Film adaptations of cult novels are always controversial and face high expectations from generations and generations of readers who grew up with the book. A film can quickly receive an avalanche of negative reviews, but if it is well made, then it almost automatically becomes a film classic!
Many of the greatest movies of all time are based on books. We only remember films such as Little Women, The Age of Innocence and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. With the right actors, script and especially directors, the book can come to life brilliantly on the movie screen, but unfortunately, more often than not, the movie does not live up to the book's classic.
There are a handful of examples, at OnBuy.com however, they conducted a short poll to find out what the audience thought were the worst movie adaptations. They selected the best-selling books of recent years that have been adapted into movies, and then analyzed the number of reviews and the average rating the movie and book have on Goodreads and IMDb. Then they calculated the difference and converted it into percentages: the bigger the difference between the viewership of the book and the movie, the worse the movie adaptation was.
The worst film adaptations of books according to the audience
It was kind of expected that there would be movies Fifty Shades of grey worst film adaptation according to the audience. The first film in 2015, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, was a huge commercial success, but received mostly poor reviews from critics and ultimately audiences. The books are equally controversial, but still solid for all those who like erotic or romance novels.
Last year, Suzanne Collins published a new book in the Hunger Games series, which has been a mainstay in young adult literature for a while. There was no lack of enthusiasm when the films were released, but this was completely blown away by the Mockingjay sequel. That's the movie The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 second on the list of worst film adaptations.
The film version of the film also disappointed the audience The Girl on the Train (The Girl on the Train). Paula Hawkins' book became an international bestseller, but the Emily Blunt film didn't have the same critical impact, although it earned Blunt nominations for a SAG Award and a prestigious BAFTA Award. The girl on the train thus shares the third place with the last one the 2011 Harry Potter film, around which spears were already breaking.
Next on the list is the 2007 Golden Globe nominated film. The Da Vinci Code (The Da Vinci Code) was nominated for a total of 16 film awards and even a Grammy Award. The film is an adaptation of Dan Brown's novel of the same name, which caused various, almost negative reactions from the Catholic Church. The audience still believes that the plot in the film is significantly worse than in the book.
The two best film adaptations of books
Stieg Larsson's trilogy became a cult hit. The first book, also the most famous The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is a psychological thriller about Lisbeth Salander - the girl with the dragon tattoo. The story follows Mikael Blomqvist, a journalist who has to leave his job because of the prison sentence he was sentenced to. However, he receives an unusual offer from a rich man to investigate the disappearance of his niece. Lisbeth joins him in this dark task that continues to shock. There are two film versions, but the Swedish one from 2009 (starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist) was ranked among the best by the audience. However, the 2011 American film with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig is also a good movie recommendation!
The best film version of the book, according to readers Gone Girl The film made a real small revolution in 2014 and, directed by David Fincher, earned many positive reviews. The film is based on the bestseller by Gillian Flynn, and Rosamund Pike, along with Ben Affleck, played the main role brilliantly and impressed both the audience and the critics. She was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best actress!
