Got a hit book? Turn it into a hit film. What could be more natural? The name alone will sell tickets, and turning a hit book to the screen can't be that hard, can it?
Sadly, as many studios have found, it's not quite that simple. Print and film are very different media; what works for one will fall flat on the other. A good rule of thumb is: Great literature usually makes a bad movie, while mediocre literature often makes a great movie.
In books, special effects are easy but in film, they are expensive. Books describing a character’s thoughts are normal but in film, voiceovers are rare and tricky. In print, a story can take days to read meanwhile film audiences won't sit still for more than a few hours. Getting around these problems means changing the story, for better or for worse.
One issue is that a typical novel is simply much too long to fit all of it in a two (or even three) hour movie, so significant parts of it must be cut out. Sometimes entire characters may be changed, have their screen time lengthened/shortened (if not cut altogether), or important book-related plot points may be whizzed by. All of this tends to a trendy belief that no matter how good or bad the movie is, "The book was better."
Sometimes the film is so successful the book gets forgotten. Other times, the book is still read long after the film is forgotten. In the middle ground, the book will probably be republished with a cover based on the movie poster and "Now a major motion picture!" or something emblazoned on it.
What is your opinion on changing books into movies? Does it encourage children to read the book or does is discourage motivation to read if they can simply watch a movie for two hours?
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