Adaptation Nation: Movies Based on Books and Other Stories Reign Supreme
By Guest | February 27, 2016 |
Photo by Flickr’s Scott Smith
Our guest today is John Robert Marlow, a novelist, screenwriter, and adaptation specialist. His book Make Your Story a Movie: Adapting Your Book or Idea for Hollywood (Macmillan) shares advice from authors, screenwriters, directors, and producers whose films have earned a combined total of over $50 billion.
Whether gathered around a campfire, painting on cave walls, writing words on dead trees or computer screens—storytelling is in our blood. As a storyteller, I’m drawn to adaptations because movies are the global campfires of our time. They amplify the story’s impact and reach, and bring viewers back to the book—I’d be crazy not to do this!
Connect with John on Twitter where he hosts #AdapChat, on Facebook, and on his blog.
Adaptation Nation: Movies Based on Books and Other Stories Reign Supreme
For more than a decade, Hollywood adaptations have claimed a steadily growing share of box office receipts and Academy Award nominations. This year marks a new high point in this long-trending dominance.
As of mid-February, 80% of the top 10 (and 74% of the top 50) highest-grossing films of all time are adaptations. Of this year’s 42 major-category Oscar nominations, 39—or 93%—are for adaptations or work on adaptations. Seven of the eight Best Picture nominees are based on books, true stories, or both—and no. 8 is a remake (or adaptation, if you will) of an earlier movie.
The five nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are of course adaptations—but so are 3 of the 5 Best Original Screenplay nominees (which are based on true-life stories). Add 5 of 5 Best Director nods and very nearly every acting nomination, and 2016 is already a near-total sweep at box office and Oscars. It’s quite possible that, come Oscar night, adaptations will score 100%.
2016 OSCAR UPDATE: 100% of this year’s major category wins (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress) were for adaptations, or work on adaptations. Spotlight won for best picture.
“Adaptations are super-hot right now,” says Christopher Lockhart, story editor at the world’s most powerful entertainment agency, WME. “It’s all about the underlying property. A script based on source material is good. One based on source material that’s been bought for some other medium—book, video game, and so on—is better, because it shows someone else has confidence in the work and thinks it will be successful. And if you’re fortunate enough to have something that already has an audience of some kind, even if self-published—that’s ideal because now you’ve got an existing fan base for a studio to build on.”
Screenwriter Ryan Condal, who recently sold his first script Galahad (based on the Arthurian legend) for $400,000, feels the same, saying, “Probably 99% of the active projects in Hollywood are adaptations of one kind or another.”
With that in mind, here’s a quick look at how this year’s Best Picture nominees—all of them adaptations—made it to the big screen.
The Martian tells the tale of an American astronaut stranded on Mars. The story began as a serialized novel in 2009, posted to author Andy Weir’s website as writing progressed over a three-year period. The chapters drew about 3,000 faithful readers, many of whom emailed technical corrections that were then incorporated into the science-heavy story. When the book was complete, Weir thought he was done. Until fans requested an ereader version, which he then offered as a free download. When readers asked for a Kindle version, he put the book on amazon for 99 cents—the lowest price allowed by the online bookseller.
Three months later, in December of 2012, he’d sold 35,000 copies and was amazon’s #1 seller in the science fiction category. Weir was then approached by audiobook publisher Podium, a literary agent, print publisher Random House, and Fox Studios. With interest on one coast bumping up interest on the other, book and film deals were struck within four days of each other. Traditionally published and heavily promoted because of the upcoming movie (starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott), the book reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. With a strong boost from the film, it went on to sell over a million copies in some 30 languages. At $620 million (so far), the film is the 68th highest-grossing adaptation of all time, and the 102nd highest-grossing movie.
In addition to being nominated for Best Picture, The Martian also draws nods for Best Adapted Screenplay (by Drew Goddard) and Best Actor (Matt Damon). The film is up for a total of 7 Academy Awards.
The Revenant started as a 2002 revenge novel by Michael Punke (published by Carroll & Graff), which was in turn based on the life of American frontiersman Hugh Glass. Despite good reviews, the book soon went out of print.
In 2010, screenwriter Mark L. Smith wrote a spec script adaptation (“spec” meaning there was no Hollywood buyer at the time), which attracted director Alejandro G. Iñárritu in 2011. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy then signed on.
Picador bought the reprint rights and brought the book back to life, releasing hardcover, paperback, and paperback movie tie-in editions in January, September, and December of 2015. The movie came out on December 25th, making $382 million—and counting. Resurrected by and riding the success of the film, the book hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Twelve Academy Award nominations include Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hardy), and Best Director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu).
The Big Short is based on Michael Lewis’ 2010 nonfiction book chronicling the moves of several Wall Street players who, realizing that rampant subprime mortgage fraud would inevitably crash the market, bet against the housing bubble—making over $1 billion off the biggest financial disaster in world history. The book was published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2010, to much acclaim.
In 2013, Paramount bought the film rights for Brad Pitt to star and produce (as he did in the adaptation of Lewis’ previous nonfiction book Moneyball). The script was completed in 2014, and the film released in 2015—starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. Total box office is $121 million (on a budget of $28 million)—and climbing. Predictably, the book became a #1 New York Times Bestseller.
The Big Short is up for 5 Oscars, among them Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay), Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale), and Best Director (Adam McKay).
Brooklyn was adapted from the novel by Colm Tóibín (published by Viking in 2009), which follows a young woman torn between families in Ireland and America. Tóibín (whose earlier novel The Blackwater Lightship also became a film) wanted the adaptation done by a screenwriter who was also a novelist, feeling this would result in a more insightful film. He got his wish with screenwriter/novelist Nick Hornby. The film was shot as a low-budget indie and shown at Sundance in 2015, where Fox Searchlight bought U.S. and other rights for $9 million. The book became a New York Times Bestseller.
Brooklyn has been nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Nick Hornby), and Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan). The book is also set to become a British TV series.
Bridge of Spies is based on real-life attorney James B. Donovan’s efforts to secure the release of U.S. Air Force pilot Francis Gary Powers, whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War in 1960. British playwright/screenwriter Matt Charman learned about Donovan from a footnote in a biography of John F. Kennedy, contacted the now-deceased attorney’s son, and sold the project to DreamWorks, where Steven Spielberg elected to direct. (Charman’s script was then revised by Joel and Ethan Coen.) Though the movie is not officially based on Donovan’s 1964 Strangers on a Bridge, the book was republished by Simon & Schuster in August, 2015, in anticipation of the movie’s release. It reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Bridge of Spies is up for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (Matt Charman, Joel and Ethan Coen), and Best Supporting Actor (Mark Rylance).
Room is based on Emma Donoghue’s novel of the same name, about a mother and son kept prisoner in a single room. The first step in this book’s journey to the screen came before the book was published—when Donoghue wrote the adapted screenplay herself. The next step came when indie director Lenny Abrahamson read the novel and wrote a ten-page letter to the author, explaining why he should be the one to direct. Though she’d passed on previous offers, Donoghue was impressed by the letter, and said yes—provided her screenplay was used for the movie. After reading it—and being impressed himself—the director agreed. The book became a New York Times Bestseller.
Room is nominated for 4 awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Emma Donoghue), Best Actress (Brie Larson) and Best Director (Lenny Abrahamson).
Spotlight is based on a Pulitzer Prizewinning series of stories in The Boston Globe newspaper, investigating child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests and its cover-up by the Church. After hearing about the story from a writer, film producers Nicole Rocklin and Blye Faust decided to make a film about the Spotlight reporters who broke the story, and approached Globe reporters and editors.
Spotlight is up for 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Best Supporting Actress (Rachel McAdams), and Best Director (Tom McCarthy).
Mad Max: Fury Road is a reboot (and therefore an adaptation) of the 1979 Australian independent film Mad Max, this time starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Co-written and shot by Mad Max co-writer and director George Miller, the film has thus far made $378 million. The film is up for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (George Miller).
When Hollywood studios find something that works, they stick with it—and for the foreseeable future, that means adaptations. For authors and other storytellers shooting for box office gold or little gold men, the odds of making the leap to film have never been better.
What’s your pick for Best Picture? What book (or other story) would you like to see adapted?
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
Wonderful insight into the movie side of the book industry, John. I’ve been told A Keeper’s Truth would make an awesome movie. I guess we’ll see!
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
Hi Dee,
Just don’t wait on HW to approach you, or on your publisher to make something happen; you are your #1 promoter. Hopefully you kept all movie rights and proceeds in your publishing contract…
Hi, John.
Yes, I own all other rights, including movie. Wouldn’t this be in the hands of my agent? If not, where would I start? Suggestions welcome!
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
Hi Dee,
Well, it may sound biased to say so, but the quickest, cheapest, and best way to come up to speed on this is to listen to folks who’ve been there before–and shared their advice in the Make Your Story a Movie book. The contributors’ films have made over $50 billion, and the book is $8 on amazon. It covers the basics, and then some.
As to your agent–most book agents do not handle screenplays, and so the best they can do is try to sell the screen rights to the book–which (for reasons explained in Make Your Story a Movie) pretty much invariably fetch a far smaller sum than would a screenplay based on the same book.
Absent raging bestseller status or incredible “heat,” the typical book might option for a dollar, or several thousand, with a larger sum (say $50,000, though some go higher) if and when the movie starts shooting. The average price paid for a screenplay by an unknown, on the other hand, is $300-$600k, often with half of that up front.
P.S. — Don’t know what’s going on with the typos I’m seeing in my replies. They were not there when spell-checked and posted…
So much good news, John. Exciting. I feel like we’re skipping right to the rewards, though, and overlooking a tiny part of the process…
‘When Hollywood studios find something that works…”
Find? How does that happen?
Maybe something like this? Move to Hollywood, get an agent, maybe a manger, meet, pitch, meet, pitch, meet, pitch, write treatments, wait, meet, pitch, get a scrap of interest, a no-money “shopping” agreement, a tentative “attachment” of a start-up producer, two years go by, three, four, option renewed, option dropped, option picked up again, meet, pitch, meet, pitch, wait, wait…something like that?
No problem! Let’s go. Seriously, you’re right about the rewards. What I’d love is more of your war stories and practical advice on steps to follow to get to Oscar night.
Hi Benjamin,
While it’s true that each of the journeys cited above does indeed have a longer story, there’s only so much detail I can fit into one post meant to touch on all of them.
The ways in which Hollywood “finds” stories are varied. Sometimes (as with THE MARTIAN), they find you because your story has already built a following. More commonly, you go after them.
That process can, as you say, be slow at times–but that’s no different than HARRY POTTER or [insert massive bestseller title here] being rejected by various New York publishers before finding a good home.
On the other hand, the process can be incredibly swift. SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN sold in a bidding war for $3.2M, and was the writer’s first script sale. DEJA VU sold to the first buyer who read it, for $5.6M. This was also a first sale for one of the two writers involved. (The other was already established.)
These prices are exceptional, of course, with the average first-time screenplay selling more in the neighborhood of $300-$600k. And that’s a bit of practical advice right there: absent raging bestseller status, actual adapted screenplays sell for far more than “screen rights” to the same book.
Reason being, books raise questions: Can this be successfully adapted? How do we crunch 300 pages down to 120? Who do we hire to do that, what’s it going to cost us and how long will it take? And at the end of that process–will we have a good screenplay? When you hand them a screenplay to begin with, all of those questions have already been answered. If they like it, they buy it.
You’ll find more practical advice in the Make Your Story a Movie book–from authors, screenwriters, producers, directors and others. (I’ve posted the first few chapters on my blog.) Much of that advice is also applicable when writing books.
And while some of the book’s contributors have won or been nominated for Oscars themselves–the first steps are adapting the story and getting it to Hollywood.
There will be plenty of time to sweat the Oscars later…
Excellent, thanks John.
I would love to see the Sue Grafton mysteries in film. I like seeing books I’ve read turned into other art forms. I’ve often listened to audio versions of books I’ve read and I always go to films based on my favorites. But more than that, seeing Kinsey Millhone on the silver screen would introduce her to a whole new generation of readers.
Hi Dana,
Sue has actually written a number of TV scripts, and from what I gather learned story structure from Hollywood– afterward applying it to her alphabet books which, unlike her pre-TV novels, did very well.
As to Kinsey Millhone adaptations, my understanding is the only thing holding that up is, well, Sue Grafton. She doesn’t want the books adapted.
This news is a great motivator. I’ve written both. Now I have added incentive for writing the screenplays for my books and books for my screenplays.
Thanks for the info!
You bet.
Not everyone can write both; the demands are so different, it’s almost as if everything that makes you great at one, makes you lousy at the other. Multi-Oscar-winner Paul Haggis told me for the book that he would never think of doing a novel, because he’d be no good at it.
But if you CAN switch gears and do both (or even have someone else help with the script), you can get a synergistic effect going that makes novel and screenplay better than either would have been alone–because things you think up for one, wind up being used in the other as well.
So keep at it!
I thoroughly enjoyed your post, John.
You offer much needed motivational therapy within a publishing industry that can overwhelm even the most confident writer with negative statistics pretty much guaranteeing a reward of literary obscurity.
Your post proves how backstories are so vital. We authors are told to avoid backstory so often many of us fail to appreciate the realities behind success that happen to a few dedicated writers.
I wonder if it’s relatively easier for a book to advance to a TV series as opposed to a movie. I ask because books already marketed as a series seem to be basking in a run of successful television serials that extend into years of exposure.
Does your book address this industry as well?
I thank you for your insightful report that has this author happily inspired for a change.
Hi Veronica,
As Han Solo once said, “Never tell me the odds.” The only certainty is, you can’t win if you’re not at the table. You have to get it out there.
TV and “feature” (as theatrical-release movies are called) paths are similar, and most of the advice in the book applies to both. You have more time to develop characters and play things out in a series–but if the concept isn’t something that will fuel 13 or 24 or 200 hours of screen time, you’re better off sticking to features.
The same goes for things that simply cannot be shot on a TV budget. Sure, some series spend close to $100M–but that’s for a whole season. A single feature can cost more than that–in some cases several times more.
That said, some stories are well-suited to both, and are made into features AND series. The latter market is stupendously larger than it was just a few years ago, owing to Netflix, amazon, and many other players entering the field with original content. A feature sale may get you a bigger immediate payday, while a series–IF it proves successful–can (assuming a good contract) make you far more money in the long run.
Either–again, if successful–will make you much, MUCH more on the book than Hollywood will ever pay you (even if they pay you a fortune). This is because, while HW pays you a set amount, or set amount per episode–every new book sold puts more money in your pocket, forever. And good movies/series sell a LOT of books. (Be sure to require “source credit” [based upon the book TITLE by YOUR NAME] in your option or purchase agreement, though, so viewers know about the book.)
Interesting post, John. Thank you. I’m looking forward to Sisters in Crime’s “Lights Camera Action! Sisters in Crime in Hollywood” conference coming up at the beginning of April. I actually have no interest in writing a screenplay — writing the novels is enough for me — but several readers have suggested my mysteries would make a great TV series. (The hero is a long haul trucker and former homicide investigator who somehow gets involved in investigations in different cities up and down the West Coast.)
I confess that my primary motivation for attending is that I love to attend an event in Southern California at least once a year so I have an excuse to spend time with my two sisters there, but I am also curious about how to go about selling a concept to a producer, or perhaps just finding a screenwriter willing to take on a new project.
I did ask one established TV writer/producer for advice and he wasn’t the least bit encouraging. He indicated he has enough trouble getting his own original projects picked up i.e. if he can’t sell a new series, what chance could someone like me possibly have?
I can dream, and enjoy my weekend in California, and I will certainly check out your book as well.
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
As to getting your stories into script form–if that’s not something you’re comfy with, you can always hire someone else to help or do the adaptation for you. (Also covered in the book.) Financially, going out with a solid screenplay is a better bet than trying to sell the rights. (See comment above.)
As to the producer, a lot of things could factor into that: what’s he trying to sell? Is it both good and marketable? Is he trying to sell after something similar just sold (or just crashed and burned)? Did his last project sink? Does he have a reputation for being difficult? Is there a “rights situation?” Is he insisting on being showrunner? Etc. There are so many things you just can’t know about a particular situation. Also, as with publishing, you find a lot of folks who turn bitter over time, and make everything sound undoable because they can’t do it. Now I don’t know if any of that applies to this guy–but, food for thought.
Alan Glynn (interviewed on my blog, and also a contributor to the book) was teaching English as a second language and thinking his publishing career was over when LIMITLESS (based on his out-of-print book THE DARK FIELDS) became a movie. The book was reissued, and he found himself watching a Super Bowl commercial for the movie. Now it’s a TV series as well.
So, what chance do you have? Depends (among other things) on what you’ve got…
I really enjoyed your post John partly because I see a movie in my head when I write and how I wish it were easier to transcribe on paper what I see in my head. I should get your book!
I think some of the best movies come from short stories. Total Recall, Inventing the Abbotts are a couple that come to mind that I’ve enjoyed immensely. Of course, I’ve also loved many of the book length works as movies.
Hi Vijaya,
It’s always best to “roll the movie” in your head while writing–particularly when you want to see an adaptation. It helps make things more cinematic.
Some of the most successful movies of all time have been based on short-form writing. The FAST & FURIOUS movies are based on a magazine article, the the SHERLOCK HOLMES movies on stories and novels. WORLD WAR Z is based on what is essentially a collection of short stories in book form. The SHREK films come from a 32-page children’s book. And then of course we have the comic book franchises.
Not forgetting scads of Stephen King adaptations, of which SHAWSHANK–based on a short story–stands head, shoulders, and Oscar nominations above the rest. A lot of the PKD adaps are also based on short stories–MINORITY REPORT, BLADE RUNNER (soon to have a sequel), and TOTAL RECALL (twice) among them.
And this year’s Best Picture nominee SPOTLIGHT is based on a series of newspaper articles.
If short-form is your forte, that works for Hollywood–provided the core is substantial enough to build a screenplay around.
Your book just arrived in the mail and I’m looking forward to studying it over Easter holiday. And yes, the short form is my forte, so thank you for all the other examples.
Hi,
I’d love to see “The Magician’s Lie,” by Greer McCallister, made into a movie.