Stacy recently complained noted that Maggie and Carley were getting the most blog shout-outs lately. This may be true but that’s because blog post ideas are often hard to come by so I like to give credit where credit is due. This is all to say that I’m apologizing now because this post was inspired by a conversation Carley and I had not long ago about the movie tie-in editions of books.
This topic feels particularly relevant what with the Oscars being just last night. Of the movies nominated this year in the “Best Picture” category, four are based on books: The Social Network, True Grit, 127 Hours and Winter’s Bone.
Whenever a book is made into a movie there is much discussion about how well it will be adapted, whether the actors fit the image of the book, and whether the film version can live up to the print version. Less often talked about is what happens to the books at this point. While their plots are getting glitzed up for the big screen, the books typically undergo their own makeover with new movie tie-in jacket art. Above is the artwork for the soon to be released movie tie-in edition of Water for Elephants, a book I really liked that my mom, my dad, Carley and probably a whole lot of other people liked a lot too. Below is the original jacket cover for the book:
I never really thought all that much about these editions of the books. But Carley had. As we wandered the bookstore and noticed a few, she told me how much she disliked when book covers were changed to reflect the movie. I could see her point. It feels a little less genuine. Instead of seeing a teen heartthrob on the cover, I’d rather see what the art director originally envisioned as the best embodiment of the book within.
Then again, if a movie related image will get more people into a bookstore and picking up a book, then more power to it I suppose.
What do you all think of these new “Hollywood” versions of books?
