Comingsoon.net is taking a look at some of the most troublesome and difficult-to-adapt books in movie history. Take a look at our selections in the gallery below!
The idea of a literary adaptation has existed since the beginning of the film industry itself—turning a book into a movie isn’t a new thing and it isn’t going away anytime soon, especially considering the continued success of a certain comic book franchise-turned-cinematic universe. Not to mention the fact that Gone with the Wind, the highest-grossing movie of all time (adjusted for inflation), is itself a literary adaptation.
Still, just because some find success with literary adaptations doesn’t mean that all will. In fact, there are certain books that will likely never become successful books-turned-movies. Whether it’s because of the sheer size of the things or because of the complexity of their subject matter or simply because of how well they utilize the medium of the written word, some books remain unfilmable.
Unfilmable books
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Dune (1965)
Dune and its sequels have been adapted for the screen a few times since its initial publication back in 1965—most notable of these being David Lynch’s Dune in 1984 (which, for the record, is a near-perfect adaptation of the novel’s first and last acts in the eyes of those who’ve read the book but is inscrutable for almost everyone else). Due to the book’s lore-heavy world-building and leisurely pace, adaptations have never been met with even mixed reviews, let alone positive ones—perhaps Denis Villeneuve will change things with his take in 2020.
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Most of Stephen King's Work
Let’s be clear: any Stephen King project that has been met with positive reviews is likely a huge departure from its original source material (typically to King’s disdain). It: Chapter One might be the most faithful film to come from his work so far, but its upcoming sequel will determine whether or not the curse of the Stephen King adaptation will live on.
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The Bible
With too many projects to name based off of Christianity’s key holy text, it’s interesting to note than none are particularly very good. Like many other works of literature that exceed the two thousand page mark, the Bible is simply too dense to ever get a proper cover-to-cover adaptation.
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The Catcher in the Rye (1949)
A book about a young adult with a great amount of disdain towards the superficiality of society, turning The Catcher in the Rye into a feature film would contradict everything the book stands for. Despite the author, J.D. Salinger, expressing an interest in it being adapted back in 1949, no one has ever successfully done it.
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Ulysses (1922)
A book famous for being incredibly hard-to-read (as well as incredibly pretentious, especially if read out in public), James Joyce’s Ulysses is considered one of the most important literary works. That doesn’t mean it’ll ever work on-screen, though—it’s not likely that this controversial novel will ever get a big screen adaptation.
