Why Adaptations Fail

[@stagelinedpro]

Ironic the Eragon movie had a bigger budget then the individual Lord of the Rings movies. Guess that shows the Eragon team just didn't have the ingenuity.

[@CenterRow]

Oh wow, you're right!

[@joliethevenot4596]

I had no idea!

[@titanhunter6431]

In the Movie there were also these Tarzan Women who jumped with Lians in to the Battle lol

[@amirhb7531]

@@CenterRow well f me

[@snowwolf1854]

Oh god, the percy jackson flashbacks are coming back!

[@CenterRow]

Trigger Warning

[@OnionYeeter]

@@CenterRow not in the sjw way.

[@peterlewis2178]

At least now we're getting a Percy Jackson disney plus show, and Rick Riordan is heavily involved in the process, producing it and writing the initial scripts. Finally the justice we deserve.

[@lakeside1168]

@@peterlewis2178 Some of my favorite preteen books that all you can say about the movies, is that they didn't care about the original image. They wanted to make their own version of his story and thats disrespectful to me. Everything was wrong in the movies.

[@peterlewis2178]

@@lakeside1168 I agree. I still enjoyed the movies, but I had to convince myself that it wasn't really Percy Jackson first. I definitely understand why a lot of people hate them, since it's not that easy to disconnect yourself from the source material, and not everyone can do it like I can. They're decent movies, but absolutely horrible adaptations.

[@Nkanyiso_K]

*God Artemis's redemption arc was so much fun to read when I was in High School.* That movie is frustrating

[@CenterRow]

Right?

[@EirikHFD]

4:54 omg, I jumped a bit there 😅

[@CenterRow]

Sorry about that! Missed it until I published it

[@Subsidize101]

mee too lol

[@daniellado2523]

And then there are movies that blow the book away like Forrest Gump and The Godfather. It is possible for the adaptation to be better than the original source. The problem I see is when the movie decides to make a completely different story for no reason. Look at I Robot and Jumper for examples.

[@CenterRow]

Ooo, I Robot would have made for a great example!

[@andreasmeelie1889]

I most definitely say that the Divergent books and movies are prime examples of taking the movies to a completely different story for no reason. The first Divergent movie followed the source material and then the second one did for a while till the ending completely changed everything out of practically nowhere and then the third one was too different for it's own good. I enjoyed the films but I didn't like it. :(

[@Tedris4]

I, Robot the book: man, screw “robots overthrow humanity” stories, they’re overplayed and dull, let’s make some stories around some simple rules and the results of robotic interpretations of those rules! I, Robot the film: robots overthrow humanity

[@jamesenglebert9149]

Gotta love “How to train your dragon!”

[@CenterRow]

Such a great movie, but nothing like the book

[@jamesenglebert9149]

@@CenterRow Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has no named characters they had no choice but to make up characters.

[@Eggnog88]

@@CenterRow better, however

[@shinndig1293]

This makes me all the more glad that Assassin’s Creed is now getting a second chance as a Netflix series similar to The Witcher. As well as cautiously optimistic for the new Dune film.

[@CenterRow]

Right? Same!

[@thatplaystationgamer3262]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Maze Runner are 2 examples where I prefer the movie to the book

[@CenterRow]

I'd agree!

[@joliethevenot4596]

These are great examples yeah

[@debzykvids]

Same for Maze Runner with me (yet to check out Perks)! I read the books and saw the movies around the same time and preferred the 3 films so much more! Even though it came off generic at points at least it wasn't overtly nonsensical in how it ended - let alone with certain twists.

[@BlondeCurlsBlueEyes]

Totally agree, and I'd add Jaws as another one

[@patriciomejia1114]

I can't speak for The Maze Runner (I haven't read the books or watched the movies), but I'm not surprised about The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Stephen Chbosky, the author of the book, directed the movie and wrote its screenplay, so the movie has a similar feel to the book, and while I love both the movie and the book, I will admit that the book has so much material that it's sometimes difficult to tell what the focus of the story is, something that is improved upon in the movie (at least in my opinion).

[@KyleRDent]

Dude, I think you hit upon a genius idea in the right hands - Dracula as a found footage film. If they're going to be lame and put him in modern day, then they could at least get creative with it.

[@CenterRow]

Oh, you're right! Cool, making this now!

[@IsaacV24]

When it comes to bad adaptations, Artemis Foul is its own conversation of failure. It’s not just a bad adaptation, it’s so hollow, bland and not interesting that it can even be a entertaining watch on its own. It almost reminds me of Dragonball: Evolution (which I have not seen).

[@daniellado2523]

Also they do the adaptation sin of completely going in the opposite direction that the original story went, when people enjoyed the original source already. Artemis is supposed to be a villain in the first book for a reason.

[@CenterRow]

Right? it's so bad!

[@debzykvids]

That bookworm childhood introduction was quite the flex. xD

[@CenterRow]

Haha sadly I don't read anywhere near that much now.

[@timtam3730]

@@CenterRow 😢

[@debzykvids]

@@CenterRow I haven't that much either tbh, so you're not alone. Especially with how grim 2020's been, getting my reading groove back has been hard. 😭

[@brookeh1287]

I never realized that Eragon was so influenced by Star Wars. Great video!

[@CenterRow]

Thanks Brooke!

[@reaperofinsanity3370]

only really the first book

[@willlyon7129]

Basically trying to capture lightning in a bottle.

[@AJponyAPschannel]

Funny story; Just saw, and read Holes again, and actually thought the movie did better (in some places. It was almost equal and a fair tbf)

[@CenterRow]

Well that's good!

[@XLRAshon]

Naw..The movie was good, I've watched it many times. But the book is one of the greatest child/ya novels of all time

[@Arowrath]

A comment for the algorithm

[@brainrelish]

Another

[@Geekritique]

@@brainrelish AND MY AXE

[@CenterRow]

Ha! Bless you.

[@joliethevenot4596]

Solid

[@radicalraddish6292]

I'll give one thing to the Artemis fowl movie. It made me so angry I reread the book series just so I could articulate all the changes I would hate in the adaptation and I ended up learning to love the series again from a new perspective as an adult

[@CenterRow]

Well that is an upside!

[@nathwhit3980]

Now that's funny!!!

[@Bahr-im7pn]

The movie also got me into the series. I loved it.

[@BlackburnBigdragon]

Another huge problem is that the way Hollywood expects profits to be for their movies, the movies not only have to be a hit in the country that they're made in, but they have to also be a hit overseas. Many books just don't.. translate well in other countries. Dialog and social cues that make sense in one country can confuse or just fall flat in others. So often, this stuff is cut and the movie is filled in with the lowest common denominator of stuff that everyone can understand. Unfortunately, this usually destroys the film for the market in the country the movie was made in. If it's a big budget movie, you can bet that it's been stripped down to the bare minimum that people can understand. This especially hurts adaptations because stripping a book, which is a literary medium, down to it's bare core where people who don't understand certain things unique to the country it came from, can completely toss the entire point of a story into the toilet. I've always been ticked off by Hollywood doing this. And Starship Troopers was an abomination. It was one of my favorite pulp sci-fi books. I was excited when I discovered that they were making a movie out of it. Then I went to see it, and it was like the people who made the movie didn't even read the book. They just read the description on the back of the book, and made some other movie, slapping the name of the book on it. It was like the director wanted to make an "Aliens" movie, the studio told him they wanted "Starship Troopers", and the director just made his "Aliens" movie. I would have been fine with Starship Troopers if they didn't slap the name of the book on it and promote it as an adaption of the book. It's not even the same story. There's nothing of the book in it. Fine. Make that movie. But don't call it Starship Troopers based on the book by Robert Heinlein.

[@s0me0ne62]

You hit so many nails on the head. When I imagine a movie adaptation for a book, I think of something like Harry Potter or LOTR, and this video explained very well what resulted in them being such brilliant adaptations and why are ones like those so rare. Artemis Fowl has been my biggest disappointment so far.

[@thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051]

My favorite film adaptations are Mary Poppins, Lord of The Rings, The Godfather, The Exorcist, both Willy Wonka's, and Jurassic Park. Each of these films were able to improve some aspects that were lacking in the book. Mr Banks' Character Development for example is among some of the best development I've seen in a film so far

[@CenterRow]

A great example!

[@thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051]

​@@CenterRow true. Though PL Travers hated the film, I think Mr Banks' depression arc was one of the few aspects that she tolerated

[@CenterRow]

At least that's what Saving Mister Banks would have me believe

[@alananimus9145]

Wow. This is an amazing video and I really appropriate you talking about the difficulty of adaptations. My one disagreement would be that "adaptations" should actually be considered "retellings". Battlestar Galactica 2004 is an adaptation of Battlestar Galactica 1978. Or another example that I am really enjoying as a hard core book fan is the Wheel of Time show. There is no way to translate ~11,000 pages into 64 hours of television so they don't even try. Instead they adapt the theme's and elements of the series in a way that translates to TV. This allows them to tell the same story but differently. This allows me as someone who reads the series every year to see where they are drawing inspiration for their story from but the ability to be surprised. I think what most people get wrong about adaptations is they cannot critically analyze stories. What is this story doing? What is this character doing? What is this scene doing?

[@AhanaNags]

Awesome video! Such great insight! That feeling of getting a bad adaptation of a series you love is honestly unparalleled in its disappointment.

[@MatthewCampbell765]

To be fair, part of why movie adaptions of books and the like *appear* to suck is often that good ones overshadow the book they're adapting from. For example, Jurassic Park, Jaws, and Roger Rabbit. These are beloved movies, but people often forget that they're based on books. In Roger Rabbit's case, even the author considers the movie better than the book.

[@CenterRow]

An interesting point!

[@joliethevenot4596]

100%

[@melodyclark1944]

And Gone with the Wind

[@KeyaProductions]

Every minute without a new upload prolongs my suffering.

[@littlereddragon]

Great video! As a long time bookworm, I used to be on the camp of they-shouldn't-change-things in adaptations but realised as I got older that different things work in different mediums. However, I think one-to-one adaptations can be boring and slow. So my controversial opinion is that I didn't enjoy the Netflix Series of Unfortunate Events. It felt too slow, I didn't like NPH as Olaf and I didn't make it past the first season but I loved the books!

[@CenterRow]

I loved those books and was a little too nervous to check out the show after the movie butchered it.

[@Necroxion]

I can't even imagine what the hell caused Lucasfilms to throw away an entire 40 years of experimentation, worldbuilding, and beloved stories for their next three films

[@CenterRow]

Cause money

[@jiggusfiggus]

@@CenterRow money and 'ol Georgie fired all the people who said 'hey man that's kind of stupid' and replaced them with scared yes-men. I'll always cringe at people who praise George Lucas as some kind of auteur with a unique vision. Fuck, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch knew when to trust and listen to his actors/assistants, and they not lesser filmmakers because of it.

[@YellowpowR]

This video essay has single-handedly given me the understanding that sometimes an adaptation into a TV series is better, and not just a overdone attempt at adapting while circumventing the infamy movie adaptations have now.

[@elizabethashley42]

Wow, I agreed with every single thing you said in this video. That's so rare for me when people are discussing adaptations. I think it's amazing how something can be a GOOD adaptation that preserves the soul of the original work even while making massive character changes (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games) but you can feel when "The chart guys" got their hands on an adaptation that could have been good and destroyed it (most of the other examples you gave). I actually like the Hobbit movies but I know they're tragically flawed and it breaks my heart that the studio forced Jackson's hand and, by doing so, made it so much less than what it could have been.

[@voysix3667]

You deserve more, those videos have a really good quality.

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! Feel free to share it around on social media to help it grow!

[@kenm.a.d.7196]

It really is unbelievable that so many of these “ignore the source” have been a failure yet they keep doing it. They don’t make any money and yet then we have book movies like Hunger Games that clearly keep most intact and make freaking bank. For an industry that mainly cares about profit, you’d think they would’ve put together this formula by now.

[@XER606]

Although as the video points out, you still have films like The Shining, as well as Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump or Apocalypse Now which are drastically different from the books yet still considered master pieces regardless, is not that simple sadly

[@anotsoordinaryjedi7455]

Literally no one is here😂 love this channel

[@CenterRow]

Lol thanks

[@Michael-ju8fx]

What was the creative part of Black Panther you referenced?

[@oobrocks]

I Hate this phrase "the book was better." Movies are 100 times more complicated. The screenplay is just the beginning of film!

[@jackleonhart2314]

I’m not used to these longer form videos from this channel, but I kinda love it

[@CenterRow]

Thanks, took me freaking forever

[@ashtually]

I really loved this video! It was well thought through, full of great examples, and really interesting! Thank you for making it c:

[@CenterRow]

Thank you for watching!

[@magentaspoon5319]

I think the Hunger Games worked so well because it was about a TV show, and in the movie we got to see it as a TV show. It also had great actors of course. Nice video!

[@supoa9489]

Great video. Regarding video game adaptation point something I figured out as well, it never quite work unless inspired route like you said. Thats why Edge of Tomorrow (2014) or even Scott Pilgrim are touted as genuine video adaptations more than the actual adaptation's based on games due having an element that associated with video games. Live action anime adaptation will always miss the mark, as there's no benefit in translating into live action medium everything is downgrade from visuals, character expression, fights scenes, designs and length. Novels and complete books positive tradeoff is visuals or characters now coming to life.

[@Fleecimton]

Love this video! was Recommended on reddit because of artemis fowl.thanks for your work!

[@CenterRow]

Thanks and thanks for watching!

[@em4998]

stumbled upon this video by accident, but damn this was so well done?? i didn't even notice that i had watched a 25 min long video! i absolutely agree with everything said in this video. we always dream of seeing our favorite books being adapted to movies or tv shows and we have way too high expectations for them. but the thing is, it is extremely hard to make a perfect and faithful adaptation, there's just too many things going on behind the scenes that we rarely even consider. but thank you for this video :)

[@CenterRow]

Thanks for watching!

[@YellowpowR]

This might be my favorite video about adaptation. Well done! Side note, was that moment with Mario Odyssey where you said, “lackluster,” a visual pun?

[@firesaint4569]

To be fair there already is a great TLOU movie, Children of Men

[@BurntCedar-43]

Love this channel man hope you get bigger

[@CenterRow]

Thank you! Feel free to spread the word by sharing the video on social media!

[@BurntCedar-43]

Yeah I always agree with what your saying basically, if your not my top movie guy then your defenitly up there

[@CenterRow]

Aw shucks, you're going to make me blush ☺ thanks!

[@BurntCedar-43]

Hahhaa

[@VicenteTorresAliasVits]

I read the novel GONE GIRL and the short story IN THE TALL GRASS. While their film adaptations didn't have that many changes, I felt they flowed better as movies.

[@egalomon]

In my eyes there's a few easy rules to follow. 1) don't remake what's already great - you set yourself up for failure. 2) don't adapt if you're not passionate - you just won't get it right. 3) don't translate, instead get inspired - people will bring less baggage into the theater 4) don't just go ahead and make a movie - keep in touch with original creators (if possible) or check out fan communities to get a feeling Castlevania, Lord of the Rings and the first half of Game of Thrones are great examples of people following those rules

[@supoa9489]

Agree especially with number 3

[@bookinator2367]

how can such a great channel more than 1h after upload only have 1000 views? That shit's brilliant

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! Feel free to share it around!

[@mjdfrog]

Really interesting as usual. I always thought about length of book vs length of movie with adaptions but never really thought about these other factors. I know my husband is interested to see how The Wheel of Time series will turn out. He's excited but is usually disappointed by what they do to his favorite books lol. Anyway great job Ben!

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! I'm hopeful for the Wheel of Time series as well.

[@sabineb.5616]

I have also been a voracious reader as soon as I had learned the art of reading. And I can understand the despair of true book lovers, while I also have difficulties to understand why directors frequently insist on changing so much for their movies . You are absolutely right, though: movies are products of many people, who are all different. This increases the chance that somewhere along the road something goes wrong. It's actually a miracle when really great movies emerge. That said, I am not a book lover but also a great movie fan, and therefore I can appreciate a great movie - even if it isn't necessarily a faithful adaptation of a book. My sister however who loves Tolkien's novels as much as I do, could never accept the LOTR movies because they weren't completely faithful to the books. Additional thought: did you during your reading sprees ever stray from fantasy novels? There are so many more books, and many of them have been eventually turned into movies! Have you ever seen 'Death In Venice " by Lucino Visconti? It might be one of the best adaptations of a literary work ever. Thomas Mann's main character Gustav Aschenbach is a successful writer who suffers from burn-out syndrome, while Visconti's main character is a burnt-out composer whose was inspired by the Viennese composer Gustav Mahler whose music is famously used for the soundtrack of the movie. This was a substantial but very clever move because in a movie the creativity of a composer can be presented easier than the works of a writer. But it also changes a very important aspect of the book: in the novel Gustav Aschenbach is Thomas Mann's alter ego, while Visconti's Gustav Aschenbach is modeled to a certain extent after Gustav Mahler. But while the result is a great movie, this change detracts from the book, because Thomas Mann was completely different from Gustav Mahler. Thomas Mann was bisexual, and although he never actually had homosexual relationships, it shines through in his works. Gustav Mahler however was heterosexual and married to one of the most voracious men-consuming women ever - Alma Mahler-Gropius-Werfel, who collected famous men like trophies 😉

[@Matkatamiba]

Eragon taking a several-month-long bit with Eragon raising/hiding Sapphira (one of my favorite parts of the whole series) and making it a 30 second cut is a damn tragedy.

[@CenterRow]

Right?

[@Klausebou]

Great analysis, this deserves much more views

[@CenterRow]

I appreciate it, feel free to share with your friends!

[@cosimo1319]

This channel is so underrated.

[@CenterRow]

Thank you!

[@elizabethschall9641]

Wonderful video, thanks for making it! One important (in my opinion) ommission: where's the Gaiman? Coraline - Amazing Stardust - OK, missing/changed some stuff Neverwhere - why????? Also, Neil Gaiman can generally be trusted to adapt very well. Cite: Princess Mononoke, Marvel's 1608, numerous Doctor Who episodes Wow, that got a bit off topic. Have a good rest of your internet browsing!

[@CenterRow]

Ooo, that would have been great to touch on, hate it didn't occur to me!

[@XER606]

I really appreciate how this video acknowledges how in fact making an adaption is not as black & white or clear cut as "just be faithful" and explains how there's far more to the process, and how there's actually adaptations out there that on paper are faithful yet fail as movies, and there's others that are quite different from the original yet still great in their own unique way

[@Geekritique]

I really appreciate this video, as it's something I think about often. You've given credence to things I've understood for years, but also given me things to think about. And I think you nail it at around 22:50, where you discuss how by capturing the heart and themes of a story, despite changing multiple things for a number of reasons, you craft a great adaptation. It's what makes the LotR and HP films work for me, and by not capturing the heart of a story you end up with something like the Witcher (in my opinion). Great vid. Will share around.

[@Geekritique]

Actually, you hammer the point home at the above time stamp very well throughout the rest of your video. Commented too early. Really liked it man!

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[@rge9992]

This is such a good video! I hope you‘ll go viral at some point. Some constructive criticism: I think you could make the outline of the video a bit clearer, for example by adding chapter markers with the individual points, like “Budget” or “Length”

[@CenterRow]

Thanks, feel free to share it around! And thanks, that's a good idea!

[@Nolkan]

This is shown exceptionally well in “Harry Potter: And The Goblet Of Fire”. Where they cut out huge parts of the book, in favor of giving Harry and Ron long hair. Or don’t forget that memorable scene of Dumbledore yelling at Harry for possibly putting his name in the Goblet Of Fire. Or even better, the majority of the maze section being taken out. I haven’t even read the book and I bet it’s WAYYYYY better than the movie, I mean c’mon if I haven’t read the book and I know about the inconsistencies and can think of all these things off the top of my head, what do you think someone who’s a true fan and has read all the books thinks about when they watch the movies? I guess I’ll never know.

[@CenterRow]

The book is about 100% better

[@Nolkan]

@@CenterRow I don’t doubt it, anything is better than “Did you put your name in The Goblet Of Fire”!?!?

[@Nolkan]

@@CenterRow also, good job on the video. I always like your videos!

[@FantasticBeasts2024]

The Harry Potter films are still solid overall and some of the better adaptations even if they are not perfect.

[@Nolkan]

@@FantasticBeasts2024 I’m not saying they’re the Star Wars sequels, they’re not bad. But, like all media and entertainment, the films aren’t perfect. Nothing should be, and nothing is.

[@CommonApathy]

You should be an up and comer, and yet you have so few views. I hope this channel takes off, you had a many good points, you expressed your thesis eloquently and completely, and you have a good voice to listen to.

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! Feel free to share my stuff around on social media if you'd like to help me grow!

[@f1aqq204]

I always look forward to your videos but never get a notification, despite having them turned on. Guess ill just have to manually check every few days lol.

[@CenterRow]

Weird. I usually release Tuesdays at 2:00 if that helps! Got one coming out that time tomorrow

[@f1aqq204]

@@CenterRow ive been watching your videos for over a year yet somehow never realized you usually upload on tuesdays. At least now i know so i wont miss them.

[@Tedris4]

An interesting topic to analyse would be book-into-game adaptations, which certainly seems to do better than book to film ones. For example, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, Metro 2033, Roadside Picnic into S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and even loose adaptations like Spec Ops: The Line being heavily influenced by Hearts Of Darkness.

[@CenterRow]

Ooo, good thinking!

[@andersaleckson6025]

Thanks so much for briefly mentioning Mortal Engines! The Hungry City chronicles is my favorite book series of all time! I liked the movie but the books were a million times better! Predators Gold was my favorite of series. It would be cool to see a Predator's Gold movie but sadly that probably won't happen :(

[@CenterRow]

Yeah, I'm heartbroken

[@jeronimotamez9567]

This was incredibly inspirational as an aspiring filmmaker

[@CenterRow]

Good, glad to hear it!

[@BowieIsAfraid]

This is a great video! Keep up the good work.

[@CenterRow]

Thanks!

[@nomiddlenamedavis]

What was up with the Piano at 4:55?

[@CenterRow]

Something weird with the audio, didn't notice it until after publishing.

[@KyleRDent]

That random piano chord scared the shit out of me

[@CenterRow]

Apologies, I watched the whole thing through, uploaded it, and then suddenly it was there and I couldn't fix it without taking the whole video down

[@KyleRDent]

@@CenterRow Ahaha it's fine, it's my own fault for having my volume on the ear-bleeding level in the first place

[@lucyla9947]

How do you mention Theater and not mention Cats the Musical? Cats is a beloved Stage Musical, when it left Broadway it was the longest running Broadway musical, even now two decades later it's still number 5. Japan loves it so much they have had a continually running production of Cats since the 80s and literally built a theater specifically to house Cats. And then there's Cats 2019 which is absolute garbage and lacks many of the appealing parts of the Stage Musical.

[@fallenfriend2860]

I wonder why this happens so much? So many adaptations fail (like Artemis fowl and the hobbit) and have horrible reputations yet they keep getting made. You'd think they'd learn.

[@_thomas1031]

This definitely makes me think about the upcoming DUNE film. After recently reading the 1st parts of the series I was absolutely pleased when they confirmed that the story would be put into more than 1 movie and take the time to flesh out the characters and plot!!!🙌

[@omegasynth]

4:56 I jumped wtf

[@CenterRow]

Sorry about that, some sort of glitch in the upload I did not notice until after publishing

[@juliagiles1547]

*cries in Percy Jackson fan*

[@phg3646]

Nothing will ever beat the Lord Of The Rings. Certainly not a perfect adaptation, some questionables decisions, and yet it's still the three best movies ever.

[@CenterRow]

Definitely

[@jothishprabu8]

A Rather Cheesy Adaptation

[@XER606]

@@jothishprabu8 Have you read the books? People sing in like almost every chapter early on seriously

[@MrAndyFlick]

This video deserves more views. Great job.

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! Feel free to share it with your friends.

[@totoro5874]

The only movies that I believe are better than the books they are based on are • Who Framed Roger Rabbit • Fantastic Mr Fox • The Shawshank Redemption • Jurassic Park • The Godfather 1&2 And maybe Harry Potter and LOTR, I'm not quite sure about those two

[@daniellado2523]

Forrest Gump is another example I can think of.

[@totoro5874]

@@daniellado2523 I agree, it's much better than the book

[@CenterRow]

Oh man, great example!

[@CenterRow]

I'd agree on all those counts

[@maartenboy37]

The Heaven's Feel trilogy is doing the except same thing as Lord of The Rings as you stated in this video. I can't wait for part III.

[@CenterRow]

Never heard of that one, I'll have to look into it!

[@SabapathyNagarajan]

Harry Potter fans has no rights to say it wasn't accurate. U should see PJO and Avatar The Last Airbender

[@MarkFilipAnthony]

Easy answer: 1. Screen time 2. Budget 3. Schedule 4. Rights and politics 1. Press a 500+ page within 2 hours, u have to compromise something 2. Most grand looks, effects and actors are very expensive 3.sometimea shooting all scenes or shots doesnt add up, sometimes availablity of crew or actirs limits production 4. Leagal issues, all from aging up characters, saftey, dodging specific portrayals of ethnic groups or national identity etc In the end, film is a product sold for a much larger range od audiences than books and therefor has also more people has stakes in the project. Lastly: everyone reads a book differently, many eays to interperate the text

[@timtam3730]

As a guy born in the early 2000s, one of my favourite books was Uglies, a YA science fiction novel similar to The Maze Runner and Divergent. When the YA supernatural genre started drying up they started adapting YA science fiction in the early 2010s such The Giver, Hunger Games, Enders Game, The Maze Runner and Divergent. I was really hoping for an Uglies adaptation because I was a fan of all these movies (Enders Game is my top favourite) but I was sadly dissappointed. Even to this day, when the YA sci-fi genre has been dead for a while, I still would see and Uglies adaptation.

[@CenterRow]

That would definitely be an interesting one!

[@MatthewCampbell765]

Another issue with *movie* adaption specifically, and you might have pointed this out (I haven't finished the video yet unfortunately) is something that might be called "Compression". Movies are inherently relatively short stories and can't say everything in a book. This actually affects movie adaptions of video games quite a bit. Your average video game has a story structure that's pretty hard to fit into a movie and makes more sense for a TV Miniseries or a Book. For example, in Mega Man, the hero has to hunt down 6-8 robot masters and then take on Dr. Wily. This makes each Robot master a sort of self-contained story that's simply part of a larger arc. There's a notion that video games (generally) have too simplistic stories to be adapted, but that's not necessarily true even for games we don't think of as story-driven. For example, Mario has a plot comparable to a typical Disney Princess story, and it also has a developed a Phineas and Ferb-esque self aware humor about its formulaic nature. Doom, similarly, is basically Aliens. Donkey Kong Country is actually kind of interesting if you read between the lines of the level design. It starts in a familiar jungle that's been invaded by a foreign army. As they travel to where the enemies are staging their invasion, they come across increasingly alien terrains where they're more and more out of place, until they arrive at the enemy base: A factory that's destroying their island with pollution. It's an Environmentalist and Anti-Imperialist story, basically, kind of like Avatar or something. Though admittedly the cave world after the factory does break with this theme.

[@Jiwan_DMT]

DAM! you scared the crap out of me at 4:56 ! Drop the basss!!!!

[@ATX-Spider]

Very well said! I'm slightly surprised you didn't mention Jurassic Park, an adaptation that changes significant amounts of material from the original and managed to come out as one of the most legendary blockbusters of our time. Regardless, this was a great video!

[@CenterRow]

I thought about it, but like half the videos on this channel mention Jurassic Park and I don't want to just be the Jurassic Park guy

[@ATX-Spider]

@@CenterRow well, in my friend group I am the Jurassic Park guy, so I'll check out more of your videos!

[@CenterRow]

Haha yes!

[@ApexPredator644]

Love this video. Enjoyed every minute of it.

[@coomslayer6996]

You wanna make a perfect movie or TV series adaptation of a book, game, or whatever? Just hire dedicated fans to write and direct it

[@brijeshsingh8460]

LOTR: cough Dark knight: why so serious

[@meierboy97]

That piano cue at 4:55 scared the shit outta me

[@CenterRow]

Apologies, somehow I didn't catch that glitch until it was already uploaded

[@frokiedude0334]

don't worry bro I believe your time in the spotlight will come back and you will gain a bigger consistent viewerbase

[@CenterRow]

Haha thanks, it comes and goes in waves. Feel free to share my vids on social media if you'd like to help!

[@colealbinder2980]

Love your videos, you really go in-depth with your topics! I saw some clips of Robert Zemeckis in this video as well as clips from his adaptation of The Witches. How did you feel specifically about that adaptation?

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! Love Zemeckis but feel he did a poor job with Witches

[@colealbinder2980]

@@CenterRow Yeah I mean I love a lot of his earlier work (Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is one of my favorites) and this version had its moments but overall it could have been better. He’s been criticized for a while about how he uses too much CGI and how that CGI doesn’t always looks good-in the case of this film the effects aren’t great, not only with the scene you showed of the boy turning into the mouse but at the end when he’s an older mouse voiced by Chris Rock, it came off more creepy than charming. The original film accomplished so much with great puppetry and practical effects. Don’t get me wrong, CGI is great when it’s used well but it wasn’t used well by Zemeckis here. I remember Guillermo del Toro (who produced and co-wrote this new one) said early on that he wanted it to be fully stop-motion animated, which would have been great. Imagine him or Henry Selick and the animators at Laika doing this movie? The Grand High Witch could have been scarier than The Other Mother from Coraline.

[@CenterRow]

Oh man, Selick would have been great!

[@willlyon7129]

I kinda preferred A Series of Unfortunate Events Netflix series that it's cinematic adaption. And I have faith in the upcoming new Percy Jackson series on Disney+, we'll see if fairs better than it's ill fated cinematic adaption.

[@skiphopflipflopdripdrop]

Love you channel Center Row 👍🏿

[@CenterRow]

Thank you!

[@sakunaruful]

The Beastly film was disappointing to me. It missed the point of the book. A few movie adaptations that I stick stand on their own are: Ella Enchanted, The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, Bridget Jones Diary, Coraline, The Secret Garden (1993), Bridge to Terabithia, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Phantom Tolbooth, A Walk to Remember, and Hugo.

[@CenterRow]

I'd agree on both fronts!

[@nathanmarmaduke3270]

I am consistently amazed at the quality of these videos and the lack of people watching

[@CenterRow]

Thank you, it can be a bit discouraging at times what the algorithm does and does not decide to promote. Feel free to share it around!

[@melodyclark1944]

There should be more short stories written. That would make the adaptations easier. Some authors can't control the length like Rowling, but Collins could write then short if she wanted to.

[@CenterRow]

More short stories is always a good thing!

[@nolaffinmatter]

An interesting topic that I've never seen explored would be to ask the reverse: Has there ever been a novelization of a film or tv show that improved on the source material?

[@CenterRow]

Ooo fascinating. The novelization of The Force Unleashed is pretty great

[@vladprus4019]

I've read Revenge of the Sith, better than movie.

[@nolaffinmatter]

The Star Wars prequels were a fundamentally good story (at least I think so) that really dropped the ball on execution (the acting, some dialogue, uninspired camerawork, etc), so they seem like good candidates for an adaptation that scraps all of that cinematic execution but retains the core plot.

[@jordandwiggins1026]

When you said “lackluster” while showing a Lakitu I was disappointed you didn’t show Lackilester from Paper Mario

[@CenterRow]

Ah, didn't even occur to me

[@jordandwiggins1026]

@@CenterRow Very good video btw

[@CenterRow]

Thanks!

[@cringer8107]

btw harry potter as a tv show would be dope asf im still waiting for this to happen every book is a season while every chapter is an episode

[@CenterRow]

I'd watch it!

[@jasonblalock4429]

And now I'm re-triggered about the Assassin's Creed movie. How could they take a property that had SO much cinematic potential thanks to its ability to set stories in any time period, throw in such a great cast and crew, and then make something so utterly dreadful?

[@CenterRow]

It seriously astounds me

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@CenterRow I would honestly argue for Assassin's Creed as being THE worst video game movie ever made. At least garbage like Alone in the Dark or Mortal Kombat Annihilation or Doom (either one) can still be drunkenly fun as campy bad movies. AC is outright irredeemable. A joyless, ugly, incoherent slog of a movie that's painful to sit through.

[@CenterRow]

@@jasonblalock4429 That's a fair point

[@sorkeror]

The worst massacre of a book series by hollywood has got to be Seventh Son.

[@jaz8405]

Pog video. I saw the title, my immediate thought was of Percy Jackson, saw Percy Jackson in the thumbnail, inhaled so hard I choked.

[@CenterRow]

Ha!

[@maartenboy37]

I Am Legend is a great example of a movie that is in no way faithful to the source material, it doesn't even resemble it. It is just inspired by it and the end result was amazing.

[@CenterRow]

Oh man, that would have been a great example!

[@LeCroynotLacroix]

I really hope they do the wheel of time justice. It is so huge a tv series won't even be enough room to show its sprawling majesty.

[@CenterRow]

Right? I need that to be good.

[@KevinOnEarth_]

This aged poorly

[@doublea1671]

Your channel is awesome! Keep it up.

[@CenterRow]

Thanks!

[@doublea1671]

@@CenterRow no problem man!

[@BlueAutisticArtist6106]

Artemis Fowl summed up in a Possum Reviews quote: Thanks for telling us instead of showing it, movie!

[@CenterRow]

Exactly

[@ajzeg01]

Cirque Du Freak is my personal most hated adaptation. I hope it gets remade in animation. I don’t think it works in live-action because the main character is a preteen vampire that ages 1 year for every 5 years. That’s really important for the story later on and impossible to do faithfully in live-action. Sometimes the medium that the adaptation is made in is part of the problem. Oh well, at least there’s the manga adaptation.

[@CenterRow]

Totally forgot that one!

[@ajzeg01]

@@CenterRow It’s only really memorably bad for fans of the books, which are kinda obscure. For everyone else it’s just some mediocre teen vampire movie from an era full of mediocre teen vampire movies, which is not what the books were like at all.

[@4t7music37]

Love your vids dude

[@CenterRow]

Thank you so much!

[@turtledave5019]

so many valid points love your vids

[@CenterRow]

Thanks! I appreciate it!