Books into movies how do they decide?

[Emurelda]

I'm curious to understand why the Belgariad series by David Eddings hasn't been turned into a movie. Which got me asking myself what are the factors. It's an epic fantasty similar to LotR. Maybe that's it?

The questions immediately motivated me to pose it here

Oh...he said no. Well this is a short thread

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Saleability, costs of production, technical feasibility, merchandise potential and probably a lot of other considerations.

 

[Emurelda]

I was thinking more about already established major book titles like the Belgariad series. But it just turned out that biggest factor I didn't allow for was the granting of permission from the author him/herself Reminds me of the film Saving Mr Banks and how the author of Mary Poppins gave in eventually to Walt Disney.

Control is a big issue for some authors. That's why I like letting go I'm beginning to sound like the Frozen song without the appeal

 

[KG Christopher]

I suppose also, how do you know the film will be a true reflection on the book?

The scouring of the Shire didn't even get a sniff in LOTR films, but it was quite a pertanant last twist to the book, you go off to war, and when you return, everything has changed, on the 'they lived happily ever after' ending in the films.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

What's always puzzled me is how different studios release films with the same basic premise, though this article goes some way towards explaining what are known as twin films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films

It annoys me when wonderful books are adapted into movies, and the key message is fudged or removed entirely. I recommended Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy to all of my friends, and many read it loving the stories as much as I did. I was cautiously pleased when I heard that the first book Northern Lights (called The Golden Compass in the U.S.A.) was being filmed. Somehow I wasn't surprised that the religious elements were removed, for fear of offending viewers, and it ruined the story; the film received mixed reviews, performing poorly at the box office and plans for sequels were scrapped.

 

[KG Christopher]

What's always puzzled me is how different studios release films with the same basic premise, though this article goes some way towards explaining what are known as twin films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films

It annoys me when wonderful books are adapted into movies, and the key message is fudged or removed entirely. I recommended Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy to all of my friends, and many read it loving the stories as much as I did. I was cautiously pleased when I heard that the first book Northern Lights (called The Golden Compass in the U.S.A.) was being filmed. Somehow I wasn't surprised that the religious elements were removed, for fear of offending viewers, and it ruined the story; the film received mixed reviews, performing poorly at the box office and plans for sequels were scrapped.

That's exactly what I thought about the film. The books are good and the main element about controlling all thought across mutliple universes goes out the window.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

The Golden Compass is a film that I will never ever watch, which might make me seem like a hypocrite in the light of what I said before, but life is too short to waste time on things that I know will disappoint and infuriate me. Annoyingly, the film has a cast featuring some of my favourite actors—but even Eva Green (be still my beating heart) as witch queen Serafina Pekkala isn't enough to tempt me.

Funnily enough, I gave the His Dark Materials trilogy to a friend who was an avid reader, and she fell in love with the stories. She dragged her daughter and son-in-law to the cinema to see the film adaptation, sitting there fuming at the desecration of a fine novel. Her relatives loved the film, so they had a steaming great row about it!

Well done, Paul—spreading love and light as usual...

 

[Amber Zade]

I'm curious to understand why the Belgariad series by David Eddings hasn't been turned into a movie. Which got me asking myself what are the factors. It's an epic fantasty similar to LotR. Maybe that's it?

The questions immediately motivated me to pose it here

Oh...he said no. Well this is a short thread

Money. Always follow the money.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Enough of that swearing Amber. Um, I just wish I could.... swear I mean

 

[Amber Zade]

Enough of that swearing Amber. Um, I just wish I could.... swear I mean

Lol

 

[Emurelda]

Money. Always follow the money.

Not always...

 

[Amber Zade]

Not always...

A very hopeful thought.

 

[Jay Aitch]

What's always puzzled me is how different studios release films with the same basic premise, though this article goes some way towards explaining what are known as twin films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films

It annoys me when wonderful books are adapted into movies, and the key message is fudged or removed entirely. I recommended Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy to all of my friends, and many read it loving the stories as much as I did. I was cautiously pleased when I heard that the first book Northern Lights (called The Golden Compass in the U.S.A.) was being filmed. Somehow I wasn't surprised that the religious elements were removed, for fear of offending viewers, and it ruined the story; the film received mixed reviews, performing poorly at the box office and plans for sequels were scrapped.

I seem to recall that there was quite a lot of backroom wrangling about said religious overtones and whether to include them. I think there was a lot of pressure from fundamentalist (and some less so) elements of the american protestant church that objected and threatened boycotts etc.

 

[Amber Zade]

I seem to recall that there was quite a lot of backroom wrangling about said religious overtones and whether to include them. I think there was a lot of pressure from fundamentalist (and some less so) elements of the american protestant church that objected and threatened boycotts etc.

The whole thing was really entertaining to me - the Catholic church was all up in arms - and if I recall there were people amongst my Father's catholic posse who did skip the movie. I believe the issue was about soul - where it is - what it is etc. They lack confidence in their convcitions if their idea of the soul is threatened by a children's move.

What entertains me about such protesters is what they choose to be offended by and what they choose to just slip by them and get into theaters without any hubbub.

 

[Jay Aitch]

Well we have all been offended by films to the detriment of our souls. I for one am scarred for life after watching A.I: Artistic Imbecility.

 

[Emurelda]

A very hopeful thought.

I'll refer back to authors who don't grant film rights.

 

[Chase Gamwell]

I think this is a very fascinating subject, @Emurelda. I just watched The Martian this weekend and it got me thinking about how stories are turned into movies. The Martian was Andy Weir's first novel, but only became a novel because of how popular the story was (he originally released it as a serial on his website then an e-book before it was picked up by a publisher). After that, it eventually made it to movie status. I can see why it is a movie - the book was fantastic and the movie was similarly good.

The part of the story that's missing is the in between. Who does the research on stories and decides which ones will become movies? Who looks at something like "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and goes "that would make a fantastic movie". In some cases, whoever researches the books does a fantastic job, but in others the ball is thoroughly dropped. Just once, it would be interesting to achieve "fly on the wall" status to be able to sit in on the initial pitch meeting (and the eventual chewing out meeting if the movie bombs - like Battlefield Earth did ).

 

[Emurelda]

I think this is a very fascinating subject, @Emurelda. I just watched The Martian this weekend and it got me thinking about how stories are turned into movies. The Martian was Andy Weir's first novel, but only became a novel because of how popular the story was (he originally released it as a serial on his website then an e-book before it was picked up by a publisher). After that, it eventually made it to movie status. I can see why it is a movie - the book was fantastic and the movie was similarly good.

The part of the story that's missing is the in between. Who does the research on stories and decides which ones will become movies? Who looks at something like "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and goes "that would make a fantastic movie". In some cases, whoever researches the books does a fantastic job, but in others the ball is thoroughly dropped. Just once, it would be interesting to achieve "fly on the wall" status to be able to sit in on the initial pitch meeting (and the eventual chewing out meeting if the movie bombs - like Battlefield Earth did ).

Nice food for thought to mull over. You know what I have learnt ...which is very little in this area..however, many film rights are bought than are actually used fully. So that means there are a lot of film rights sold without them turned into movies.,so the process is a lot longer than our fly-on-the-wall life's span.

 

[Chase Gamwell]

Nice food for thought to mull over. You know what I have learnt ...which is very little in this area..however, many film rights are bought than are actually used fully. So that means there are a lot of film rights sold without them turned into movies.,so the process is a lot longer than our fly-on-the-wall life's span.

That's a very good point. I do know that some rights are only held if movies are made every once in a while, too. That's why you might see a really terrible straight to video movie of something every once in a while. There was a recent example of a really famous series coming out with one just so that the rights wouldn't revert to the original holder, but I can't remember which series it was. I'll update if it comes to mind.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Hm, here's a movie:- "Dead Fly On the Wall Syndrome The Curse of Writers Imagination"

 

[Jay Aitch]

I think this is a very fascinating subject, @Emurelda. I just watched The Martian this weekend and it got me thinking about how stories are turned into movies. The Martian was Andy Weir's first novel, but only became a novel because of how popular the story was (he originally released it as a serial on his website then an e-book before it was picked up by a publisher). After that, it eventually made it to movie status. I can see why it is a movie - the book was fantastic and the movie was similarly good.

The part of the story that's missing is the in between. Who does the research on stories and decides which ones will become movies? Who looks at something like "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and goes "that would make a fantastic movie". In some cases, whoever researches the books does a fantastic job, but in others the ball is thoroughly dropped. Just once, it would be interesting to achieve "fly on the wall" status to be able to sit in on the initial pitch meeting (and the eventual chewing out meeting if the movie bombs - like Battlefield Earth did ).

Now that's a reality show I would watch.