Watched the movies? Read the books.

You+may+have+heard+of+many+of+these+popular+titles%2C+but+did+you+know+that+they+were+books+before+they+became+movies%3F

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

You may have heard of many of these popular titles, but did you know that they were books before they became movies?

Some of the best movies today were originally books. When they make the transition, they don’t always follow the story of the book, but they generally follow the idea.
When an author’s book gets turned into a movie, the author normally makes only about 2.5% of the budget of the movie, but they can also make royalties off the movie if it does well.
Reel Run Down said that the first book to be made into a movie was Trilby and Little Billee. This film was about a “45-second scene that depicted a part in the novel where Trilby sits at a table, eating cake and talking to her friend Little Billee.” A Christmas Carol, based on Charles Dickens famous novella, was another of the early movies based on a book. The first version was a silent film produced in 1901 and there have been at least 135 different versions of this story.
More recently, teen books have been made into movies like The Fault in our Stars (book 2012 / movie 2014), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (book 1999 / movie 2012), and Beautiful Creatures (book 2009 / movie 2013).
Two of my favorite genres of books is science fiction and fantasy, and some movies I recommend watching that are based on books are The Hunger Games (book 2008 / movie 2012), Divergent (book 2011 / movie 2014), Ready Player One (book 2011 / movie 2018), and Percy Jackson series (books 2005 – 2008 / movies 2010-2013).
Another book genre I love is horror, and while the movies are older than the science fiction and fantasy books I shared, they still reflect the tone of the books. Some popular horror films based on books are The Exorcist (book 1971/ movie 1973), It (book 1986 / movies 1990; 2017 [and miniseries]), The Shining (book 1977 / movie 1980), Bird Box (book 2014 / movie 2018), and Jaws (book 1974 / movie 1975).
You should always read the book first to see where the author really wanted the story to go and then see the director’s interpretation of the story. You can decide which is better after you’ve given yourself a chance to experience both.