A guest blog by Lindsey McMahon
Movie studios will often go with book adaptations in movies, because they are more of a sure thing. A tremendous amount of investment money is required to get a major Hollywood movie up and running these days, usually to the tune of at least tens of millions of dollars. So, many investors feel more comfortable going with franchises that have already established a following since they seem more like a sure bet. Here are a few book adaptations of the last 10 years or so that became hits in their own right.
Fight Club
Although it came out in 1999, the influence of Fight Club is still felt on modern culture. For example, there was a 2004 video game of the same name. Also, every once in a while, you’ll see some college make the news by hosting a fight club which causes damage. The movie was based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk. It follows the story of Jack, who’s played by Edward Norton. Jack isn’t his real name, and it becomes something of a joke throughout the story. Norton’s Jack narrates the story which follows his adventures in conspiracy and mental illness, along with establishing “fight clubs” where men fight each other as a sort of strange bonding exercise that eventually leads to political intrigue.
No Country for Old Men
Cormac McCarthy wrote the novel “No Country for Old Men” in 2005, and the movie adaptation was made by the Coen Brothers in 2007. The story follows the fight over 2 million dollars after a drug deal goes bad neat the Rio Grande. A hunter finds the cash, and another man hunts him over it instead, leaving body after body in his wake.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Return of the King, the last of the trilogy, came out in 2003. This adaptation by Peter Jackson follows the story written by Tolkien many decades previously. The book had been of the most popular fantasy books of all time for many years. In fact, Tolkien’s stories are often sited as being what invented the modern fantasy trope. It’s been long reported that Tolkien’s interest in writing the books was largely to give a place for his languages such as Sindarin and Quenya (different types of Elfish) a place to live, since he was a Linguist. But Jackson managed to make these stories into major blockbuster hits that now rank among the most popular movies of all time. They follow the adventures of Frodo the hobbit and his companions, 
including Gandalf the Wizard, as they try to destroy an evil ring before a dark wizard gets his hands on it.
Adaptation Fever
These days, books are getting made into movies more often and faster than ever before, it seems. Books like the Hunger Games or Harry Potter, for example get made in some cases just a few years after they are written. The increased modern interest in literature as a companion to movies marks a positive trend that will hopefully continue as people learn to enjoy stories on multiple levels, including in print as well as on the silver screen.
Writer Biography
This is a guest post by Lindsey McMahon. She likes to travel, play and read in her free time. Her interests are entertainment, television, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers. She currently works for Cable TV.
