Best Book-to-Film Adaptations
by GouramiWatcher | created - 13 Apr 2013 | updated - 1 week ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Drama
Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 2,888,066 | Gross: $28.34M
2. The Help (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Drama
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 492,713 | Gross: $169.71M
3. Stand by Me (1986)
R | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Votes: 441,508 | Gross: $52.29M
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
PG-13 | 178 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean
Votes: 2,006,677 | Gross: $315.54M
5. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
PG | 98 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders | Stars: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson
Votes: 800,471 | Gross: $217.58M
6. The Green Mile (1999)
R | 189 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A tale set on death row, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the lead guard, Paul Edgecombe, recognizes John's gift, he tries to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt
Votes: 1,407,004 | Gross: $136.80M
7. The Hunger Games (2012)
PG-13 | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 1,003,534 | Gross: $408.01M
8. Pitch Perfect (2012)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
Director: Jason Moore | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp
Votes: 330,668 | Gross: $65.00M
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
PG | 143 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
While playing, Lucy and her siblings find a wardrobe that lands them in a mystical place called Narnia. Here they realize that it was fated and they must now unite with Aslan to defeat an evil queen.
Director: Andrew Adamson | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes
Votes: 427,973 | Gross: $291.71M
10. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 450,882 | Gross: $30.86M
11. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama
After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein
Votes: 290,868 | Gross: $219.20M
12. Freaky Friday (2003)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An overworked mother and her daughter did not get along. When they switch bodies, each is forced to adapt to the other's life for one freaky Friday.
Director: Mark Waters | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould
Votes: 152,535 | Gross: $110.23M
13. Jurassic Park (1993)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,066,862 | Gross: $402.45M
14. Persepolis (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Animation, Biography, Drama
A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
Directors: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Danielle Darrieux
Votes: 100,156 | Gross: $4.45M
15. Plain Truth (2004 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 90 min | Drama, Crime, Mystery
An unmarried 18 year-old Amish girl is charged with the murder of her infant child.
Director: Paul Shapiro | Stars: Mariska Hargitay, Alison Pill, Jan Niklas, Kate Trotter
Votes: 966
16. Jumanji (1995)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades - and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde
Votes: 376,744 | Gross: $100.48M
17. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
PG-13 | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott
Votes: 705,135 | Gross: $258.37M
18. Les Misérables (2012)
PG-13 | 158 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried
Votes: 345,980 | Gross: $148.81M
19. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
R | 127 min | Biography, Drama
A directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy
Votes: 211,264 | Gross: $28.87M
20. The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Hazel and Gus are teenagers who meet at a cancer support group and fall in love. They both share the same acerbic wit and a love of books, especially "An Imperial Affliction", so they embark on a journey to visit an author in Amsterdam.
Director: Josh Boone | Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern
Votes: 401,072 | Gross: $124.87M
21. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 736,666 | Gross: $100.21M
22. Affinity (I) (2008)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A grieving upper class woman becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank prison, hoping to escape her troubles and be a guiding figure in the lives of the female prisoners. Of all her friendships ... See full summary »
Director: Tim Fywell | Stars: Zoë Tapper, Anna Madeley, Domini Blythe, Amanda Plummer
Votes: 2,250
23. Arrival (II) (2016)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 770,788 | Gross: $100.55M
24. Stardust (2007)
PG-13 | 127 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Ian McKellen
Votes: 285,199 | Gross: $38.63M
25. iZombie (2015–2019)
TV-14 | 42 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A medical resident finds that being a zombie has its perks, which she uses to assist the police.
Stars: Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley
Votes: 74,558
26. The 100 (2014–2020)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Set 97 years after a nuclear war destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing humanity's lone survivors sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth, hoping to repopulate the planet.
Stars: Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Marie Avgeropoulos, Isaiah Washington
Votes: 275,813
27. The Innocent Man (2018)
TV-MA | 47 min | Documentary, Crime
The story of Ron Williamson, a man who sat on Oklahoma's death row for 11 years for a crime he didn't commit. Based on John Grisham's "The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town."
Stars: Heather McPhaul, John Grisham, Erik Anthony Russo, Guthrie Worthington
Votes: 6,541
28. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver
Votes: 742,637 | Gross: $132.09M
29. Goosebumps (1995–1998)
TV-PG | 22 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
"Goosebumps" was a series of scary anthology stories based on the children's books by R.L. Stine. Series one was hosted by R.L. Stine for twelve episodes.
Stars: R.L. Stine, Kathryn Short, Cody Jones, Scott Wickware
Votes: 15,224
30. Inherit the Wind (1960)
Passed | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York
Votes: 32,771
31. The Handmaid's Tale (2017– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle
Votes: 257,882
32. Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
TV-MA | 58 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Based on Celeste Ng's 2017 bestseller, "Little Fires Everywhere" follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lexi Underwood
Votes: 54,737
33. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama
Evelyn, an ordinary housewife, visits a nursing home and befriends the old lady Ninny. Together, they bond over stories from the past about two intrepid women of Whistle Stop Cafe.
Director: Jon Avnet | Stars: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 83,552 | Gross: $82.42M
34. Society of the Snow (2023)
R | 144 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments to survive.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi
Votes: 131,053
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