10 Great Movies Based On “Unfilmable” Books

For decades, Hollywood studios have taken best-selling books and adapted them into blockbuster films, but some books aren’t as easy to adapt into movies. Authors like Stephen King, John Grisham, and John le Carré write novels that feel ripe for big-screen adaptations. Their books are narrative-focused page-turners that translate well into a three-act structure. Other books are deemed “unfilmable” due to either the structure of their narrative, the length of their story, or simply because the subject is unappealing to a film-going audience.

Just because a book is considered unfilmable doesn’t mean Hollywood hasn’t tried adapting it, however. Most of these adaptations are either movies that got stuck in development hell or simply turn out as bad as expected. David Lynch’s version of Dune, most Dr. Seuss movies, and Watchmen are great examples of why some books are deemed “unfilmable.” These films either lose what made the book special in the first place or are so slavish to the source material that they don’t work as movies. There are several films, however, that serve as an exception to the rule and manage to translate rich prose into cinematic achievements.

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10 Dune (2021)

Based On The Novel By Frank Herbert

The original novel of Dune is one of the most influential works of science fiction ever created, and the world it crafts is inherently cinematic. Its story and lore, however, are so dense and rich that it is impossible to fit all of it into one film. The 1984 version tried and failed to streamline the narrative into a single film, and the result was an interesting yet jumbled mess. Denis Villeneuve and his team decided to split the first book into two movies, giving themselves time to introduce the world and characters in a cinematic way without sacrificing the clarity of the story.

9 Lolita (1962)

Based On The Novel By Vladimir Nabokov

“How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?” was the tagline for Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the controversial novel. Nabokov’s book has a pretty straightforward narrative and is only 336 pages long, but its story of a novelist who pines over a teenage girl is still transgressive by today’s standards, and making a film adaptation in the early 60s was deemed impossible. Like the novel, Lolita is challenging, shocking, and sometimes hard to stomach, but thanks to Kubrick’s direction, it still manages to be a worthwhile and interesting film.

8 White Noise (2022)

Based On The Novel By Don DeLillo

Don DeLillo’s White Noise is equal parts about everything and nothing. It is part survival story, part satire of consumerism, part family drama, and all very existential. No adaptation of the novel can have a consistent tone, but Noah Baumbach’s adaptation leans into the narrative inconsistencies, making for a wild exploration of genre, tone, and character. Divisive upon release, White Noise is a real, love-it-or-hate-it kind of movie, but so is the book it is based on, so it is only fitting that the Netflix film is overly ambitious but unforgettable.

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7 American Psycho (2000)

Based On The Novel By Bret Easton Ellis

What makes Bret Easton Ellis’ book so engaging, is how it puts the reader in the head of its murderous protagonist. The entire novel is told from his perspective, and the medium allows the reader to feel like they know all of Patrick Bateman’s thoughts. This is much harder to achieve in a film, but thanks to Mary Harron’s bold adaption, and a once in a lifetime performance by Christian Bale, American Psycho does feel like being in the head of a killer. Leaning into the comedic aspects of the book, and allowing a more fantastical tone, lets the movie be the one-of-a-kind satire it is.

6 Naked Lunch (1991)

Based On The Novel By William S. Burroughs

Not only is the book Naked Lunch a twisted, drug-fueled tale that is unappealing to most audiences, but it purposefully doesn’t have a structure, as the book is just a series of vignettes that are meant to be read in whatever order the reader wants. No part of the book feels like a movie, but David Cronenberg still managed to do it. Instead of trying to jam as much of the book as possible into one film, Cronenberg took a few key elements, as well as details from Burroughs’ personal life, to make a movie that is part adaptation, part biography, and part meta-retelling of the writing of the book.

5 Life Of Pi (2012)

Based On The Novel By Yann Martel

Life of Pi is one of the most well-known modern novels, and one that has become required reading for many school curriculums. It is an exciting adventure about spiritualism, survival, and the human condition. However, the first half of the book is rather slow, and the second half mostly deals with a young boy stuck on a boat with a tiger. An adaption was deemed not only difficult but borderline impossible to pull off without endangering the cast and crew. Visionary director Ang Lee, however, managed to streamline the story while incorporating groundbreaking visual effects to tell the story in a cinematic way without sacrificing the book’s deeper messages.

4 Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

Based On The Children’s Book By Maurice Sendak

Children’s books are difficult to adapt into full-length films. There simply isn’t enough story to sustain 90 plus minutes, but Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are manages to take the world and themes of Maurice Sendak’s book,and makes a richer, darker, and more mature tale of growing up. Instead of inventing new material, Jonze pushes what was already there to its logical conclusion and makes a companion piece to the original work instead of trying to replace it.

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3 Cloud Atlas (2012)

Based On The Novel By David Mitchell

Dealing with themes of reincarnation, timelines, and the fabric that interconnects all living things, David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a beast of a book that doesn’t have a conventional narrative, it instead has six unconventional ones. The Wachowski Sisters took their biggest swing by trying to tackle all the ideas and stories from Mitchell’s book and translate them into a different, more complicated medium. Using a handful of actors to play various Cloud Atlas roles across centuries, the Wachowskis use cinematic language to deliver Mitchell’s ideology in their own style and voice.

2 Inherent Vice (2014)

Based On The Novel By Thomas Pynchon

There has only been one film adaptation of acclaimed author Thomas Pynchon’s work. Despite his novels being beloved and worshiped, especially within the film community, his writing is just too specific and dense to work as a feature film. Inherent Vice is his most straightforward book, and it is still a purposefully complicated mystery about the history of LA, the danger of nostalgia, and the counterculture movement of the 60s. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film is very faithful to the source material while focusing the story on the central romance. It may take multiple viewings to fully understand, but Inherent Vice is a masterpiece of modern noir.

1 The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Based On The Novel By J.R.R. Tolkien

Despite their legacy and impact on pop culture, a movie version of The Lord of the Rings was deemed impossible for decades. Animator Ralph Bakshi attempted to bring the story to life in the 70s, but his version only managed to get through the first two books, and he never got to finish the story. Then, New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson was given the freedom to make a trilogy based on Tolkien’s works. With the space to tell the full story, as well as the advent of new technology, Jackson and his team brought Middle-earth to life in a way no one could have imagined.