Which story can Hollywood just not seem to get right?

[BCRanger10]

When it comes to movie adaptations of books, TV shows, epic poems, or other existing source materials, what story or stories can Hollywood just not seem to get right?

I suppose we can include story continuations or expansions in this, for those who never miss a chance to trash Disney-fied Star Wars.

[Anonymous]

I just asked a top television writer a similar question and she said, “I actually had the same question when I first started out, and I learned the answer the hard way from talking to the highest paid screenwriters in the business for my first book. In fact, it made me realize how dysfunctional this business really is and it made me want to write novels instead. But I love screenwriting too much, so I eventually just accepted it.

“The bottom line is, it takes a lot of readers to agree on quality and potential in order to get a script green-lit, so most of the time screenplays are very good. It’s what happens afterwards in the process of attaching talent and actual production and editing and marketing and everything else that is out of your control as a writer that makes the difference between good and bad.

“The other thing is that despite the writing, it’s still a subjective business in the sense that everybody has different tastes. One person‘s garbage might be another person‘s favorite film of the year. And that’s how it works.

“So really, the only thing a writer has control over is writing the best script they can for themselves, and in their taste.”

[Chazmatazz269]

The wording of this question suggests to me that we’re stabbing at productions that Hollyweird has repeatedly attempted, but failed. Only one thing comes to mind. There has been a fair bit of rendering of biblical tales and much fuss has been made about “biblically accurate angels”. Apparently nobody wants to do it, even in this age of CGI.


They’ve really only done one live action “Spawn”. While i did enjoy it more than most, i’m confident that it could be done again and better. Again, with the advancements in CGI, it could be epic. Once the single most popular comic series in the world, no title is more deserving of an epic representation on the big screen, in my opinion.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

I think they fail at most things these days.

[BCRanger10]

Is there anything that stands out?

[andreasderjuengere]

"Stranger in a Strange Land", Heinlein

[BCRanger10]

Have there been attempts?

[andreasderjuengere]

Some tried it, I heard.

[MrChinaski]

Romance. Seriously. How many times can you write: Girl meets guy, girl hates guy, girl loves guy and has lots of sex and babies ever after?

[DryGermanGuy]

Every time they have to depict a foreigner, it’s almost always a caricature.

[Grond21]

Anything that has to do with a man being heroic or a woman being feminine.

[OneViewpoint]

We need another rehash of Frankenstein and Dracula.

[Jltakk]

Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie will never be properly adapted visually.

[Agape93]

Genuine horror

[ThisSiteSux]

Adolf Hitlers.