Nick Wall / Netflix
They say the movie is always better than the movie , and they are mostly right . Indeed , the number of movies that pit their source material , let alone surpass it , is rare . Most of the time , the best adaptations offer something fresh and provide a refreshed take on the book of account , becoming desirable of standing side by side with their literary counterpart .
Then there are those adaptation that are distressingly , ludicrously , and embarrassingly bad . These movies fail miserably at retake what made their rule book counterparts pop to begin with , with the major theme getting lost in translation . They are mediocre as movies but straight-out horrendous as adaptations , to the point where the writer themselves have sometimes denounced them .
Nick Wall / Netflix
10. Firestarter (2022)
In all honestness , Stephen King adaptationsare more often unsound than not . TheItmovies are the exception , as most King adaptation are either utter failures or success at the disbursal of diverting completely from the author material ; 2022’sFirestarteris the former . establish on King ’s eponymous Holy Scripture , the film follows a young girl with pyrokinetic power who becomes the quarry of a dangerous organization essay to weaponize her .
Firestarterhad already receive a flick adaptation in 1984 starring Drew Barrymore . That film was already jolly bad , but the 2022 rendering makes it seem like a masterpiece . This modern retelling ofFirestarteris embarrassingly high-risk , lacking even the so - regretful - it’s - honorable element that make most King adaptation enjoyable . alternatively , it ’s savourless , dim , flashy , and cheap , with a lazy screenplay and fair performances from everyone in the cast .
9. The Divergent Series (2014-2016)
The failure of theDivergent Seriesis infamous , with each picture becoming progressively worse . It did n’t even receive an conclusion , as the third entry , Allegiant , was such a bust that Lionsgate cancel plans fora fourth theatrical filmand endeavor to pivot to a made - for - TV movie that would direct to a spinoff serial . When it became clean that neither the thespian nor the hearing wanted that , the studio to the full scrapped the idea and left the series bare . The writing was always on the wall for this enfranchisement because , in all honesty , the books are just not that honorable ; the movies never had a fortune .
8. Dune (1984)
What can be said about David Lynch’sDunethat has n’t already been said ? The director ’s first and only venture into mainstream , big - budget cinema remains a infamous Hollywood tale of the wrong director encounter the wrong material . The result is a flaky and borderline gravel movie that feel completely detached from the informant cloth despite everyone ’s serious design .
To be fair , adapting Frank Herbert ’s unyielding , confrontational novel would be a intimidating casting for anyone . In hindsight , Lynch ’s odd , classifiable , and as out of reach style might not have been the best approach for such a story . If anything , Lynch’sDuneis interesting and with far more flair than one would expect from a sci - fi opera . It ’s a fearsome adaptation of the novel , but as its own thing , Lynch’sDuneis at least challenging . devotee of the novel should probably stick toDenis Villeneuve ’s two - part version , though .
7. The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
In 1990 , a motion-picture show found on a bestselling novel point by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Hanks , Bruce Willis , and Melanie Griffith seemed like a surefire recipe for success . So what the hell happened ? Well , this is another case of the haywire natural endowment encounter the wrong stuff .
The Holy Scripture is a remarkably glowering and satiric take on New York high beau monde that was n’t afraid to aim for its cynical , exploitative , and bigoted nature . However , the motion picture is a toned - down , lousy , and far less clever attempt at humanizing the characters to be less confrontational than their literary counterparts .
Thus , The Bonfire of the Vanitiesis a clumsy , baffling , and absolutely miserable adaptation that is painfully unfunny and mind - numbingly stunned . The film has also become a prime model of miscasting , with each of its three stars being ridiculously wrong for the character they ’re hypothesise to be toy .
6. North (1994)
Rob Reiner is behind some of the most delicious classics in Hollywood history . FromThe Princess BridetoWhen Harry Met Sally … , Reiner has craft many certified hits , including court dramas , fantasy epics , and some of the most romantic movies ever . However , his 1994 clowning - drama adventureNorthis a unfeigned abomination and a secure rival for the worst motion picture of the XC .
Based on the 1984 novelNorth : The Tale of a 9 - Year - Old son Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents , Reiner ’s picture show follow the titular character , a pretermit child who legally separates from his parents and goes on a globetrotting search for the perfect mom and papa . The plot is whimsical enough , but the execution is lacking in originality , spell , and emotional intelligence . At leastNorthgave us some of Siskel and Ebert ’s funniest quotes , the latter of whomclaimed he“hated , hated , hated , hated , hated ” it .
5. Eragon (2006)
In the mid-2000s , everyone wanted their own phantasy saga followingthe success of theHarry Pottermovies . For a match of years , it seemed like every fancy movie under the sunshine meet a enceinte - projection screen adaptation ; some , likeStardustandNarnia , were good , whereas others , likeThe Golden CompassandA Series of Unfortunate Events , were painfully mediocre . And then there’sEragon .
base on the eponymous novel , Eragonis the story of the titular lineament , who hatches an egg and search to restore the Dragon Riders ’ status and reverse his realm ’s malefic monarch . The story is formulaic , but there is enough meat in the book to make a decent movie out of it . Unfortunately , Eragon‘s live - legal action version is lifeless and needlessly convoluted , with each histrion looking utter behind the eyes while delivering expository lines that even the averageA03writer could better on . Eragonhas become a warning tale for rule book - to - pic adaptations , often range among the all - sentence spoilt fantasy movies .
4. Persuasion (2022)
Dakota Johnson is a good actress in the right role ; Anne Elliot is surely not the right role for her . Jane Austen ’s quiet , introspective novelPersuasionreceived the Netflix treatment in 2022 with a terrible live - activity adjustment that hold everything that works about the novel and ruin it in an endeavour to make the story modern and quirky .
The thing is , Persuasionis not the type of account with which to mess . Anne Elliot is not Emma Woodhouse or Catherine Morland . She ’s stoical , resigned , subdued , gentle , and often command — so why on Earth is this movie making her break the 4th wall and speak like she ’s Fleabag?Netflix has several good motion-picture show , butPersuasionisn’t one ; everything that crap the novel particular disappears in a messy and unlimited stupid adaptation that is as bogus and draw as Johnson ’s effort at an English emphasis .
3. Artemis Fowl (2020)
Artemis Fowlis a curious movie . It ’s a truly horrific film with few , if any , redeeming lineament , yet it ’s also so forgettable that one might completely erase it from its judgment before the credits have begin rolling . ground on the 2001 novel by Eoin Colfer , the film follows the titular character , who must venture into a mystifying world to deliver his sire from an evil fairy .
Directed by Kenneth Branagh , Artemis Fowlis a tragedy of erroneous belief . It ’s boring and unexpectedly confusing , brought down by confused playing , terrible visual effects , and a freakish desire to go against the source material despite flaunting its most overt aspects . Artemis Fowlis a shameless try at kickstarting a dealership ; it ’s basically a stepping rock , a assembling of case that purportedly lead to a whole without ever bother to explain itself . At least we get to see Judi Dench in elf ear , which is an image I never retrieve I ’d see .
2. The Scarlet Letter (1995)
In the uproarious and now - iconic stripling comedyEasy A , two - sentence Oscar success Emma Stone describes Demi Moore ’s version ofThe Scarlet Letteras “ where she talks in a fake British dialect and take a lot of bathtub . ” Honestly , that ’s a pretty perfect verbal description of this aberration of a movie . Moore stars as Hester Prynne , with Gary Oldman as the minister and Robert Duvall as Hester ’s husband .
The Scarlet Letteris laughably bad , largely because of Demi Moore ’s painful carrying into action . In what is possibly the high-risk casting decision of the ’ XC , Moore plays Hester as a hilariously out - of - spot 20th - 100 woman in what is supposed to be puritanical Massachusetts , largely because Roland Joffé ’s camera ca n’t seem to forget this is Demi Moore and not Hester Prynne . The high-risk part is you could intelligibly see Moore adjudicate her best ; alas , a laughably bad accent and the conductor ’s insistency on frame her as a model and not a puritanical jade is the picture ’s undoing . Plus , the less said about the awful ending , the better .
1. The Dark Tower (2017)
As previously stated , most adaptations of Stephen King ’s novel are quite risky . However , none is sorry than Nikolaj Arcel ’s 2017 take onThe Dark Tower . Idris Elba stars as Roland Deschain , a hired gun task with protect the mythical Dark Tower , which holds all reality within . Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey stars as his nemesis , The Man in Black .
The primary trouble withThe Dark Toweris very wanton to understand : It tried to include far too much in a single 95 - minute ( ! ) picture . However , The Dark Toweris probably King ’s most daunting and unapproachable level , calling more for a TV show than a 95 - minute ( ! ! ) movie . It ’s grand , complicated , and more than a bit pretentious , more desirable to an eight - season HBO serial publication than whatever it is that Arcel tried to do in just 95 minutes ( ! ! ! ) .
Elba and McConaughey are hunky-dory in the roles , but there ’s a sentiency of dread in their performances as if they make out the kind of trainwreck they were making . The Dark Toweris simply terrible and a quality example of how some novels are perhaps well result on newspaper .
