Book series adapted into shows: why they’re better than movies

Recently, many famous book series have been adapted to become shows. Some of these include “Percy Jackson,” “The Mysterious Benedict Society,” and “A Series Of Unfortunate Events.” Others have been converted into movies, like “the Hunger Games” and “Twilight.” “Percy Jackson” has also been turned into a set of movies, but they were rather disappointing to the fandom.
The movie adaptations of books are often inaccurate. One of the reasons for this inaccuracy is the limitations of film. A book has many pages, and a series has many books. Putting that much information into a 2 hour movie is difficult, especially with decreasing attention spans. Many mistakes can be made as a result, with inaccuracies including hair colors, plotlines, and characters. The books have many details that are hard to get perfect. When limits of attention span and budget impede creation, it can water those details down.
TV shows have fewer limitations. For one, the length of the episodes can be up to 50 minutes with no complaints, meaning more plot can be adapted. Secondly, each book in the series can have its own season, which separates them and provides more details. “The Mysterious Benedict Society” has two seasons at the moment. The amount of details in the series is incredible, and every plot line is accounted for. The characters are all accurate and have the same personality in the books.
The fans can also now see what the author intended and saw when they were writing the books, without being upset at the lack of details. This has been seen before with the “Percy Jackson” books, which were first made into movies before the start of the TV series creation. The movies have little to no similarities to the book’s plot. The characters were fairly accurate, with slight hair and eye color differences, but the plot was glaringly wrong. While the movies were made well, they did not live up to the glory of the books. This may be why they stopped making them after the second film. Rick Riordan, the author of the “Percy Jackson” series, is now in a prominent position in the production working to guarantee the integrity of the show. Many fans have been excited about this, since the movies were a slight letdown.
“A Series of Unfortunate Events” was also made into a movie, which wasn’t bad, but it only followed the plot of one book. The TV series has the plotlines of all the books, split into different episodes and seasons. While the movie was incredible, it didn’t have the amount of detail that was in the book series. The show has 3 seasons at this time. The show is fairly similar to the movie, with similar character styles and mood.
While some movies can stay true to their books, like “The Giver,” it is less likely than the opposite case. Creating a movie with time limitations of about 2 hours for a book that is more than 300 pages is difficult, sometimes impossible. Stuffing that much plot and characters into a small movie cannot be done without losing some parts that may be too long. Cutting down what some see as ‘unnecessary’ parts can water the whole thing down, as well as taking away pieces that many fans love. With the budget limitations that are also in place, taking things away will further harm the quality of the remake. The ability to make one book into a single season can be incredibly helpful to the directors and writers.
Overall the adaptation of books into shows makes for a much better fan experience, as well as better money. The details are crucial to satisfy longtime fans of certain books. Many of these fans have connections with the characters in the books. To take away such important parts of these characters also takes away the love they have for the books. Having a TV series with the author on board and leading it ensures that the show will live up to the books the fans grew to love.