Film and TV adaptations of popular books always seem to be a big topic of discussion, especially after the boom that happened in the early and mid-2010s. YA books in particular reached a certain height of popularity and were being adapted left and right, usually to mixed results. Film adaptations of books have always been a thing, but with the rise of fandom culture around a lot of these books, the adaptations themselves become more contentious.

Fans of a book obviously and understandably want their favorite stories to be adapted in a respectful way that truly showcases what makes the original book so good in the first place. They want accurate casting and good writing, though sometimes certain fans will get too caught up in wanting the adaptation to be completely book-accurate, rather than keeping most of it the same but making changes to certain elements so that a story that worked in print will work on screen. Luckily, it seems like Hollywood is in a fantastic era for book adaptations right now, as authors are being given more involvement in the projects and studios are taking the time to listen to what fans actually want.

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Most avid readers and YA fans, if asked about the worst book adaptations they've seen, would likely cite the Percy Jackson movies as examples of terrible on-screen versions of a very beloved book series. The author himself, Rick Riordan, has even made it clear that he dislikes the movies and sees them as a very half-hearted and inaccurate adaptation of his work. The films aged up the characters and cast actors that were much older, and the writing cuts out a lot of what made the books endearing in the first place. Those films are a perfect example of how not to adapt a popular series.

percy jackson

Percy Jackson will at least get the chance to redeem itself, as there is an upcoming Disney Plus series in the works that looks much more promising. They actually cast young actors and are having the characters start the story at around age 12, just like they do in the books. Riordan has much more involvement in this adaptation so it will be more accurate to the vision of the books, and the series now also has the perfect defense for any changes that are made as they'll basically have author approval on all of it.

The Hunger Games was generally well-regarded as a good adaptation of its source material, but its YA dystopian cousin Divergent didn't have quite the same reception. The Divergent movies were never quite as popular, and they also weren't as well done. They made three movies before calling it quits, pulling the plug on a planned fourth movie because the films just weren't a success among fans or critics. The series also fell into the trap of extending the story for too long and trying to make more movies than there were books (which is one of the reasons that the Hobbit movies are often criticized, and is also something that The Hunger Games movies managed to do with a bit more success).

Jennifer Lawrence aiming a bow and arrow in The Hunger Games

Though studios have struggled to do justice to a lot of these popular books series in the past, it seems like the industry has entered an age where adaptations are done well and with care, and even improve upon the source material with more inclusive writing and casting. The Percy Jackson series recently cast Black actress Leah Jeffries as one of the lead roles, Annabeth Chase, despite the typical depiction of the character being White and blonde. The author himself put out a statement about how the most important part of the casting was how well an actor is able to embody the character, not their race, and this seems to be a trend amongst other book adaptations as well.

Shadow and Bone, another well-done adaptation of a beloved series, cast Chinese-English actor Jessie Mei Li in the lead role of Alina Starkov, who is White in the books. Bridgerton is well-known for its diverse cast, which is a big difference from the books, and has created a society within the show that is seemingly unconcerned with racial issues. This is a really positive shift in casting, as it allows non-White actors more opportunities and also gives non-White viewers a chance to see themselves represented on-screen. Many people will imagine a book character in a way that reflects their own experiences while they're reading, regardless of the descriptions on the page, and so it's not that much of a stretch to employ racially diverse casting when adapting that material.

Shadow and Bone Netflix

In general, those previously mentioned adaptations have also been well-received and liked by fans. Shadow and Bone did a good job of representing the characters (which is what most fans really loved about the books) and balancing the story between Alina's journey and the Crows' hijinks. Bridgerton has managed to make period dramas cool again, and it sort of forgoes any historical accuracy in order to create a lively and colorful world for the characters to exist within, more akin to a fantasy novel than a rigid period romance. Both of these series were brought to life with care, and got popular even amongst those who haven't read the source material for good reason.

It feels vindicating after all this time to finally be seeing book adaptations that aren't half-hearted or done as an easy cash grab, which seemed to be what the trend was for a while. Now, it seems like the creative teams and studios behind these projects are actually listening to what the fans want and involving the authors in the process to ensure that they're doing these beloved stories justice. Hopefully this trend keeps up for a long time so that fans no longer have to be disappointed by the movies that adapt their favorite books.

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