10 Movies That Totally Changed the Plot of a Book

Finding out that a favorite novel will be adapted to film can be simultaneously exhilarating and disappointing for devoted readers. Hollywood’s reputation for butchering beloved books in order to craft the Next Great Blockbuster is well-deserved. Here are ten examples of movies that have major plot differences from the novels that spawned them.

1. I Am Legend – The Richard Matheson novella has long been a favorite of sci-fi and horror buffs; when the news broke that the masterpiece would be receiving the Hollywood treatment, reactions were mixed. True to the suspicions of naysayers, the beloved book has almost no bearing on the big-budget Will Smith vehicle released to theaters.
2. The Lord of the Rings – In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the female characters play a role that is almost completely negligible. While writing in stronger women increased the appeal of the epic saga for female moviegoers, devotees of the source material were less than pleased about the changes.
3. Memoirs of a Geisha – Eight years after its initial release, Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha hit the bestseller lists by riding the waves of a successful film adaptation. Those who had read and loved the novel prior to the Hollywood treatment found this attention to be distasteful and resented the major changes made to the plot in order to create a story that translated to film.
4. Jaws – A large part of Peter Benchley’s novel relied heavily on the less-than-exciting relationship drama and emotional subtext, which director Steven Spielburg axed during the making of the film. The biggest change, however, comes in the form of Spielberg’s over-the-top ending in which the shark is blown up; Benchley’s shark simply swam out into the sea to die of the wounds it received.
5. Planet of the Apes – Despite several films and a television series, there has yet to be a screen adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes that is true to the source material. Each ending is vastly different from that of the novel, and most have been panned by critics and moviegoers alike.
6. American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis made his mark as the violent, disenfranchised voice of the 80′s greed generation with his novel American Psycho, which took years to find its way to film. When the movie version finally received a green light, it became a satirical view of Reagan-Era Wall Street, rather than the shockingly violent tale it was intended to be.
7. Gulliver’s Travels – Much like Planet of the Apes, there have been several adaptations of Jonathan Swift’s classic novel, all of which changed the plot of the tale to some degree. The most shocking change, however, comes in the form of a modernized “reboot,” starring comedian Jack Black.
8. The Poseidon Adventure – Paul Galicco’s The Poseidon Adventure is a beloved novel that received less-than-faithful treatment at the hands of director Irwin Allen. Later versions of the film are even further removed from the source material, with a capsized-ship premise being the only remaining nod to the great novel.
9. Flowers in the Attic – The V.C. Andrews bestseller Flowers in the Attic centered around the incestuous relationship that sprang up between siblings Christopher and Cathy after their imprisonment at the hands of their avaricious mother. Hesitant to bring such a controversial issue to the big screen, filmmakers stripped all references to incest from the film, creating a baffling and seemingly-directionless film.
10. I, Robot – Will Smith takes the wheel of yet another beloved sci-fi classic gone all wrong in the film adaptation of the great Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. In hopes of creating yet another summer blockbuster, the subtlety and spirit of the original material is utterly lost in this film, much to the chagrin of devotees.

Despite the fact that the movies deviated from the books completely, some of the films still managed to become blockbusters. It makes you wonder, however, how much more successful they would have been if the producers had kept true to the original story.

Taken From Cable TV Providers