Movie adaptations are commonplace, but occasionally, they completely miss the point of the source material. These eight examples are particularly egregious.

Hollywood has always looked to other forms of media to find the best stories for TV and movies. Oftentimes, they reimagine the stories in new and creative ways, rather than making a one-to-one adaptation. However, these projects also have to strike an important balance between new ideas and the core messages of the original stories.

While it’s generally great for movie adaptations to bring something new to the story, it also risks isolating fans of the original works. These eight movies have done just that. Although some of the movies turn out great, it’s impossible to deny that they lost something critical.

8

The Shining (1980)

While I think The Shining is a great movie, it’s not a great adaptation. The Stanley Kubrick movie makes one change to the story that completely undermines a key part of the Stephen King book. In the original story, Jack Torrance is meant to be a sympathetic man, and the Overlook Hotel is the force that corrupts him. The movie completely disregards this.

In Kubrick’s movie, Jack is already an abusive and angry man with alcohol use disorder before he even arrives at the Overlook Hotel. He previously dislocated his son’s arm, and at the start of The Shining, it’s heavily implied that he abused Danny again. He has a terrifying presence at the interview.

7

Into The Woods (2014)

Into the Woods is one of the most clever combinations of fairy tales, offering a new storyline that leans into extremely dark themes, highlighting the harsh realities of life. Cinderella’s stepmother is even more verbally abusive. The Baker’s wife sleeps with Cinderella’s prince. Rapunzel dies, which is a turning point for the Witch.

The Red Riding Hood and Wolf interaction in the stage play is much creepier and pseudosexual, heavily implying that he sexually assaulted her. Originally, they even had a giant wolf penis hanging out to really reinforce the message.

I’m going to say it: Disney never should have adapted Into The Woods. There’s no world in which they would include any of these elements. By removing the uglier parts of Into the Woods, the movie misses the point of the stage production.

6

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)

The epic showdowns between Batman and Superman from the comics are iconic, but the movie version missed the point of its main characters. There are great elements of the Snyderverse. However, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice failed both Batman and Superman.

Batman’s “no-kill” rule is fundamental, and Superman’s humanity and optimism are his defining traits. I’m not completely against a murderous Batman or a broody Superman with no humanity in an alternate universe or a twisted comics story. Think the Red Son or The Dark Knight Returns comics.

That’s not what Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice was presented as, though. It was the seminal work on which everything else would be built. It was the start of the entire DC cinematic universe. Unfortunately, Zack Snyder never establishes accurate versions of the characters before presenting this wildly unfaithful interpretation.

5

Minority Report (2002)

Unfortunately, one of the most baffling movies, which misses the point of the original story, is Minority Report. First of all, in Dick’s story, what’s originally presented as a single minority report ends up being three separate minority reports, but the movie has none, which is just weird.

On top of that, what is with the Minority Report movie having a happy ending? In the short story, Anderton commits murder to maintain the system and is exiled. Witwer takes over, and everything returns to business as usual. The bleak ending forces the reader to question whether Anderton ever truly had free will.

The movie Hollywood-izes the story by shutting down the Precrime system and letting Anderton live happily ever after with his wife and a new family. The movie’s ending is not only a cop out, but it’s pretty much the exact opposite of Philip K. Dick’s story.

4

Watchmen (2009)

Watchmen looks amazing. It recreates the comic book action almost panel-for-panel. Anyone unfamiliar with the source material could easily walk out of Watchmen saying it’s incredible. Unfortunately, it’s hard to ignore that Zack Snyder’s movie misses the social critique throughout the subtext, only translating the literal scenes.

The entire basis of Alan Moore’s Watchmen is that the characters we’re following are extremely human and flawed, and they make questionable decisions with their powers. They should be feared, not revered. Unfortunately, the way Snyder frames shots and cuts them together makes it feel like he’s glorifying the violence and idolizing these “heroes.” It’s a run-of-the-mill hero movie instead of a deconstruction of the genre.

3

The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)

I’m a huge fan of both The Strangers and the trilogy remake, but it’s hard to deny that the newer version of The Strangers stops being connected to the original story in Chapter 2. The new story elements in the second installment undermine the original concept. The movies are supposed to be about random acts of violence.

In the original horror movie, the fear stems from not knowing who these killers are or why they’re after the victims. The Strangers: Chapter 1 understands this core concept. The movie never unmasks the killers. It doesn’t tell us anything about who the masked killers are or why they’re after the main couple.

Unfortunately, The Strangers: Chapter 2 made the extremely odd choice to tell us not only who the killers are but also give them backstories. This is a betrayal of the concept. We didn’t need them to humanize the killers. By doing that, the story is no longer about random acts of violence. What’s more, I didn’t want the answer to who “Tamara” is in The Strangers.

2

Troy (2004)

If we separate Troy from its source material, the 2004 film is fantastic. The story is packed with action, romance, drama, and betrayals. However, the onscreen interpretation removes all references to the Greek gods and goddesses, which takes away a key part of the epic poem. The Trojan War is just a proxy war waged by the deities, who spend the whole story manipulating events.

In Greek mythology, the gods and goddesses are the most petty, insecure, and utterly human characters. They just happen to also have the power to affect the world. After actively causing the events that started the Trojan War, the pantheonic gods split up, taking sides.

Throughout the battle, Hera, Athena, and Poseidon help the Greeks. Aphrodite and Apollo stand by the Trojans. They take every opportunity to influence the emotions and actions of humans in battle. It’s basically one big family drama, and the warriors are simply pawns. Tory is still a great movie, but it ends up being just an ordinary war movie rather than a proper adaptation of the Iliad.

1

Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams started out as a radio drama and later turned into a book series that became a worldwide hit. The BBC made it into a limited series. Eventually, Hollywood adapted it into a not-so-great but not-completely-terrible movie.

Plenty of fans completely hate it, which is valid. From my perspective, it’s an entertaining watch, but a poor adaptation. The 2005 film loses almost all the British humor that Douglas Adams wrote into the book. The story includes subtle commentary on the British class system, which just vanishes onscreen.

Ultimately, it feels like they adapted an intrinsically British story without really understanding the culture it came from. It just doesn’t capture what makes the original story so special. Hopefully, one day, we’ll get a new adaptation that actually gets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Until then, so long, and thanks for all the fish.