movie, was based on a book? In fact, the Bruce Willis film is an adaptation of 1979’s Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, which was a sequel to the author’s 1966 novel The Detective. The book is known mostly because of the 1988 movie, and it does share a lot of DNA with the film — Willis’ John McClane is a version of the book’s protagonist, Joe Leland, while Alan Rickman’s villain Hans Gruber is a spin on the novel’s Anton “Little Tony the Red” Gruber. Die Hard is a masterpiece, a Christmas miracle some might say, and it’s all because of the visual thrillers and fun acting.
Emily Zemler is a freelance writer and journalist based in London. She regularly contributes to the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, PureWow, and TripSavvy, and is the author of two books. Follow her @emilyzemler.
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