Top 5 Book to Film Adaptations of 2012

December 28th, 2012

If there were two things that ruled the box office this year, it was sequels and book to film adaptations (many films hit both categories). While some films shared little more than a title with their original version, other films achieved the difficult balance of bringing words on a page to life, while not regurgitating the book. These five films did just that in 2012.

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5. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

While none of the Twilight books have ever been accused of trying to win a Giller Prize, the final Twilight book had all the elements of a great film – love, loss, war, peace and vampires. Easily the best of all five films, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 gave the franchise a send off worthy of loyal Twihards.

4. The Hunger Games

As one of the best selling trilogies, The Hunger Games managed to make the crossover from teen to adult fiction and then to the big screen. With an impressive cast and a script that stuck pretty close to the book, The Hunger Games franchise is off to a strong start.

3. Cloud Atlas

The Matrix’s Wachowski brothers brought to life a book that seemed impossible to put on the big screen and made some of Hollywood’s biggest names virtually unrecognizable in a story that spans centuries.

2. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

After the huge success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson is back behind the camera to turn The Hobbit into a three-part film.

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Previously one of the most underrated coming of age stories, Stephen Chbosky’s breathtaking look at a young boy trying to navigate his first year in high school while dealing with a dark past finally got its time in the spotlight with the film adaptation. Chbosky was involved in every step of the adaptation, writing the screenplay and working behind the camera as the film’s director. Adjusting the story slightly to fit with the time constraints of a film, Chbosky’s re-imagined Perks included the emotion and depth of the original, while leaving out a few of the more devastating scenes to ensure the film would be enjoyed by a wider audience. With a top notch cast of Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is our top choice for the best book to film adaptation in 2012.