Category Archives: Despite the movie

Are you reluctant to read a book because you already watched its movie version? You think you know the plot and therefore the novel might be boring since you know everything that is going to happen?

Fear not! In this category, I will write about those books which despite the movie deserve to be read.

Why? some of us tend to think movies are loyal to the plot and the characters of the book. But this is true? I`m afraid not.  It’s not uncommon that movies alter both plot or character.  In some cases, studio decisions imply maybe even exclude some characters, not even mentioning them at all due to production or script reasons.

In this category, I will focus on those novels which deserve to be read due to the significant differences with the books. If you are not a usual reader you will be amazed at how many differences there can be in fact!

percy jackson movies

Percy jackson movies in order

Ever wondered what happened to the Percy Jackson movies? Percy Jackson is a publishing phenomenon, and the author, Rick Riordan, has been named several times as the heir of J.K Rowling’s legacy. However, while J.K Rowling ’s wizarding story transcended the world of literature, seems like Rick Riordan’s s movie adaptation didn’t work that well. Anyway, you will find the Percy Jackon movies in order here.

After the second movie, the adaptations were canceled, so for those wondering when is Percy Jackson 3 coming out I have bad news for you. What happened to the Percy Jackson movie adaptations? Will Percy Jackson have a reboot now that Disney announced their own streaming service (Disney Plus)? Why did the percy jackson movies stop? and mostly, Why are the Percy Jackson movies so bad? let’s answer these questions.

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A bit about the story that inspired  Percy Jackson movie series

This series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, was written by American author Rick Riordan. This is a pentology and has sold a million copies around the world, this saga translated into 34 languages. If you want to know how the story goes on, we recommend you read at least the original book series, the books are amazingly good! here you have them all:

This, being a bestseller saga, was easily expected to be a success on the big screen. The author made up Percy Jackson’s adventure as a bedtime story for his son, who enjoyed so much the story that suggested his father put such a story into the paper. We talk more about this series, in this post where you will also find the Percy Jackson books in order.

What happened to Percy Jackson movies?

Like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson is addressed to a children audience. The producers knew this, so they hired the same director who directed the first two Harry Potter movies, Chris Columbus. But Percy Jackson film series didn’t do as well as Harry Potter, let’s see why:

🌊 How many Percy Jackson movies are there?

Here goes the Percy Jackson movies in order: Only the first two volumes, The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters, made the leap to the big screen. So, sadly, the Percy Jackson movie series is composed of only two films.

Percy Jackson box office

Lighting Thief was released in 2010, the movie was directed by Chris Columbus and cast Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson.  The film had a $95 million Budget and grossed $226.4 million.

Percy was played by  Logan Lerman, while  Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood were played by  Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson  respectively. Jake Abel casted as Luke Castellan, and Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, the activities director at Camp Half-Blood.

The sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, was released in 2013 this time directed by Thor Freudenthal. Both Budget and grossing were lower than the first movie, being $90 million and $199.8 million respectively.

Probably, the best part of the sequel was the special effects. The CGI was actually pretty convincing, but this was not enough to compensate the flaws of the plot.

🌊 Do the Percy Jackson movies follow the books?

No, and that is one of the main reasons the movie adaptations flopped. The films not only don’t follow the books but also they changed the age of Percy and the other main characters in order to adress the movie to a more adult audience.

Where to watch the Percy Jackson movies?

You can find Percy Jackson movies on Neflix, both Lighting Thief and its sequel are available to watch in this media-services provider.

Comparing Percy Jackson’s film numbers with other fantasy series

As you can see, both movies recouped their production budgets. But where profits as high as expected? As said before, Percy Jackson was expected to be the next Harry Potter, a media phenomenon such as J.K Rowling’s saga, The Lord of the Rings or The Hunger Games.

Now, compare Percy Jackson’s numbers with the first movie adaptations of these other known sagas:

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Budget. $125 million. Box office: $974.8 million
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Budget $93 million. Box office $871.5 million
  • The Hunger games: Budget $78 million. Box office $694.4 million
  • Mortal Engines: Budget $100–150 million. Box office $102.6 million

Why is there no Percy Jackson 3?

As you can see on these other movie adaptations, despite having a fairly similar budget those other films had a way better reception and grossing that Percy Jackson movie series.

There is an exception though, the Mortal Enginess Movie, which, well, being such a flop I guess the movies will share Percy Jackson’s destiny… as a result, I’m afraid there won’t be a Titan’s Curse movie unless Percy Jackson’s film series is rebooted. Which might happen.

In summary, you can stop trying to find the Percy Jackson 3 movie all around the internet, because it was never filmed. Let’s see how did the fans receive Percy Jackson’s movie adaptation:

Fans reception of the Percy Jackson movies

Percy Jackson movies were profitable, true, but not as successful as expected. The critics didn’t rate the movies very high, Rotten tomatoes ranked these movies with 49% and 42% in their Tomatometer. Same goes for Metacritic scores, most of the reviews for Percy Jackson film series were unfavorable and both movies scoring 47 and  39  respectively. Too low.

When you make a movie adaptation you want the original fanbase, that is, the readers, to love it. At the same time, you want people who have never read the novels to enjoy what they are watching. This gets tricky sometimes, and the formula applied for Percy Jackson’s movie adaptation didn’t work. Percy Jackson’s fans didn’t like it, and the rest of the audience wasn’t captivated either.

Fans thought the Percy Jackson movie series was quite disappointing, the story does not follow the books, there are major changes along the plot and the character development is not proper enough. Yes, the Greek gods and so are the demigods (obviously), but not like in the novels.

This is the reason why lots of Percy Jackson wondered why are the Percy -Jackson movies so bad.

The author’s impression

But not only the fans didn’t like it, but also the author, Rick Riordan, shares his movie experience on his website. Here are some Excerpts of the emails the author sent to the movie producers:

“The core readership for Percy Jackson is age 9-12. There are roughly a million kids that age, plus their families, who are dying to see this film because they want to see the pictures in their imagination brought to life.”

“I understand that you want to appeal to teens because they are a powerful demographic, and conventional wisdom says that teens will not see movies about kids younger than themselves. Harry Potter proved this wrong, but aside from that, deviating so significantly from the source material risks pleasing no one – teens, who know the books are meant for younger kids, and the younger kids, who will be angry and disappointed that the books they love have been distorted into a teen movie.”

And there is more, here is the reason why Percy jackson movies failed:

“The script as a whole is terrible. I don’t simply mean that it deviates from the book, though certainly it does that to point of being almost unrecognizable as the same story. Fans of the books will be angry and disappointed. They will leave the theater in droves and generate horrible word of mouth. That is an absolute given if the script goes forward as it stands now. But the bigger problem is that even if you pretend the book doesn’t exist, this script doesn’t work as a story in its own right”.

As you see, the author was right, it didn’t work and Percy Jackson 3  never had a release date. He saw it coming, he was brutally honest with the producers. Even so, the movies were an absolute flop.

What does Percy Jackson cast say about this?

percy jackson movie cast
percy jackson movie cast
percy jackson movie cast
percy jackson movie cast
percy jackson movie cast
percy jackson movie cast

Logan Lerman, the actor who played the title role in Percy Jackson films, stated in 2014 during a press conference for the film Noah that a third Percy Jackson movie was not going to happen. These were his words:

“It’s been a great experience for me. It’s opened up a lot of doors for me, but I don’t think (Percy Jackson 3) it’s happening.” Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson.

Also, notice that Logan Lerman played the lead role in Percy Jackson when he was 16 years old. The first film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,  was filmed in 2009, so Logan Lerman is now 27 years old, maybe too old to keep playing the role of Percy?

It would be cool, wouldn’t it? we made some Fantasy characters becoming Lol champions, you can check which spells Percy would have clicking on the following link: Percy Jackson League of Legends.

Will Percy Jackson have a reboot?

If you checked the author’s website you will see he theorizes about this. Right now, there is no date for a Percy Jackson reboot. As Riordan says, Disney acquired the rights from Fox, so if Disney decides Percy Jackson to be rebooted it will. Logic says that it won’t be Percy Jackson 3 but the saga itself would be rebooted. For all those Percy Jackson fans who wish there is a good movie adaptation for their beloved saga do not despair, this series has a lot of potential and maybe one day it will have a proper movie adaptation. If Percy Jackson had a reboot what would be your dream cast?

What about a Percy Jackson Tv series?

Now, this might be the solution. Fans want a remake for this saga and a tv show might be a different approach. This is exactly what has happened with another fantasy series whose film adaptation went wrong: His dark materials. This fantasy series didn’t do as well as expected at the box-office either and now His Dark Materials is having a tv adaptation.

percy jackson movies 3
percy jackson movies 3

Same happened with Shadowhunters, but in this case, both the film and the tv series adaptation were canceled so maybe not the best comparison. With several internet platforms such as Netflix, HBO and even Amazon PrimeVideo likely that some of them might be interested in making a new adaptation. Of course, let’s not forget Disney owns the rights now. Would you want Percy Jackson to have a tv adaptation?

🌊 Will Disney make Percy Jackson movies?

There has not been any official announcement made by Disney about this. However, there is hope: Disney is having its own streaming service, Disney+. As a result, Disney is working on a series based on different projects such as Avengers, Star Wars or Monsters among others. Disney has several multimillionaire franchises (Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars…) will Percy Jackson join them?

If this happened, if Percy Jackson cinematographic universe was rebooted by Disney, a new Percy Jackson film series would be released sooner or later. A new cast and probably a different approach, which actor do you think would be a great Percy Jackson?

Percy Jackson Disney plus update 2020

Recently, the author of Percy Jackson’s novels, Rick Riordan, tweeted on his account that he was in Los Angeles (in Hollywood obviously) trying to convince Disney that Percy Jackson needs a new adaptation. Could this just mean Percy Jackson’s reboot is closer than we think it is?

There are still no any news in 2020 about a Percy Jackson reboot, but this article will keep updtated.

One day we will have a new Percy Jackson movie, for sure. Meanwhile, we will always have the novels. So, here you have the answer to why did the Percy Jackson movies stop, did you expect this? why are the Percy Jackson movies so bad in your opinion?

If you have already read the books and you would like to read something that has the same vibe, here you have a list with books similar to Percy Jackson.

Discover more on Wottaread.

Metro exodus wallpaper snow

Metro exodus the videogame based on Metro novels

Hello there Wottareaders, Metro exodus is already here! What? You don’t know what I’m talking about? Let me show you:

Yes! It is a videogame developed by 4A Games and based on the Metro series written by the Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky.

The basics

Exodus is the third game in the video game series, preceded by Metro 2033 and Metro Last light. If you are a pc player you probably have played Metro 2033 at least, since it was free to download on Steam for 24 hours in October 2018.

Metro Exodus was released on 15 February 2019 for the following platforms: PC, Play Station 4 and  X box one. For all the Nintendo fans wondering if  Metro Exodus is coming to Nintendo Switch, the answer is no, the video game developers have no plans to launch this game in this platform. Who knows, maybe they will announce they are launching Metro Exodus for Nintendo Switch in future events, wouldn’t be the first time.

What is Metro Exodus about

As you just saw on the trailer, this videogame is a first-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic Russia where you will have to face all kind of mutated creatures. This game is not only about the shooting, but it also stealth and strategy are key elements for your survival.

The plot develops after the events of its predecessor, Metro: Last Light.  Exodus will have also Artyom as the main character. In this game Artyom wants to prove there is life outside Moscow, leading to dangerous and thrilling expeditions.

As you see this is one of those videogames where the story is relevant. This is not a videogame based only in shooting and killing monsters. Instead, the storytelling will immerse you in this post-apocalyptic world. The survival horror touch is always there, you will suffer more than once trying to survive as Artyom.

This videogame has also interesting features, along with the plot you will have to make your choices which Will have a real impact on the story. That is, depending on the decisions you make some of your comrades might not survive. So, be careful! Also, this video game includes a Dynamic weather system and a day-night cycle, which will make this game experience even more captivating.

The Metro Universe: the novels

Metro book covers

Metro book covers

As stated before, this videogame is based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s metro series. This is is a three-volume series whose universe gets expanded subsequently by the video game series.

  • Metro 2033.  458 pages.
  • Metro 2034. 320 pages.
  • Metro 2035.  502 pages.

You can find them in this post with the Metro books reading order .

This series is set in an apocalyptic world, after a global nuclear war, the Earth Surface turns to be uninhabitable due to the amount of nuclear radiation. This novel takes place in Moscow, the story beginning in the year 2033. Here the survivors live underground, the metro stations become new cities where humans defend against the hostile mutated creatures due to the nuclear holocaust.

The main character is Artyom, a 24-year-old man, who was saved from carnivorous rats when he was a child by a military officer, Sukhoi, who is one of the leaders of VDNKh, the metro station where they dwell.  After a visit by a strange man called, Hunter, Artyom is entrusted a mission of warning another metro station about the increasing threat of the Dark ones, humans who survived and adapted to the nuclear radiation and therefore live on the Surface.

The first novel has a score of 3.9 out of 5 on Goodreads, while Amazon gives this a 4.4 out of 5.

How has been Metro Exodus received by the fans?

This videogame has achieved great marks, and lots of fans consider this a worthy candidate for the Game of the Year Award. Others say it’s a great competitor to one of the other big GOTY favorites, which is no other than Kingdom Hearts 3.

Metro Exodus scored  84 for pc on Metacritic, while the Metascore for videogame platforms is slightly lower, being 82 and 79 for Xbox One and Play Station 4 respectively.

The Good reviews

Generally speaking, fans seem to love the game according to numerous reviews published on this website. Fans love the open world, they praise the graphics and the dark atmosphere. And, an easy one being based on a novel series, they enjoy the storytelling.

The Bad reviews

There are of course others that didn’t like the video-game. Most complains are mostly because of the input lag and bugs they claim are experiencing. Also, seems like the open world approach is not something all the fans are enjoying, some of them claiming they prefer the most linear systems of the previous metro videogame installments.

What about you Wottareader? Do you think this is a worthy successor for the Metro franchise? If you liked this article, remember to check this one about The Witcher videogames.

Also, check out these Kingdom Hearts novels, or if you prefer horror, then take a look at the Five Night at Freddys books in order.

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Movies based on books

The best movies based on books that you didn’t know were adaptations

There are lots of movies based on books, this is a common thing. Books are excellent source material for making movies, it is way easier to have a script since the story is already written and most of the dialogues will be similar to the original writing. Also, producers can gather valuable data from the book sales, allowing them to predict how much will their movie adaption gross. As a result, there’s lots of films based on books.

And of course it’s why lots of best sellers have a movie adaptation, such is the case for Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings  or The Hunger Games for example. And let’s not forget Stephen King, whose most of his books have a movie adaptation, as is the case for Pet Sematary. Producers are playing safe here, they know these novels or authors have a huge fanbase so the risk gets diminished.

A list of movies based on books that you didn’t know they were!

However, there are those movies based on not so known books. This is so that sometimes we don’t even know these movies are actually based on a novel!

The following movies are based on books, and I bet you didn’t know it:

Jurassic Park: a movie based on a book

movies based on books

Jurassic Park 

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The novel Jurassic Park was written by  Michael Crichton and published in 1990. The novel, like the movie, tells the story of a theme park with genetically engineered dinosaurs (what could go wrong? right?. Three years after the publication Steven Spielberg directed this project and the movie was awarded three Oscars by the Academy Awards.

This American writer was also a film director and producer, which led him in 1993 to achieve the unique distinction of having a Nº 1 top-selling book, Disclosure; the most-watched TV show, ER; and a Nº1 movie, Jurassic Park.  Crichton also co-wrote the script for Jurassic Park while its sequel, The Lost World, was written by David Koepp.

I am legend: one of those movies based on books that are quite different to the original source

films based on books

I am Legend

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I am Legend was published in 2007vand written by Richard Matheson. This novel influenced the development of the zombie-vampire genre and has many adaptations such as The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man and,  of course, I am Legend.

I must say that I Am Legend movie adaptation does not resemble at all to the original source, having a lot of inventive adaptation (such as it happens with Ready Player One). Despite sharing the same basic premise, the adaptation differs greatly from the original novel. I use to joke that the only similar thing is the main character, Robert Neville (acted by Will Smith).

The Men In Black: because movies are based on comic books too

movies based on books

MIB Men in Black

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The Men In Black is actually not a novel, but an American comic book series.  It was written by Lowell Cunningham and illustrated by Sandy Carruthers. The original series consisted of three issues, then, after different editorial acquisitions, new issues were published including a prequel.

The movie, starring Will Smith as Jay and Tommy Lee Jones as K, turned out to be a success. This resulted in two sequels and an upcoming spin-off which will be released in June 2019 and will be starred by Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. This success also lead to other spin-offs like an animated tv show, video games and even an amusement park ride in Universal Studios Florida! (See here).

World War Z: movies based on books with several changes

films based on books

World War Z

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This novel was written by Max Brooks and got published in 2006. World War Z movie, released in 2013 and directed by Marc Foster, tells the story of  Gerry Lane (starred by Bradd Pitt), an investigator who travels the world in order to stop the zombie pandemic.

Meanwhile, the original material is an apocalyptic horror novel in which the story is told through individual accounts providing so different perspectives for the zombie plague spread all around the world. As Max Brooks himself stated, “the film had nothing in common with the novel other than the title”.

Speaking of movies based on books that happen to be way different to the original source, this one had so many changes that author Max Brooks has joked about this in some of his conferences.

Fight club: One of the best movies based on books?

best movies based on books

Fight Club

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Written by Chuck Palahniuk and published in 1996. The writer had a fight while camping, returning to work bruised and swollen, his coworkers avoided to ask him what happened and that is how Palahniuk got inspired to write this novel. The movie adaptation was released three years later, directed by  David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. For those who loved this story, it has a sequel, Fight Club 2, which is released in comic book form.

Funnily, after publishing the novel, Chuck Palahniuk received lots of phone calls by journalists asking him where could they find one of those fight clubs he was inspired about. Of course, Chuck Palahniuk kept telling them he had made up all of it but journalists didn’t believe him. Ironically, fight clubs exist now, inspired by the novel’s philosophy. Also, the Fight Club rules are widely used and adapted all along the Internet.

One of the best movies based on books, according to lots of fans.

I, Robot

best movies based on books

I, Robot

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This is a science fiction novel published in 1950 and written by Isaac Asimov. This book is a collection of short stories posing dilemmas related to the three laws of robotics which, by the way, he created.  Meanwhile, the movie starring Will Smith (third time he appears in this list) was released in  2004. However, the movie, despite using some of the characters of the book as Dr. Susan Calvin, depicts a story of hordes of killing robots whose leader, a machine, wants to control humanity. While controlling humanity is one of the short stories premises, it can’t be said that the movie is linked to the original source.

Three laws of robotics have influenced widely popular culture and had been referenced on several occasions. Some examples are Star Trek and Futurama tv shows or the movie Doctor Who. In case you like I, Robot there are three prequels written by Mickey Zucker.

Not all the movies are successful, of course, just take a look at this case, the Eragon film, which flopped despite being based on a best selling novel. Speaking of which, here you all the the Eragon books in order.

Hope this list surprised you, how many of these you movies you knew were based on novels? is any of the films on the list one of the best movies based on books ever according to you? Leave a comment telling us what you think!

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The Hunger Games book vs movie

Differences between Hunger Games book and movie

In The Hunger Games book vs  movie I will prove to you why you should read The Hunger Games, even if you already watched the movies. Did you know that there are lots of differences between the Hunger Games book and the movie? yes, lots!

But before showing you some of the differences between the Hunger Games book and the movie let’s start this properly.

 The Hunger Games book vs  movie: a small introduction

The Hunger Games is a trilogy, the first novel was published in 2008 by Suzanne Collins and it has sold around 100 million copies around the world. This story was so successful, that in 2012 Lionsgate Entertainment released the movie adaptation of the first novel. While the original series is a trilogy, the movie adaptation has four movies having the last novel, Mockingjay, adapted in two movies. A pretty common move I must say, as other sagas like Harry Potter or Twilight did. And let’s not forget about the Hobbit, three movies for adapting a single book of 95.356 words…

The movie adaptation was released starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as Katniss Evergreen and Peeta respectively. The last film, Mockingjay part 2, collected more than 100 million dollars during the first weekend of its premiere.

This plot takes place in Panem, a country governed by a cruel tyrant who annually organizes “The Hunger Games”. The purpose of this deadly entertainment is reminding isolated people from the districts that they cannot fight against the government. Every year 24 tributes from 12 different districts are selected to fight between them to death. 23 of them will die and only one will survive. That was the rule until one day, a girl named Katniss, by an act of love unconsciously planted the seed of hope in people and encouraged them to fight for their freedom.

Interesting fact: Panem was named by the Latin words “Panem et Circenses” which mean “Bread and Circus”. Smart uh?

Now we can start with the true purpose of this post: The Hunger Games book vs  movie

 The Hunger Games book vs  movie: how many differences are there?

First of all, I must tell you that from now on the article contains spoilers… Once warned, let´s start!

While both versions, the book, and the film, agree in the main story, there are some changes. Even so, I must admit that in this case, the movie adaptation is pretty decent. Of course, there are changes compared to the original source but nothing as the several inventive adaptations in Ready Player One movie  (in case you missed liked this book check out these books like Ready Player One) or the character changes and elisions in The Lord of The Rings movies (Lord of the Rings book vs movie)

Let’s show you the differences between the Hunger Games book and the movie.

Why should I read The Hunger Games books?

Hunger Games book vs movie

The novels allow us to go deeper into the story of the 12th District. We learn more about the mining life and what it is to live surrounded by fences and with almost nothing of electricity. You even get to share the trauma of Katniss, Johanna, and Peeta, you feel their pain page after page. And, of course, feeling sorry for Peeta seeing how well he treats Katniss is inevitable… Also, the novel has the power to make you sympathize with the sad story of the Avox, that is, those punished for rebelling against the Capitol. All of this is told from Katniss perspective, which allows us to get more involved in her feeling and thoughts.

I will summarize some of the differences between the Hunger Games book and the movie:

Differences in The Hunger Games

This might sound like a minor detail, but I think it shows really well how hard life is in District 12, and also says a lot about Katniss as a character: Prim’s cat, Buttercup, does not like Katniss because she tried to drown him because so her family didn’t have to feed the pet.

It was Madge, Katniss classmate, who gave her the Mockingjay Pin, so she can remind her home.

Katniss was unable to hear out of her left ear after the explosion she caused when she threw an arrow straight to the bag of apples that were in the supply pyramid.

When Cato falls into the ground where the Mutos were, he didn’t die instantly. He suffered until Katniss found him and killed him.

Peeta loses his leg and this is replaced by a new leg made of plastic and metal.

As you see lots of these things are too explicit, a reason why it makes sense they weren’t included in the movie adaptation.

Differences in Catching fire

This movie adaptation is the one that resembles the most to the original source.

When Rhemus beat Gale with the whip, Darius, an Agent of Peace tried to protect him, but he was beaten so bad that he ended up unconscious. Later, this character became an Avox and suffered severe punishment for treason.

At the time Haymitch participated in the Games, four tributes were reaped from each district, meaning a total of 48 tributes instead of 24.

Differences in Mockingjay

In this novel, Katniss accepts to be the Mockingjay so she can be the one who murders Cornelius Snow, the president of the Capitol.  She also kills a woman without hesitating after Peeta went crazy and thought that he was going to become a Muto. She also never trains

Due to the death of the actor Philip Seymour, the scene where Plutarch and Haymitch meet with Katniss to inform her about her forgiveness for murdering Coin was omitted.

Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch wrote a Memory Book in honor of the people who gave their lives for the cause.

differences between the Hunger Games book and the movie

The film thrills and achieved a good adaptation, but the book creates a unique bond between the reader and the characters since the author allows you to know each of them intimately. You are able to feel what they feel and all from the perspective of a girl who had to become strong in spite of her fears and insecurities… A girl that became a symbol for a nation.

Hope you liked this The Hunger Games book vs movie. Also, you can take a look at this post in which we talk about the Percy Jackson movies to know why they were cancelled.

Did you expect so many differences between the Hunger Games book and the movie? which one shocked you the most? leave a comment now telling us!

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Ready player one book vs movie

Ready Player one differences between book and movie

In Ready Player one book vs movie we will talk about all the changes that were made for the movie adaptation. If you are wondering why should you read Ready Player One despite having watched the movie already then you will lots of reasons to read this book.

Yes, there differences between book and movie in Ready Player One, but before let’s talk a bit about the book itself.

Ready Player One book vs movie: what is this book about?

Ready Player One is a science fiction novel written by the American novelist Ernest Cline, it was published in 2011. The novel had a nice reception, it became a New York Times bestseller and received general appraisal by critics.

After the novel came the movie adaptation, directed by no other than Steven Spielberg and having Ernest Cline as a co-writer for the screenplay, being released in March 2018. The movie became a success, grossing 582 million dollars worldwide while its budget was 175 million. IMDb has it rated as a 7,5/10 with a 64 Metascore, pretty decent marks. But of course, they had Steven Spielberg as the director for a reason isn’t it?

Ready Player one differences between book and movie

Oh, before we start, for those wondering if Ready Player One will have a sequel: yes, it will. The same Ernest Cline confirmed in 2017 that there would be a “Ready Player One 2” and that he was already writing it, nothing else is known, not even the book title. May I suggest Ready Player Two? Speaking of release dates, it is yet unknown when this sequel will be published. Meanwhile, you can read his book Armada, which I also having a movie Adaptation.

Ready Player One Book vs movie: the setting

For those who don’t know what I am talking about, Ready Player One is a dystopian novel set in 2040, the world has subdued to global warming, overpopulation, and an energetic crisis. Luckily, people have a way to evade of such a sad reality, they have Oasis, an online virtual reality simulator created by the fictional character James Halliday.

When the Oasis creator dies, he challenges all Oasis players: Halliday reveals he has hidden three keys in his videogame, whoever finds the three of them first will inherit all his fortune, including his shares of his co-owned company Gregarious Simulation Systems, implying the winner would take control of Oasis itself.

In order to win this contest, players will have to learn about the life of its creator and what he loved and inspired the most, 1980s pop culture. As a result, people become authentic experts in both his life and the 80s in order to win the competition. The book tells the story of Wade Watts (also known as his Oasis nickname Parzival), a teenager obsessed by the 80s who becomes the first one finding the Cooper Key, the first of the three keys to achieving victory.

Is the movie a good adaptation of the novel?

There are films that have really nice movie adaptations, just like The Lord Of The Rings . Is Ready Player One a good movie adaptation? Hmm, how do I put this? Let’s say it is just an adaptation. The movie uses the novel as the basis, but there are massive changes.  You might think that having Ernest Cline co-writing the screenplay might have ensured the movie would not be excessively inventive since he could be consulted, and therefore, we would have a decent transcription of his novel. I’m afraid that was not the case. This is a case of massive inventive adaptation, as happened in Percy Jackson movies full of stories that were not present in the source material at all. you don’t believe me? Let’s do this then.

Warning: the following section contains spoilers for Ready Player One both movie and novel.

Ready Player One Book vs movie:

Here are some differences between book and movie in Ready Player One:

School:

In the novel, Wade Watts (featured by Tye Sheridan in the movie) goes to high school in Oasis. There is a planet in the videogame called Ludus, a place full of public schools where children can study for free. In order to aid the players in their quest to find the three keys, there is a poem which says the following:

“The Copper Key awaits explorers in a tomb filled with horrors, But you have much to learn If you hope to earn a place among the high scorers.”

This “you have much to learn” is, ironically, the key for the first challenge since the Copper Key is hidden in a cave on Ludus, the planet previously mentioned where a lot of teenagers, including Wade, go to school. As you might have realized, nothing of this happens in the movie.

The keys:

Ready player one book vs movie
The 3 Keys in Ready Player One

The movie simplifies Halliday’s challenge pretty significantly: you solve the riddle then you get the key. In the novel it’s a bit harder than that, the key is just the beginning of a new challenge, the player has to use the key in order to unlock its gate and therefore face a new puzzle.  Basically, the contest is so altered that is not even similar to what happens in the novel.

For example, while in the movie adaptation players have to win a race in order to get the copper key, turning out to be tricky since you have to race it backwards. The novel has not even a race at all, but it is instead hidden in a tomb of horrors (recreating so Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game) on Ludus where players have to defeat Acererak (a DnD character) at the videogame Joust in order to get the copper key.

After this, the player has to teleport to another planet, Middletown, to play another videogame (Dungeons of Daggorath) and then quote all the dialogues of the character David Lightman in the film WarGames.

As you see, pretty much harder than in the movie and way more 80s related.

Also, the other keys have different challenges than in the books, Parzival and Art3mis never dance for a challenge (they dance, but in a party). Also, they never visit a virtual version of The Shining. Instead, they have to face other puzzles, such as playing the game Zork. But I don’t want to ruin you the whole book, so I’ll let you discover the rest on your own.

The extra life:

In the movie, Parzival gets a quarter as a prize after winning a bet from the museum curator. In the novel it’s pretty different, he gets that prize after playing the perfect game of Pac-Man, that is, eating everything (dots, enemies and fruits)  on the first 255 levels while not losing a single life and getting as many points on the level 256 (at which game ends due to a bug).

The bounty hunter I-R0k:

While I-R0k also is shown in the book, his role in the original story is merely anecdotal compared to the movie adaptation. While in the film he has a major role, working for Sorento in order to virtually kill the main characters, in the novel he is just another player who likes to make fun of Parzival.

Art3mis is not kidnapped but Parzival:

Art3mis is kidnapped in the movie, while in the novel it’s actually Parzival and he does it on purpose in order to infiltrate in IOIs headquarters and destroy the impenetrable forcefield they have put to protect the last puzzle.

Oasis being closed:

In the movie after Wade becomes Halliday’s heir, he makes a change in Oasis: people can’t play on Tuesday and Thursdays. This doesn’t happen in the books, and it makes sense this doesn’t happen since, as previously, said a lot of people go to school thanks to Oasis.  But also, the world has not changed after Wade wins the contest, meaning,  he might be billionaire now, but the rest of the world keeps being the same, they live in a decadent real world and they still want to use Oasis to evade from it, the same Wade did until he had a girlfriend and was not rich, it would be a bit selfish to remove their online world from the rest wouldn’t it?

As you see, major changes, a lot of inventive adaptation. You might have noticed also that while the novel was full of references to the 80s. The movie, instead, had a much modern approach (showing video game characters such as Tracer from Overwatch).

As you can see, there are many differences between book and movie in Ready Player One, did you expect all of these? So, time to read the book before the sequel gets released isn’t it? Keep reading!

Take a look at this Wings of Fire reading order. Also,you should check out this post with books like Ready Player One.

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