10 Book-To-Movie Adaptations That Started Before The Book Even Released

Some studios believe that upcoming novels hold such promise, they purchase the rights to the movie adaptation before the book has even been published. This was the case with some movie adaptations better than the source material, demonstrating the keen eye of some directors and producers. Other movie rights were only bought ahead of time because they exhibited obvious genre popularity, and the studio executives knew they shouldn’t pass up the chance to produce the movie fast.

The best YA book adaptations were produced in rapid succession because of the knowledge that the particular subgenre was popular, and getting the movie out before it faded away was advisable. Yet there are still some book-to-movie adaptations that were bought early for no reason other than quality and resulted in stellar finished products. Other than a few rare cases of horrible adaptations, this was in service of giving the fans the movie they wanted without having to wait too long.

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10 The Godfather (1972)

Book By Mario Puzo

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The Offer changes the book/movie timeline of The Godfather for its miniseries about the circumstances of the landmark movie’s production. Paramount bought the rights to The Godfather in 1967, before author Mario Puzo had even completed it (via LA Times). This paycheck even allowed Puzo to be able to complete the novel. While Paramount originally envisioned a much smaller-scale movie, Francis Ford Coppola transformed the project once he was hired.

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10/10 The Godfather RDramaCrime

Francis Ford Coppola directed this 1978 classic that would go on to become one of the most iconic crime films ever made. Starring Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Al Pacino, The Godfather gives a tense and introspective look into the Corleone crime family of New York City.

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*Availability in US Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date March 24, 1972 Writers Mario Puzo , Francis Ford Coppola Cast Marlon Brando , Diane Keaton , James Caan , Al Pacino , Robert Duvall Runtime 175 minutes

Coppola and Puzo worked together to write the screenplay, while the book was released and production of the movie got underway. Given Puzo’s average career as an author and Paramount’s less ambitious plans for the adaptations, there is no definitive reason to believe that studio executives knew what they had stumbled onto and bought the rights before someone else got the privilege of making the movie. They got lucky with the source material and the director, leading to arguably the best gangster movie of all time.

9 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

Book By Suzanne Collins

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Sunrise on the Reaping is moving even faster through the book-to-movie pipeline, with a book release in 2025 and a movie release in 2026.

Suzanne Collins surprised her dormant fanbase with the announcement that she was writing a Hunger Games prequel, more than a decade since the last book. Shortly after, Lionsgate confirmed that it was already setting up a movie adaptation, unsurprisingly confident in the potential blockbuster and only too happy to return to the profits of the old Hunger Games movies.

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8/10 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes PG-13ActionAdventureDrama

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel movie set 64 years before the events of the original movie with Katniss Everdeen. The film centers on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and shows his rise to power as the leader of Panem. Taking place during the 10th Hunger Games, Snow is tasked with mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12.

Director Francis Lawrence Release Date November 17, 2023 Writers Michael Lesslie , Michael Arndt , Suzanne Collins Cast Tom Blyth , Rachel Zegler , Hunter Schafer , Jason Schwartzman , Peter Dinklage , Josh Andrés , Josh Andrés Rivera , Viola Davis Runtime 157 Minutes

While The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released in May 2020, the movie came out in November 2023. Furthermore, The Hunger Games franchise is now planning on the same thing with Collins’ next novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, following the events of the 50th Hunger Games (24 years before The Hunger Games and 40 years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes).

Related 10 Movie Adaptations Where You Really Should Read The Book First

Reading the book before watching its film adaptation can greatly enrich the viewing experience and enhance understanding of the movie’s story.

Sunrise on the Reaping is moving even faster through the book-to-movie pipeline, with a book release in 2025 and a movie release in 2026. Given that The Hunger Games is Lionsgate’s most profitable franchise, it is logical that they are invested in fast adaptations, based on remaining goodwill for the series.

8 Hidden Figures (2016)

Book By Margot Lee Shetterly

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The Hidden Figures book was released in September 2016, while the movie became available in public movie theaters only a few days into 2017 (it is generally said to be a 2016 release due to earlier screenings). The movie and book would have been completed alongside each other, with author Margot Lee Shetterly credited as both a writer and executive producer for the movie. Deadline reported on both the upcoming Hidden Figures book and movie in July 2015, mentioning some of the actresses considered who would eventually be cast.

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Hidden Figures PG-13Drama

Based on the lives of Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, Hidden Figures tells the untold stories of the three African-American mathematicians and their work at NASA during the Space Race of the 1960s. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe star as Johnson, Vaughan, and Jackson respectively, with a further cast that includes Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, and Mahershala Ali.

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*Availability in US Director Theodore Melfi Release Date December 25, 2016 Writers Theodore Melfi , Alison Schroeder Cast Taraji P. Henson , Octavia Spencer , Janelle Monae , Jim Parsons , Glen Powell , Kirsten Dunst , Aldis Hodge , Kevin Costner , Mahershala Ali Runtime 127 Minutes

Hidden Figures is a biographical drama, and the events depicted would have been great to be seen as a movie regardless if a book had been written first. Oscar-hopeful directors often turn to history as the basis for their projects, but Shetterly’s book contributed to a movie with fully realized characters. With an invested author already doing a significant amount of research and writing, Hidden Figures was on its way to being an even better movie.

7 The Martian (2015)

Book By Andy Weir

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Sci-fi author Andy Weir technically did write The Martian before he got his movie deal, but his story is unique. Unable to secure a publishing deal, Weir was publishing The Martian one chapter at a time online and selling a 99-cent version of the book via Kindle before both the movie and the publishing deals happened around the same time in 2013 (via PEOPLE). Crown Publishing re-released the book in 2014, while The Martian began its journey to the Oscars a year later.

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8/10 The Martian PG-13 Sci-Fi

Adapted by Ridley Scott from Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, The Martian follows the plight of astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) after he finds himself stranded alone on Mars after he is falsely presumed dead during a mission. Unable to communicate with Earth and armed with little more than his scientific expertise as a botanist, Watney must find a way to survive on the barren planet until the next scheduled mission arrives.

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*Availability in US Director Ridley Scott Release Date October 2, 2015 Writers Drew Goddard Cast Kristen Wiig , Sean Bean , Matt Damon , Jessica Chastain , Kate Mara Runtime 2h 24m

Space adventures have long been lucrative for Hollywood, especially when they are directed by Ridley Scott. Gravity was also released in 2013, going on to become another Oscar contender. After having ignored The Martian for two years, everyone in the business was scrambling to acquire it and repeat the thrilling yet artistic successes of Gravity, Alien, and other movies like them.

6 The Fault In Our Stars (2014)

Book By John Green

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The timeline of The Fault in Our Stars is very narrow: the book was published on January 10, 2012, while Publishers Weekly reported on January 31, 2012 that Fox had optioned the rights to the movie. Major news outlets were already talking about The Fault in Our Stars in early and mid-January, but it’s not likely that Fox executives started the process only once they had heard these reviews. Someone at Fox probably got an advance copy and was already in talks to adapt it before publication.

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8/10 The Fault in Our Stars pg-13Drama

Based on the bestselling novel by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars follows Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenage girl living with cancer who meets fellow cancer patient Augustus Waters at a support group and begins and romance with him. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort star as Hazel and Gus. 

Director Josh Boone Release Date June 5, 2014 Writers Josh Boone Cast Shailene Woodley Runtime 126minutes

At the time, Green had already published An Abundance of Katherines and Looking for Alaska, but neither had led to major movie adaptations. The Fault in Our Stars would become linked with the YA dystopia era because of the involvement of Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, but they wouldn’t have yet known that they could count on Divergent fans showing up. Fox probably believed that the story would make a good movie and only hoped that it would appeal to a young adult audience.

5 Twilight (2008

Book By Stephenie Meyer

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Twilight would give rise to other vampire stories in movies and TV, but vampires did not have such a status that it would be automatically assumed that a studio would invest in the book long before it was out. MTV Films bought the rights to Twilight in April 2004, with the book’s future publication set for October 2005 (via EW).

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8/10 Twilight PG-13RomanceFantasyDrama

Based on Stephenie Meyer’s book of the same name, Twilight follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who falls madly in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who she soon finds out is a vampire. Falling in love with her at the same time, Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles to preserve their forbidden relationship.

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*Availability in US Director Catherine Hardwicke Release Date November 21, 2008 Writers Melissa Rosenberg Cast Robert Pattinson , Ashley Greene , Peter Facinelli , Rachelle Lefevre , Elizabeth Reaser , Kristen Stewart , Nikki Reed , Jackson Rathbone , Cam Gigandet , Kellan Lutz , Taylor Lautner , Anna Kendrick , Billy Burke Runtime 121 minutes

At this time, MTV envisioned a movie very different from Stephenie Meyer’s book.Twilight‘s original script had a vampire slayer Bella, perhaps trying to reinvent Buffy’s legacy. However, the project went into turnaround and was bought by Summit Entertainment in 2006.

Related 11 Book Adaptations To Get Second Chances As TV Shows

Whether or not the film adaptation was successful, novels like Percy Jackson and Interview with the Vampire have gotten second chances as TV shows.

Given both the early movie option and the bidding war for the Twilight books, it seems like the entertainment industry just had a sense that Twilight was going to be a new pop culture phenomenon. Right around the same time as the movie’s release, True Blood began its run in 2008 with The Vampire Diaries following in 2009.

4 World War Z (2013)

Book By Max Brooks

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Plan B Entertainment won the rights to adapt World War Z in June 2006, a few months before the book’s release (via Variety). The movie faced significant delays during development before finally hitting theaters in 2013. Notably, World War Z drastically changes the book’s ending, moving away from the source material’s fresh take on the zombie apocalypse genre to a more classic action movie structure.

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6/10 World War Z PG-13HorrorAdventureAction

Based on the novel by Max Brooks, World War Z tells the story of a world ravaged by a zombie virus. Former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) braves the apocalypse in search of a cure. He is tasked with finding the point of origin of the virus in order to synthesize a vaccine, reluctantly doing so in exchange for his family’s safety. His search takes him around the world, where he witnesses all the devastation of the apocalypse.

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*Availability in US Director Marc Foster Release Date June 21, 2013 Writers Matthew Michael Carnahan , Drew Goddard , Damon Lindelof Cast Brad Pitt , Daniella Kertesz , Mireille Enos , James Badge Dale Runtime 1h 56m

From the time that several studios entered a bidding war for World War Z to its era as a beloved novel to being critiqued as a lackluster adaptation, the “oral history of the zombie war” has seen several high and low points. Despite its future in Hollywood, Max Brooks’ novel garnered a lot of interest that set it up to have an allegedly quick adaptation. Brooks had previously written The Zombie Survival Guide, a fictional manual to his apocalypse, setting the stage for his most famous book and all the hype surrounding it.

3 The Lovely Bones (2009)

Book By Alice Sebold

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The creatives at Film4 production were the ones who saw the potential early on in The Lovely Bones but, unfortunately, didn’t get to see the payoff from betting on the story.

Film4 Productions originally bought the movie rights to The Lovely Bones in 2000, before Alice Sebold had even finished the book (via Variety). After Film4 was shut down, the rights became a point of interest for several major Hollywood studios, as this was right around the time The Lovely Bones was on the bestseller list. Peter Jackson became personally invested in adapting the movie, discussing the book in a 2005 interview with MovieWeb.

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The Lovely Bones PG-13SupernaturalThriller

After her murder, fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon watches over her family, friends, and killer from the “In-Between.” Her family and community grieve her death and try to find justice for Susie. Meanwhile, Susie struggles to move on to the afterlife while lacking closure in both her life and her murder.

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*Availability in US Director Peter Jackson Release Date December 11, 2009 Writers Fran Walsh , Philippa Boyens , Peter Jackson Cast Mark Wahlberg , Saoirse Ronan , Stanley Tucci , Michael Imperioli , Susan Sarandon Runtime 135 minutes

The creatives at Film4 production were the ones who saw the potential early on in The Lovely Bones but, unfortunately, didn’t get to see the payoff from betting on the story. Despite its strong cast, Jackson’s adaptation of The Lovely Bones was review-bombed on Rotten Tomatoes. While the director may have been as mesmerized by the story as everyone else, it is possible that he should have stuck to his familiar subgenres of fantasy.

2 The Hate U Give (2018)

Book By Angie Thomas

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Debut author Angie Thomas saw a huge demand for her novel The Hate U Give, which was won by HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray in a fierce bidding war in 2016, while the movie rights were picked up by Fox shortly after. The novel was released a year later, and the movie only a year after that. In 2017, Alexandra Alter wrote an article for The New York Times about the “new crop of young adult novels exploring race and police brutality,” in which it is mentioned that Thomas wondered if she wouldn’t be able to sell The Hate U Give because of its “polarizing” subject matter.

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The Hate U Give PG-13Drama

The Hate U Give is a drama film adapted from Angie Thomas’ novel, which tells the story of Starr Carter, a teenager from a poor and mostly black neighborhood who witnesses her childhood friend being shot by a white police officer and must find her voice to stand up for what’s right.

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*Availability in US Director George Tillman Jr. Release Date October 19, 2018 Writers Audrey Wells Cast Issa Rae , Amandla Stenberg , lamar johnson , Russell Hornsby , Common , Algee Smith , Regina Hall , Sabrina Carpenter , Anthony Mackie , kj apa Runtime 132 Minutes

Both the book and movie adaptation of The Hate U Give were widely praised, making Thomas one of the most important YA authors to follow and taking Amandla Stenberg’s career to its next phase. Thomas worked alongside the movie’s director to make some adjustments to the story for the big screen. Meanwhile, the author has continued to have a groundbreaking career, including the bestselling prequel to The Hate U Give, Concrete Rose.

1 Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)

Book By Casey McQuiston

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Red, White & Royal Blue is also an author’s debut novel engaging with current socio-political questions that garnered Hollywood’s interest early. Casey McQuiston’s premise is out-of-this-world and crowd-pleasing but incorporates an impressive number of historical and cultural references. Amazon Prime bought the movie rights for Red, White & Royal Blue in April 2019, a month before the book was published (via Deadline).

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5/10 Red, White & Royal Blue RComedyRomance

Red, White & Royal Blue is a romantic comedy film based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Casey McQuiston. The film follows the President of the United States son, Alex, and Britain’s Prince Henry, who are at odds over nearly everything. However, the two get into an altercation at a significant event, further causing a divide between the two nations; they are forced to reconcile their differences on paper. But as the two spend time together, their rivalry evolves into something more.

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*Availability in US Director Matthew Lopez Release Date August 11, 2023 Writers Matthew Lopez , Ted Malawer Cast Taylor Zakhar Perez , Nicholas Galitzine , Uma Thurman , Stephen Fry , Sarah Shahi , Ellie Bamber Runtime 121 Minutes

Prime was likely drawn to the premise and encouraged by great early reviews. However, the movie’s production was delayed due to lockdown and the release was pushed back to 2023. Red, White & Royal Blue is one of the quintessential BookTok books, wildly popular among readers using this platform at the time. As it is still the best of McQuiston’s books, it is unsurprising that filmmakers were eager to adapt it, as well as other amazing novels that Hollywood eyed early.

Source: LA Times, Deadline, PEOPLE, Publisher’s Weekly, EW, Variety, MovieWeb, The NewYork Times

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