Random Authors Who Loved the Movie Adaptations of Their Books (18 items)

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  (#4) Blade Runner

  • Harrison Ford, Daryl Hannah, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, Morgan Paull, Monty Pyke, Kevin Thompson, John Edward Allen

  Blade Runner was Ridley Scott's 1982 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novella Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? And although the movie only loosely follows the book's plot, Dick loved it. Dick hadn't even seen a full cut when he wrote a letter to producer Jeff Walker praising the film. “This indeed is not science fiction,” Dick wrote. “It is not fantasy; it is exactly what [star] Harrison [Ford] said: futurism. The impact of Blade Runner is simply going to be overwhelming, both on the public and on creative people - and, I believe, on science fiction as a field. [ ... ] Nothing we have done, individually or collectively, matches Blade Runner." 

  Dick viewed the Blade Runner movie as the culmination of his life's work, but he passed six months before the premiere. The film underperformed at the box office, but since then it's become one of the most highly regarded films ever made.
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  (#10) The Silence of the Lambs

  • Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Chris Isaak, George A. Romero, Roger Corman, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Frankie Faison, Brooke Smith, Charles Napier, Obba Babatunde, Tracey Walter, Dan Butler, Kasi Lemmons, Diane Baker, Daniel von Bargen, Ron Vawter, Anthony Heald, Harry Northup, Adelle Lutz, George Michael, John W. Iwanonkiw, Don Brockett, Brent Hinkley, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, David Early, Gene Borkan, Pat McNamara, Ted Monte, Stuart Rudin, Buzz Kilman, Bill Dalzell, Tommy Lafitte, Danny Darst, Chris McGinn, Chuck Aber, Cynthia Ettinger, Leib Lensky, Lamont Arnold, Andre B. Blake, Frank Seals Jr., George 'Red' Schwartz, Alex Coleman, Rebecca Saxon, Lauren Roselli, Darla, John Hall, Lynette Jenkins, Jim Dratfield, Mike Schaeffer, Miranda Dali, Maria Skorobogatov, Lawrence T. Wrentz, Jim Roche, James B. Howard, Bill Miller, Steve Wyatt, Jeffrie Lane, Josh Broder, Lawrence A. Bonney

  All four of Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter novels have been adapted for film or TV, but things got off to a rocky start with Manhunter, Michael Mann's 1986 adaptation of his novel Red Dragon. Harris was reportedly so disappointed with Manhunter that when Silence of the Lambs was adapted into a 1991 movie, he refused to watch it - even when it won seven Oscars at the 1992 Academy Awards. (It should be noted that not everyone share's Harris's opinion of Manhunter; it currently holds a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.) But one day Harris accidentally found Silence of the Lambs on cable, watched, and found it to be a "wonderful movie." Last year the famously media-shy Harris just gave his first substantial media interview in four decades, so we doubt he'll be sharing his opinions on the other adaptations of his work any time soon.
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  (#16) The Shawshank Redemption

  • Morgan Freeman, Rita Hayworth, Tim Robbins, Clancy Brown, James Whitmore, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, Bob Gunton, David Proval, Gil Bellows, Jude Ciccolella, Mark Rolston, Paul McCrane, Ned Bellamy, Frank Medrano, Brian Delate, Don McManus, Bill Bolender, Joseph Ragno, Neil Giuntoli, Larry Brandenburg, Ken Magee, James Babson, Neil Summers, Rohn Thomas, Alfonso Freeman, V.J. Foster, Dion Anderson, Brian Libby, Gary Lee Davis, John D. Craig, Richard Doone, Dorothy Silver, Brian Brophy, Joe Pecoraro, Alonzo F. Jones, Alan R. Kessler, Paul Kennedy, James Kisicki, Robert Haley, Fred Culbertson, Mack Miles, Brad Spencer, Michael Lightsey, John R. Woodward, John Horton, Charlie Kearns, Gordon Greene, Ron Newell, Renee Blaine, Eugene C. DePasquale, Claire Slemmer, Scott Mann, Dennis Baker, Morgan Lund, Harold E. Cope Jr., John E. Summers, Donald Zinn, Dana Snyder, Cornell Wallace, Rob Reider, Chuck Brauchler

  The Shawshank Redemption is a modern classic, but when you look back at its production history, it seemed like anything but. Stephen King originally didn't think his short story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, lent itself to the big screen, but he still agreed to sell the rights to director Frank Darabont for a few thousand dollars. Star Tim Robbins said the script was the best he'd ever read, but The Hollywood Reporter thought the title was enigmatic, and doubted its marketability. Even worse, Shawshank had to open against Pulp Fiction, one of the biggest movies of 1994, and its box office returns suffered as a result. 

  But Stephen King knew the film was special. "When I first saw it, I realized [Darabont had] made not just one of the best movies ever done from my work, but a potential movie classic," King said. "[Darabont] has gone on to make other great films, two from my work, I'm happy to say, but Shawshank is its own thing - an American icon - and I'm delighted to have been a part of it."
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  (#15) Who Framed Roger Rabbit

  • Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd, Bob Hoskins, Mel Blanc, Frank Welker, Jim Cummings, Joel Silver, Joanna Cassidy, Amy Irving, June Foray, David Lander, Russi Taylor, Charles Fleischer, Richard LeParmentier, Richard Ridings, Wayne Allwine, Mike Edmonds, Tony Anselmo, Lou Hirsch, Stubby Kaye, Alan Tilvern, Betsy Brantley, Edwin Craig, Lindsay Holiday, Paul Springer

  If a filmmaker who's adapting a book decides to completely change the original story, it can give the author a bruised ego. But for Gary Wolf, the author of the 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? that became the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, seeing his story evolve wasn't a problem. According to Wolf, Disney changed practically everything in his story except for the premise and the main characters. But Wolf's top concern was whether the filmmakers could bring his story's unique world, which features cartoon characters living alongside humans, to life. Wolf said he "loved everything about" the film, and thought that director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg elevated his material to a higher level.
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  (#2) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

  • Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Rupert Grint, John Hurt, John Cleese, Bonnie Wright, Julie Walters, Tom Felton, Robbie Coltrane, Verne Troyer, Warwick Davis, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, Leslie Phillips, Zoë Wanamaker, Matthew Lewis, Derek Hough, David Bradley, Devon Murray, Ian Hart, Alfred Enoch, Sean Biggerstaff, Geraldine Somerville, Chris Rankin, Oliver Phelps, Jamie Waylett, James Phelps, Elizabeth Spriggs, Adrian Rawlins, Danielle Tabor, Joshua Herdman, Harry Melling, Richard Bremmer, Ray Fearon, Terence Bayler, Stefan Pejic, Richard Ried, Derek Deadman, Nina Young, Miles Richardson, Eleanor Columbus, Harry Taylor, Lisa Osmond, Luke Youngblood, David Holmes, Simon Fisher-Becker, Paul Marc Davis, David William James Elliott, Leilah Sutherland, David Brett, Will Theakston, Scot Fearn, Ben Borowiecki, Emily Dale, Jean Southern, Darren Tough, Jacob Saunders, Bernadette Jane Vanderkar, Paul Grant, Charles Saunders, Michael Saunders, Will Howes, Oliver Lavery-Farag, Kieri Kennedy, Nicholas Read, Cath Peakin, Holly-Ann Filtness, Bianca Sowerby, Amy Puglia

  When it was time to turn her 1997 novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, into a movie, J.K. Rowling's top priority was finding a film company that would faithfully execute her story. She rejected several offers before finally deciding on Warner Bros. Rowling was anxious the first time she saw the film, but in the end she was satisfied with the result. "At the end of the film, I was happy," she said. "There is an awful lot of my book up there. All the important bits, I’d say. It’s my plot and I think it’s a very faithful adaptation.”
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  (#5) Fight Club

  • Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Eion Bailey, Lauren Sánchez, David Lee Smith, Edward Kowalczyk, Holt McCallany, Zach Grenier, Bob Stephenson, Christina Cabot, David Andrews, Brian Tochi, Matt Winston, Ezra Buzzington, Carl Ciarfalio, Tim De Zarn, Jim Jenkins, Richmond Arquette, Philip Hawn, Leonard Termo, Thom Gossom Jr., Charlie Dell, David Jean Thomas, Paul Dillon, Michael Shamus Wiles, Stuart Blumberg, Marcio Rosario, Pat McNamara, Michael Arturo, Markus Redmond, Tommy Dallace, Rachel Singer, George Maguire, Robby Robinson, Paul Carafotes, Peter Iacangelo, Joel Bissonnette, Christopher John Fields, Scotch Ellis Loring, Eugenie Bondurant, Eddie Hargitay, Kevin Scott Mack, Mark Fite, Evan Mirand, Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston, Bennie Moore, Chad Randau, Lou Beatty Jr., Matt Cinquanta, Joon B. Kim, Michael Girardin, Christie Cronenweth, Baron Jay, Hugh Peddy, Tyrone R. Livingston, Andi Carnick, Owen Masterson, Rob Lanza, Van Quattro, Trey Ore, Jawara, Gregory Silva, Valerie Bickford, Alekxia Valdez, J.T. Pontino, Dierdre Downing-Jackson, Anderson Bourell, Todd Peirce, Louis Ortiz

  Chuck Pahlaniuk is one of the rare authors who thinks the movie adaptation of his book is better than the original. According to Pahlaniuk, not only does the film of Fight Club streamline the book's plot, it also makes thematic connections that he himself missed. "There is a line about 'fathers setting up franchises with other families,' and I never thought about connecting that with the fact that Fight Club was being franchised and the movie made that connection," Pahlaniuk said. "I was just beating myself in the head for not having made that connection myself."

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