Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Best Book Adaptations Coming to the Theater in 2013! (Guest Post by Lindsay McMahon).

Whenever books are converted to movies it's always something of a hit or miss prospect. No matter what happens, there will always be some purists who complain on one side and people who think that the original book was too boring anyway on the other. Every once in a while, however, you'll find a filmmaker who manages to find the right balance in adaptation. Here are a few that just might get there in 2013.


Catching Fire
The Hunger Games series of books were a smash hit trilogy even just in book form, with a focus on preteen girls as far as demographics are concerned. The first book in the series which was just called “The Hunger Games,” did extremely well, and there's no reason to think that the second installment, Catching Fire, will fare any differently. The series explores a post-apocalyptic world where a city called the “Capital” oppresses people from the surrounding “Districts” by forcing selected individuals from that area to fight to the death on something akin to modern reality television. The Catching Fire installment focuses a lot more on the resistance movement.

Great Gatsby
This is a classic novel from nearly 100 years ago about Gatsby and his quest to become wealthy and affluent. This one has been adapted many times, but the most recent version has Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.



The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The first version of Tolkien's children story came out last year, but the story continues in 2013. This is a sort of prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, though it was written first in actuality. It follows the tale of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from the shire who is pulled into an adventure that involves helping some dwarves get their home back from a dragon named Smaug, who is described as “a fire drake from the north.”

The second installment of the Hobbit trilogy will focus more on the dragon, who barely appeared for more than a few seconds in the first movie. The Hobbit has been around a long time, and there have been many different versions of it done in radio, in animation, and so on, so it will be interesting to see what Peter Jackson does with his continuing Hobbit story this year.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
The Percy Jackson series is a book series aimed at young adults, that follows the exploits of a young man who happens to be a demi-god born of Poseidon, the god of the sea. The most famous installment in the series is probably the first one, which was called “The Lightening Thief.” The Sea of Monsters installment focuses on a quest to find the Golden Fleece in order to restore a safe haven that is slowly dying.


Writer Biography:
Lindsey Mcmahon likes to travel, play and read in her free time. Her interests are entertainment, television, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers. She currently works for Cable TV Advisor.






7 comments:

Christina said...

I'm really excited for all of these (except for the Percy Jackson one, because the first movie bored me). The others, though! I don't usually think it's worth it to go see movies at the movie theater, but I may need to make an exception!

Unknown said...

So am I! I can definitely get why Percy was a little boring for you. I felt the same way, but I think that's because it's aimed at a younger generation, and it might come off a little goofy.

The Great Gatsby however, is receiving great reviews so far, I can't wait to see it!

fakesteph said...

I'm excited for all of these! Even Sea of Monsters (even though I thought The Lightning Thief was the worst adaptation of all time).

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

Love this post! I plan on seeing all of these, well, I can wait for the Percy Jackson one, I just try to keep the movie separate from the book so as long as the movies aren't complete disasters, I can usually enjoy them.

Karen said...

It will be interesting to see if they can salvage the Percy Jackson franchise. The first movie was horrible and didn't do well.

Midnyte Reader said...

Everyone seems to not have liked the Percy Jackson movie too much. I never read the books and really had no interest in seeing the movie.

Nina @ Death, Books, and Tea said...

I'm really looking forwards to Catching Fire and Desolation of Smaug, I'm in agreement about the Percy Jackson thing - ie, Lightning Thief was terrible. Hopefully they'll get all four of these right. Hopefully.

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