Dream Film Adaptations

Film adaptations are a bit of an iffy one for me. They either turn out really well or really terrible. For example, The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks. This is one of my favourite films AND favourite books. Granted they are not entirely the same. There are some differences between the two, but the overarching themes and key components to the story remain the same. A beautiful story and an equally beautiful adaptation.

So I have a few books that I would LOVE to see as adaptations, so it depends on what genre we’re considering, and whether we’re looking at a series or standalones. I have a lot more opinions of the adaptations of books to films and TV shows than I should have.

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is an incredible book. It tackles hard subjects; it has three dimensional characters, and it is truly wonderful. Netflix recently made an adaptation of this and something about it just didn’t tick the boxes that I wanted it to. Don’t get me wrong, it still looked into the same hard topics. The characters just weren’t what I wanted them to be. Something felt like it was missing the whole way through. It didn’t grab me, it didn’t make me cry, laugh, love the same way that the book did, it felt almost heartless. Like the same levels of emotion that Niven put into the book was not translated very well onto the screen. A big part of me wants to ask if this is just the way things are. Can things be portrayed in exactly the same way and bring out the same thoughts and feelings on a screen as they can on paper? This is just one example of many that I can think of on the spot right now.

On the other hand, The Fault in Our Stars dragged every emotion out of me that I had. This adaptation was beautiful. Credit where credit is due to all of those involved in the making of the film. It was incredible. It was heart breaking and joyful and sad and exciting and everything inbetween. But it was also easy to watch. John Green’s books are very much intended for a young adult audience, the film was made with the same audience in mind. It put loss at the centre of its story but made it easy to digest, allowed people to see the beauty in it and not just the sorrow. This is a very good example of an adaptation done right. Not everything is word for word accurate to the book, but in this case, it didn’t need to be.

These are just two examples of film adaptations. There are hundreds of them out there. Look at To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Percy Jackson, Me Before You, Midnight Sun, Divergent, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Little Women. These are just a few off the top of my head. Most of the films and TV shows you see are remakes, or adaptations from books or comic books. You can probably think of some right now while you’re sat here reading this. You can decide for yourselves which of them are good or bad, and whether or not adaptations are worth it in general. BUT, now onto the question I was actually asking. What would my dream adaptation be?

At this point I have definitely made my love of Cassandra Clare and the Shadowhunters known to everyone who reads anything I write. So I would love to see The Infernal Devices trilogy made into films. I’ve thought about this more than I care to admit because I originally thought this would make a great TV show. Three books. Three seasons. But with TV shows there is a tendency for them to go massively off book and make up their own side plots and new characters and the original story gets lost. Or look at the Shadowhunters TV show. I loved this. I loved the way the characters were portrayed, and I loved the actors that were used. They were exactly how I pictured them to be. And Harry Shum Jr as Magnus? GENIUS! But imagine these actors, a well written script, and a great budget? The films could have been phenomenal if given the right ingredients. I want to see The Infernal Devices as films. With an amazing budget and a kick ass director and actors that fit the descriptions of the books. I know the likelihood of this happening is slim to none, and if it did happen, there would be some way that it didn’t go well, that’s just how it goes. If I could make a series into films, and I could control every aspect of what was going on. This would be it.

I would also like to see A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer as a TV series. Now I know what I just said about TV series and usually I hate it. But the format the books are written in would work well as a TV series. She switches points of view frequently. And this could be portrayed as different episodes being from different points of view. I think this would work so well and be true to the story that we are being told. I loved this book and I’m still living in my Brigid Kemmerer rabbit hole honestly. Can you even imagine binge watching A Curse so Dark and Lonely. I’d love it, and there is enough material written with the addition of Forging Silver into Stars that if it kept getting renewed, they wouldn’t have to start making things up that weren’t in the book. A large story could be told following the source material given. I for one would watch this universe unfold on my TV screen.

A few notable mentions that I would like to see adaptations done correctly of would be:

- These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

- The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare

- Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

I could go on and name hundreds of books honestly. I’m on the fence about whether or not I’d actually like to see them as adaptations or not. Would it ruin the image that I already have in my head of the story? Would it make me sad if the actors cast didn’t match what I thought the character looked like? Would I be okay if they changed any part of the story? Would I still like it as much if any changes were made to it? But if I were to pick a few to make into adaptations that were done well, these would be it.

What would be your dream adaptation? If you could control every aspect and it be perfect, which of your favourites would you love to see on the big screen?

J x