Top 10 Worst Movie Adaptations of Books

Nikolaj Arcel condensed Stephen King's eight-novel magnum opus into a 95-minute film that satisfied neither fans nor newcomers. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey deserved far better than a script that stripped King's rich mythology down to a generic action film.

Bo Welch's adaptation turned Dr. Seuss's beloved children's book into a vulgar, innuendo-laden Mike Myers vehicle. The result was so offensive to Theodor Geisel's widow that she permanently blocked all future live-action adaptations of her late husband's work.

Chris Columbus aged up Rick Riordan's twelve-year-old protagonist to a teenager and gutted the novel's mythology-driven plot. Riordan publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the adaptation, and it took a Disney Plus series over a decade later to finally do the books justice.

Brian De Palma's adaptation of Tom Wolfe's razor-sharp satire of 1980s New York became a textbook case of Hollywood miscasting and creative cowardice. Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith were woefully wrong for their roles, and the film's failure became the subject of a bestselling making-of book.

Kenneth Branagh's Disney adaptation transformed Eoin Colfer's antihero child criminal mastermind into a generic heroic kid on an adventure. Fans of the book series were appalled by changes that fundamentally misunderstood the protagonist's appeal, and the film was dumped on Disney Plus.

Roland Joffe's adaptation starring Demi Moore rewrote Nathaniel Hawthorne's tragic ending into a Hollywood happy ending with a Native American attack and Hester Prynne riding off into the sunset. The film proudly marketed itself as "freely adapted" from the novel, which critics took as a confession.

Rob Letterman's Jack Black vehicle reduced Jonathan Swift's biting 18th-century satire of politics, science, and human nature into a juvenile comedy about a mailroom clerk who becomes a giant. Swift's intricate social commentary was replaced with Guitar Hero references and urination jokes.

Baz Luhrmann drowned F. Scott Fitzgerald's restrained tragedy of the American Dream in a deluge of CGI confetti, Jay-Z music, and 3D excess. Leonardo DiCaprio's committed performance could not save a film that mistook Gatsby's vulgar excess for something to celebrate rather than critique.

Marc Forster's adaptation kept only the title from Max Brooks's beloved oral history of a zombie apocalypse. The novel's innovative multi-perspective structure was replaced by a generic Brad Pitt globe-trotting action film, and a completely rewritten third act replaced the original ending at enormous cost.

Nikolaj Arcel condensed Stephen King's eight-novel magnum opus into a 95-minute film that satisfied neither fans nor newcomers. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey deserved far better than a script that stripped King's rich mythology down to a generic action film.

Bo Welch's adaptation turned Dr. Seuss's beloved children's book into a vulgar, innuendo-laden Mike Myers vehicle. The result was so offensive to Theodor Geisel's widow that she permanently blocked all future live-action adaptations of her late husband's work.

Chris Columbus aged up Rick Riordan's twelve-year-old protagonist to a teenager and gutted the novel's mythology-driven plot. Riordan publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the adaptation, and it took a Disney Plus series over a decade later to finally do the books justice.

Brian De Palma's adaptation of Tom Wolfe's razor-sharp satire of 1980s New York became a textbook case of Hollywood miscasting and creative cowardice. Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith were woefully wrong for their roles, and the film's failure became the subject of a bestselling making-of book.

Kenneth Branagh's Disney adaptation transformed Eoin Colfer's antihero child criminal mastermind into a generic heroic kid on an adventure. Fans of the book series were appalled by changes that fundamentally misunderstood the protagonist's appeal, and the film was dumped on Disney Plus.

Roland Joffe's adaptation starring Demi Moore rewrote Nathaniel Hawthorne's tragic ending into a Hollywood happy ending with a Native American attack and Hester Prynne riding off into the sunset. The film proudly marketed itself as "freely adapted" from the novel, which critics took as a confession.

Rob Letterman's Jack Black vehicle reduced Jonathan Swift's biting 18th-century satire of politics, science, and human nature into a juvenile comedy about a mailroom clerk who becomes a giant. Swift's intricate social commentary was replaced with Guitar Hero references and urination jokes.

Baz Luhrmann drowned F. Scott Fitzgerald's restrained tragedy of the American Dream in a deluge of CGI confetti, Jay-Z music, and 3D excess. Leonardo DiCaprio's committed performance could not save a film that mistook Gatsby's vulgar excess for something to celebrate rather than critique.

Marc Forster's adaptation kept only the title from Max Brooks's beloved oral history of a zombie apocalypse. The novel's innovative multi-perspective structure was replaced by a generic Brad Pitt globe-trotting action film, and a completely rewritten third act replaced the original ending at enormous cost.