In the past couple of years, movies from books have become popularized on the big screen. More authors are being recognized for their work with movie adaptations. However, sometimes backlash from the movie ends up changing the way the book is perceived, making people forget the true storyline of the book. 

One example is the popular book ‘It Ends With Us.’ Although it was mostly faithful to the book, certain elements were left out that were crucial to the plot.  Things like the main character, Lily, writing to Ellen DeGeneres and her watching the show every day with her childhood friend, Atlas. 

The Ellen DeGeneres show was important for Lily because the show was a coping mechanism for Lily to get away from the abuse she saw from her dad. Another cut scene was Atlas’ backstory, which was important to how he and Lily met. 

Many fans of the book were also upset that the main characters, Lily and Ryle, were aged up, although the author of It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover, defended the age-ups, calling it a “mistake.”

While It Ends With Us received mixed reviews, other movies, like A Wrinkle in Time and Percy Jackson, failed to match the positive response their book counterparts received. 

At the box office, A Wrinkle in Time earned $130.6 million, way less than its predicted box office income. It also had a forty-two percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was criticized for the use of too much CGI and a disorganized storyline, making it boring for adults who were taking their kids to watch the film in theaters. 

Percy Jackson was criticized for the storyline not being loyal to the book, the aging of characters, and altering important elements to the story, like the mythical concepts of the pearls and the mist

Ultimately, the reason these adaptations fail is that they remove too much. People have high expectations of their favorite books and having missing details in the movie can cause lots of negative reviews. Not every movie can include these details in order to keep the movie short. 

It’s always important to read the book before the movie to make sure you have a full grasp of what’s going on and understand more of the story.