The 18 Best Adapted Screenplays of All Time

Writing adapted screenplays is just as much of a challenge as writing something original. You are beholden to material that you know you also have to change, so there’s also another layer of pressure on you.

There’s always someone out there excited to tell you the book is better than the movie, but I tried to make a list where I don’t think that’s true.

Let’s dive in.

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1. Gone With The Wind

Directed by Victor Fleming. Written by Sidney Howard (and others uncredited). Adapted from the novel by Margaret Mitchell.

A sweeping adaptation that doesn’t sacrifice any of the epicness of the novel.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird

Directed by Robert Mulligan. Written by Horton Foote. Adapted from the novel by Harper Lee.

At a time when our country needed to face its own evil, this book came out and hit the masses. But the movie was able to reach even further at the time and change a lot of hearts and minds.

3. The Godfather

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo.

This could be accepted as the ultimate adaptation. It took a best-selling book and made people forget it existed.

4. Brokeback Mountain

Directed by Ang Lee. Written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Adapted from the short story by Annie Proulx.

There’s a humanization of a story here. It’s beautiful and softer than the short story. It packs more of an emotional punch, too.

5. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Directed by Peter Jackson. Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson. Adapted from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien.

There may be no better adaptation across a body of work than this one. It is just staggering how it managed to get magic and wonder to the big screen.

6. No Country For Old Men

Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Written by Joel and Ethan Coen. Adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy.Like the novel, this movie is dark and moody. But I think the perspective here benefit from their truncated time we spend in them. They show us life is fleeting and also the menace of an oncoming force.

7. Forrest Gump

Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Written by Eric Roth. Adapted from the novel by Winston Groom.

The book is weirder and has way more sex in it. That’s not a bad thing, but the movie found a more wholesome lens with which to view history. It became more aspirational.

8. The Graduate

Directed by Mike Nichols. Written by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. Adapted from the novel by Charles Webb.

There’s a reason this movie stands the test of time, even though its set in the 60s it is endlessly relatable to anyone coming of age today.

9. Dr. Strangelove

Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Written by Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, and Terry Southern.Adapted from the novel “Red Alert” by Peter George.

There’s something more creepy about the movie, like it could happen and like the surreal and farcical nature blends in.

10. L.A. Confidential

Directed by Curtis Hanson. Written by Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland. Adapted from the novel by James Ellroy.

I love this book a lot, but I do think the distilled version of the movie keeps the story moving, so the reveals pop.

11. The Silence of the Lambs

Directed by Jonathan Demme. Written by Ted Tally. Adapted from the novel by Thomas Harris.

Somehow less violent than the book, this movie takes on more of Clarice’s storyline.

12. Sense and Sensibility

Directed by Ang Lee. Written by Emma Thompson. Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen.

Hard to beat the book, but I love this simple story so much.

13. Fight Club

Directed by David Fincher. Written by Jim Uhls. Adapted from the novel by Chuck Palahniuk.

There is depth and fury in this movie that makes all the points of the book in a succinct way.

14. The Green Mile

Directed by Frank Darabont. Written by Frank Darabont. Adapted from the serial novel by Stephen King.

I feel like the movie packs more of an emotional punch. We understand more what’s been taken and what’s been given.

15. Blade Runner

Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Adapted from the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick.

I feel like the movie dug deeper into the world and created something creepy that sticks with you.

16. Schindler’s List

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Steven Zaillian. Adapted from the novel “Schindler’s Ark” by Thomas Keneally.

This movie changed a generation’s understanding of the Holocaust.

17. The Shining

Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson. Adapted from the novel by Stephen King.

I find the movie to feel more like a contained horror and the characters to pop.

18. Jurassic Park

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Michael Crichton and David Koepp. Adapted from the novel by Michael Crichton.

The movie is a less cynical and more exciting adventure.

Summing Up The 18 Best Adapted Feature Screenplays of All Time

These are some of my favorite adaptations, but I know there are lots of other ones out there for you to enjoy.

I’d love to hear some of your favorites and why you picked them.

Let me know what you think in the comments.