Everyone likes to read a good book. Recently, everyone has enjoyed watching those books in the form of a film on the silver screen rather than reading the paper form. We’ve all had that time when our favorite book was turned into a movie. Whether it turned out great or not as compared to the novel is a personal decision made by each viewer who has also read the book.
It seems to be a trend for popular book series to quickly leap to the theaters lately. The top three book series that have captured America’s attention are: the Twilight trilogy, The Hunger Games trilogy and the Divergent trilogy.
Each of these series found their way into the hearts of the young adult population and ended up on the big screen not long afterwards.
So, how did these series do in theaters? Are they as good in film as they were on paper? I’ll let my peers be the judge of that, but numbers don’t lie.
According to boxofficemojo.com, the Twilight saga produced approximately a total of $1,363,537,109 in the box office. The first two of The Hunger Games trilogy have produced roughly $832,678,739. The first film in the Divergent trilogy seems not quite able to meet the level of the other two, only producing around $133,915,000 so far.
I personally have read all of the books in all three trilogies. I have also seen all of the movies that have been released.
I understand that it must be difficult to fit a 400+ page novel that spans weeks of time into a film that is around 2 hours long. However, I also believe that if it is not possible, it shouldn’t be attempted. I suppose this reason is why so many novels get broken into more than one film.
In regards to the Twilight saga, I believe there wasn’t much that the film producers could do to make the films good. First of all, Kristen Stewart has one facial expression regardless of what emotion she is feeling. Second of all, even though I personally enjoyed the books, I understand that they really are not the best example of great literature. Finally, the budget was too small to create what was attempted, leaving a rudely pieced together film that disappointed most viewers.
As for The Hunger Games trilogy, so far the films are going great. Although every film takes some liberties with the book, for the most part, the films hug their respective novel’s timeline fairly well. I can’t wait to see what they do with the final movies. I am disappointed that they have broken Mockingjay into two films, because that means more time to wait in between, but I believe that it will be better for the production.
Now for the most recent – Divergent. I have to confess, for this one, I went out of order. I saw the film and then read the series. From what I can tell, the film stays mostly spot on with the book, with a few extreme exceptions. I am looking forward to seeing the remaining movies, and I’m wondering if Allegiant will also be split into two films, since that seems to be the trend.
These trilogies are not the only ones to make it onto the big screen. Another trilogy that is currently in line to become film is the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy.
It’s clear that Americans love series and trilogies, based on Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
My advice would be to always read the novel and see the movie, because your imagination can be the most powerful tool you own, but sometimes a little visual imaging helps you get the most out of every story.
