They adapted their own!
From Entertainment Weekly, 10/24/14: It's a wonder more authors don't make the jump to screenwriting, especially when studios are hungrier than ever for popular literary brands such as The Fault in Our Stars and The Silver Linings Playbook. So why don't more novelists adapt their own work? Short answer: They're usually bad at it.
"The two big differences between books and movies are pace and perspective," says screenwriter and cohost of the popular Scriptnotes podcast John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), "Novels can luxuriate in internal moments of indecision and longing. Movies keep chugging along at 24 frames per second."
Which of these Oscar-nominated screenplays the authors adapted from their original book or short story is your favorite?
Discuss the list here
"The two big differences between books and movies are pace and perspective," says screenwriter and cohost of the popular Scriptnotes podcast John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), "Novels can luxuriate in internal moments of indecision and longing. Movies keep chugging along at 24 frames per second."
Which of these Oscar-nominated screenplays the authors adapted from their original book or short story is your favorite?
Discuss the list here
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- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.written and adapted from the short story The Basement Room by Graham Greene
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsHumphrey BogartAudrey HepburnWilliam HoldenA playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.written and adapted from the novel Sabrina Fair by Samuel Taylor (adapted with Billy Wilder and Ernest Lehman)
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsAlec GuinnessJohn MillsSusannah YorkAfter World War II, a Highland Regiment's acting Commanding Officer, who rose from the ranks, is replaced by a peace-time Oxford-educated Commanding Officer, leading to a dramatic conflict between the two.written and adapted from the novel by James Kennaway
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJames MasonShelley WintersSue LyonA middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl.written and adapted from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsPaul NewmanGeorge KennedyStrother MartinA laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.written and adapted from the novel by Donn Pearce (adapted with Frank R. Pierson)
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsTimothy BottomsJeff BridgesCybill ShepherdIn 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.written and adapted from the novel by Larry McMurtry (adapted with Peter Bogdanovich)
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.written and adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo (adapted with Francis Ford Coppola)
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.written and adapted from the novel by William Peter Blatty
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.written and adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo (adapted with Francis Ford Coppola)
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsAlan ArkinVanessa RedgraveRobert DuvallTo treat his friend's cocaine induced delusions, Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Sigmund Freud.written and adapted from the novel by Nicholas Meyer
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsJack NicholsonKathleen TurnerRobert LoggiaTwo professional assassins fall in love.written and adapted from the novel by Richard Condon (adapted with Janet Roach)
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.written and adapted from the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford (adapted with Michael Herr and Stanley Kubrick)
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsAnton GlanzeliusTomas von BrömssenAnki LidénIn the late '50s, young Ingemar learns a lot about life and himself when he is sent away from his sick mother to live with his aunt and uncle in a town full of eccentrics.written and adapted from the novel Mitt live some hund by Reidar Jönsson (adapted with Brasse Brännström, Per Berglund and Lasse Hallström)
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.written and adapted from the novel by Ron Kovic (adapted with Oliver Stone)
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerMary McDonnellGraham GreeneLieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.written and adapted from the novel by Michael Blake
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroRay LiottaJoe PesciThe story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.written and adapted from the novel Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi (adapted with Martin Scorsese)
- DirectorJon AvnetStarsKathy BatesJessica TandyMary Stuart MastersonEvelyn, 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.written and adapted from the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg (adapted with Carol Sobieski)
- DirectorBarbra StreisandStarsBarbra StreisandNick NolteBlythe DannerA troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.written and adapted from the novel by Pat Conroy (adapted with Becky Johnston)
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsTim RobbinsGreta ScacchiFred WardA Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?written and adapted from the novel by Michael Tolkin
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBill PaxtonBilly Bob ThorntonBridget FondaThree blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the plan.written and adapted from the novel by Scott Smith
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsTobey MaguireCharlize TheronMichael CaineA compassionate young man, raised in an orphanage and trained to be a doctor there, decides to leave to see the world.written and adapted from the novel by John Irving
- DirectorTerry ZwigoffStarsSteve BuscemiThora BirchScarlett JohanssonTwo eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.written and adapted from the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes (adapted with Terry Zwigoff)
- DirectorTodd FieldStarsKate WinsletJennifer ConnellyPatrick WilsonThe lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations in suburban Massachusetts.written and adapted from the novel by Tom Perrotta (adapted with Todd Field)