Turning fan favorite books into a big screen adaptation is not a new idea, as we have seen for decades movies based on an author’s work. Some of these films portray the story beautifully, such as To Kill a Mockingbird or Gone With The Wind, keeping the elements alive through production. However, fans argue that a good amount of adaptations, such as Percy Jackson or The Shining, take away from what the author was attempting to convey and leave readers disappointed.
Avid readers often become nervous when one of their favorite titles is announced to become a film. Not for negative feelings towards the book, but in fear that the movie will take away from the story and alter important details. Unfortunately, there have been adaptations that have failed to meet the standards fans are searching for. Situations like these may lead those who have not read the book to think differently towards the author’s work or have a negative perspective towards the original story.
Many people like to think that the adaptation should be different in order to create more excitement about the film, and to show a different way of the story than received in the book. However, though it may create a new sense of anticipation for the movie, an adaptation should be exactly that– a visual showing of what the book was written for. Instead of a new story, or new characters, we should be able to see the words come alive across the big screen. Readers want to see what they spent hours reading about in order to create a full image of what they fell in love with. When screenwriters alter even a small detail, it can take away from the story and even create an entire new story.
Instead of focusing on creating new excitement, we should focus on reliving the initial excitement readers and fans had when they first picked up that book. A movie adaptation should honor the story and author, bringing their words and ideas to a visual viewpoint. Readers would be more inclined to get to the movie theatres, and it could spark up new fans to read the original story as well.
