first book to be turned into a movie
By rafiholmes
@rafiholmes (2896)
Malaysia
December 16, 2012 12:26am CST
Today ,plenty of books turned into movies..and made billions of dollars in total..The Harry Potter's book definitely ranked the highest of them all...JK Rowling believed to have made around the vicinity of 570million british pound..from books and ofcourse a lot of that comes from her movie rights. and she wasnt even a proper real book writer..u see,she only trying out to make a kid novel based on her life story just layering them with wizardry and kids fantasies.ofcourse it later proves to be a massively popular that no one could've predicted.
and many many more successful movie originally from books..like J RR Tolkien's.Lord of the rings... and Twilight books..are the more recent ones
but do u know what was the first book to be made onto the silver screen? its a book by Du Maurier..entitled "Trilby" re-titled TRILBY AND LITTLE BILLEE(i have not,any idea what year this book was written)but i do know it was released in 1896 at that time,a silent movie,and a pretty short film ,(no one has time to sit in the cinema whole day.wasnt a trend yet back then). ITS NOT the oldest book to be turned into film..but was the first to be made into a movie from a book source.
the oldest book(not including the bible)would be (no ..its not
1838 Oliver Twist by Dickens) its SUN TZU with his book THE ART OF WAR..an ancient chinese book on war strategies originally written over 2000years ago..probably around 220-200BC, but the movie is just a rough adaption for the modern day action flick starring Wesley Snipes..and Michael Biehn in year 2000 ART OF WAR. wasnt a successful movie i might add.. (there were several much earlier tv episodes in China/taiwan etc but no films other than this one i mentioned)
And the writer with the most books ever turned into a movie..or tv or whatever media form..way more than Jules verne anytime..is horror master STEPHEN KING..
THE MIST,SALEM'S LOT,SHINING,MISERY,CARRIE,THE RUNNING MAN,CHRISTINE,THINNER..oooh man ..too many..go to imdb.to get your full list.
2 people like this
4 responses
@stringer321 (5644)
• Kiryat Ata, Israel
16 Dec 12
I was lucky to read the Hobbit 10 years ago. The book was so nice and the humor made me laugh some times. The episode with the trolls was one of the funniest.
What do you prefer , reading the book or watching the movie ?
I definitely prefer reading the book.
You gave here some interesting information about the first movies that were written originally in books.
Where exactly did you read all that information ? I tried to find it at IMDB.com , but I didn't know where to find that. It was not on the home page and not at the News section...
@rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
16 Dec 12
no..i meant the stephen king's list of movies..that from his book available on imdb..
i prefer just to watch the movie..but its good to know thta some movies are originally adapted from books..etc..@stringer321 (5644)
• Kiryat Ata, Israel
16 Dec 12
Don't forget that the movie sometimes gives less details and the book is more descriptive. It works and exercise your imagination and thoughts. It improves your reading skills and it will help you in the future. You will also be able to read the story to someone else... :P
@rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
16 Dec 12
Done lots of readings in the pass- not so keen on it anymore..unless a non fiction book etc..
if its a short story book..its easier not to omit any details from the book when making a film..but its kinda hard to squeeze a full book to even a 3 hours movie..
@echo060201 (540)
• China
16 Dec 12
yes, many books are turned into movies, but some better represent the plot in the books, and some movies just destory the book. so, a good actor and director is very important.
@rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
16 Dec 12
yes..need bunch of clever people to work closely with the writer(if they still around) to imtrepret the story vividly in motion picture..
@Otanetix (508)
• United States
16 Dec 12
In my spare time, I did read books, which I enjoyed a lot. Of course, I still enjoy reading books, but there's so many books to choose. For me, movies adapted from books are helpful indicators of potential books for me to read. While it's has become more difficult to find the time to read books, I try to list some books I want to read. Because of movies adapted from books, I was also able to branch out and discover new graphic novels to read. With the increasing frequency for the production of movies adapted from books, I think it's a great way for consumers to know more about great books to read among a large collection of books in the market.
@rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
16 Dec 12
Yes..aong them are the novels by Ian Fleming's who wrote the bond novel..most people just watched the movies..and dont really find time to read the actual book about james Bond..
@devonavis (1854)
• Greece
16 Dec 12
Hi! Thank you for sharing this information.
Yeah I notice that more and more books are being put into movies these days. Personally, I would prefer the movies version because I'm not really a reader unlike others. The only thing I don't like about movies that are originally from books is that it's being changed. There are lots of changes and I understand because some imaginary descriptions in the book could not be literally be portrayed in movies so the director would look for other alternatives. Also, another disadvantage of books being put into movies is that the young people today becomes more lazy to read, and actually decrease their imagination ability.
Most of my collections are movies from the literature, and those that are history-related. 
Most of my collections are movies from the literature, and those that are history-related. @rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
16 Dec 12
i too prefer .just seeing the movie rather than reading them for many many nites..
some movies potrayed the book closely like Harry Potter series..
but some had to be changed ..because soem things just dont look good in cinema but looks fine in comics or novel..
