7. Another Adaptation?
Not that I have a problem with Harry Potter or the numerous graphic novel adaptations, but it sure doesn't help when people are starving for original stories. While there is original material being generated in various mediums such as literature, music, and hell, even video games, the same cannot be said about the film industry. Hollywood is constantly looking to other source material for new film ideas. They're looking to adapt novels, graphic novels, and those video games. Add in the fact that Hollywood is looking to toys (Transformers, Stretch Armstrong) and board games (Ouija, Monopoly), and it looks like the end is near. Again, we don't hate these things. We love 'em. We just love them the way they are. Yes, I did want many of the books I read as a kid adapted into movies, but only because I wanted to see them the way I imagined them to be. Now, I really want an original film. Not "Mancala: The Movie." An actual film that was written for the screen by a screenwriter, director, or producer. However, these days it appears that people only trust what they know. "Transformer?" I know that, I'll watch it. "Spiderman?" Hell yeah, sign me up. To be fair, the greatest movie of all time was based on a novel, "The Godfather." I can't complain too much about adaptations because "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Life of Pi" have opened to critical success and seems like they're on their way to some prestigious awards. But every once in a while, we want a movie movie. I want to watch something that was conceived for the big screen, something that didn't come from another book or toy or game. A movie that was meant to be a movie. Is that too much to ask? As far as adaptations go, if the movie is good, then we have no qualms. Usually, a book had to be good to be adapted into a film. "Psycho," "Strangers On A Train," "The Godfather," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Trainspotting," "Atonement," "Drive," the list goes on. Now, with the success of "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," it appears that there are more tween book adaptations on deck. "Beautiful Creatures," a fantasy book about a boy falling in love with a teen witch, "The Host," another of Stephanie Meyer's books, about an alien invasion that features a love triangle, surprise, surprise, are a couple of upcoming adaptations with several more in development. This leads into our next reason...