As I find myself in the midst of re-reading the Harry Potter books (I’m just about finished The Goblet of Fire), I can’t help but think about how there must be a better way of adapting books to film. When I say better, I mean refraining from leaving out key book scenes when said book is made into a film, and anyone who is a book lover like myself will arguably know exactly what I mean by this.
How often are we left feeling frustrated and disappointed after watching a film that was created because of a novel, because the film left out what we considered to be significant moments and details? Re-reading Harry Potter has certainly brought these disgruntled feelings to the surface of my mind, because the books contain a hell of a lot more than the movies do. The same argument can be made for most book-to-film adaptations, and this unfortunate consistency has prompted me to contemplate how to avoid this lapse of context.
It’s really easy for me to throw this idea out there, but what if, instead of always resorting to a film adaptation based on a book, we consider making the adaptation a television series? Television shows often end up having multiple seasons, with some shows having up to 20 episodes per season. This equates to a tremendously longer opportunity to incorporate all details into the production, especially if it is coming from a book, and I can’t help but speculate that this approach might be one way to alleviate the infinite annoyance of key book details being ignored.
If you consider a show like Peaky Blinders and the incredible storylines that are interwoven in significant complexity, I think it makes sense to create television shows based on books as opposed to films. They offer a lot more screen time to include all important aspects of a novel, as opposed to a select few hours that typically come with the confines of a movie.
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