Worst Book-to-Film Adaptations Ever!

Worst Book-to-Film Adaptations Ever!

Hello, Everybody! I'm Santiago Brion and this is my list of the worst movie adaptations of great books! I was going to make this list after I watched Artemis Fowl because well... y'know. It's basically one of the worst movies I ever saw. 

So... you've got your Harry Potters and your Lord of the Rings and then you've got these poor excuses of adaptations. Ok, here's the list.

10. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Based on Cassandra Clare's book series, it's the story of a teenage girl who's unfortunately sucked into the so-called Shadow world and the Downworld(which consists of half-angels, werewolves, faeries and vampires) and finds out that she and her mother are shadowhunters who are half-angel warriors who protect humanity from evil forces and she also founds out that Valentine Morgenstern(the main antagonist) is her father. Yeesh. The movie unfortunately didn't live up to expectations from its fandom(my sister loves the book series and I think she was probably disappointed with it). It was overstuffed, it was very boring and it wasted a very talented cast partcicularly Lily Collins, Robert Sheehan, Jared Harris, Lena Headey and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  It was panned by critics and it became a box office disappoint which led to the cancelation of its many sequels. I'm just grateful for Shadowhunters.

9. The Goldfinch

How did the filmmakers mess this one up?! You had a talented cast which consisted of Ansel Elgort, Jeffrey Wright, Finn Wolfhard, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson with John Crowley as director, who received an Oscar nomination for directing "Brooklyn" starring Saoirse Ronan. Based on the book of the same by Donna Tartt; Theodore Decker, whose life changes after his mother dies in a terrorist bombing at a museum and an older man convinces him to take a famous painting called The Goldfinch from the museum. While the movie was beautifully filmed it just tries too hard to be a fantastic movie that'd be worthy of Oscar nominations. 

8. A Wrinkle in Time

This is another movie that tries too hard to be a good movie and having a talented cast and a talented director. Although it's the first movie to be directed by an African-American woman with a budget of 250 million dollars, it's just way too ambitious for its own good. Based on Madeleine L'Engle's book of the same name, the story follows a young girl who travels across the universe to search for her father with the help of three astral travelers played by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. While Storm Reid is already an up and coming young actress, she's not believeable as a young girl trying to look for her dad and I couldn't stand Charles Wallace! I mean what kind of name is Charles Wallace? Just call him Charles or Chucky. It was beautiful to look at but I just didn't enjoy this movie at all.

7. Vampire Academy

This is probably the worst attempt of making a satire. Based on the book series of the same by Richelle Mead, it's about a human/vampire. hybrid named Rose and her best friend Lissa, the princess of the Moroi, the peaceful vampires who attend St. Vladimir's Academy, a secret haven for vampires like them. Rose trains with a mentor(who she fancies) to guarantee her place as Lissa's guardian-- although she must sacrifice everything to protect Lissa. This adaptation is unfortunately a knock-off of Mean Girls due to the fact that it was directed by Mark Waters. It tries to be funny in an otherwise overstuffed movie and fails every time, it had bad visual, a bad script and Gabriel Byrne's performance was completely wasted. If Vampire Academy ever gets adapted again, it should be made in a TV show.

6. The Golden Compass

Adapting the next The Lord of the Rings is no small feet and it's pretty evident while you're watching this stinker. There were a lot of script changes, directors kept dropping out and there were many changes during post-production. Based on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, it's the story of a girl named Lyra whose friend is missing and goes with the seafarers down North to get help from the armored bears to look for missing children. It drew a lot of criticism, particularly from many religious groups including the church of Scientology and the fans of the book series. While it was visual stunning, the movie had lackluster storytelling and bad acting from a talented cast including Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman(her again) and Sam Elliot. Thank god we have the HBO series, His Dark Materials and I can't wait for Season 2!

5. The Dark Tower

Coming out the same year that the re-adaptation of Stephen King's It became the highest-grossing horror movie of all time and started the beginning of the Stephen King movie renaissance, The Dark Tower was already D.O.A. when it came out in August 2017. It was pushed back 3 times and adapted the second book in the "Dark Tower" series instead of the first book, The Gunslinger. The studio wanted to tell the story of the little boy being stuck in another world, which has been done before many times. Both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey gave the worst performances of their respective careers and it's not surprising that potential sequels were canceled due to its disastrous release. 

4. The Giver

We've all read that one book that we were forced to read when were in Middle School and this was one of them. Shot completely in black & white and based on Lois Lowery's book of the same name, it's set in a utopian society but is actually a dystopian society, where pain is taken away or something I completely forgot what it was about and I honestly don't care. Despite it's great cast(Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges deserved better!) the story just didn't make sense at all. 

3. The Twilight Saga

Ok, guys. Please don't hate me for this, I don't like this franchise. I DON'T! It had piss-poor visuals, questionable dialogue, HORRIBLE acting, and so many plot holes! Even the baby was CGI-ed which was unnecessary! Oh and how do you end this franchise? By having the final battle be a vision instead of it actually happening!! I just hated how Kristen Stewart kept blinking before she spoke and the fact that Edward LITERALLY told Bella that he likes to watch her sleep and look at how they kiss! They always back away whenever they touch lips it's like they don't know how to kiss. No wonder Robert Pattinson regrets being in this trainwreck. For those of you who did enjoy this franchise whether or not you were Team Jacob or Team Edward, I don't care. This is my opinion and you can't change it. For those who hated it, you have my upmost respect.

2. Eragon

The Inheritance Cycle's author, Christopher Paolini, was only 15-years-old when his first book was published and naturally multiple Hollywood Studios wanted to adapt Eragon. Taking place in the mythical land of Alagaesia, it's about a poor farm boy named Eragon. who discovers a dragon's egg. When it hatches, he sets forth on a path to restore glory of his homeland and overthrow it's powerful ruler. This could've been the next Harry Potter, but unfortunately it was the exact opposite! It was everything that a bad book adaptation can be. Terrible acting and terrible visuals. Fans of the book and Paolini hated it and it is now the 10th worst reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes. OUCH!

Honorable Mentions:

- Gulliver's Travels

- The Lonely Bones

- The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

- Inkheart

- Divergent Series

- Ella Enchanted

- Artemis Fowl

1. The Cat in the Hat

This is that one book that should've NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER!!! Been adapted. Coming right out of the success of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Hollywood wanted to adapt the next live-action Dr. Seuss movie and sure enough they picked The Cat in the Hat for some reason. Starring Mike Myers in his one of many terrible roles, it's about well... you know DAMN WELL what it's about. Not only is it the worst book-to-film adaptation, it's one of the worst movies ever made! After this disaster was released, the Dr. Seuss movies were then adapted into CGI-animated movies like Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax and The Grinch.

Thanks for reading, guys! Don't forget comment below and share what you think the worst book-to-film adaptation was.