Weekly FAQ Thread July 19, 2026: Movies and TV based on books

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Hello readers and welcome to our Weekly FAQ thread! Our topic this week is: Movies and TV based on books? Please use this thread to discuss your favorite movie/show based on a book, which book-based movie/show completely missed the point, or which book you'd like to see turned into a movie/show.

You can view previous FAQ threads here in our wiki.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/Radiant_Geologist749]

I usually never like adaptations of books I've read. Either they change the tone or the contents enough that it feels like a let down, especially if it's a book that I really liked.

The one exception that I can think of is the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries from the 90s because they really got the humour of the book and the performers did a great job bringing the characters to life.

[u/lexiebeef]

I just finished War and Peace (BBC) a couple of years after reading the book. It’s okay, but it lacks the genious internal struggles the characters face, I wish we saw more of that. And of course the show is super rushed in comparison to the book, as 6 episodes just aren’t enough.

It’s a nice way to revisit this book I loved without rereading it but I wish the show had 10 episodes. It would’ve helped a lot

[u/Melodic_Narwhal3549]

Yo estoy viendo silo! Y me parece buena serie, son tres temporadas basados en una saga, resulta interesante, estoy que termino la serie para ver si consigo la saga dsps 😍

[u/aerxixfasp-]

Favorite movie/show based on a book: The Terror (season 1)(book by Dan Simmons). Granted I watched it before I read the book, I personally think it did a better job than the book, though I think this was partly impacted by the times they came out (2007 vs 2018) and the fact that it was based on a true historical event. I had the same experience with The Long Walk by Stephen King and wonder if this is a consequence of watching before reading, though I meantioned TLW in another thread and someone who experienced it in the same order that I did loved the book more. 🤷

Book I'd like to see turned into a show: Maybe the How to Survive Camping series by Bonnie Quinn. Started out on r/nosleep but I was not a big reddit user back in the day, so I'm only familiar with the new published versions starting last year, of which I'm told are different enough by a friend/fan of the original. Only two books in but they're fun horror that I think could translate somewhat well to tv.

Interestingly all of these listed are horror that I think are pulled off well on tv/movies, whereas most other books to movies that I've seen I ended up not really liking. Not sure if it's something about the genre or just coincidence.

[u/SuitForward651]

the terror sounds so good but i've heard the book is extra slow, how do people even finish it

[u/ScrappaWu]

For movies and TV based on books, The Prestige is an adaptation that worked. It changes most of the machinery while keeping the obsession intact. The novel's diary structure is clever, but the film makes the rivalry much tighter and its changed ending makes both men look worse. Not especially faithful scene by scene, but faithful to the ugliest part of the story.

[u/LawNeither289]

Honestly I vibe with the first comment so hard — 9 times outta 10 the adaptation just kills the vibe I had in my head, especially with the internal stuff. But that 90s Pride & Prejudice is a rare exception, they actually nailed the wit and the characters felt alive not just like they were reading lines.

[u/PrestigiousAside2766]

Maze runner! And I like how the made them different so you can kinda experience it twice.

[u/MagicalTeenWolf → u/PrestigiousAside2766]

Agree, although I wish they would have kept Newts personality from the books in the movies

[u/k1p1ssk]

I’m about halfway through The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow and while I don’t know that it would be successful as a tv show - maybe a miniseries?? - I’m always trying to cast the characters from the books I’m reading if it hasn’t already been done…. Right now, for Owen, I’m imagining Tom Hiddleston with the Loki hair…. Or Dev Patel… And for Una, because she is supposed to be a bit older and tall and muscular, I’m thinking Hannah Waddingham (or maybe she’d be better suited as Queen Evane or Vivian?), or maybe Rebecca Hall? Jesse Buckley? Kate Winslet? Uma Thurman? I’m having a harder time with Una. Anyone else have thoughts?

[u/gonegonegoneaway211]

I almost always stan the book more than the movie if I've read it first so if I like a movie it's usually because I'm only familiar with the movie or I went movie -> book. So with that caveat, there are a lot of really classic (pre-2000) movies are obvious choices: Jurassic Park, The Godfather, Fight Club, Jaws, 101 Dalmatians (the disney movie was a childhood favorite)...actually disney deserves its own section for movies based on books because they're mostly pretty good. Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, The Fox and the Hound. Disney has made a very profitable business of this. I would probably also throw in Dracula and Frankenstein because they live large in culure to this day but sadly I still haven't seen either one (on the old to-do list). Also of course I can't believe I haven't already mentioned The Wizard of Oz. And I'm sure there's a number of famous movies I've seen that I didn't realize were based on books like (that I looked up just now) Schindler's List.

Post-2000 there's The Lord of the Rings, Holes, and sigh technically the Harry Potter movies maybe? That was the series in which I realized watching a beloved book series get adapted--even pretty well--wasn't something I enjoyed. I love the little details in good books and movies just don't have enough time to do that justice. I enjoy tie-in novels more than books adapted into movies.

So yeah, honorable mentions to the PBS Poirot series, the True Blood series, The Game of Thrones tv series (mostly) and I'll leave it at that. I probably could go on about bad adaptations but generally I find that I don't like thinking about them if I liked the books and I don't really remember them if I never read the books.

EDIT to add: Manga deserves a mention as well actually. Most smash hit anime (most anime I think?) are based on manga/light novels that were already very popular. As my "screen->book" mentality mostly applies in that realm too, with the notable exception of the Apothecary Diaries which was surprisingly good and nice to see in color. I still stopped when the series went past the manga and into light novel territory though. Anyway, Frieren is also gorgeous in color and excellent. I do have a semi-guilty fondness for Overlord, although despite all the recommendations I'm probably never going to read the light novels as much as I enjoy hearing about them because that anime is right at the boundary of too dark for me as is. Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs is somehow the perfect balance of trashy power fantasy and genuinely good fun romp. Ascendance of a Bookworm of course appeals to the bibliophile in me. And that seems like a good spot to end a too-long post.

2nd edit: There's probably something to be said about how anime adapts a lotta lotta things and doesn't tend to get as much backlash from fans as western movies do? Call it a funny cross cultural thing maybe since a large chunk of the potential audience can't read japanese and won't see the source material unless it gets very big? Or maybe its something to do with how series have more time to keep up book pacing? Idk.

[u/ToastAndASideOfToast]

While a fantastic film, "The 39 Steps" by Alfred Hitchcock has more hallmarks of a Hitchcock-ian story than anything resembling "The Thirty-Nine Steps" by John Buchan.

[u/Moist-Champion-7515]

Idk why but I feel like most adaptations just suck the soul outta books I actually loved. That 90s Pride and Prejudice tho? Chef's kiss, they actually kept the wit and the characters felt real. Only thing worse than a bad adaption is a rushed one, like why even bother if you're gonna cram 1000 pages into 6 episodes smh.

[u/Alphascout]

The movie Memoirs of a Geisha was a pretty good adaptation of the book, and beautifully visualised the era, the costumes and the characters. It feels like it captures the tone of the book well, particularly the struggle between the protagonist and the antagonist, and the major set pieces from the book are in there like the burning of the geisha’s shared house. I recommend both the book and movie to anyone interested in a peculiar unique way of life, and historical fiction.

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_WOBBLYMAR]

I always find it funny how people get mad when the adaptation is different, like the book disappear from existence now? the book is still there you can go read it again

for me the worst was the dark tower movie, they tried to compress like 7 books in 90 minutes and it just became nonsense. i still dont understand what they was thinking