In the last decade, popular movies and television have seen an influx of young adult literature adaptations. Likely prompted by the success of the “Harry Potter” series and further bolstered by “Twilight” mania, the sheer number of YA book adaptations have gone up significantly since the mid-2000s.
This is due in part to “The Hunger Games,” which saw worldwide success and jumpstarted the career of Jennifer Lawrence. Ever since, Hollywood has cycled through various popular YA novels in their pursuit of the next big thing.
With a wealth of great material to draw from, why can’t anyone get it right?
As a YA lit reader and movie fan alike, it seems to me there are a few reasons YA movies tend to fail. Firstly, studios tend to choose unworthy books to begin with.
Stephanie Meyer’s “The Host” was a bland supernatural love-triangle that was a total waste of leading lady Saoirse Ronan’s talent. “The Seventh Son,” which stalled in production for years before its disappointing release, was an embarrassment for stars Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander.
Box-office figures aside, some YA adaptations get it right, even when they stray from the original story. Neil Gaiman’s “Stardust” was no multi-million dollar success, but it remains one of the most enjoyable fantasy films in recent history. “Inkheart,” which veers wildly away from its primary source material, is another fun fantasy romp.
Following in the footsteps of the “Twilight” craze, “Beautiful Creatures” was another paranormal romance that debuted to low box office figures. Despite its disappointing earnings, the film, which starred recent breakout actor Alden Ehrenreich and veteran actors Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson, featured far superior performances and ten times the romantic chemistry of “Twilight.”
More realistic stories, like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” and “The Spectacular Now,” have seen relative success both with critics and at the box office. The recent influx of John Green books-turned-movies, while not really my cup of tea, have also proven popular among teenage audiences.
These successful adaptations, unfortunately, are few and far between. More common are the bland, overblown attempts at recreating past hits — none quite as blatant as the “Divergent” series.
Desperate to profit off the popularity of “The Hunger Games,” the three “Divergent” movies we’ve gotten so far have been increasingly terrible. Shailene Woodley, while a decent actress, is no Jennifer Lawrence, and she can’t shoulder the weight of an entire franchise — especially not one this bad. The addition of handsome-but-bland Theo James as her leading man doesn’t help, and even a supporting cast including Jeff Daniels, Octavia Spencer and Kate Winslet can’t save the franchise from a downhill slide.
The handsome-but-bland casting issue is one that plagues the YA genre. Take, for example, blond hunk-of-nothing Alex Pettyfer. Cast in three separate YA adaptations within the span of a few years, Pettyfer managed to ruin “Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker,” “Beastly” and “I Am Number Four.”
Pretty Brit Ben Barnes had the same effect on the three films in which he was inexplicably cast, including “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” “Seventh Son” and a strangely sexualized adaptation of “Dorian Gray.” If box office figures were calculated by strength of cheekbones, these guys would be set for life.
Say it with me, Hollywood: “Just because they’re pretty, doesn’t mean they can act.”
The success of “Game of Thrones” has popularized the recent book-to-TV-show trend and other formerly failed adaptations have now been optioned for TV. Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” will be adapted by BBC, and Netflix snatched the rights to “Lemony Snickett’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events.”
As much as I love to see my favorite books played out onscreen, it’s gotten to the point I’m immediately pessimistic when a new adaptation is announced. Even if the book is labeled as “young adult literature,” the film doesn’t have to be marketed solely to a teenage audience. One of the reasons “The Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter” were so successful was because they were made for teen and adult audiences alike.
The next big franchise is out there — I suggest the “Red Rising” series by Pierce Brown — but if studios just keep looking for the next “The Hunger Games,” they’ll miss the wealth of stories the YA genre contains.
