This opinion piece was written by a Hypable user! Learn more and write your own at this link.

It’s not always a novelist’s dream to see their words come to life on the silver screen, but Hollywood inevitably takes a pass at any good book they can find. Literature is the art of the written word, and some of the best texts have also made some of the most successful movies. Take a look at 10 that made the grade both in print and at the box office.

10. Out of Africa (Karen von Blixen-Finecke)
When Finecke decided to write her memoirs under the penname of Isak Dinesen, she probably didn’t envision her life acted out by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep or directed by Sydney Pollack. Out of Africa, originally penned in 1937, took home seven Academy Awards in 1985, including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

9. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
A true classic, Little Women has spun five movies, one musical, one opera and a TV-series all based on the lives of the five women surnamed March. The first printing of this novel was in 1880, and it led to two more titles in the series: Little Men and Jo’s Boys.

8. Schindler’s Ark (Thomas Keneally; Booker Prize)
Schindler’s Ark is the true story of industrialist Oskar Schindler’s rescue of hundreds of Jews from the concentration camps of Germany. The story was retold onscreen in 1993 as Schindler’s List, with Liam Nelson playing the lead role of Oskar. The film would win seven Academy Awards, seven BAFTAs and rank number eight on a list of 100 best American films by the American Film Institute.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee; Pulitzer Prize)
Published in 1960, this award-winning novel is loosely based on an incident that occurred in the author’s hometown. In 1962, Gregory Peck brought the role of attorney-hero Atticus Finch to life in what would rank as the 25th Greatest American Movie of All-Time according to the American Film Institute.

6. The Color Purple (Alice Walker; Pulitzer Prize)
The Color Purple brought names such as Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey to the screen as it followed the life of Celie through the trials and tribulations black women faced in the early 1900s. Walker published The Color Purple in 1982 and Steven Spielberg produced the film version just a few years later.

5. Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell; Pulitzer Prize)
Gone with the Wind is an epic romance novel set in Georgia during the Civil War. The film garnered 10 Academy Awards and made number four on the America Film Institute’s Top 100 American Films. The original celluloid is preserved in the archives of the National Film Registry. You may not give a damn, but Gone with the Wind was also one of the first films shot in Technicolor.

4. The Godfather (Mario Puzo)
This 1969 novel covered the life and times of mob boss Vito Corleone and his family. The movie, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starred prominent names such as Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as main characters. The Godfather won three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Writing. It was also followed by two equally successful sequels.

3. The Wonderful Wizard of OZ (L. Frank Baum and W.W. Denslow)
The book was first published as part of a series in 1900 and the film version was initially a box office failure. The Wizard of OZ would wait years to get the public accolades it deserved. Today, this film starring Judy Garland is listed by the Library of Congress as the most watched movie of all time.

2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Director Peter Jackson brought the epic fantasy world of Tolkien alive not once, but three times. The Fellowship of the Ring and its two subsequent sequels followed the travels of the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he trekked across Middle-Earth trying to rid himself of the ring that threatened to possess his body and soul. Tolkien spent more than 10 years writing the story that has now sold over 150 million copies worldwide.

1. Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
In seven fantasy novels, Rowling chronicled the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Warner Bros took the stories of J.K. Rowling and turned them into a franchise of eight films that made them over seven billion dollars at the box office. In 2011, the author, directors and stars of the Harry Potter films collectively accepted the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema for the film series.

—

About the Author: Kit Pierce loves to read classic literature and blogs about human rights. In her spare time, she writes for attsavings. She’s interested in steampunk, likes watching funny cat videos, and enjoys discussions about philosophy.