Hollywood loves adapting books into movies, which only makes perfect sense.
There's already an existing fanbase, and an outline for the script to follow.
Piece of cake, right?
Unfortunately, it doesn't always make for good movies, as the strengths of one medium
don't always carry over into another.
While there are plenty of bad books that make for bad movies, the real tragedy is when a
great book is adapted into a mockery of the source material.
From grim and complex works that were turned into braindead action flicks, to children's
books turned into sleazy comedies, here are great books that were ruined by terrible movies.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Alan Moore is rightly considered one of the best comic book writers of all time, and The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a perfect example of why.
Following a group of some of the most famous figures in literary history, the series is
a densely constructed work that belies its obvious high concept.
Moore has frequently been outspoken about his distaste for adaptations of his work in
general, but The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is in a league of its own.
On the positive side, The League was directed by Stephen Norrington a few years after he'd
helmed Blade, and it starred Sean Connery as Allan Quartermain.
Unfortunately, that's about the last of its positive qualities.
Connery cost so much that nearly everyone else in the cast was a no-name actor, and
the script deviated significantly from the comic.
Even worse was the addition of Tom Sawyer, supposedly to excite American audiences.
But Americans were not excited to see the film, nor was anyone else.
It was such a disaster that Connery retired from acting, and Norrington announced his
decision to quit Hollywood.
Gulliver's Travels
In the realm of satire, Jonathan Swift is an old-school, over-the-top master of genius
parody.
So when adapting his work, you should probably select a lead actor whose subtlety feeling
is unrivaled.
Jack Black, despite his many positives, is not that actor, and casting him in the lead
role of 2010's Gulliver's Travels is only one of the many mistakes this movie makes.
The film retains almost none of the book's clever writing and winking references, instead
relying on outlandish performances and easy jokes.
Despite negative reviews, the worldwide box office was actually decent.
Unfortunately, that probably now means that Jack Black putting out a raging fire with
his urine is the only frame of reference many people have for Swift's best work.
"Bring the beast down."
Valérian and Laureline
While there are plenty of poorly made adaptations by filmmakers who couldn't care less about
the source material, passion projects can turn out just as badly.
That's what happened with Luc Besson's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, an adaptation
of the long-running classic French sci-fi comic Valérian and Laureline.
Besson had been a fan of the comic for years, and its influence on his filmography is obvious.
But his Valerian adaptation stripped away the comics' sly style and replaced it with
a sloppy, poorly paced rollercoaster ride.
While the visuals are beautiful, leads Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne delivered wooden
performances that seemed more like auditions than a final cut.
Critics were harsh, and the box office was so underwhelming that it's unlikely we'll
ever get a sequel.
The Giver
The best adaptations understand that any changes from the source material should be made for
the good of the new medium.
But the makers of 2014's The Giver may have gone a little overboard when switching things
up.
The novel follows a 12-year-old boy named Jonas who becomes the receptacle for all of
his society's repressed memories and emotions.
It's a slow burn that's heavy with symbolism and a largely internal conflict with very
little action.
But the movie ages Jonas up to 16, gives him a love interest, and sprints from plot point
to plot point with manic pacing.
The intent might have been to keep audiences from getting bored by weighty conversations
and internal monologues, but the end result is a movie that looks identical to all the
other dystopian young-adult franchises.
"We need sameness, don't you think?
Oh I completely agree.
But still, it's all so beautiful."
Eragon
Following a young farm boy who hatches a dragon from an egg, Eragon was a massively popular
novel.
Fans thrilled to the detailed maps and complicated relationships between various factions.
Unfortunately, anyone hoping for an adaptation on the level of Peter Jackson's Lord of the
Rings trilogy was disappointed by the 2006 film version.
The movie had to condense a ludicrous amount of plot to fit the running time.
Fans of the book were furious at what was left out, while unknowing audiences were just
plain confused.
It was critically savaged and a box office disappointment, and what could have been the
start of a new fantasy franchise ended up instead just a forgettable one-off.
The Cat in the Hat
There's arguably no greater children's author than Dr. Seuss, whose books feature iconic
artwork and a uniquely playful vocabulary.
His work manages to be timeless because it truly is for all ages.
Subtlety ought to be the name of the game when adapting Dr. Seuss, but 2003's The Cat
in the Hat is anything but subtle.
Starring Mike Myers as the title troublemaker, the humor is crude and vulgar, resembling
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas more than classic children's literature.
He made a mess in the halls that's why they sent him to a bed to catapult his ba- ba-
ba- BOY!"
The set design does mirror Seuss' style, but what looks fun on paper becomes garish and
unsettling in live action.
The critical consensus was decidedly negative, and all the disturbing innuendo still haunts viewers dreams.