So Clive Cussler, author of approximately 6 billion best-selling books about supersubmarines and undersea fistfights, is suing Hollywood for screwing up one of his books, Sahara. Remember that whole Matthew McConaughey-in-Africa action-adventure debacle (pictured) from a while back? Yeah, me neither — and that’s the problem.
Cussler says the movie failed because the studio ignored his notes — notes he says they were contractually obligated to take. (I somehow doubt this.) He also says Sahara’s flop did near-fatal damage to his career — which is possible, I suppose, only if you factor in the hypothetical millions Cussler might have made if Sahara had spawned a Dirk Pitt franchise. (Pitt’s the hero of most of Cussler’s novels — now that he’s been irreparably McConaughey’ed, he’s unlikely to find his way back to the screen.)
So… author sues Hollywood. Will he win? I doubt it very much. But this brings up a larger question: How much say should an author have over film versions of his/her work? Right now, it depends entirely on clout and the tenacity of their agents. And it’s no guarantor of quality, as Thomas Harris and J.K. Rowling have vividly demonstrated.
Here’s a question that’s much more fun: Who SHOULD sue? Whose books have been most grievously abused by Hollywood?
And if you say Stephen King, so help me, I will come through the Internet and slap your face.
Comments (1-30) of 91
if tv movies count than jodi picult has a pretty rock solid case. A beautiful book that haunted me for almost a week after i finished it was reduced to a movie of the week that didnt even pretend it might be good. i want those 2.5 hours of my life back
Phillip K. Dick is totally hollywood’s b*tch.
Even the good movies based on his work (Bladerunner, Minority Report) take serious liberties. And the bad ones (Total Recall) are best forgotten altogether.
two of my favorite books that were ruined in the movies…..”The Firm” and “Horse Whisperer” Cruise and Redford were bad choices !!!
Did John Irving ever sue for “Simon Birch”? I seem to recall he at least got the title changed from the original novel “A Prayer For Owen Meaney” and his name pulled off the poster because of how different the film was.
Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. The awfulness that was the Matt Damon movie version definitely merits a lawsuit.
I was disappointed with White Oleander because that book was so descriptive and the movie didn’t bring that across at all. The characters in the book were so emotional but everyone sucked in the movie so I guess Janet Fitch should sue.
I think the book I love best in movie form is The Princess Bride, but I don’t know if that really counts because William Goldman was already an award-winning screenwriter.
Speaking og TV movies, James Patterson’s “1st to Die” was a good book, but the movie could not have been dorkier.
Phantoms, by Dean Koontz. The book was excellent, but the movie was awful! Even Peter O’Toole couldn’t save that movie.
stephen king!
ok, i know it was nominated for a golden globe but Thank You For Smoking was NOTHING like the book. The characters were the same, and there were certain elements that resembled what happened in the book- but other than that, it was a totally different story. all the book’s themes were lost, and, oh yeah- the movie didn’t have a plot.
What the heck was that comment about J.K. Rowling about? The Harry Potter movies have been wonderful, so don’t give me that crap.
As for who has been the most violated by Hollywood, I’d say Michael Cricton. Sure there’s Jurassic Park, which was an improvement on the book, but look at Congo, Sphere, and The 13th Warrior.
I know that Nora Roberts dosen’t get a lot of love. But I love her and was so excited about the lifetime channel making her books into tv movies. Why? Why was I so excited? Because I think we all knew that they were going to be just horrible. Maybe the next one will be better than Angel’s Fall.
Why is it that everyone calls Sahara such a debacle? The reviews were negative but fairly typical for that sort of movie. The opening weekend was decent and it made something like 70 million stateside, right? I realize the budget was bigger than that, but it was a spring release starring Matthew McConagehey, not a summer release starring Will Smith. I don’t know what everybody expected.
By the way to answer the other question, I lamented the TV-movie version of A Wrinkle in Time, my favorite book as a kid. It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been, and I think the three kids were really good. But the TV-movie quality effects were just kind of depressing, and Madeleine L’Engle’s book really vividly realized a sense of the fantastic and the dread that the movie just plain didn’t.
The movie version of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” did no justice to the wondeful books, and also ruined any possibilty of sequels!
Have to agree with the Wrinkle in Time and the Pact comments.
Although I don’t know if any venue can do Picoult’s writing justice at all.
Also want to add In Her Shoes. Great book, sucky movie that took out most of the good parts.
How about The Da Vinci Code? A chase book turned into a slow, boring movie
On the young-adult fantasy tip: Ursula LeGuin was livid over the liberties the Sci-Fi Channel’s EARTHSEA miniseries took with the source material—foremost for casting white folks in all the major roles, where the Earthsea books are populated almost exclusively with people of color.
Word is she’s no happier with Goro Miyazaki’s animated EARTHSEA feature (which has yet to be released in the States), and for the same reasons.
As a huge fan of the Harry Potter series (the books, not the movies), I think that J.K. Rowling should absolutely sue Alfonso Cuaron for destroying the third book (also my favorite). Instead of adding important plot details, he chose to focus on things such as talking heads (*shudders*) and some random bird flying into the Whomping Willow a few times!
This is how I feel about the movies. Total directors Medium. So Sahara had a sucky director… next time you want to have your words kept intact, write a PLAY.
Michael Connely’s Blood Work with a 80 year old Clint Eastwood as a 50 year old guy.
Also I respectivefully disagree, Meghan, POA was the best of the HP movies so far.
I think Sum of All Fears was a very bad version of the book. The book was AWESOME, like all of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan books. but, the movie took too many liberties with the plot. I did NOT like how the bad guys weren’t middle eastern terrorist, but German bankers. That was lame. I think the PC police caused that. the movie, itself, was ok, but I almost couldn’t watch it because it was so different from the book.
How about poor John Irving. His masterpiece “A Prayer For Owen Meaney” was so butchered in it’s film version that he forced the filmmakers to change it’s name. To Simon Birch.
Don’t forget the atrocities committed against the late, great Dr. Seuss.
Just thinking about the Cat in the Hat and Grinch adaptations makes me want to crack Mike Myers’ and Jim Carrey’s heads together like walnuts.
And I swear, if either one of them makes a move toward the Lorax, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.
The greatest travesty upon humanity has to be “Beloved.” That was quite possibly the WORST movie ever made. It didn’t even make any sense. I know the book is hard to understand and completely up to interpretation. Hey, I had to read the book three times to understand it. But the movie was just atrocious. I love Oprah, but she needs to count this in the loss column, right above “A Million Little Pieces.”
They’ve made horrible movies out of all of HG Wells’ novels. His books are so wonderful, but the movies are always awful and nothing like the original stories.
I still haven’t gotten over Interview With A Vampire; of course, it could just be my absolute loathing of Tom Cruise (my hate goes waaay back–nothing to do with Scientology).
OK, I admit to having read everything Cussler has ever written… major guilty pleasure! However, I just can’t see any of them fitting into the confines of a two hour movie, without losing their fundamental charm. Rather than butchering yet another big screen version of Dirk Pitt, why not go the route of 24 and spread these books over an entire TV season, where they have time to develop properly? This could be the salvation of many book adaptions gone wrong.
I was going bring up Crichton as well. “Timeline” was pretty good book turned into a sucky movie. And “The Lost World” was a decent sequel novel that became one of Spielberg’s worst movies ever.
And will they finally make an “Airframe” movie?!?
Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood.
Not only was it a terrible movie on its own right, but it also packed a one-two punch of awfulness knowing that it destroyed one of the greatest books ever.
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