Movie adaptations that are nothing like the books they’re based on


If you class yourself as a bookworm, there’s a high chance that you spend any free moment getting your nose stuck in a book and burying yourself into the lives of your favorite characters. In fact, you don’t even need to have free time to enjoy a good book – you can do work later! Because of this obsession with all things fiction, we often can’t contain our joy when we realize that our favorite books are being made into movie adaptations. However, that bubble is quickly burst when you realize that the movie adaptation is nothing like the book they’re based on…

A Clockwork Orange

If you’ve ever read A Clockwork Orange, you’ll know that it’s pretty darn intense. There’s murder, there are gangs, there’s violence, and there’s a heck load of milk (with a little added extra in it). Although the story can be incredibly shocking, Anthony Hopkins wrote the novel with a fairly happy ending where Alex rediscovers his free will and leaves the life of crime behind him. However, American publishers refused to publish this last chapter of the book – which means that Stanley Kubrick’s movie adaptation is both horrific and terrifying and the same time. With no happy ending, it changes the whole course of the movie…

Movie adaptations that are nothing like the books they’re based on

Forrest Gump

Let’s be honest, Forrest Gump is one of those quotable movies that literally has everything you could possibly want from it. There’s drama, there’s war, there’s humor, there’s adventure, and there’s even a love story! Yet, fans of the book will know that Winston Groom didn’t exactly write it like that. In fact, his 1986 novel features a very different character to the one we know and love in the Tom Hanks movie. Instead of being slightly quirky and cuddly, Groom’s Forrest is angry, malicious, and spends a lot of his life addicted to narcotics, spending time in jail, and even a little trip to space. It’s kinda different.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Although How The Grinch Stole Christmas is incredibly different to the book, we have to give this one a little explanation. After all, the Dr. Seuss book is actually made up of 64 pages that feature very little writing or dialogue. Because of this, Ron Howard had to get incredibly creative during the development of the movie and had to add in storylines and characters here and there to ensure they could make a movie that wouldn’t be over in half an hour. Despite the differences, it’s still one of the best holiday movies of all time.

I Am Legend

If you have read Richard Matheson’s post-apocalyptic masterpiece, you’ll know that the story mostly stems from the main character – who is played by Will Smith in the movie adaptation. In the book, Will Smith’s character is an average blue-collar worker who goes about his daily life, before his life is intercepted by threats at every angle. Nevertheless, it’s pretty different in the movie. In this case, Will Smith is a hardened scientist who already knows about the toxic plague, as well as the zombies that threaten the earth. Where’s the fun in that?

Movie adaptations that are nothing like the books they’re based on

Minority Report

Philip K. Dick is a legend when it comes to dystopian fiction, and we couldn’t wait to see what Steven Spielberg did with his story, Minority Report. Sadly, we were waiting for disappointment, because the movie was nothing like the book. Spielberg himself has noted that he only used the original story as a guide, and only part of it was actually used in the movie. The rest of it, he completely made up!

Although we love it when movie directors pick up our favorite books, we can’t stand it when they make a mockery of our stories and alter them completely – just like these movie adaptations that are nothing like the books they’re based on.

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