It’s often been said that Hollywood can make a movie out of anything, and some of the weirdest adaptations of all time prove this point. While plenty of movies take inspiration from books, plays or TV shows, some movies have chosen truly bizarre source material. It seems impossible to adapt a toy or a commercial into a feature-length film, but this trend is only becoming more prevalent, especially since some recent hits have adapted unusual material.

Weird adaptations require some lateral thinking if they’re ever going to have a chance at success. It can be difficult to come up with characters or a story when the source material has neither. However, some movies have proven that being able to extract the intangible feeling from popular source material can form the basis for a great story. Adaptations which fail to do this can seem pointless and potentially hollow by comparison.

10

Barbie (2023)

Based on a doll

2023’s highest-grossing movie took inspiration from an unconventional source, and this could indicate that there will be more similar adaptations in the future. Barbie star Margot Robbie is leading the way with weird unexpected adaptations, as she is producing a movie based on the board game Monopoly, and another movie based on The Sims, a life simulation video game.

Barbie has to create a story out of a doll which doesn’t have one. The movie’s solution is to construct a meta-narrative about Mattel, and the relationship between the warped fantasy of the doll and the reality of women’s roles in society. Margot Robbie adapted the unadaptable with Barbie, but Monopoly and The Sims could be even more difficult. Neither game has a clear plot that would make sense in a movie, nor do they have many established characters.

9

The Lego Movie (2014)

Based on building blocks

Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the producers behind the Spider-Verse movies, are also accomplished directors. The Lego Movie is their adaptation of the popular building bricks, and it overflows with the kind of creativity and flair that has become synonymous with Lego. It kicked off a franchise which has produced three other movies since 2014, including a direct sequel in 2019. A third Lego Movie is currently in development.

Although Lego doesn’t provide much of a narrative, Lord and Miller were able to take the essence of what makes Lego so popular and build a movie around this idea. Lego is all about creative freedom and learning by exploring, so The Lego Movie features a protagonist who has to learn to break free from the confines of his rigid worldview. The animation style often looks like stop-motion, which is a nice gesture toward the community of Lego stop-motion filmmakers.

8

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)

Based on a theme park ride

Pirates of the Caribbean is not the only movie which has been inspired by a Disney theme park ride, but it’s certainly the most successful. Brian de Palma’s Mission to Mars, Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland and the recent Jungle Cruise movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt all failed to live up to expectations. By contrast, the first Pirates of the Caribbean launched a massive franchise and received five Oscar nominations.

The original Pirates of the Caribbean ride opened at Disneyland in 1967, and different versions have since been created in other Disney theme parks all over the world. It was the last attraction that Walt Disney was directly involved in before his death. Although the franchise has been dormant since 2017, Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is in development, and it’s set to reboot the franchise with new characters.

7

Clue (1985)

Based on a board game

Clue is based on the popular murder-mystery board game of the same name, and it captures the spirit of the game while simultaneously inventing a new story that works in the format of a movie. Each game of Clue begins in the same way, as a body is found and the players have to uncover the identity of the murderer. From this starting point, there are endless variations of the possible murderer, the murder weapon, and the location of the crime scene.

Clue‘s brilliant ending shows three possible outcomes, which leaves the real answer to the mystery open to interpretation. The movie is clever enough to know that the audience is playing along as they watch, as is the case with any murder mystery film or TV show. The multiple endings reflect how a game of Clue often results in different players having different answers to the mystery, and it invites the audience to watch the movie all over again, so they can “play” one more time.

6

The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

Based on a mobile game

It’s not uncommon for a movie to be based on a video game, but mobile games are completely different prospects. Mobile games are designed for players to be able to jump in and out at any moment, so they usually don’t have much of a story at all. Angry Birds has a little bit more of a structured narrative than games like Candy Crush Saga or Subway Surfers, but not by much.

The game is about launching birds via slingshot into precarious towers populated by green pigs. The movie manages to stretch this paper-thin narrative out to feature-length, with the characters becoming more fleshed-out. The Angry Birds Movie features an all-star cast, including Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader and Danny McBride. It was a box-office hit, and a sequel followed in 2019.

5

Rhinestone (1984)

Based on a song

There are plenty of movies named after songs, such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Yesterday, but they aren’t normally adaptations of the song itself. Rhinestone is something of an oddity then, as an adaptation of Glen Campbell’s 1975 hit “Rhinestone Cowboy”. The movie stars Dolly Parton as a country music singer who makes a bet that she can train anyone into a star, even a disinterested New York cab driver, played by Sylvester Stallone.

Rhinestone was a critical and commercial flop, but it still managed to give Dolly Parton two hit singles, “God Won’t Get You,” and “Tennessee Homesick Blues”. The movie takes the basic premise of the song, that of an aspiring country singer struggling to leave his mark on the industry, and it adds Dolly Parton’s mentor character. Sylvester Stallone has stated that he regrets how Rhinestone turned out. He’s not a natural fit for the lighthearted musical comedy.

4

Zola (2020)

Based on a Twitter thread

Zola is based on a viral Twitter thread written by A’Ziah “Zola” King, in which she recounts the wild story of how a road trip to Florida with a new friend went horribly wrong. The 148-tweet thread was such a sensation on Twitter that it was referred to simply as #TheStory. It was ready-made for a movie adaptation, even though nothing similar had ever been attempted.

Twitter’s character limit means that it isn’t suited to long-form storytelling, but King’s thread used each tweet to drip feed a compelling narrative little by little, keeping a huge audience hooked. Zola tries to stay as faithful as possible to the story, and it even uses snippets of dialogue which King originally tweeted. This authenticity allows Zola to be every bit as catastrophic and compelling as the true story that King lived through.

3

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Based on a tabletop RPG

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was one of 2023’s pleasant surprises at the cinema. Its box-office performance was a little underwhelming, given its large budget, but critics were charmed by the way that it took elements from the tabletop RPG and spun them into an original story. Unlike previous Dungeons & Dragons movies, Honor Among Thieves is a fun adventure for newcomers to the franchise as well as devoted fans.

Chris Pine plays a bard who leads a group of misfit adventurers on a quest which resembles a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Each adventurer is representative of a different character class, and Honor Among Thieves also includes mythical creatures and locations from the game. Dungeons & Dragons requires great storytelling, so the movie adaptation simply needed to tap into the same creativity and sense of adventure. A Dungeons & Dragons sequel could be on the way, with Pine keen on returning.

2

The Emoji Movie (2017)

Based on emojis

The Emoji Movie made over $200 million at the box office, but it was destroyed by critics. The children’s animated comedy tries to capitalize on the ubiquitous nature of emojis in daily life, but it doesn’t say anything new or interesting about digital communication, nor does it develop characters that are worth caring about. The Emoji Movie follows a “meh” emoji who wants to break free from his limited role and display more than one emotion.

The movie’s message of self-expression quickly gets lost in a sea of product placement, as the emojis jump between different apps such as Instagram, Spotify and a mobile version of the Just Dance video game franchise. Overall, The Emoji Movie lived up to its low expectations, and it stands as a prime example of the dangers of weird adaptations. A movie about emojis seemed like a creative dead-end when the idea was first announced, and ultimately it was.

1

Space Jam (1996)

Based on Super Bowl commercials

Space Jam is an icon of 1990s nostalgia, but the decision to pair Michael Jordan with Bugs Bunny was originally a marketing decision to sell sneakers. The unlikely duo first appeared together in a Super Bowl commercial for Nike in 1992, and this was popular enough for them to return the following year. Warner Brothers optioned the idea and made a feature-length movie, and they invited plenty more NBA stars to join the cast.

Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and other players all have their talent drained by the Nerdlucks, and the 2021 sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy, also features elite NBA stars. The sequel couldn’t replicate the success of the original. Although the original is the one based on an advertising campaign, the sequel comes across as needlessly commercial, with cameos and references to several completely unrelated Warner Brothers properties.