Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “Wait, I’ve read this in a book!” Unsurprisingly, filmmakers have long looked to successful books to adapt to the big screen. Below are three of the best and perhaps surprising examples of movies derived from books or classic literature.
10 Things I Hate About You
Rated: PG-13; Runtime: 1h 37 min.
Anyone nostalgic for the 1990’s needs to watch this film asap. Did you know that it is based on William Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”? Heath Ledger plays Patrick to Julia Stiles’ Kat but the film convenes in an American high school instead of pastoral Italy. Kat’s father agrees to let her younger sister Bianca date, on the condition that her older sister does as well. High school drama ensues with one over-the-top full band serenade on the football field. Patrick and Kat’s chemistry is impossible to ignore and stays with viewers long after the credits roll.
Clueless
Rated: PG-13; Runtime: 1h 37 min.
Next, we have another 90’s classic! Clueless is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma. Originally written in 1815, the plot of Emma is turned on its head and set in Beverly Hills. Alicia Silverstone plays Cher Horowitz the wealthy, only child of her busy lawyer father. The movie takes its name from Cher’s attempts to shepherd a “clueless” transfer student played by Brittany Murphy into a successful social life at their posh high school.
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Rated: PG; Runtime: 1h 34 min
Bridget Jones’s Diary is based on the book of the same name by Helen Fielding, which is a modern retelling of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice published in 1813. The story centers on Bridget, a 32-year-old British woman who begins writing a diary to better focus on things she hopes to happen in her life. Her immediate New Year’s goals? Stop smoking, stop drinking, lose weight, and find Mr. Right. Renee Zellweger as Bridget, and Hugh Grant and Colin Firth playing the two very different men soon vying for her affections. The film was released worldwide in 2001 and its box office success led to two sequels Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016).