5 Movies You Didn't Know Were Books First

By Gregory John "G.J." Vitale on August 1, 2013

Inspired by a recent article by fellow Uloop writer Lane Sheldon, I compiled a list of some movies that many people–and when I saw many people, I mean myself with the assumption that I am representative of the normal person–didn’t know were books first before they lit up the big screen. A couple prerequisites here, before I unveil these gems: 1) The films have to be more popular, or at least more well-known, than their book of influence, and 2) A full novel, cover-to-cover, had to be published separately from any connections to a film (sometimes, screenplays lie around for a while before being picked up…these will not count).

1. The Godfather (1972)

Arguably the greatest movie ever made was actually based on a novel written by Marco Puzo in 1969 of the same title. The sequels that followed, The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990), both included additions to the original story of Puzo (though Puzo himself made some of these for the films). Anyway, the politics of my own rules aside, the film has taken on such a life of its own and so much praise that most people forget its origins.

2. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The novel of the same name was published in 1988 by Thomas Harris as the sequel to his 1981 Red Dragon. Many of Harris’ Hannibel Lecter novels would see their own film adaptations in the coming years, but this is defintiely the most emblematic. The movie killed (pun-intended) at the Oscars, winning in five of the major categories.

3. Jaws (1975)

I was actually pleasantly surprised when I found out this classic was actually a novel first. Every time I watch Jaws (which has been a lot), I always come away with the same conclusion…here, check my Twitter feed for proof!

4. Scarface (1983)

This crime drama was based on the 1929 novel by Armitage Trail of the same name,  but was first adapted to the screen in 1932. The original film more closely followed the novel’s semi-biopic story about Al Capone’s life, but the 1983 epic will forever be remembered: “Say hello to my little friend!”

5. Forrest Gump (1994)

This hit starring Tom Hanks is very different from the 1986 novel of the same name, even leaving out most of the book’s second half. Other than the movie’s adaptation of his mad ping-pong skills, Gump was also an astronaut, a chess player, and a wrestler in the novel…which were obviously not included in the film.

Now, I’ve seen all the movies above and I’ll admit I didn’t know any of them were based on books when I watched them for the first time. It is hard to go from the film to the book, especially for movies like the ones above that most people, myself included, have seen countless times. All things in perspective, though, I would recommend reading the book versions of stories first. In my experience, it provides the best entertainment and purest form of storytelling always comes from the original.

Honorable mentions:

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Die Hard (1988)
Psycho (1960)
Goodfellas (1990)

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