With so many forms of entertainment at our disposal, two seem to dominate this sphere — books, and movies. And if you combine them, you get a lot of book to movie adaptations — the ultimate form of entertainment. However, not every book adaptation becomes successful in the eyes of the audience. A book to movie adaptation can sometimes be a flop, same with a series. The failure is usually the result of the butchering of the original story and bad creative decisions on the filmmaker's side.
It’s no secret that some books are much longer than their adaptations. Some of the best book to movie adaptations (TV show adaptations included) are ones that correctly use the given material, cutting out the boring parts, and leaving only the fun or most important ones. But not everyone can do it. Many bad movies based on books follow the original material letter to letter. An adaptation like this removes the whole creative side of the film, making the final product feel a bit bland.
If you want an adaptation to be a box office smash, you have to understand the deeper context of the book. Books made into movies and shows have to be true to the main idea that the author wrote. If the story is about consumerism, the visual content has to showcase it clearly and loudly. Books being made into movies usually become victims of misunderstanding and incorrect creative decisions. A lot of irrelevant material is added, which can have an adverse impact on the story.
And truth to be told, there have been a lot of books turned into movies and TV shows that aren’t on par with the original material. Since the internet is full of polarizing opinions (looking at you, Twitter), someone asked on AskReddit the question we are all eager to answer — “Which movie or TV adaptation is the biggest letdown for you?” Scroll down and upvote the answer you agree with the most. If you know any more bad TV shows or movies based on books, leave a comment below.
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#1 The Hobbit
"Yep. They didn't have enough material for three movies. It felt stretched. Like not enough butter over too much bread."
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47points
#2 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
"The Percy Jackson movie It's bad enough the casting and effects were sub par But changing the story completely after act 1 really soured my enjoyment. The changes weren't that good either. Hoping the streaming series is better."
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46points
#3 The Eragon
"This a classic example of a poor adaptation. It was not merely different from the book: it literally didn't hold together as a story. My husband and I went to see the film, and then we went to dinner, where I spent the entire conversation explaining all the parts of the film that didn't make sense for anyone who hadn't read the book."
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40points
#4 A Wrinkle In Time
"I watched the film recently and what a mess. The kids especially the boys were so badly directed and they cut out the twins. I also can't stand Oprah due to her massive ego."
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37points
#5 The Witcher
"The Witcher. Characters are all portrayed really well but they've absolutely butchered the story beyond comprehension. Honestly id be fine with changes if the result ended up good but the latest season was just a gradual descent into awful tropey writing and reliance on unimpressive cgi monster fights."
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37points
#6 World War Z
"World War Z. They somehow turned one of the most unique books into the most generic movie possible."
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35points
#7 The Giver
"Should never have even been adapted in the first place. The color-blindness twist is so satisfying when you read it as a kid, and basically impossible to translate to film by its very nature."
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35points
#8 The Maze Runner
"The Maze Runner series. The first movie was OK, and the rest were utter nonsense."
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33points
#9 Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix & Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
"I will never recover from the adaptations of book 5 and 6. I remember being 12-14 and appalled. Don’t even want to attempt to revisit those movies now, I’d be even harsher."
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32points
#10 Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy
"Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy ranks pretty high because of the delta between how fantastic the books are and how horrible the film."
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31points
#11 Anne With An E
"Anne With an E on Netflix is so depressing and dull. It has almost nothing in common with Anne of Green Gables except for character names and setting, honestly. I hated it. At least we have the 1985 TV movie that is a much more faithful adaptation!"
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30points
#12 A Series Of Unfortunate Events
"A Series of Unfortunate Events. To be super clear I loved the new Netflix show; it finally did that series some justice, and Neil Patrick Harris was incredible, in my opinion. But the original movie (with Jim Carrey) from my childhood was such a major letdown and probably the first time I felt really betrayed by something like that. Those books were so, so incredibly important to me growing up, and that movie was a travesty. Jim Carrey was an interesting choice, and I feel like he was capable of doing it right, but the whole thing just came off so silly. And combining the first three books into one confusing and sloppy movie... Just like, why? It's like they knew they'd never get the chance to tell the rest of the story, so they just slapped together what they could and said, 'Eff it — we'll do it live.'"
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29points
#13 I Am Legend
"I Am Legend. I loved the ending of the book so much and was so disappointed by the movie."
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27points
#14 The Dark Tower
"The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. They compressed seven books into one movie. Needless to say, all atmosphere and feel with the characters and story disappeared. I'll go read the books again."
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26points
#15 Fahrenheit 451
"Fahrenheit 451. As someone who knows every word of that book, and who also loves Michael B. Jordan, that movie just hurt. I couldn’t make it 10 minutes."
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26points
#16 X-Men: Dark Phoenix
"Do comic storylines count? If yes, the monumental Dark Phoenix Saga has been butchered twice by Fox. Like, why?! The thing is the whole arc can't be impeccably delivered in just a single movie. It should have been a trilogy or something."
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25points
#17 The Golden Compass
"Some of the casting was great, but the lackluster script and extremely watered-down story and themes ruined it."
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25points
#18 Divergent
"Divergent. Fourteen-year-old me never got over the heartbreak that was the movie adaption."
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24points
#19 My Sister's Keeper
"The original ending had left me in tears. It also seemed quite fitting for the story. She was born for her, and at the end, when she died, it was also for her. The movie totally ruined it and made it something that can be predicted by everyone, whilst the book ending took me by surprise."
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23points
#20 Jack Reacher
"I think the movies, especially the first, are genuinely good on their own. As Reacher movies however, they are terrible. Was really pleased with the show."
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23points