Nothing is better than a good book.

Sometimes, Hollywood does a good book justice on the big screen.

Sometimes.. It… uhh.. Doesn’t.

Hollywood has a long history of adapting books into movies. And why wouldn’t they? A good story is a good story. If it comes with a built-in audience, great.

Some of these movies are closely remembered with their books; The Godfather, Forrest Gump, It Ends with Us, Jurassic Park, etc.

But I was curious.

What about the others?

Here are some movies I found that I didn’t know were adapted from a book.

Jaws

The legendary Spielberg movie was a quick turnaround from published book to movie. Sadly, the author, Peter Benchly, later said he regretted writing it. He became a dedicated and outspoken advocate for shark preservation until his death.

Bladerunner

Phillip K Dick is a legend of the science fiction industry, so it’s not surprising how many of his books have been adapted to the screen. This one did surprise me though. I love the Bladerunner movies. I had no idea they were adapted from Dick’s book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. (What a title!) I’ll be adding this one to the TBR.

Shawshank Redemption

I was a fool for years. I thought of Stephen King as that ‘horror author.’ One day I picked up a book of short stories by the King. The first was Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. It’s an incredible read. Much of the dialogue in the movie is taken right from the book. Turns out this King guy is really good. (That book of short stories also included The Green Mile!)

Shrek

One of my favourite childhood movies! I had no idea it was a book written by William Steig. The official name of the book is actually Shrek! I can’t get over the cover. I love it so much. I will be buying a copy for my shelf to scare children.

Neat story about the author. Steig was a cartoonist for 30 years at the New Yorker. He left the job and started making children’s books in his 60s after growing annoyed making advertisements. Shrek! Was one of the last books he wrote in his late 80s.

Mrs Doubtfire

The heartwarming comedy classic is an adaptation of a YA book by Anne Fine named Madame Doubtfire a few years prior. The book was well-received in England upon release as Madame Doubtfire. Before being renamed Alias Madame Doubtfire for its American release.

The publisher doubted the American audience understood the premise without the title change.

Bambi

Bambi, A Life in the Woods was a coming-of-age novel by Austrian author Felix Salten in German. It was translated into English by Simon & Schuster in 1928. A sequel named Bambi’s Children came out in 1939.

The novel follows the same story as the movie; a young deer loses his mother and learns about the dangers of the hunters in the forest. It was seen as a parable for the dangers and persecution that Jews faced in Europe at the time.

It’s also lauded as one of the first environmental novels.

The movie made me cry at least twice.

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Did you know about any of these? Or do you have another movie book that surprised you?

Let me know! (This is an addicting rabbit hole.)