You may have heard the popular saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Basically, it means you shouldn’t waste time trying to tweak and perfect something that’s completely fine as it is. It’s perhaps debatable, but maybe this sentiment should be circulated throughout Hollywood more.
RELATED:10 Book-to-Movie Adaptations That Were Nothing Like the BooksThere have been loads of written works adapted to the big screen, some of them to the extent they’re just plain overused. It sometimes feels like Hollywood bombards audiences with iteration after iteration of the same basic material. Maybe it’s time to give them a rest and let more wholly original stories shine.
‘A Christmas Carol’ (1843)
It’s nearly impossible to get through a Christmas season without seeing at least one of the 40+ adaptations of this novella byCharles Dickens. There are so many adaptations of this story, some animated, some live-action, one featuringthe Muppets, and even one starringBill Murray. Some are older and in black-and-white, and some are newer with new twists on the story. Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum.
You’re likely familiar with the plot: a grumpy old man named Scrooge hates Christmas, but is visited by three ghosts who are able to change his mind. It’s got a good moral about selflessness, which is probably why it’s been remade so many times.
‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813)
Pride and Prejudiceis an early feminist romance novel written byJane Austen. The story concerns a family of two parents and five daughters living on an upscale estate in rural England. The daughters are reaching adolescence, and due to the cultural norms at the time, are being pressured into being married by their parents.
Many are easily bored by the novel because it is very much like a soap opera, but there is no denying the cultural impact it has. Once again, there are just too many adaptations of this novel, many of which don’t bring anything new to the table save for moremodern technology and settings. Perhaps the most creative adaptation is the Bollywood/Hollywood fusion musicalBride and Prejudice(2004), directed byGurinder Chadha, which makes for a much more fun and energetic version of the novel.
‘Dracula’ (1897)
Bram Stokerprobably didn’t know he’d be writing the most popular recurring character in horror when he wrote his 1897 novelDracula. That’s right: Count Dracula is the most used character in horror, appearing in a whopping 60+ films.
He has been played by Hungarian stage actorBela Lugosi,Gary Oldman, and several times bySir Christopher Lee, which was a role he became highly associated with. Though many of these films do deviate from the source material a bit for a fresh spin on the horror story, it doesn’t change the fact that in the last 100 years, there have just been too many of them. Count Dracula needs a break too, sometimes.
‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ (1871)
Lewis Carollwrote this book back in the 19th Century. Though, it’s more commonly known by a simplified title:Alice in Wonderland. The story concerns a young girl named Alice who winds up in a strange and magical world called Wonderland, filled with many bizarre creatures and places.
Perhaps the most famous incarnation is Disney’s 1951 animated musical film. More recent adaptations includeTim Burton’s 2010 live-action series. But these are only the most famous. There are approximately 19 different adaptations of this story, the first coming out as early as 1903 in the form of a black-and-white silent film.
‘Peter Pan’ (1911)
Peter Panwas initially a play first performed in 1904 before it became a novel. Both were written byJ. M. Barrie. The story of a magical boy who helps some young British children fly to a magical realm known as Neverland, the novel/play has been adapted several times, many of which were done by Disney.
Disney first produced it in the form of a 1953 animated musical, followed by a 2002 sequel,Return toNeverland.There’s alsoHook(1991), a story about Peter Pan (Robin Williams) returning to Neverland as an adult. On top of that, there’s a 2003 live action film, and the Warner Bros. prequel moviePan(2015).
‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1740)
Technically, this one is a fairy tale/short story written by French authorGabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.The story is about a young woman named Belle who is taken prisoner in the castle of a reclusive lord, who happens to be a monster. Belle begins to see the humanity in the Beast, as he was once a normal person, but is under a curse. The two eventually fall in love, the Beast returns to his human form, and they marry.
Listing how many times this story has been adapted for film would be enough to write a story of its own, but its most popular adaptations are Disney’s animated musicalBeauty and the Beast(1991), and its 2017 live-action remake starringEmma Watson.
‘The Three Musketeers’ (1844)
So it turns out the “all for one and one for all” motto didn’t really stick with Hollywood filmmakers, as the industry has gone a bit overboard with adaptingAlexandre Dumas’novel for silver screens.
Depending on where you do your research, the number ofThe Three Musketeersfilms ranges anywhere from 30 to well over 50, some of which have additional twists on the story. For example, there was a 3D version released in 2011, starringLogan Lerman.
Pretty Much Anything William Shakespeare Wrote
William Shakespearewrote numerous plays between 1585 and 1613, though many weren’t published in book form until later. Most of them were comedies, but others are tragedies or historical plays. Since there is an abundance of them, and since the script is practically already written, there is a plethora of Shakespeare movies that have been made within the last century or so.
The worst offender is Shakespeare’s acclaimed tragedyHamlet(1603). This play has been adapted for the big screen 17 times, which is a bit ridiculous since the script really doesn’t change between most of the adaptations. The most recently released adaptation was in 2009. Heck, even Shakespeare’s tragedyMacBeth(1623) has been done to death, with the most recent iteration arriving in 2021. Some find Shakespeare films to be lazy as the movies basically write themselves. Some movies absolutely offer a more creative spin on the premise, them are the same, just slightly more modern than their predecessors.
‘Sherlock Holmes’ (1887-1927)
Sherlock Holmesis a series of novels and short stories about the fictional detective of the same name. The stories set the stage and standards for many, many other detective novels. The cultural impactSir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works have had is massive. But it doesn’t change the fact that there are still too many movies.
There have been11 moviesmade based on Sir Doyle’s works, but that’s not all–there have also been 13 different TV series made as well. Being the world’s greatest detective is hard work; perhaps he’s due for a rest. There hasn’t been a proper film adaptation since 2011 withSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, starringRobert Downey Jr.
‘Frankenstein’ (1818)
Mary Shelleywrote thisearly horrorover two centuries ago, but that hasn’t stopped filmmakers from milking it for all its worth. Another familiar horror icon, Frankenstein’s monster has appeared in 15 feature-length films to date, with an influx in the mid-2010s, which saw three full movies released in a span of two years.
It’s honestly kind of insulting to the character of the monster, because all the monster really wanted in the novel was to be left alone and not be treated like the creature that he was. Yet Hollywood keeps treating him as the villain, or at least for the most part. Poor guy.
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