Behind the Scenes of Movies Based on the Book

Most readers want to watch their favorite novels as movies. But a lot of times what we don’t fully grasp is that the author has zero control over whether their book is turned into a movie. The process of creating a movie based on the book is basically out of the author’s control.

Okay so how exactly does a book get turned into a film?

Many times well before the movie rights to a book are purchased, the novel is optioned by a producer. The production company purchases the possibility to procure the film rights to a book for a certain price. They will need to purchase the movie rights within a certain time frame, usually several years before it expires and the movie rights for that book are obtainable to buy again. Even if a book is optioned it might not become a movie though. Depending on if the producer decides if it will be worth it for them financially to move forward.

If a book is popular, a lot of times prior to an upcoming projected auction among production companies, one of them will make a preemptive offer for the rights to the film. Usually this deal is so big that it'd be impossible to pass it up, so the bid is agreed upon and preempts the auction from  moving forward.

No matter whether a book is optioned in advance or isn't, the next stage in the process is for a production company to reserve the film rights to the story. At times for considerably trendy books a bidding war amongst buyers could possibly result.

After the movie privileges are purchased, the film goes into the development process. At this time a screenplay writer is appointed to switch the book to a film script. This is a crucial period in the process mainly because how successfully the writer is able to adapt the story to a movie script can make or break how similar the movie is to the story. Soon after the screenplay is accepted by the production company, a director is employed to work out any needed corrections to the screenplay before recording. In addition a budget is determined for the additional phases of production.

Now the film enters the pre-production phase. This is the time for hiring designers, extra producers, actors, crew, and everyone else they need to make the story come alive. Potential locations for filming are arranged and storyboards are created to facilitate during the production stage.

Now that everyone is appointed, locales are decided on, and all the problems resolved legally and approach-wise, it’s time for production to move forward. Cast and crew come together to make sure the book is filmed in the very best way achievable.

When filming is done the movie is put into the post-production state. Now scenes are organized and re-shot if needed. Editors add the audio-visual effects. When these extra elements are put into the movie we have the final cut, also referred to as the master. At this stage any necessary color correction is sorted out and a score is inserted. Once the movie is approved by a private screening, the master copy is secured and cloned so as to make it ready for reproduction and distribution.

Are you a fan of books as movies? If so, checkout the Books as Movies blog for the latest news about new and upcoming movies based on the book.