20 Books That Should Have Never Made It to the Big Screen

Whenever some people read books, they begin to wonder what it would be like if that book were to be made into a movie. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. On the MSN.com page Yardbarker, writer Jacquez Printup has put together a list of 20 books that they believe should have never made it onto the big screen

Personally, it all comes down to opinion. Some people like the film adaptation of their favorite books. Some people don't. It's all up to you. I personally like the film versions of The Da Vinci Code, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and The Lovely Bones

1. The Great Gatsby (2013)

-Based on the classic 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film ended up not meeting the hopes of many. Production went flat, with characters deemed "unlikeable", the plot barely there and too many flashy elements of that particular time period

2. Eragon (2006)

-Many fans of the story were happy to hear their favorite book was making it onto the big screen. They were let down when the film was released. Several characters, such as The Twins and Orik, were left out, ruining the plot, the script was boring and the graphics were so-so

3. A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

-Many who read the Madeleine L'Engle story were happy to hear of a film adaptation of their favorite book. To this day, it's still a bitter pill to swallow for many fans because they feel Disney ruined the film version. The characters didn't seem to have much of a backstory, overall a poor job done

4. Me Before You (2016)

-When the 2012 book by Jojo Moyes came out, not long afterwards came the movie. The book tells the story of how a man became disabled after an accident and falls in love with the woman assigned to look after him. Many fans quickly came to hate the movie, because of its message portraying those with disabilities don't have a life worth living without a partner

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

-Many fans of the J.R.R. Tolkien series, The Lord of the Rings, were more than happy when they heard about this new installation into the Middle Earth series. After watching the film, many readers came to hate it. They felt that Peter Jackson, who directed not only The Lord of the Rings series, but this film as well, rushed important moments, stretched material and added characters

6. The Book Thief (2013)

-The book tells of the grueling and harsh world of WWII. While the movie seems to have softened it up. Many felt the movie was a letdown, not really keeping in tune with the story

7. The Girl on the Train (2016)

-Based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Paula Hawkins, the film starred Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux and Rebecca Ferguson. While some viewers enjoyed the film, others not so much. Those who opposed the film felt the film had bad pacing

8. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)

-Based on the popular children's series by Rick Riordan, many felt that the movie had not done the books justice. For example, in the book, the characters are only children, around the age of 12 while in the film they are teenagers. There were plot changes as well, leading many to dislike the film

9. The Shack (2017)

-Despite the film tackling the subjects of deep faith and forgiveness, the film seems to have made a few errors. Despite the script having good messages, the film seems to lack something special that made the book great initially

10. Artemis Fowl (2020)

-Disney tried hard to make the film version of the Eoin Colfer book good. But the film flopped. The characters were annoying and the plot was all over the place. It made the film hard to watch. It would have been the next big fantasy film had it not been for these issues

11. The Cat in the Hat (2003)

-This is a much beloved book for children by Dr. Seuss. The film, however, didn't fare so well

12. Ender's Game (2013)

-The production was messy, with an overall lack of emotion. The film simply didn't do the book justice

13. Kill Your Friends (2015)

-Based on the 2008 novel of the same name, the film and book couldn't be more different. The movie doesn't make much of an impact on viewers because of the over the top violence and seemingly shallow characters

14. Eat Pray Love (2010)

-Ryan Murphy was in charge of bring the much loved book to the big screen. Some love the film, others hate it. It's all down to personal preference

15. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

-The storylines seemed rushed, there was a lack of emotional depth. Overall, the story felt empty, hollow

16. Paper Towns (2015)

-The novel was successful. The film, however, seemed unable to capture the same feelings as the book. The characters seemed underdeveloped, as if whoever was in charge didn't do a good enough job and tried to rush through production. There was hardly any feelings of self-discovery or emotional depth in the film

17. I Am Number Four (2011)

-Based on the wildly popular sci-fi novel, the film fails to hold the same excitement as the novel. The characters don't seem to be the same in the film as they were in the novel and the action in the film seems cliched, like they were trying too hard to be action stars

18. The Da Vinci Code (2006)

-Some believe it turned out bad. Others really like it. It's all down to personal preference

19. The Dark Tower (2017)

-Despite the fact that Matthew McConnaughey and Idris Elba are in the film, this movie is said to be a near perfect example of what results from rushing a production instead of taking time to make things right

20. The Lovely Bones (2009)

-The book centers on the spirit of a young girl raped and murdered by a pedophile in her neighborhood. From the sky, she tries to point her grieving family in the direction of the man responsible, and, as time goes on, her death seems to rip the family apart. The film adaptation tried to bring the story of tragedy to the big screen. But some felt the movie was confusing, switching back and forth between tragedy, fantasy and revenge, leaving the story messy and almost empty

Colin Firth: The Biography by Alison Maloney

Anyone who has seen the Bridget Jones films or Pride and Prejudice will know this name. Colin Firth was Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice while his character in the Bridget Jones series was also named, ironically, Mr. Darcy. But there are more films and theatre work under his name than people know

I actually found this book by complete accident while searching through the Biography section on my Amazon Kindle. It sounded interesting, so I bought it and read it. It was a very good and very interesting book. I loved him in Love Actually and What a Girl Wants. He was so funny in both

He was born Colin Andrew Firth on September 10, 1960. He has two siblings named Katie and Jonathan. His parents worked as teachers while his grandparents were missionaries. He had a very nomadic childhood, spending time in Nigeria, the United States and England. He went to school for a time in the Midwest US, around Missouri. While there, he felt like an outsider and his classmates didn't improve this feeling. They, more or less, referred to him as an "English geek." Upon arrival in the UK, to attend school, he was, once again, made to feel like an outsider because of his Midwestern US accent.

As time went on, he flirted with the idea of pursuing music as a career, even forming a band with friends that only lasted a short while. He started performing in plays, his first being a Christmas panto where he played Jack Frost, and found he really enjoyed it. That prompted him to go to school for performing arts. It was during his final term at The Drama Centre at Chalk Farm that he played Hamlet and was discovered as having a talent for acting. The role that really brought his name to fame was the West End play Another Country. His first television role, however was the 1988 program Tumbledown. A role that would be both a blessing and a curse for him was the 1995 film Pride & Prejudice, based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name, where he played Mr. Darcy. Anyone who has seen this film knows of a certain scene where he fell into a pond and emerged soaking wet, able to see right through his shirt. That made him a sort of sex symbol. The reason it was a blessing and a curse is because, while Pride & Prejudice helped make his name more notable, it's also a curse because it would be hard for people to see him as anything other than Mr. Darcy. His brother Jonathan even jokingly asked "Isn't Mr. Darcy supposed to be sexy?" after hearing his brother would be playing the role

Tumbledown

Pride & Prejudice. This scene is what made him appeal to the ladies

As time went on, he would star in more films, most notably the Bridget Jones series. He did have a problem with the character of Bridget Jones putting two people in classes: singletons and smug marrieds. He had a problem with that, as he was happily married at the time to an Italian woman named Livia. He mentioned that for one of the Bridget Jones films, he had to be seen shirtless, so he worked extremely hard to get into perfect physical shape. It worked. In one of the Bridget Jones films, he can be seen showing rock hard six-pack abs

He was also married once before, to a woman named Meg Tilly, whose sister is actress Jennifer Tilly. With Meg, they had one child, a son named Will. Even after the marriage ended, Meg and Colin remained on good terms and Colin always made sure to maintain a good relationship with his son. He also has a good relationship with the two children she had, Emily and David. Later on, he met a woman named Livia Giuggioli. When he met her parents to announce their engagement, he impressed them with his impeccable manners and, instead of staying in the same house as his fiancee for the night, he stayed at a hotel. They married and had two children. He talked about how happy he was becoming a father and instead of being queasy at the birth of children, he loved being with his wife during the births. His most recent film was The King's Speech, about King George VII and how he overcame his speech impediment. Other films he's starred in include Love Actually, What a Girl Wants. In What a Girl Wants, he plays a politician named Henry Dashwood who is running for office and later comes to find out that his old girlfriend was pregnant and sent away by his political manager because it would be seen as bad form to have agirlfriend and a child and not be married in the proper way. In Love Actually, he plays an author who is struggling with writer's block, so he takes a retreat to Portugal and falls in love with a local woman

Colin and Livia

Colin and Meg

Love Actually

What a Girl Wants

The King's Speech

Overall, Colin Firth has a down to earth, humble personality that earns him respect from a lot of people. He was actually mocked for a while for playing Mr. Darcy because people thought he came from a well to do upbringing. He stated multiple times that he was a working class kid who went to secondary-modern school. That he was not a kid who went to expensive schools. His parents were working class and advocated for human rights, a cause that Colin strongly supports to this day. He is strongly supportive of human rights. He's a humble, down to earth man with impeccable manners, a perfect gentleman and he is a good person. He maintains a good relationship with his son Will and his ex Meg Tilly and her children Emily and David and he's happily married to his wife Livia and he's even highly fluent in Italian

The Holiday (2006)

I just saw this film Friday night. It was funny and adorably sweet

Summary

-Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is a film editor who just left a bad relationship. Iris (Kate Winslet) is a newspaper journalist who is heartbroken when the man she loves gets engaged to another woman. To give themselves a break from love during the Christmas holidays, they decide to exchange houses, with love managing to find them none the less

Cast

-Cameron Diaz: Amanda

-Kate Winslet: Iris

-Jude Law: Graham

-Jack Black: Miles

-Eli Wallach: Arthur Abbott

-Edward Burns: Ethan

-Rufus Sewell: Jasper Bloom

-Miffy Englefield: Sophie

-Emma Pritchard: Olivia

-Sarah Parish: Hannah

-Shannyn Sossamon: Maggie

-Bill Macy: Ernie

-Shelley Berman: Norman

-Kathryn Hahn: Bristol

-John Krasinski: Ben

-Alex O'Loughlin: Kissing Couple

-Odette Yustman: Kissing Couple

Did You Know?

-This film was written with the intention of having Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black star together

-The sound studio that Miles (Jack Black) works in, complete with the keyboard, monitors, sound modules and other technology was copied, bit by bit, from the studio in which composer Hans Zimmer works

-The website that Iris and Amanda use to exchange houses is an actual site. It's called homeexchange.com

-The house that was used for Arthur Abbott's house once belonged to comedic actress Phyllis Diller

-After this movie came out, the popularity of "house exchanging" became so popular that police officers in England had to issue various warnings about swapping homes with strangers due to the increased risk of fraud, murders and other crimes

-When Arthur (Eli Wallach) is talking to Iris, he references a "Meet Cute". This was used in the 1938 film Bluebeard's Eighth Wife. Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper meet while out shopping. He buys the bottom part and she buys the top part of the same pair of pajamas

-Nancy Myers wrote the role of Miles with Jack Black in mind after seeing him in the 2003 film School of Rock

-The small cottage Iris (Kate Winslet) lives in is contrasted to the large L.A. home Amanda (Cameron Diaz) lives in. In reality, thanks in part to the rising property prices in the UK, a cottage in a quiet country village such as Iris' house would be worth, easily, £1 million, not far off of the $2 million price tag

-Cameron Diaz said, because of the massive amount of running she did, that this was her most physical film

-While on a date with Arthur, he asks Iris why a beautiful girl like her is out to dinner with an "old cocker" like him. This is a Yiddish phrase for "old man"

-The movie Iris is watching in Amanda's house is the 1940 film His Girl Friday

-When Miles comes to Amanda's house and hears what sounds like a party, Iris tells him that Amanda's next door neighbor Arthur and his friends are having a little Hanukkah party. The four men sitting at her table (Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Shelley Berman and Bill Macy) are all of Jewish descent

-While on the British Airways flight to England, Amanda has a stack of books on the table next to her. They are The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Atonement by Ian McEwan, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Bob Dylan Chronicles by Bob Dylan, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, Runaway by Alice Munro, The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Journeys and Conversations by The Dalai Lama and Chan Victor

-While Iris is looking over the movies Amanda has, she comes across a film from 2001 called Enigma. Ironically, Kate Winslet starred in that film

-In real life, Jude Law, who plays Graham, has a daughter named Iris. In this film, his sister's name is Iris (Kate Winslet)

-Jude Law and Kate Winslet appeared in at least two other films together: 2006's All the King's Men and 2011's Contagion

-The car Cameron Diaz drives while in England is a 2006 Mini Cooper. While in Los Angeles, the car Kate Winslet drives is a Lexus RX 400h. Graham (Jude Law) drives a 2006 Range Rover. Jack Black drives a convertible Audi A4

-While on the flight to England, one of the books Amanda brings is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. Ironically, years later, Jude Law would appear in a 2018 film considered a prequel to the Harry Potter series, called Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In that film, he plays Albus Dumbledore

Anna and the King (1999)

This is a modern remake of The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr

Summary

-Anna Leonowens is a teacher working in the royal court of Siam during the 1860s and the unexpected romance with the then King of Siam

Cast

-Jodie Foster: Anna Leonowens

-Chow Yun-Fat: King Mongkut

-Bai Ling: Tuptim

-Tom Felton: Louis

-Syed Alwi: The Kralahome

-Randall Duk Kim: General Alak

-Lim Kay Siu: Prince Chowfa

-Melissa Campbell: Princess Fa-Ying

-Geoffrey Palmer: Lord John Bradley

-Ann Firbank: Lady Bradley

-K.K. Moggie: Phim

Did You Know?

-In real life, the real King Mongkut was paralyzed on one side of his face. This was not mentioned in the film

-This film was banned in Thailand because it was said there were historical inaccuracies regarding the King of Siam and that particular time period

-The story was inspired by the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. It was written in 1944 and was inspired by the diaries and memoirs of Anna Harriet Leonowens. Anna was an English teacher who worked in the palace. A lot of what Leonowens had written down by her had been invented by her, of cruelties she was said to have witnessed. Years later, she met with the son and then King of Siam, who had inquired about why she had written such lies about their father. She insisted that they were truthful. She had also claimed she had written about a three year visit to Egypt, which never happened. That she elevated her late husband's military rank from private to general, that she was born in England when she was actually born in India and was one quarter Indian. According to the testimony of one of Tuptim's daughters, she had invented the fate of the woman known as Tuptim

-For her role as Tuptim, Bai Ling shaved her head completely, so as to fit in with the Buddhist monks to be with her lover

-Three months into filming, there was an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis, transmitted by mosquitoes, due to the proximity to pig farms. The sets too close to the pig farms were moved, others were doused with insecticide. The on-set doctor vaccinated the entire cast and crew before production could continue

-According to Andy Tennant, Chow Yun-Fat was referred to as "Fatty" on set

-During the scene where Anna is showing the children the science trick of putting the egg into the bottle, the contents smelled so rank that Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat could hardly breathe

-When Anna worked at the royal court, she worked there from 1862-1867. The king had died the following year

-In the film, it was said that the King had a dozen children, with ten more on the way. In real life, the real King of Siam had 82 children

Bridget Jones's Baby (2016)

This is the third installment of the Bridget Jones's series

Summary

-Bridget Jones is now in her forties and single. While she decides to focus on her job, she finds out she is pregnant, and is unsure of who the father may be

Cast

-Renee Zellweger; Bridget Jones

-Gemma Jones: Bridget's mother

-Jim Broadbent: Bridget's father

-Sally Phillips: Shazza

-Julian Rhind-Tutt: Fergus

-Shirley Henderson: Jude

-Ben Willbond: Giles Benwick

-Colin Firth: Mark Darcy

-Hugh Grant: Daniel Cleaver

Did You Know?

-Renee Zellweger worked at ITV in preparation for her return as Bridget Jones

-The handwritten diary Bridget keeps her thoughts in has been replaced by an iPad

-When the movie was set to premier in 2012, Sally Phillips, who plays Shazza, was pregnant

-Sharon Maguire, who directed the first film, Bridget Jones's Diary, was the real life inspiration for the role Sally Phillips plays, Shazza

-Dame Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson and Gemma Jones all appeared in the Harry Potter film series. Dame Emma Thompson plays the Divination professor, Sybil Trelawney. Jim Broadbent plays the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Horace Slughorn. Shirley Henderson plays Moaning Myrtle and Gemma Jones plays the Hogwarts school nurse, Madam Pomfrey

-Colin Firth and Dame Emma Thompson not only appeared in the 2005 film Nanny McPhee, but also the 2003 film Love Actually

-Dame Emma Thompson and Gemma Jones appeared in the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility together