Movie Adaptations

So I've been wanting to do a discussion post for a while but I didn't the time, internet access, or clear and cohesive thoughts to do so until now. So I hope you guys like this post and feel free to disagree with me or partially agree with me. I think that's what I really want; an actually discussion so let's get started.

So many books are being turned into movies these days. Almost anything can be and it's both a good and a bad thing, more on that later, but what I want to talk about today is what makes a good movie adaptation. I, like a lot of you out there, want a movie to stay as close to a book as possible. If I could have a five hour movie for The Goblet of Fire, I'd be so happy I'd cry. But that isn't possible due to time constraints. For example, Harry Potter (obviously I'd use this as an example) is a ridiculously long series with the individual books going on to almost nine hundred pages. A movie can only be two and a half, three hours long, tops. This creates a major problem for screenplay writers when trying to decide what to leave in and what to take out. I think that we, as an audience, need to be fair and cut them some slack because no movie adaptation is going to be exactly like the book in every aspect. I think there are some things that a movie does need to do in order to be a good adaptation, so let's get into those, shall we?

First off, the movie needs to capture the tone and mood of the book. If it's Narnia, capture the magic and the wonder and the grand scale of the world because that's what people are looking for. Secondly, keep the plot and characters as close to the book as possible. I say this because some movies, I'm looking at you Percy Jackson, go WAY off. The books that are being turned into movies are extremely popular and many people hold them near and dear to their heart. They do so well in sales for a reason, so why change something if it works perfectly well? Finally, and this may anger some people, YOU DON'T NEED TO READ THE BOOK TO WATCH THE MOVIE.

So I am one hundred percent the type of person who likes to read the book before the movie. I just like seeing the world come to life and comparing it to my imagination. But not everyone reads. It's the sad truth. I don't think you should have to read the book first because that excludes so many people. It's also lazy on the film maker's part. You should never assume your audience has done some type of research before watching the movie because if you cut out an important explanation, people will get lost, they will call you out, and your movie will not get good reviews/tons of money in the box office.

That being said, I love seeing lines thrown in there that are famous from the books and little actions that will drive the book audience wild but the movie goers won't see what the big deal is, but if it's something big, take a minute out of the movie and explain. It's a terrible thing to have a confused audience. So, what makes a successful book to movie adaptation? Stay as close to the book as possible, but always make sure to stop and consider those who haven't read the book and make sure they don't feel excluded.

So that's all for this post, if you guys have anything to share about this topic, please leave some comments here or on any of my social media accounts (see Contact Me tab). Also, this will not be the only discussion post I do on movie adaptations because I have so many more thoughts on them so stay tuned if you want to see more of them. This post took a long time to type because I had a lot of thoughts so I'm not sure when the next one will be up, but hopefully it'll be soon. See you guys next week!