Have you ever sat down to watch a movie
or television show and thought to yourself “haven’t I seen this before?” Or
opened up a book only to close it a couple of chapters in because, for some
strange reason, the plot and characters seemed extremely familiar? That’s
because you probably have read or seen it before, just in a different way.
Adaptations are a huge trend right now, with books, movies and television
series all being reworked and changed for a different medium. Adaptations have
been happening for what seems like ever, but have reached a whole new level in
recent years. Notable examples include John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” on
the big screen and the increase in superheroes leaving their comic book pages
for some air time on network television, like “Arrow,” “Gotham,” and “The
Flash.” Simply, adaptations are a great way to target audiences as you’re
recreating something that they already love just in a different medium. But why
have adaptations become so popular? Are they more successful if they mirror
their original, or is creativity expected? And what’s the deal with all of
those television shows about superheroes?!
Television executive producer Jason
Katims knows adaptations well, having worked on “Friday Night Lights,”
“Parenthood” and “About a Boy,” all of which were adapted from movies and/or
books of the same names. In an October 2014 interview with TheWrap, Katims
explained that he believed the trend was simply a matter of ease. “It’s very
difficult to get shows on the air. So I think that sometimes, having this
source material, not only for yourself as a creative and a writer, but also for
the sake of how it’s perceived in the marketplace, by both the networks and
ultimately by the audience, it’s significant,” (Maglio and O’Connell), he told
the site in an article titled “Movies-to-TV Overload! Why Hollywood Has 27
Projects in the Works (And Counting).”
While convenience is obviously a factor,
it’s not the only one. Adaptations basically come with a built-in audience
which is crucial, especially in today’s competitive marketplace. Executive
producer Noah Hawley told TheWrap that “Everyone is looking for a pre-existing
brand,” (Maglio and O’Connell). This idea of a “pre-existing brand” may also
explain another adaptation trend in Hollywood today: the comic book revivals.
These adaptations, from books to television, are doing extremely well in
today’s market, like Fox’s “Gotham,” a series based on Batman. In the Los Angeles Times article “Fall TV’s
Winners and Losers – So Far,” Scott Collins writes, “Fox needed help in the TV
ratings this fall, and it got some from a nice kid named Bruce Wayne,” (1). A
huge contributing factor to the freshman series’ high ratings, according to a
Fox executive, is the fact that it is an adaptation. Dan Harrison, executive
vice president of scheduling said of “Gotham:” “That’s a franchise that has a
multigenerational fan base,” (Collins 1). In this case, the fact that the show
already has a strong following and fan base that crosses generations allows the
show to excel, even though the show is not exactly the same as the comic books or movies. This is also why other comic book adaptations, like The CW’s
“Arrow” and “The Flash,” have also done so well, and why this specific genre of
adaptation to television has become such a trend. Shows that offer a unique
story and characters don’t have that opportunity to have a pre-existing
audience.
The question, then, becomes what makes a
better adaptation: one that stays very true and faithful to the original or one
that takes creative liberty? Based on current audience research, there’s no
right answer because both types have been extremely successful. As “Constantine” executive producer, David Goyer knows comic book
to television adaptations well. He offers his opinion in a Variety article titled “Meet the Comicbook Heroes Battling for Control
of Fall TV,” saying, “if you try to change it too much, that’s when you get the
audience rejecting it,” (Prudom and Friedlander). When it comes down to it,
money is at the center of every decision made in film, television, books and
other types of media. Ratings and audience research are especially important
for advertising purposes, so keeping an existing audience happy, like Goyer
explains, is key to a successful adaptation.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with
adaptations comes with finding an audience, thus knowing exactly how much to
change when adapting a title becomes tricky. Some adaptations, like the film
version of “The Fault in Our Stars,” stay very faithful to their originators,
allowing the fans of the original to enjoy the adaptation for the same reasons.
On the opposite end of the spectrum come adaptations that offer a new and
different approach. Katims’ cites his television series “Parenthood,” which he
adapted from the film of the same name, as an example of this. He tells TheWrap
that “having the title ‘Parenthood’ and having the memory of it being a movie
that people warmly remembered… helped push it along,” (Maglio and O’Connell). He
uses the same title as a way to attract the fans even though the two are different in many ways, building an audience as a
result. The success of the show is just one example of how adaptations that stray from their originals can thrive, even among those that are carbon copies.
What do you think about adaptations? Are you drawn to those that are
exactly the same, or would you rather be surprised by the story’s journey to a
new ending? What are some of your favorite adaptations and why? Do you think
this trend is temporary or are adaptations here to stay?
Works Cited:
Collins, Scott. "Fall TV’s Winners and
Losers — So Far." Los Angeles Times., 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Jan.
2015.
Maglio, Tony, and Ryan
O'Connell. "Movies-to-TV Overload! Why Hollywood Has 27 Projects in the
Works (And Counting)." TheWap. TheWrap News Inc., 31 Oct. 2014.
Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
Prudom, Laura, and Whitney Friedlander.
"Meet the Comicbook Heroes Battling for Control of Fall TV." Variety.
Penske Business Media LLC, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment