Literature has inspired countless films and series over time. Even more ambitious is the case of several franchises literary who have not been satisfied with conquering readers for generations, but have emulated the feat in the challenging territories of film and television.
From secret agents to the most important fantasy sagas, these are some of the literary franchises that have triumphed in film and television.
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz It became a reference in fantasy since its publication in 1900, which motivated its author L. Frank Baum to write thirteen additional books that today make up one of the greatest literary sagas of all time. The work also inspired Victor Fleming’s legendary adaptation, which more than 80 years later is still considered the masterpiece of fantasy cinema. Even more notable is that mythology has continued to grow more than a century away, with novels such as Wicked: Memoirs of a Wicked Witch and witch’s son directed by Gregory Maguire, and films such as Oz the Mighty (2013) or the pending adaptation of the Wickedexpansions that make it very clear that there are still many routes to explore within the ever-growing yellow path.
His Dark Materials
The trilogy written by Philip Pullman has been placed among the great references of contemporary fantasy thanks to its vast Edwardian universe inhabited by all kinds of fascinating beings ranging from witches to talking animals, as well as its symbolic construction that has been seen by many as a harsh criticism of Christianity. Its complexity made it struggle in its cinematic leap, to the extent that not even the joint talent of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Sam Elliott and Christopher Lee could pull it off.
The sensations were different with its television adaptation by the BBC and starring Dafne Keen, Lyra Belacqua, James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda, which finally seemed to do justice to the original work and prepare it for its large-scale popularization. Although the printed trilogy was completed some time ago, Pullman has returned to this world with numerous short works that continue to this day.
Jack Ryan
The missions of Jack Ryan, a character created by Tom Clancy, make up one of the most popular literary franchises of recent times, with almost 30 novels and a legacy that continues to grow with the ingenuity of different authors. The agent has also appeared in movies on numerous occasions, played by actors such as Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. No less important is his recent jump to the small screen with John Krasinski in the starring role, in an extremely ambitious project that has been positioned among the cornerstones of Amazon during the calls Streaming Wars.
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The Hunger Games
The trilogy written by Suzanne Collins soon positioned itself among the great references of the young adult contemporary with Panem, a dystopian version of the American union where every year a violent commemoration of the war that redefined them as a nation takes place and which consists of the random selection of two young people from each district who must kill themselves in a television show. It didn’t take long for his success in print to take him to the big screen, thus becoming one of the biggest phenomena of the early 21st century and the perfect catapult for Jennifer Lawrence, whose wonderful interpretation of Katniss Everdeen, better known as the Girl in Flames, made her one of the most popular actresses in recent years. Recently, a new film installment was released based on the prequel Ballad of songbirds and snakes about President Snow’s youth.
Dune
TO Dune It is considered the best science fiction novel in history and is largely responsible for starting a successful literary saga made up of more than twenty publications that continue to this day. This popularity in print led to an eclectic film adaptation by David Lynch that, without reaping the financial results of other space operas, achieved an impressive cult status that not only remains to this day, but led to a pair of ambitious miniseries. . The legacy promises to grow even more with the film saga directed by Denis Villeneuve, who is one of the great exponents of contemporary sci-fi after his wonderful work at the head of the arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).
James Bond
James Bond is the most important secret agent in cinema, but his story really began in the literary field with the publication of Royal Casino directed by Ian Fleming. The original author’s work included twelve novels and two collections of short stories, but the adventure has continued to grow since then thanks to the pens of many other writers, some of whom have focused on secondary characters to further increase this world of spies. 007’s exploits in the cinematographic area are no less memorable, with more than twenty missions and the demand of many fans to change the character’s ethnicity or gender for a world in need of inclusivity.
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KINGdom
Anyone might think that Stephen King’s work is made up of independent stories, but true fans of the American writer know that his different titles have subtle connections that result in a universe that is as complex as it is terrifying. Although these links are less evident in film and television, titles such as That (2017; 2019), The dark tower (2017), Castle Rock (2018) and Doctor Sleep (2019) incorporated more and more references and, with this, speculation increases about a great unofficial franchise that we can call today: KINGdom.
Harry Potter
The Boy Who Lived was born almost by chance, when the writer JK Rowling was traveling by train and suddenly conceived the idea. She struggled in publishing it, but the effort was worth it when Harry Potter It became one of the most successful literary sagas of all time with more than 500 million copies sold worldwide. These good results were also reflected on the big screen with the acclaimed adaptation of the central saga, whose eight installments allowed us to see the histrionic evolution of actors such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who became true references of their generation.
The film franchise has enjoyed recent expansion with the spin-off of fantastic animals, which revolves around zoologist Newt Scamander and his contributions during the magical war against Gellert Grindelwald, while the core of the story also grew with The cursed legacy which shows the problems of Albus Severus Potter, Harry’s son, to live up to his father. And of course, to this we add the future reboot in series format for Max.
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game of Thrones
Considered by many to be the great jewel in HBO’s crown, game of Thrones gets his inspiration from Song of ice and fire, a saga written by George RR Martin that takes us to Westeros, where the most powerful houses in the region compete for the Iron Throne while an icy northern threat threatens to destroy the entire world. For years there was talk of transferring it to the cinema, but its narrative complexity took it to television, where it became one of the biggest hits in the history of the small screen. In addition to its central story, still in the process of development by its author, with a fantastic universe that complements spin-offs and prequels like Dunk and Egg Tales, The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and the most recent Fire and blood which addresses the rise of the Targaryens.
The Lord of the rings
The fantastic saga written by JRR Tolkien seemed unadaptable for many years, with animated films that generated mixed feelings among the public and critics, and Disney failing in its efforts to obtain the rights due to fear of unnecessary simplification. Sensations changed towards the end of the 20th century, which opened the door for Peter Jackson to carry the trilogy made up of The Fellowship of the Ring, The two Towers and The return of the King to the cinema, which resulted in one of the great fantasy sagas of all time and one of the few exponents of the genre to win the Oscar for Best Film.
The franchise grew shortly after with the trilogy of The Hobbit, which struggled to emulate the results of its predecessor. This does not prevent Middle-earth from still having many literary stories to tell in the series. The rings of power from Amazon, in addition to Warner’s renewed plan to release numerous films based on its immense catalog of characters.
Luis Miguel Cruz Someday I’ll join the X-Men, the Rebel Alliance, or the Night’s Watch. Proud member of Cine PREMIERE since 2008.