20 popular films you might not know were books first

Not all books worth adapting are best sellers. The film Forrest Gump is based on Winston Groom's novel of the same name. The novel didn’t perform well commercially, but clearly, Robert Zemeckis and company saw something valuable in the story. 

Some movies are so big that, over time, their identities become rooted in the film medium rather than the original piece of art. The Godfather was first a novel of the same name by Mario Puzo. Talk about a book worth writing. 

Mean Girls was based on Rosalind Wiseman's novel Queen Bees and Wannabes. This means that the most recent iteration of the work — the 2024 movie musical — is a movie adapted from a stage production adapted from a movie adapted from a book. Try to keep that straight. 

Les Misérables was first a book written by Victor Hugo, the same man who wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame (yes, that was a book first, too). The novel is very famous in French history, but because it’s so old and the 2012 movie musical Les Misérables was adapted from the stage production, its novel roots get lost. 

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton needed to become a book. You can’t write something about dinosaurs and not let people see your vision. Thanks to Steven Spielberg, the book became a movie that millions of people saw. 

If you confused Jumanji and Jurassic Park as a kid, you’re not the only one. And the two have more in common than you might think. Jumanji was also adapted from a book — the illustrated children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg.

Freaky Friday was first a book written by Mary Rodgers and published in 1972. The novel has had multiple adaptations — the 1976 film, the 1995 made-for-TV movie, and the 2003 film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, the last of which is by far the most popular. 

Strangely, The Parent Trap had a similar trajectory as Freaky Friday. It was first a book called Lisa and Lottie by Eric Kästner. It also had multiple adaptations, including the 1961 film The Parent Trap and 1995’s It Takes Two, starring the Olsen twins. But its most famous adaptation is the 1998 film starring Lindsay Lohan. 

Legally Blonde was first a novel of the same name written by Amanda Brown. It was published in 2001 and quickly received the screen adaptation treatment. It’s since received screen sequels and a musical adaptation. 

If you have a problem with the animation in The Polar Express, take a look at the children’s book from which it was adapted. The illustrations are in a similar style. The story and illustrations are thanks to Chris Van Allsburg, the same man who wrote and illustrated Jumanji. 

Maybe Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t as demented as it seems. Maybe he was just really good at identifying what would make other people scared. Hitchcock took the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch and turned it into the greatest horror film of all time. 

Steven Spielberg knows what books to adapt to film, too. He took Peter Benchley's Jaws and turned it into one of the greatest thrillers of all time. The book was popular when it was first released, but the movie has accounted for the story’s lasting legacy. 

As it turns out, Robin Williams has starred in multiple screen adaptations of books. He played the titular character in Mrs. Doubtfire, a classic film that was adapted from the book Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. 

Pitch Perfect is more of a documentary than you realized. The comedy is based on the nonfiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate: A Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin. The collegiate a cappella world is as intense as it seems. 

Unfortunately, The Birds was adapted from a book. Daphne du Maurier is the originator of that freaky story. The film is unpleasant enough to watch. People do not need to read pure misery. 

You better believe The First Wives Club was a book before it was a movie. The movie has gotten all the glory, but the book had that iconic story first. The novel of the same name was written by Olivia Goldsmith. 

Writing a book that gets adapted into an Oscar-winning film has to feel great. The adaptation of the novel The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick yielded Jennifer Lawrence her Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, along with a handful of other nominations. 

If Fast Times at Ridgemont High seems like it came from true source material, it’s because it did. The film was adapted from the book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story by Cameron Crowe. Crowe also wrote Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, and Elizabethtown. 

The Polar Express isn’t the only classic Christmas film that was a book first. Christmas with the Kranks was a novel first: Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. 

It sometimes takes a while for books to become films. The children’s book Shrek! was published in 1990, and it wasn’t released as a film until 2001. It was well worth the wait, though. As were all the many iconic sequels.