As a child, there is no greater feeling than finding a new series on your elementary classroom bookshelf. The second best feeling was watching those stories come to fruition on the big screen.
Book adaptations have been around since 1899. “Cinderella,” based on the Brothers Grimm story, was the first ever book-to-screen film. Since then, hundreds of beloved books and their characters have been adapted onto the screen for our viewing pleasure. Some recent adaptations include “Uglies” (2024), “Percy Jackson” (2023) and “Turtles All the Way Down” (2024).
However, it is never guaranteed that these movies will live up to the enjoyment of a book. Mollie Navigato, a freshman studying nursing, enjoyed the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series by Jeff Kinney as a kid. However, she has mixed opinions on the quality of its movie adaptations.
“Specifically the newer ones weren't as good as the original ones,” Navigato said. “But I liked the first couple of the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ movies. Those were good.”
Instead, Navigato preferred how JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter” book series was adapted and praised its influence on audiences.
“The ‘Harry Potter’ ones are definitely more influential (than ‘The Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies’),” Navigato said. “They have a lot of meaningful messages and stuff in them, I believe. I think they're kind of inspirational in a way. I think when you read them as a kid, it allows you to gain perspectives and let you learn different things.”
Lily Adams, a junior studying media arts production, was a fan of the “Uglies” book series by Scott Westerfeld. However, she said she is not as fond of the movie adaptation which came out last year.
“They just came out with the first (‘Uglies’) movie with (Joey King),” Adams said. “It was terrible. Absolutely hated it. Every moment was so bad, it just did not do well at all.”
Conversely, Adams praised the “The Hunger Games” series for its reliance on the books.
“I love the ‘Hunger Games’ movies,” Adams said. “I re-watch them all the time. I think they did really well with the books. It's just a really good movie quality in general.”
The love for “The Hunger Games” book and movie series is shared by Taren Fiala, a freshman studying human biology.
“Growing up, I was almost always in the school library, in the local library,” Fiala said. “I leaned the most towards ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Hunger Games.’”
The first “Hunger Games” movie aired in 2012 and was based on the book series by Suzanne Collins.
“In the past few years they've been releasing more 'Hunger Games' content and I think that's really good to see as an adult, kind of reminiscing on when I really enjoyed those books,” Fiala said. “It's kind of good to see those, I guess you could say fandoms, coming back and getting a new, upgraded version of some of the stories.”
Collins published “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in 2020 as a prequel to the original trilogy. In 2023, the book received a movie adaptation starring Rachel Zeiger and Tom Blyth.
This year, Collins will release “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” which is already planned to receive its own movie adaptation in 2026. Fans are eagerly awaiting more news about the cast.
With all the new “Hunger Games” content being released, Fiala is glad younger generations can enjoy the series in the same way she did.
“We as readers, when we put together these creative worlds in our head, we have a very specific way we want it to look,” Fiala said. “And there's such a good relieving feeling when you walk into a movie theater and it actually matches what you're thinking about.”
