Lovereading.co.uk has created the infographic “The Ultimate Showdown: Books vs. Films,” a thorough survey of contemporary and classic literary adaptations onscreen. Results were culled from an aggregate of reviews of both books and movies over the last two decades.The clear winner according to the graphic (below)? Books. And the results give a sense of what is gained and lost in translation from page to screen–and which, ultimately, audiences prefer.
While hugely popular books remain more beloved, and prevalent, than their movies, obscure source material made into hit movies is beat out, hence the gap between David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Ben Mezrich’s Facebook backstory book “The Accident Billionaires,” for example. Meanwhile, love for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy by JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson’s global blockbusters are roughly neck-and-neck.
2013 has been a banner year for literary and nonfiction adaptations, among them “12 Years a Slave,” “The Book Thief,” “Labor Day,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Long Walk to Freedom,” a few of which have landed on the NYT bestsellers list.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
