Books and Beyond: What Else Hollywood Adapts Into Movies & Series

Adaptations will always hold true significance in Hollywood, with novels continuing to be a significant source of creativity leading to box office success. Apart from book adaptations, however, we see a lot of valuable content in the form of graphic novels, short stories, documentaries, articles, news columns, and much more that are worth pursuing.

TaleFlick™ has recently optioned the rights to "Too Big to Jail," an article on The Economist by Jacob Kushner and Daniel Ammann. It's the story of José Manuel Ramos, a senior member of the Medellín cartel that, in the 1990s, told prosecutors in America and Switzerland he would help them catch cocaine traffickers. John Leguizamo has been cast in the lead role, and TaleFlick Discovery winner writer Philip Elliott is writing the script. Daniel Ammann is an award-winning journalist and the author of “The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich.” Ammann's non-fiction book has been previously optioned by Uri Singer, Producer and CEO of TaleFlick™, and is set to become a film starring Matt Damon.

The examples go on. Hit film Brokeback Mountain was based on a short story by Annie Proulx. At the 78th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for eight Oscars, and won three awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score.

A more recent example is Amazon’s Modern Love, which is based on a New York times column. It features an amazing, stellar cast and is a collaboration between Amazon and the Times. The series got a lot of buzz, and fan following.

Graphic novels, which were recently included among the content TaleFlick™ accepts, are another great source of worth-watching content. With the huge success of Marvel Cinematic Universe, graphic novels have started getting the acceptance, recognition, and respect that they truly deserve. They are loaded with amazing stories and characters that are truly worth pursuing. With a high demand for quality, such content is a brilliant option for adapting into movies.

The Umbrella Academy on Netflix is a great example of a graphic novel being adapted into a series. It is an American superhero streaming series based on the comic book series written by Gerard Way. The series is a great success and has made headlines and pulled in numbers in the first list of Top Streaming Shows in the US.

Another excellent example is Jupiter’s Legacy, an American superhero television series that recently premiered on Netflix. The series is based on a comic book series of the same name by Frank Quitely and Mark Millar. The series has proven to be impressive in scope, with compelling characters and enticing content.

Like we mentioned before, we cannot forget Marvel and DC comics. Some of their latest hits, to name a few, include Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Black Widow (2020) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). We have seen some of the greatest and most popular movies and series being adapted from comics. They have a huge fan-following, and the content is extraordinary.

These are just a few popular films and series that were huge successes and were based on content from short stories, graphic novels, news columns and more. Such content can be a brilliant source of punchy and concise narratives.

You can submit your own story - a novel, screenplay, graphic novel, short story or article - to be evaluated for adaptation. Just click here.