With the recent popularity of books being adapted to the Big screen (Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games, just to name a few); you may be surprised to know which big named films started their life out on a library shelf. You may find it interesting to research a few of your favorites. The Mid-Continent Public Library has a database for just this type of search.
'Based on the Book' is a compilation of over 1,250 books, novels, short stories, and plays that have been made into motion pictures. Utilizing the Internet Movie Database as the authority, all movies in this collection have been released as feature-length films in the United States, in English, since 1980.
John Campea blogged on this topic on TheMovie Blog and compiled a list of some of the greatest films in history that happen to be based on a book. In addition to the well-known classics such as The Lord of The Rings and Of Mice and Men, this list has quite a few surprises.
Did you know that Die Hard (Nothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp), Rambo (First Blood was written by author David Morrell) and even Jaws (Jaws By Peter Benchley)were all based on books. I wonder what seemingly unsuspecting books are sitting on our shelves right now that will one day make it to Hollywood.
