Why do we give a shit about movie adaptations?

[RaikuFA]

I've been thinking of this for a few days now. Why do we care so much abour favorite games/tv shows/comic books getting a film? Not only are most of them very bleh, but outside of money laundering, I don't see why studios would make them. But I don't see why FANS care so much about if something gets a film adaptation.

The only thing I can think of getting a film is tv shows and even then it should be something like the finale or something.

 

[shrekfan246]

I'll go ahead and be the first person to say that I don't care. Or at least, I don't care insomuch as actively thinking that any given property should be turned into a movie. If, say, Square Enix were to come out and say that they were going to be making a Kingdom Hearts animated adaptation, I'd think that would be a kind of neat thing, but it's not something that I'm ever going to actually ask for.

Alternatively, film adaptations can, if translated well, turn something into a much more easily imagined and digestible piece of fiction than its original counterpart. For example, one does not simply take twelve hours to sit down and marathon read The Lord of the Rings (unless you're a much faster reader than I am, I suppose).

 

[Chanticoblues]

It depends on the project. It's usually pretty easy to see if an adaptation is out to make a buck or capitalize on a fanbase. If someone adapted a Steinbeck novel or something it would probably be because they care about the material, or have an interesting idea for transforming it in a visual medium.

Most film adaptations are about brand recognition and not much more.

 

[Zhukov]

It's partly a matter of status. If your favourite thing gets a movie adaption then it's Officially Real Art That Matters And People Who Like It Are Smart And Have Good Taste.

Partly it's just the pleasure of seeing something you like in an expensive visual medium.

 

[Saelune]

Cause I liked the original thing and want to experience it in a new way?

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

I don't care too much. All I could give a shit about is that if I liked the source material, I'd want the adaptation to be good, in either way. From game-book-movie or whatever way you call it.

Unfortunately, probably 90% of game-movie adaptations are really shit. There again, some mediums just lend themselves well into translating, and depending on who gets their hands on the license, can be a flop to really bloody brilliant.

The only time I've ever *wanted* there to be an adaptation I think is when I read a really good manga, but I guess that's because I've seen some really awesome anime. Plenty of filler, boring bullshit anime too mind you, but you know what I mean.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

It's partly a matter of status. If your favourite thing gets a movie adaption then it's Officially Real Art That Matters And People Who Like It Are Smart And Have Good Taste.

You. Yeah, you, with the face. How did you get in my head?! And couldn't you at least have wiped your feet when coming in?!

 

[Hawki]

Under the premise that something I like is being adapted, I care because:

-If it's good, it means more people will like what I already like.

-If it's bad, I therefore have to deal with a bad adaptation of good source material.

-It allows me to see what I like visually (e.g. book to film), or allows me to go more in-depth (film to book)

That said, I'd rather the adaptation be a good work in of itself, I'm fine with the adaptation being unfaithful. And besides, if adaptations were never made, we wouldn't get 'Lost in Adaptation.'

 

[Avnger]

Because people attach a sense of ownership and self-worth into things they like.

See sports fans using the term "we" when talking about their favorite teams or nerds losing their shit over minor cosmetic changes in movie adaptations.

 

[pookie101]

from a studio perspective its good business sense to capture something that already has an established fan base and something like lord of the rings proved that something relatively nerdy can have wide appeal if done right

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Because if it's something you like it means you'd like more people to know about it. For most people it's easier to go see a 2 hour film instead of reading a 500 page book or a 12-issue comics series. If the adaptation is good, it's more likely to draw more people towards the original, or at least make more people know about its existence, therefore creating more people with the same interests as yourself.

There's also the "confirmation" of it being a legit thing when something gets adapted that was mentioned earlier.

The movie adaptation is still a kind of benchmark for adaptations due to their easiness to watch. But IMO it's been shown recently that especially when adapting books or comics series, TV shows are a far superior adaptation format, especially when they can be watched anytime, anywhere on platforms like Netflix.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

When they are bad, I feel like its a wasted opportunity. It'll be a long ass time before we can get another one after the first attempt failed.

But that's for certain franchises. There are some things I wouldn't care about if they got a movie adaptation, even if I enjoy the franchise. Like the newly announced Just Cause movie.

 

[Kolby Jack]

The main idea is that films are the most respected form of mass entertainment around. TV is making some headway, but movies are still the top tier, hence why movie stars are considered a rung above TV stars in terms of celebrity. If a property gets made into a movie, it has a chance to earn some dignity which is really gratifying for fans. Of course most adaptations are cheap cash-ins and most fans who care to talk about it are shrieking fuckwits who HATE anything that deviates from their perfect vision of what that movie should have been, but the idea of mainstream recognition is enticing no matter what.

Also, I don't think you know what money laundering is, Raiku. Which is weird, because it is pretty self-explanatory.

 

[hermes]

I've been thinking of this for a few days now. Why do we care so much abour favorite games/tv shows/comic books getting a film? Not only are most of them very bleh, but outside of money laundering, I don't see why studios would make them. But I don't see why FANS care so much about if something gets a film adaptation.

The only thing I can think of getting a film is tv shows and even then it should be something like the finale or something.

You answer the question in your own post. Why do people care about it? Because they are their favorite. It is only natural that when someone takes something you really like and deform it beyond recognition, you will feel affronted.

It sure doesn't help that, given the reach of movies when compared with other mediums, the movie adaptation will be the version most people in the world will be more familiar with, so now 99% of the people that know the property don't know the source material, or why some people would consider it "special".

 

[redmoretrout]

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