Books have long been a great inspiration for movies, with numerous adaptations in different genres. While not all have proven successful, they still remain wildly popular. A rarer occurrence is when a movie goes from screen to page, and gets adapted into a book. These adaptations often include more background information and character details, along with internal thoughts that are best represented in a book. Here are 11 great movies that became strong books.
11 Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Fantastic Voyage is an adventure in miniature, as a submarine crew shrinks down to enter a scientist’s body and repair his brain. It received positive reviews, and has great visual effects, particularly for the time. Many people think the movie was based on Isaac Asimov's book, but this isn’t the case. The movie is based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. Bantam Books obtained the movie rights, and asked Asimov to write a novelization. This novel was released six months before the movie, leading many to believe it was the inspiration.
10 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey follows a space voyage to Jupiter to research an alien monolith. With its impressive visuals and complicated themes, it’s one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, according to Entertainment Weekly. It’s synonymous with the novel by Arthur C. Clarke, but the movie came first. Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick adapted Clarke’s short story, “The Sentinel,” into the movie. Clarke then adapted the screenplay into its own novel, and would write three sequels after. Similar to the movie, the book is also considered one of the greatest sci-fi novels.
9 Love Story (1970)
Love Story is a great romance that’s also a big tearjerker. The movie stars Ryan O’Neal as Oliver, a wealthy student who loves working-class student Jenny (Ali MacGraw), despite their differences. Everything falls apart, however, when Jenny becomes terminally ill. Erich Segal wrote the movie’s screenplay. To increase marketing, the studio asked him to adapt the screenplay into a novel, which was published the same year. The book was a huge hit, and remained a top seller for the year. It also led to a book sequel, Oliver’s Story, in 1977, which became a movie in 1978.
8 The Omen (1976)
The Omen centers around Damien (Harvey Stephens), a young boy replaced at birth by his father. As Damien grows, and more violence occurs, the family realizes his true identity as the Antichrist. It remains a favorite of supernatural horror, and has a full franchise. David Seltzer novelized the story, and published the book version shortly before the movie. It changes some details, but it fully matches the suspense and horror of the movie in a heart-pounding, satisfying read.
7 Alien (1979)
Alien is a classic blend of sci-fi and horror that sees the crew of the spaceship Nostromo fall prey to attacks from an alien. As the crew is slowly picked off, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the sole survivor, and must fight for her life. The movie led to many sequels, and many books. In 1979, author Alan Dean Foster adapted the movie into two book versions; one for adults, and one “junior” version for younger readers. A graphic novel adaptation was published in Heavy Metal Magazine by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson. All have great appeal to fans and those new to the movie.
6 The Abyss (1989)
Another sci-fi movie, The Abyss, follows an oil platform crew competing with the Soviet Union to recover a sunken submarine. This adventure delves into sci-fi when the crew find evidence of extraterrestrials on the trip. Orson Scott Card was hired to write a novel version, and worked with director James Cameron to do so. The novel includes backstories on the main characters and a history of the aliens. It offers explanation and reasoning for the movie’s events, like the aliens having such advanced knowledge, and is a great novel in its own right.
5 Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone is a classic Christmas movie about Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), a young boy left behind when his family goes on vacation. His time alone is interrupted, however, by two burglars whom he teaches a lesson to. The movie had multiple books based on it. In 1990, Todd Strasser published a novelization with the movie; he did the same for the 1992 sequel, which features a fun prologue of Marv dreaming about Kevin tormenting him and Harry. Both movies were also adapted into kids picture books by Kim Smith in 2015 and 2019. These condense the movies into simple stories, with great illustrations anyone will enjoy.
4 GoldenEye (1995)
GoldenEye is the first James Bond film with Pierce Brosnan in the title role. In this movie, he has to stop a crime syndicate from getting “GoldenEye,” a major satellite weapon. The movie was a big success, especially after a six-year break. Interestingly, GoldenEye was the first Bond movie to contain no elements of Ian Fleming’s novels. Perhaps because of this, John Gardner adapted it into a novel in 1995. It follows the plot closely, while bringing more introspection and description. It also adds a fight sequence that was included in the beloved video game adaptation.
3 Your Name (2016)
Your Name is an animated movie about two teens, country girl Mitsuha and city boy Taki, who change bodies and live some days in each other’s lives. This evolves into a romance, which is made even harder by the fact they’re also from different times, and Mitsuha is in danger in hers. The movie was well-received, and inspired a young adult novelization by Kadokawa in Japan in 2016. It was a big success, and has since been adapted into English. Similarly, the movie is also set for a live-action American remake, per Collider.
2 The Shape of Water (2017)
The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins as Elisa, a mute woman who works in a government facility. Her routine life is changed when the facility imports a humanoid amphibian, who she falls in love with. It’s a sweet romance with gorgeous visuals. Director Guillermo del Toro and author Daniel Kraus collaborated to write a novelization, which was released in 2018. As the movie relies mostly on visuals, the novel adds a lot of internal thoughts and details. It's a great expansion of the movie and its characters.
1 Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Set in 1969, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood revolves around actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). They must deal with their personal struggles and changes in the film industry. Various stories, like Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) moving next to Rick, also feature in the background. In 2021, director Quentin Tarantino published a novel version of the movie. The novel expands on scenes, includes a backstory for Cliff, and covers the aftermath of the movie’s end. He also plans to publish a second novel about Rick and his career.