In the past couple of years, there has been an increase of book adaptations throughout studios because movies and shows generally do better than original concepts. They have been around for a long time like “Harry Potter” or “Lord of the Rings” or “The GodFather” but it’s been increasing in the past few years. Studios have been making movies like “Wicked”, “It End with Us” or “A Good Girl‘s Guide to Murder”. The reason behind this increase of adaptation is one original idea either is not doing well or has already been done. Book adaptations generally do better whether or not the adaptation is considered to be accurate.
Some adaptations have been loved and people are wanting more like “Percy Jackson”, “Bridgerton” and “Heartstopper”. These adaptations have been doing great even though they are different kinds of adaptations. Percy Jackson’s casting looks nothing like the book’s characters but the show is still doing well. “This new TV show—which streams on Disney+—is the best of the bunch adaptation-wise. It is very faithful to the original novels while feeling updated and current”. (A blog of books and musical).“Hearstopper” is a well done adaptation with accurate casting and follows the books almost to a tea which fans love. “Beautifully presented and thoughtfully cast, it chronicles a simple love story of two teenage boys who must each overcome difficulties of identity in order to be together”. (Headstuff) “Bridgerton” is a mix of both with half of the casting is book accurate and personally are a bit different as while also the story is pretty close to the book with just a few things that the studio changed, “It is thrilling! Kudos to the beautiful team who did a fantastic job. Good work guys!”. (Quroa).
Other time adaptations can be received poorly like “Good Girl’s Guide to Murder”, “It End with Us” and “Shadow and Bones”. “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” (AGGGTM) was not received well despite the accurate casting but the pacing of the show and the changes that the studio made to the show but unlike original ideas for movies and shows if they do not do well the studio will not continue the series. AGGGTM is getting a season two and probably a final one as well even though AGGGTM did not do great. “The plot development is slow and very boring. The ending is incredibly predictable and convenient, and from what I understand it is not faithful to the books”. (IMDb) “It End with Us” had everyone very excited since it starred Blake Lively but when the movie came out it was received very poorly by fans and lots of drama was started. “This movie is entirely too long and a large majority of it is due to strange conversational scenes with really horrible writing and poor”. (r/moviereview) Shadow and Bones was similar-ish to the book but one big massive complaint is Netflix combined Shadow and Bones with Six of Crows, another book by the same author but the books take place in different times which upset fans deeply. “No romance for the characters. And none between you and the story. It’s just a cheap, cheesy show that completely misses the point” (devontrevarrowflaherty.com).
Then there are cases where adaptations do well but studios do not make more for fans. The biggest one is “My Lady Jane”. People loved this show but prime canceled the show after its first season aired causing multiple petitions to renew the show. Another example is “Red White & Royal Blue” was received well and after 2 years they are making another one to come out next year. Book to show or movie adaptation can never truly be predicted if this will do while or not but people still want to see more of it.
