I know! 3 posts in the same week! What's the world coming to?
There's a lot of buzz going on this week. It seems a certain book to movie adaptation is hitting theaters today. In case you haven't heard. Yup. It's the "Hunger Games" premier today. And I, sadly, will not be seeing it. Probably not for several weeks. If at all. There's two movie screens in our little town. Neither of them is known for being on top of the new releases, although, they do get movies while they are still first run. Current offerings are "The Secret of Arriety" (which I want to see) and "John Carter" (which I also want to see.) Notice a theme? Both are book to movie adaptations.
I've noticed this more and more lately. There's a lot (and I really mean a ton) of movies that are currently out (or coming out) that came from a book. And these things are generally done to more or less success, depending on which book, how faithfully they follow the story, etc. I think it has something to do with a ready-made plot, and in many cases, a proven track record of sales.
Greg (the hubby who now has a name, since he's also a blogging writer at thegregwriter.blogspot.com) watched a movie last night for the first time. Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides. Don't judge. We have three kids and limited theater options, remember? Did you know it was a book first? Written by Tim Powers (who is an author everyone should read at least once.) I haven't read this book, but Greg has. I asked him how they compared. He said, "Well, the book has Blackbeard, and the fountain of youth. And Blackbeard is magical." Pretty much everything else is an invention of the movie. My favorite part? In the credits it says: "Suggested by the book by Tim Powers". Suggested by. Not even based on. And they got it right. It was definitely suggested by.
So, the ultimate question. Will I see The Hunger Games? Yes. Most likely. Not until most of the known universe has already seen it, but probably at some point. The great news about having read the book already? No real spoilers, except for what was left out (or possibly changed.)
What about you? Are you seeing The Hunger Games? What do you think about all these book to movie adaptations?
3 comments:
Hey Kayeleen- I'll see it at some point. I thought the 2nd and 3rd movies were numbingly violent. I read the third book just to find out what happens, felt disconnected from Katniss. We have four kids, so we don't get out to the theater too often either. Plus you can't snuggle in the seats nearly as well as on the couch;)
I cannot remember the last time I went to the cinema. It may have been to see 'Rugrats go Wild' about 10 years ago. I can't remember going since then. However, the girls and I are going to see The Hunger Games next week as we've all read at least the first book and loved it. I was really happy that they chose to go with me instead of their friends :-)
I haven't read the books and probably won't. But I did see The Hunger Games yesterday. It was so refreshing to go to a book-based movie with no expectations. Though avoiding spoilers was ridiculously hard in the lead-up to the film. I knew character names, sure, and basic plot (she volunteers for the games and wins), but that was about it. I picked up little snippets of things that might have been in the books ahead of time but I really tried not to have anything ruined for me.
I probably won't go see the other movies though, if they're made. The studio hasn't committed to them until they start seeing the cash flowing in from the first.
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