2022 looks to be another massive year for book-to-screen adaptations, with everything from smaller properties like House Of The Dragon coming this year. Of course, this is nothing new, as books have led to everything from one-off box office bombs to massive cinematic franchises.
The editors for Ranker gathered together some of the best film franchises based on books and left the fans to decide which one deserved the top spot. While fans could probably guess some of the top ten, they'll likely be surprised by a few of the franchises that made it to the top—and several popular adaptations that didn't.
Shrek Franchise
Many fans may not even know that this was based on a book. The New Yorker cartoonist William Steig wrote and illustrated the picture book Shrek! in 1990, which followed Shrek's adventures in the world and eventual marriage to an ugly princess.
Transforming the children's book into a film was incredibly successful, leading to three sequels and a Broadway musical. While some changes were made to the original story, such as eliminating Shrek's parents and adding more depth to his bride, fans will be happy to know that Donkey was actually a part of the book. Steig could never have imagined how far his little picture book would go, but he reportedly loved the adaptation and certainly loved what it did for his book sales.
Die Hard Franchise
Fans can stop arguing about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie because comparing it to its book counterpart is much more interesting. The film is based on the 1966 book Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, which is actually the second book in its series.
The thriller elements of the movie match up well with the book's plot, but the protagonist (named Joe Leland, not John McClane), is actually fighting to rescue his daughter, not his estranged wife. While some of the action scenes and dialogue are taken straight from the book, movie fans will be shocked by many of the book's darker elements. Now, four sequels later, it's hard to believe so many major films came from one little-known book.
Maze Runner Franchise
The Maze Runner series is widely known to be an adaptation of the popular five-book series of the same name, and while it missed out on the golden age of YA adaptations by a few years, it has quite a bit of popularity in its own right. Thus far, only the first trilogy of books has been adapted for the screen, but Disney has announced plans to continue the franchise.
Benefiting from its later release, the series avoided many of the worst tropes in YA Dystopias, which made it worth reading and watching after the YA craze of the late 90s to early 2010s. The film adaptation is fairly faithful to the books' plot and characterization, so there's very little need to debate whether the books or movies are better.
James Bond Franchise
The character of James Bond has quite a literary history, starting with twelve novels and several short stories by Ian Fleming, before being taken on by several other writers up to the present day. While the earliest films remain faithful to the books, the later films focus more on the composite character than they do any one story.
The great thing about Bond is that he can be anybody the writers need him to be, a fact that allows the character to have been portrayed by seven different actors to date. The most consistent thing about the character between books and films is his ability to change, with completely different writers, actors, and directors all working together to depict the life of one man.
The Hobbit Franchise
The Hobbit series is based on the book by the same name by J. R. R. Tolkein. The book is extremely short compared to most of Tolkien's work, which is what made it such a surprise that the filmmakers needed three films, totaling nearly eight hours, to adapt the book to the big screen.
Though there had been a previous animated adaptation of the book, director Peter Jackson wanted to really take advantage of The Hobbit's status as a Lord of the Rings prequel, leading him to add information from a variety of different Tolkien works. Though movies deviated greatly from the original book, they tended to do so in ways that made the tiny book an epic on par with The Lord of the Rings, a decision that is still debated by fans to this day.
The Chronicles Of Narnia Franchise
The Chronicles of Narnia movies were based on the seven-book series of the same name by C. S. Lewis. When adapting the books for the big screen, they began in the order of publication (rather than the chronological order), adapting The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Netflix acquired the rights to the series and has announced it will be making films and series inspired by the books, which may go further than the current film series. While the films out so far are largely focused on the Pevensie siblings' adventures in Narnia, a more expansive adaptation would focus on Narnia itself, and the many children that interacted with it over the years.
Jurassic Park Franchise
The Jurassic Park series is one of the more circuitous franchises out there, as the original book inspired the first movie, but then the success of the movie inspired the sequel and its film counterpart. From there, there were four other sequels, a comic book series, and several video games that relied on the overall concept more than any specific written material.
While the books had a lot to say about society, the movies are better known for their stunning dinosaur fights. Despite the social commentary being toned down as the series went on, the franchise was groundbreaking for both CGI and animatronics and is one of the most important cultural and technical film series to be made.
The Hunger Games Franchise
Based on the trilogy by Susan Collins, The Hunger Games film franchise followed the popular YA trend of splitting its final book into two movies, in one of the more successful examples of the trend. While there were certainly changes between the books and movies, it is an extremely successful adaptation, capturing much of the horror and dark political implications of the books.
The film franchise hit its ten-year anniversary this year and is still viewed as the best YA dystopia, prompting the release of the prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the current production of its film adaptation.
The Lord Of The Rings Franchise
The first of many arguments Lord of the Rings fans will face is whether they prefer the books or the movies. And while it's possible to nitpick every little detail and minor character, it really isn't worth it. The Lord of the Rings is probably the most definitive work of fantasy ever written, and many fans believe that the film adaptations did the work justice.
The visuals are unbelievably perfect, and the films hold their viewers from start to finish. Unlike many film franchises, which can tend to feel disted thanks to long production times, each installment of the series was filmed at the same time, leading it to be a massive monolith more than a trilogy, similar to the books' original intent.
Harry Potter Franchise
Despite the massive success of other book-to-movie franchises, no other franchise defined an entire generation like Harry Potter did. The books prompted a massive boom in YA literature and the films showed how powerful a children's series could be in the culture at large.
While the sequel play The Cursed Child, the prequel film series Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and J. K. Rowling's personal views have cast a dark shadow on the series as a whole, there is no denying that the franchise is unlike any other.
