Popular books that were made into terrible movies

Popular books that bombed as movies

Adapting a popular book into a movie is a risky proposition. No matter how good the film is, some people will always say, “the book was better.” Even worse, the film could just straight up be viewed unfavorably. Sometimes, even good books are turned into not-so-good movies, many of which also flop at the box office. Here are some popular books that were developed into unsuccessful movies.

“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” (2019)

To be fair, it was a bold choice to adapt Maria Semple’s “Where’d You Go, Bernadette.” The book is told through a series of letters, emails, and other pieces of ephemera. Still, Richard Linklater was directing, and they had the amazing Cate Blanchett to play Bernadette. Despite that, the movie landed with a thud and didn’t even make its budget back in the box office.

“The Golden Compass” (2007)

Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy is an extremely popular fantasy novel series. As such, when it was announced that his books would be turned into movies, there was a ton of excitement from fans. “The Golden Compass” featured big names like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and also polar bears in armor. While the film made money, by the standards of a big, epic potential blockbuster it was a flop and a disappointment, and critics gave it mixed reviews as well. The other two books were never adapted into movies. They’ve tried the whole “His Dark Materials” thing again as a TV show, but it hasn’t really taken off either.

“Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer” (2011)

Unless you have kids of a certain age, you probably aren’t familiar with the “Judy Moody” series of books. That may have been a problem, as the summer flick based on the books ended up completely falling flat at the box office. Even the presence of Heather Graham as Judy’s aunt was unable to help the movie make back its budget.

“Battlefield Earth” (2000)

OK, so maybe it isn’t accurate to call “Battlefield Earth” a popular book, unless you are talking about members of a certain organization. Still, it certainly sold its copies, regardless of quality. Plus, we had to talk about this movie, given that it is one of the biggest flops ever. In addition to failing at the box office, “Battlefield Earth” is considered one of the absolute worst films in the history of the medium.

“The Giver” (2014)

Kids have been reading “The Giver” in school for years at this point. It’s a staple of middle-school English classes. As such, when it finally got turned into a movie it seemed like a great idea. Plus, Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep were in it! However, “The Giver” barely made a dent in theaters, seemingly being forgotten the second it was released. Maybe too many people didn’t like having to read the book for school?

“The Dark Tower” (2017)

There have been A LOT of Stephen King adaptations. There have been successful ones, failures and also “The Shining,” which is considered an iconic movie even if King himself didn’t like it. “The Dark Tower” is a sprawling, somewhat insane book series and trying to turn it into a movie was a daunting task. It didn’t work out because apparently you can’t shove a ton of stuff into one 95-minute movie. The film adaptation landed with a thud, only making $113.2 million in worldwide box office numbers.

“The Lovely Bones” (2009)

Despite being a book about a murdered girl, “The Lovely Bones” was a huge bestseller. It seemed inevitable that it would get turned into a film, and it wasn’t just any adaptation. Peter Jackson, the man behind the “Lord of the Rings” movies, directed the project. Stanley Tucci did get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but the movie did not live up to the popularity of the book, getting shrugged off and only being a marginal success financially.

“The Girl on the Train” (2016)

In short, the people behind “The Girl on the Train” were really hoping to recapture the runaway success of “Gone Girl.” They found a pulpy thriller book that was super successful and then tried to turn the beach read into a hit movie. It was almost like an assembly line project. It made money but it wasn’t a hit, and it didn’t get anywhere near the success of “Gone Girl.” Plus, critics didn’t really like it at all. Given the expectation, this qualifies as a disappointment, especially since it had an air of cynicism around it.

“Paper Towns” (2015)

The adaptation of John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” was hugely successful, so the film industry decided to try its luck again by adapting an early book from the YA author. Unlike “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Paper Towns” was just sort of a bland mess. It was a low-budget movie, so it made money, but nobody, other than some teens who love any tragic romance story, seemed to really like it. “Paper Towns” has a 56 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and on Metacritic.

“Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2004)

The Netflix series based on the “Series of Unfortunate Events” book series seems to be successful, maybe because it can stretch the story out over many episodes and also because people love binging. This earlier attempt to adapt the strange comedic of the fake author of Lemony Snicket’s books tried to adapt three novels in one film. That may have proved unwieldy, and even Jim Carrey couldn’t make the movie a box office success. The film had a massive budget of $140 million but only made $209 million. That killed any plans of it being a movie franchise.

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” (2016)

It’s been a while since a Tim Burton movie really clicked with people. Even his “Alice in Wonderland” films, which made a ton of money, have no real cultural impact. While Ransom Riggs’ debut novel “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” doesn’t have the same cache of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” stories, it has a ton of fans. Alas, as is the case with Burton films these days, the critics were mixed on it, and it needed the worldwide box office to help it make a profit, as it only made $87.2 million in the United States and Canada.

“I Am Number Four” (2011)

We’ve got one more YA adaptation for you. It’s the typical story. You take a popular YA sci-fi or fantasy series and try and turn it into a hit film franchise. “I Am Number Four” has a weird title, and critics hated it. “I Am Number Four” was never No. 1 at the box office, as it debuted second, which is a disappointment for a film like this. Once again, a potential film franchise ended after the first movie.

“The Great Gatsby” (2013)

Some may argue about including this adapation or the one from the ‘70s starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. However, “The Great Gatsby” is maybe THE quintessential Great American Novel. When you adapt F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic story, the stakes are higher, and you have to deliver. Did “The Great Gatsby” starring Leonardo DiCaprio make money? Yes, a decent amount, though it wasn’t a huge moneymaker given that it cost $105 million to make. It also polarized critics quite a bit, given how bombastic and over the top it is. We’re still ready to call it a disappointment.