Ben-Hur (1960) – Adapted from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the book by Lew Wallace (Photo: Instagram, @movies_pictures76)
All the King’s Men (1950) – Adapted from All the King’s Men, the book by Robert Penn Warren (Photo: Instagram, @gables_cinema)
The Silence of the Lambs (1992) – Adapted from The Silence of the Lambs, the book by Thomas Harris (Photo: Instagram, @weirdboy89)
Rebecca (1941) – Adapted from Rebecca, the book by Daphne du Maurier (Photo: Instagram, @ofreeworld)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) – Adapted from All Quiet on the Western Front, the book by Erich Maria Remarque (Photo: Instagram, @lorrydrew)
Dances with Wolves (1991) – Adapted from Dances with Wolves, the book by Michael Blake (Photo: Instagram, @mommacare_bear)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1976) – Adapted from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the book by Ken Kesey (Photo: Instagram, @jomjome_dvd)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004) – Adapted from The Lord of the Rings, the book by J. R. R. Tolkien (Photo: Instagram, @django102)
Around the World in 80 Days (1957) – Adapted from Around the World in Eighty Days, the book by Jules Verne (Photo: Instagram, @suset32)
The Godfather (1973) and The Godfather II (1975) – Adapted from The Godfather, the book by Mario Puzo (Photo: Instagram, @i_love_movies)
Gone with the Wind (1940) – Adapted from Gone with the Wind, the book by Margaret Mitchell (Photo: Instagram, @hwgoldenage)
A Beautiful Mind (2002) – Adapted from A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash, the book by Sylvia Nasar (Photo: Instagram, @pannawat_21)
The Bridge over the River Kwai (1958) – Adapted from The Bridge over the River Kwai, the book by Pierre Boulle (Photo: Instagram, @filmico)
No Country for Old Men (2008) – Adapted from No Country for Old Men, the book by Cormac McCarthy (Photo: Instagram, @_movie_review)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1936) – Adapted from Mutiny on the Bounty, the book by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall (Photo: Instagram, @mooveeblog)
We’ve all heard that tired old line from our snobby book nerd friends: “The book is better…” As annoying as that is, it is usually true, but sometimes filmmakers get it right and the movie overshadows the source material.
Here is a list of 15 movies based on books that deservedly won the Oscar for Best Picture.
