The Necessities of Successful Adaptation

Not Every Book Needs To Be Adapted for the Screen if It Means a Poor Portrayal

Photo by Martin de Arriba on Unsplash

Book lovers all over the world have experienced the feeling of pure ecstasy that comes from finding out that their favorite book series will be adapted for the screen. However, more often than not, the fans are ultimately disappointed with the showing. Of course, this is not always true. Some film franchises are diamonds in the rough and manage to portray the universe accurately while adding to its beauty. Certain components make these films so successful with diehard fans. These components include high author involvement, consistent structuring and only necessary plot changes.

First off, the author’s influence is important for a good adaptation. Percy Jackson is a great example of this. The movie adaptation, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” was released in 2010. According to IMDb, Rick Riordan, the author of Percy Jackson novels, was not a producer or scriptwriter. The only credit he’s given is to his original novel. The fact that the movie is rated only 48% on Rotten Tomatoes proves that this low author involvement resulted in a poor adaptation. On the other hand, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is a television show that was released on Disney Plus in 2023. According to IMDb, Rick Riordan is not only credited as a writer of season one but also as a producer. This resulted in a much higher rating of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans are greatly anticipating the release of season two which is expected to hit Disney Plus in 2025. The difference in the level of author involvement between the movie and television show adaptations proves that higher author involvement results in a better adaptation.

To continue, the structure and length of the film must be consistent with the book. While “The Hobbit” is an aesthetically pleasing movie with accurate characters, its structure and plotline differ significantly from the book. “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” is a relatively short book as each edition is roughly 300 pages long; however, the producers of “The Hobbit” movies, the first of which was released in 2012,  stretched the saga into a trilogy.  At first glance, this appears to be an effort to remain true to the plot and include every detail; however, after watching the movies, it is clear that the trilogy was needed because of all the extra plot that was added. According to Tolkien Gateway, the movie’s director, Peter Jackson, added these details to make “The Hobbit” trilogy a prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” film saga that he had previously directed rather than a standalone series. The added details can be connected back to “The Lord of the Rings.” However, because of the constant additions, several parts of the original plotline had to be omitted. Consistent structuring would have led to a more satisfying accurate adaptation for diehard book fans.

Finally, plot changes should only occur as needed to keep longtime fans satisfied. “Shadow and Bone” and “Six of Crows” are both book series written by Leigh Bardugo. In 2021, a television series adaptation of “Shadow and Bone” was released on Netflix. This series includes both the universes of “Shadow and Bone” and “Six of Crows.” Because of this, the need for a change in storyline is integral. Regardless of the change, the characters and worlds remain consistent. There are even some dialogues that are pulled straight from the book. As a result of this effort to immerse audiences into the original universes written by Bardugo, book fans and even the author herself were incredibly satisfied with the adaptation. Bardugo expressed her sorrow at having the final season of the show canceled by Netflix.

“Most authors never get to see their work adapted,” Bardugo writes. “Many who do end up regretting the experience. I’m one of the lucky few who can look at the adaptation with pride and tremendous joy.”

Unlike Riordan, Bardugo was satisfied with the plot changes that were necessary for her books to be adapted the way they were. As long as the aspects of immersion and casting are there, plot changes can occur without pushback from longtime fans.

For most movie adaptations, diehard book fans make up a significant portion of the watchers and reviewers. These are the people who will be most critical if something feels wrong and most satisfied if something feels right. According to Patrick Henry College, the reason audiences are oftentimes disappointed in an adaptation is because they have in their minds what the film should look like based on their experience reading it.

If an adaptation is going to be made, it needs to be executed to the producers’ best efforts. This can be accomplished by ensuring author interaction, keeping structuring consistent, and staying true to the plot.