What’s the worst book to film/tv adaption you’ve seen?

[Soubriquet]

Mine is Miss Peregrines home for peculiar children.

In the book, Emma controls fire. She’s sassy, strong, stands up for herself and calls out peoples shit.

In the film, she is lighter than air and defers to her male costar. I was really disappointed by this film

I was shouting 'they're rabbits, not hares!'.

I can’t remember much about the film but I hated the book - the author has clearly never been anywhere near Wales, the accents and the geography (I can forgive the imaginary island but not the peat bogs!) were so wrong it put me off the whole book.

The Beach - another where the plot is messed about with and the ending sanitised. And Ewan McGregor should have played Richard, he was made for the role.

The Percy Jackson films were absolutely awful. They absolutely destroyed the books - changed the ages, changed the personality of main characters, majorly changed the plot... It was so, so bad! Rick Riordan made it very clear that he hadn't been involved and had tried to get it changed!

The new Disney+ series, on the other hand, has been very well done. Some plot changes (largely for story compression, I think, and with the original author involved), but still kept the spirit and feel of the books.

'As my friend who is a big Christie fan says: write your own stories instead of ruining classics!'

Indeed - why play about with an existing story until it's practically unrecognisable, just write your own story.

A whole thread and no mention of Anne with an E? I don't even have the words to describe how awful it was. The "updating" missed the whole tone of the book completely. It was also utterly miserable! ...I turned it off

Another vote for execrable Dark is Rising film. Am absolute travesty.

I was going to say this. Absolute madness to change that ending and rob the book of its meaning.

Steve Pemberton did an adaption of the Mapp & Lucia books by E F Benson. It was awful, with the character of Lucia terribly miscast.

On the other hand, there was an ITV adaptation in 1985 with Geraldine McEwan & Prunella Scales in the roles and despite its age, it’s wonderful.

I accept that adaptations can't be completely true to books, especially when it's a really long book but the problem is usually completely not getting the feel of the book. There are adaptations I like that take a few liberties but I see them as sort of book adjacent because they capture the feel. I love High Fidelity the book and the film because the feel is there in the film.

I saw The Shining years before I eventually read The Shining and the film put me off reading Stephen King for years because I hated it so much. The book is bloody wonderful. Kubrick has Jack as a volatile arsehole from pretty much the beginning which ruins it and Nicolson is so hammy that it ruins it further. I can see why King hates it so much.

Persuasion is my favourite Austen novel and I was really looking forward to the latest adaptation. Saw the trailer and noped away from that one. Just no. Also agree that Billie Piper was a ridiculous choice to play Fanny in Mansfield Park. She's great but she is almost the diametric opposite of Fanny.

Re the Potter children. I'm not a fan of the franchise so I've not read the books or seen the films but having seen bits of Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in things since then, they are really, really, really bad actors. When she said that she was taking a step back from acting to focus on whatever it is she focuses on my guess was that fewer and fewer people were prepared to hire her because she's just not good enough.

I too love her short stories - but the film adaptation of Don't Look Now is pretty atmospheric in a cold and bleak 1970s Venice....

When I first saw ‘Don’t Look Now’, it absolutely terrified me!

I loathe the Keira Knightley P&P. Horrible casting, Knightley can't act and is all wrong for Eliza even if she could, and all the others are wrong as well. The Firth and Ehle one is the gold standard, I think the 2005 is even worse than the Larry Olivier one which is set in the wrong time period.

It was far too bucolic and muddy - the Bennetts didn't live on a farm. And you could see KK's hair sticking out from under her wig - very distracting whilst sitting in the Muswell Hill Odeon all those years ago...

Harry Potter! I do enjoy the nostalgia of the movies but they did the books dirty!

• Hermione has been made to be a saint
• Ron is a bumbling baboon who doesn’t stop eating
• Draco is worshipped because of Tom Felton is (was) good looking
• don’t get me started on Ginny! The shoelaces 🥴
• Narcissa looks like a photoshopped McGonagall / skunk with the two tone hair
• as per with Draco, Jason Isaacs/HBC are good looking so get sympathy for Bellatrix and Pucius.
• The random casting change of Lavender Brown halfway through
• Harry’s parents looking like they’re mid forties when they were early twenties
• Tonks’ hair being purple not bubblegum pink
• Winky and her storyline (though apparently there’s a scene of her and Dobby riding lamas in GOF)
• kreacher’s redemption
• Barty crouch junior and the story behind the Longbottom’s
• Charlie Weasley (who?)
• the beetle (Rita Skeeter)
• Peeves and his mischievousness
• the story of regulus black
• SPEW!
• Cho replacing marietta edgecomve (plus the zit thing!)

Okay rant over! But I’m sure there’s more I missed

Though saying all that while I don’t think cursed child was good as a read, the play is excellent and the actors were fab!

Agree with everything @BillieEyelash1 said

BillieEyelash1

Draco is worshipped because of Tom Felton is (was) good looking

This!

Poor younger DD had a few miserable playtimes at primary school because some of her friends (who seen the films but not read the books) were playing HP and they all wanted to pretend they were in Slytherin with Draco.
So she spent her time alone because "I wouldn't be in Slytherin!".

Okay, it's over 20 years ago now and she's over it.

I just don't think I am

The Time Traveller's Wife film of years ago was utter rubbish.
The more recent series (still available for streaming) was pretty spot on and I enjoyed it.

I’ve just looked up what the end of I Am Legend is in the movie. Aargh! Why bother adapting a book if you’re going to change the ending - which in this case is literally the whole point and message of the story!

Before I opened this I knew Corelli would get multiple mentions.

It's beyond awful. I know people who won't attempt the book because they assume it's shit.

The film version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy".

If I hadn't read the book and also seen the far, far superior BBC TV version, I would not have had a clue what was going on.

@Crabble thank you! It missed the whole cyclical nature of the story. The original ending would have been more cinematic, surprising and heartfelt. (I love Cameron Diaz but she also really annoyed me in that film)

A Wrinkle in Time was dire.

Agree too with eThe Dark is Rising. The Rick Riordian films were bad as well, something about fantasy for kids maybe?