11 Times Movie Adaptations Were Done Right, And 11 That Should Have Never Seen The Light Of Day

If you haven’t been on social media for the past month, you might have missed the ongoing conversation about Emerald Fennell’s upcoming film, Wuthering Heights, adapted from Emily Brontë’s 1847 classic novel. You probably know Emerald as the director who brought us Promising Young Woman, and more recently, Saltburn. But despite her credentials, pretty much every emerging detail about her Wuthering Heights has been veeeerrry polarizing online — from the alleged whitewashing of one of the main characters, to Margot Robbie’s historically inaccurate wedding dress.

The movie is set to come out in February 2026, so we’ve got a while to go until we see the extent of Emerald’s vision for the book. While we wait, however, I thought we could take a look at some of the greatest adaptations of some of our favorite books, and reflect on other adaptations that probably shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

1. Emma, 2020 — dir. Autumn de Wilde

We’re starting out strong with one of my personal fave period adaptations. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86%, the 2020 adaptation of Emma has a stellar cast and totally delivers. While it’s definitely not the first adaptation of the source material that we’ve seen, there’s no doubt that Anya Taylor Joy’s performance brought something completely new and fresh to Jane Austen’s beloved matchmaking heroine. Extra points for Josh O’Connor absolutely devouring his role as Mr. Elton. He made me laugh so hard in the cinema I almost snorted popcorn butter out of my nose.

2. Little Women, 2019 — dir. Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig, I owe you my life. Before we had the Barbie movie, Greta brought us the incredible 2019 adaptation of Little Women. This film was destined for greatness based on the casting alone — giving us Saoirse Ronan as the headstrong Jo, Florence Pugh as Amy, and Timothée Chalamet as Laurie. There are so many moments from the movie that moved fans everywhere that it’d be hard to list them all, but a highlight for me is definitely Jo’s monologue. “I just feel that… Women…” Enough said.

3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012 — dir. Stephen Chbosky

Another super beloved book whose adaptation did not leave fans hungry, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that the movie’s director, Stephen Chbosky, was the same dude that wrote the original novel. The film had great critical reception after it was released, winning an Independent Spirit Award, as well as two Critics’ Choice Awards. And if you were on Tumblr anywhere in the mid 2010s, you’ll definitely be familiar with the iconic tunnel scene. It just goes to show that if you want something done right, do it yourself.

4. The Hunger Games, 2012-2026 — dir. Gary Ross, Francis Lawrence

The dystopian franchise to end all other dystopian franchises. It’s undeniable that The Hunger Games movies defined a whole genre, and for good reason. Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss Everdeen made her one of the most memorable protagonists of a generation, and the franchise is so beloved that we’re still getting movies in the 2020s — and from the reception of the recent book, Sunrise on the Reaping, it looks like things are just going to get better from here.

5. Holes, 2003 — dir. Andrew Davis

Anyone else remember watching this in class, or was that just me? Louis Sachar’s weird and wonderful novel translated super well to screen for a movie that was just as weird and wonderful. The movie was a total hit, making over triple the original $20 million budget at the box office, and earned a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Family Film.

6. Life of Pi, 2012 — dir. Ang Lee

Adapted from Yann Martel’s 2001 novel, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi brought a gorgeous tale of magical realism to the screen in the best way possible. Suraj Sharma’s performance as the protagonist Piscine “Pi” Patel is completely captivating, as is Gautam Belur as a young Pi. The movie snagged Ang a Best Director Academy Award, as well as a Best Picture nomination. Deserved, King.

7. Gone Girl, 2014 — dir. David Fincher

Bless the casting director gods for this one. Rosamund Pike as Gillian Flynn’s wily protagonist Amy, acting opposite Ben Affleck as Nick was truly a gift from a higher power. Despite the novel containing tons of information and introspection via Amy’s diaries, the film does a fantastic job at delivering exposition in a smooth, pacey way. Lest we forget the “Cool Girl” monologue, which is an absolutely all-timer.

8. The Lord of the Rings, 2001-2003 — dir. Peter Jackson

Peter Johnson certainly did his big one with these movies. If you love them as much as I do, you’ll know that he certainly set the bar for fantasy adaptations of epic proportions. Shooting all three blockbusters simultaneously might sound like a huge risk, but Peter’s adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s series has a huge fan following, and the the final movie in the trilogy, The Return of the King, was such a critical hit that it holds the record for most Academy Award wins, after it won all of the eleven Oscars that it was nominated for. Which, in my eyes, means Viggo Mortensen breaking his toe kicking an Uruk-Hai helmet in the second movie was totally worth it.

9. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, 2010 — dir. Edgar Wright

I’m in lesbians with this movie. While adaptations of graphic novels (especially ones as wacky and cartoonish as Scott Pilgrim) could easily flop, Edgar Wright leans into the video game aesthetic of Scott’s world perfectly, and his adaptation is a total cult classic. With iconic scenes like the hair dye sequence, the vegan fighting powers, and Brie Larson’s generational cover of “Black Sheep,” this film absolutely delivers. Also, the cast is totally stacked — Edgar brought us Kieran Culkin as the iconic Wallace Wells, and for that, he deserves the world.

10. How To Train Your Dragon, 2010-2019 — dir. Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois

Be warned, I’m about to blaspheme: the How To Train Your Dragon franchise is one of the uncommon instances where the movies completely outshine the books. That’s definitely not to say that the books are bad — I read Cressida Cowell’s series as a kid, and really enjoyed them. But Dean DeBlois’s movie trilogy altered the story completely, and turned the source material into a soaring success. With a stunning narrative, breathtaking animated sequences, and one of my favorite musical scores of all time, the three movies are super loved all around the world. Because if you don’t ascend out of your body while listening to “Test Drive,” you and I are not the same.

11. Dune, 2021-2024 — dir. Denis Villeneuve

Are you already hearing the music in your head? I certainly am. Finishing off our adaptation wins list is Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Dune Saga. His two movies have been global hits, and there’s only more to come. With a cast full of stars, Dune and Dune: Part Two were already set for success, but Denis’ adaptations are also visually stunning. A huge testament to the beauty of the big screen. I can’t wait to see the next one.

And now… The not so great.

1. Persuasion, 2022 — dir. Carrie Cracknell

I don’t know if you remember, but after the trailer for Carrie Cracknell’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion dropped, it seemed like the movie was doomed from the start. If you weren’t an English major like me, you might not be familiar with the source material. To give a quick recap, most fans’ main issue with the adaptation was the interpretation of Anne Elliot, the book’s protagonist, and Dakota’s character. While some Austen heroines can definitely translate pretty well into more comedic and modern versions, Anne is probably not one of them — she’s quiet, calm, and deeply caring. She definitely doesn’t have Elizabeth Bennet’s sharp tongue or Emma Woodhouse’s unserious outlook. She’s also extremely introspective, and probably above all else: so sad. Which means that a Fleabag-esque fourth-wall-breaking comedy probably wasn’t the best choice for Anne.

2. Artemis Fowl, 2020 — dir. Kenneth Branagh

When adapting a book for the big screen, any director would tell you that there will have to be changes to the source material. However, when your main character is a clear-cut villain, that usually stays the same. Not for Artemis Fowl, though! Kenneth Branagh’s decision to axe the “criminal” part of “criminal mastermind” angered a ton of fans who pointed out the flaws in the story’s overall execution. The film also received a lot of criticism for the race-swapping of characters, with the deuteragonist Holly Short being played by a white actress despite being described as canonically brown-skinned in the books. Not to mention the Butler of it all. Yikes.

3. The Golden Compass, 2007 — dir. Chris Weitz

If you’re familiar with Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, you’ll know that those books are jam-packed with wonderful world-building and great descriptive scenes. Unfortunately, a lot of the exposition for The Golden Compass didn’t translate well into a film format. Many fans criticized the monologue-heavy way of introducing characters and ideas that made the storytelling suffer as a result. Chris Weitz’s The Golden Compass was movie that definitely had potential for greatness, but ultimately failed to pull through.

4. Stormbreaker, 2006 — dir. Geoffrey Sax

If you were an Alex Rider fan as a kid, you’ll know that this movie definitely left fans wanting. Despite the screenplay coming from the original writer of the series, Anthony Horowitz, the movie underperformed at the box office which resulted in the cancellation of all sequels. And for a 13-book series, this probably wasn’t what the producers originally had in mind. In 2020, Amazon developed a TV series, which garnered much more favorable reviews.

5. The Dark Tower, 2017 — dir. Nikolaj Arcel

Not even Idris Elba could save this movie. Based on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, the movie underwent an excruciating 10 years of production before its eventual release. The original novels are filled to the brim with incredible lore, and yet the movie fails to deliver on any of the wonder present in the source material. And possibly worst of all, there was also the inexplicable decision to take the focus away from the series’ protagonist Roland (played by Idris) and center on Jake Chambers — I don’t know a single person who read these books for Jake Chambers.

6. The Hobbit, 2012-2014 — dir. Peter Jackson

I know what you’re thinking. If Peter Jackson was the genius behind the LOTR movies, what the hell happened with The Hobbit? There are a lot of explanations, but one of the worst offenders to me was the decision to split a pretty short book into three movies — that are all three hours long. Fans attribute the heavy reliance on CGI as well as the weird pacing as the reasons why these movies didn’t deliver. There’s also the fact that Peter himself has spoken about how he “didn’t know what he was doing” with The Hobbit series, and seeing as he only got a couple months of prep time as opposed to the years of LOTR pre-production, it definitely makes sense.

7. Eragon, 2006 — dir. Stephen Fangmeier

Serious question: what was going on in 2006 that made it such a tragic year for movie adaptations? Eragon is another on our list that suffered due to the changes from the source material. Fans criticized the mischaracterization of Saphira, as well as the overall quality of the script being clunky and narratively hard to follow. Another one with incredible potential that unfortunately missed the mark.

8. The Giver, 2014 — dir. Phillip Noyce

Lois Lowry’s 1993 dystopian novel seems as though it would be good on the big screen, but when executed, many fans thought it lost a ton of the nuance portrayed in the source material. What was originally a story about conformism and alienation from society turned into a narrative with an ending stripped of any ambiguity that made the the whole movie a lot more black and white than the book (pun very much intended). Also, I totally forgot that Taylor Swift was in this movie. Nothing to add, I just remembered the fact. Wild.

9. Divergent, 2014-2016 — dir. Neil Burger, Robert Schwentke

I will say this: these movies brought us leather-clad Theo James, and for that, I am eternally grateful. However, it can’t be ignored that these movies left audiences so disappointed that the fourth installment in the series was just straight up cancelled. While the book series is a trilogy, there was originally a fourth movie planned, as Allegiant was set to be adapted into Part One and Part Two. However, after Allegiant’s dire underperformance at the box office, the fourth film was axed before production could start, meaning that the series ended on a total cliffhanger. However, (spoiler for the books) given that the series ended on the protagonist literally dying, maybe audiences were spared a disappointing finish.

10. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, 2013 — dir. Harald Zwart

Remember this dumpster fire? Despite the perfection that was Jamie Lee Campbell being cast as Jace, the movie adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s series failed to deliver in a lot of ways and fans were left disappointed. Tons of world-building was crammed into a too-small setting, and the film’s rushed portrayal of Clary and Jace’s romance led to the sibling revelation coming way too early. The sequel to City of Bones, City of Ashes was cancelled during development, and fans were definitely not upset.

11. Percy Jackson, 2010-2013 — dir. Chris Columbus, Thor Freudenthal

A disclaimer: I think these movies can definitely be enjoyed. The Lotus Casino scene lives rent free in my brain. If you ignore the books, you’re free to have a great time with these two films. However, on my honor as a former Percy Jackson kid, I would be remiss not to include them. Fans of the original series regard the film versions of The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters as two of the worst examples of book to movie adaptations, mainly because of the magnitude of the changes made to the story. The characters being aged up was a huge point of contention, as well as clumsy dialogue, disappointing visual effects, and a romance subplot that felt very rushed. However, I have to admit — “This is a pen” always gets a laugh out of me.

I’d love to know if I missed out any of your favorite adaptations, or if there are others that you try to forget. Be sure to tell me down in the comments below!