From “The Last of Us” to “Daisy Jones & The Six,” Hollywood keeps turning books, games, spinoffs, and comics into blockbuster TV series. The biggest reasons are the rising popularity of streaming services and TV shows’ ability to dive deeper into complex stories than movies.
Just take a look at all the TV shows that came out from major franchises, “The Mandalorian” from the Star Wars franchise and “WandaVision” (and many other shows) from Marvel have delved deeper into each universe, giving fans a more complex view of side characters and stories.
Some studios do it well, and some completely miss the mark. Shows such as Joey, a spinoff from Friends, have only 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, and many Friends fans are unaware of the show’s existence.
Other shows developed from video games, such as “The Last of Us” with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey and “Arcane” with Ella Purnell and Hailee Steinfield, have done extremely well. “The Last of Us” has a rating of 96%, and “Arcane” has a rare 100%.
Given that these video game and book adaptations are going extremely well, it’s no secret studios will keep producing them. Looking ahead, the untitled “Harry Potter” show is set to start filming in the summer of 2025. Will fans be biased toward the original actors and not enjoy the new series? Will the series bring more details from the books that the movies miss?
It’s not the first time studios have remade previous book adaptations. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson book series started in 2005. In 2010, the book was turned into a movie. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, starring Alexandra Daddario and Logan Lerman, received a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, disappointing book series fans everywhere.
However, in 2023, fans got the TV show adaptation of the series. “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” was a turning point for fans of the series. The first well-made adaptation received a 91% rating.
The recent success of TV show adaptations vs. movie adaptations shows the main reason why we’re seeing more video game and book adaptations turn into TV shows. Streaming services also make it extremely easy for fans to watch a story unfold little by little with more detail without sitting for three hours straight for a movie.
My guess? We’ll continue to see more books and games turn into TV shows, but movie adaptations won’t go away either. New adaptations such as “A Minecraft Movie” and “Until Dawn” are set to release in 2025, and fans have mixed expectations. While some fans love to see their favorite books and games on the big screen, some are tired of these adaptations and prefer to see original stories.
The question remains, whether book or video game, will the small screen outshine the big screen?
