Tag Archives: Entertainment

8 Film And TV Adaptations The Authors Who Inspired Them Hated

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If you love both reading and watching films, 2026 offers rich rewards – this year will see everything from new Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility adaptations to yet another instalment in the Dune franchise.

Project Hail Mary, The Odyssey, H is For Hawk, and Wuthering Heights are already out, meanwhile.

Generally, hitting the big or small screen spells good news for book sales. People can’t stop buying copies of the Homeric text after Nolan’s blockbuster; Wuthering Heights sales skyrocketed after Emerald Fennell’s controversial interpretation.

But that doesn’t mean every author is a fan of their works’ film or telly counterparts.

Here, we rounded up eight authors who criticised adaptations of their books:

1) E.B. White wasn’t delighted with 1973’s Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte's Web
Charlotte’s Web

Paramount Pictures

E.B. White, who wrote the 1952 children’s book, had been in negotiations with the production team John and Faith Hubley.

Eventually, Hanna-Barbera got the rights instead. After their animated 1973 movie came out, White wrote: “The movie of Charlotte’s Web is about what I expected it to be. The story is interrupted every few minutes so that somebody can sing a jolly song. I don’t care much for jolly songs. The Blue Hill Fair, which I tried to report faithfully in the book, has become a Disney World, with 76 trombones.”

His wife, meanwhile, told would-be director of the abandoned original adaptation, Gene Dietch, “We have never ceased to regret that your version of Charlotte’s Web never got made. The Hanna-Barbera version has never pleased either of us.”

2) Truman Capote didn’t love 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Author Truman Capote spent many years disparaging the movie based on his 1958 novel, calling it the “most miscast” movie (he’d wanted Marilyn Monroe for the part Audrey Hepburn got).

When asked what he didn’t like about the adaptation, he replied, “Oh god, just everything” – the book’s narrator role changes, as does the book’s ending.

3) Stephen King had issues with 1980’s The Shining

The Shining
The Shining

Warner Bros Pictures

Speaking to The Paris Review about Kubrick’s version of his story, King said he thought the movie was “Too cold. No sense of emotional investment in the family whatsoever on his part”.

He added that Shelley Duvall as Wendy was “insulting to women. She’s basically a scream machine…

“And Kubrick didn’t seem to have any idea that Jack Nicholson was playing the same motorcycle psycho that he played in all those biker films he did… The guy is crazy. So where is the tragedy if the guy shows up for his job interview and he’s already bonkers? No, I hated what Kubrick did with that.”

The writer had penned his own version of the script, which Kubrick didn’t use.

4) Rick Riordan disavowed the 2010 Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief flick

Author Rick Riordan let his feelings about the adaptation be known on X, where he likened the movie to “my life’s work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with [the studio] not to do it.”

He also posted, “I still have not seen the movies, and don’t plan on ever doing so… I judge them from having read the scripts because I care most about the story. I certainly have nothing against the very talented actors. Not their fault. I’m just sorry they got dragged into that mess.”

Still, the writer hinted he was “gonna fix” this with Disney+’s 2023 series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, for which he had more oversight.

5) Michael Ende called 1984’s The Neverending Story “revolting”

Going so far as to remove his name from the movie’s credits, Ende publicly described the movie as “revolting” and claimed, “the makers of the film simply did not understand the book at all”.

The author even reportedly tried (and failed) to sue in order to stop the movie from going out, saying his “moral and artistic existence is at stake in this film”.

6) PL Travers had such a contentious relationship with Disney due to Mary Poppins, there’s a whole film about it

The film, which won a remarkable five Oscars, had a very different nanny to the one in PL Travers’ books (she “never wastes time being nice”) – Travers also disliked the fact that Disney made Mrs Banks a Suffragette.

So contentious was her relationship with Walt Disney that the movie Saving Mr Banks was made to chronicle the making of the film.

7) Alan Moore, the mind behind V for Vendetta’s comics, called the 2005 movie’s writing “rubbish”

V For Vendetta
V For Vendetta

Warner Bros Pictures

When asked to weigh in on the adaptation, Moore said: “I’ve read the screenplay. It’s rubbish”.

He also told the New York Times that for a lot of the DC projects that had become movies, “I don’t want anything more to do with these works because they were stolen from me – knowingly stolen from me.”

8) Moore also slammed the Watchmen film

The writer, who claimed the studio was using his brother’s serious illness to pressure him, said of the movie: “curse this wretched film and everything connected with it”.

Speaking to GQ, meanwhile, he said: “I would be the last person to want to sit through any adaptations of my work.

“From what I’ve heard of them, it would be enormously punishing. It would be torturous, and for no very good reason… It seemed to me that what people were taking away from works like Watchmen or V For Vendetta wasn’t the storytelling techniques, which to me seemed to be the most important part of it. It was instead this greater leeway with violence and with sexual references. Tits and innards.”

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Harlan Coben Says His New Netflix Show Has 1 Exciting Difference

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Some matches, like strawberries and cream, are made for each other. Netflix and author Harlan Coben seem to be another such example.

So perhaps it’s no wonder the author is yet again working with the service.

This week, Netflix began production on Myron Bolitar in New York.

Coben told the Hollywood Reporter (THR), “It’s been really heady and really interesting” to see the show come together.”

And, the author said, this new title might have a crucial difference.

“The other series that I’ve done are all designed to be limited series – and I don’t want season twos out of them, even if sometimes we think about them. My rule on that is that unless we can come up with a better story, I don’t see a season two,” he said.

“With I Will Find You, what, would we have another kid go missing?… [But] The Myron Bolitar series is created, like the books themselves, [so] that we can run more than one season if we’re so blessed.”

That’d spell good news for fans, who have previously been left with relatively short series.

Harlan Coben, left, Sam Worthington and Britt Lower
Harlan Coben, left, Sam Worthington and Britt Lower

via Associated Press

Netflix’s Tudum said that the series follows the character who first appeared in 1995’s Deal Breaker, and went on “to appear in 12 of Coben’s novels, where he’s found himself investigating blackmail attempts, murder, and more.”

The show’s synopsis reads, “After an injury ends his NBA dreams, Myron Bolitar reinvents himself as a sports agent – using charm, smarts, and a ruthless partner to navigate the high-stakes and dirty world of sports, where saving his clients often means risking himself.”

As for who’ll star in the show, Coben told THR, “It took a long time to figure out this cast – this one’s harder for me. If you don’t like David Burroughs in I Will Find You, well, that’s only one book. But [titular character] Myron has lived with me for a long time.”

But they’ve settled on some names, including:

  • Colin Woodell as Myron Bolitar (“I think he’s just an incredible talent, and it took a long time to find him. And now I even see him as Myron,” Coben told THR),
  • KJ Apa as Win Lockwood, “the one Myron turns to when clients find themselves in trouble”,
  • Diane Guerrero as Esperanza Diaz, a wrestler,
  • Jabari Banks as Dwayne Richmond, a “charismatic tennis prodigy”,
  • Chloe Fineman as Parker Quinn, a sports reporter,
  • Jamie McShane as homocide detective Detective Ray Dimonte, and
  • Ra’Mya Latiah Aikens as Wanda Green, Dwayne Richmond’s “charming and smart fiancée”,

among others.

We don’t have a release date for Myron Bolitar yet – but keep your eyes peeled.

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Jared Leto Accused Of Sexual Misconduct By 4 Women Who Were Teenagers: BBC

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Actor and singer Jared Leto has been accused of sexual misconduct by four women while they were teenagers in a new BBC documentary, “Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret.”

One woman identified as Etta told the BBC that she met Leto in 2014 when she was 16 and Leto was 42. She said Leto approached her outside a modelling agency in Los Angeles and they exchanged contact info. The phone conversations quickly went from industry talk to talking about sex, she told the BBC.

Another woman, identified as Isabel, said she met Leto in 2002 in a Las Vegas mall when she was 17 and and he was 30. She told the BBC he invited her to his hotel, which she described as “dingy.” Once she was there, she said, Leto got in the shower and called her over. She alleged that he then opened the shower curtain and started kissing her. He grabbed her hand and used it to touch himself, she said.

“Alarms started going off in my head, like, ‘What are you doing here? This is not what you came here for,’” Isabel told the BBC. “I pulled away and was like, ‘OK, I’m going to go.’”

She said she went home and looked him up and learned he was in his early 30s.

One woman told the BBC that she had sex with Leto when she was 17 and he “shrugged off” a conversation about the age of consent. Another woman alleged that when she was 19, Leto threatened her with sexual assault.

The BBC reported that four other women said they received “strange and often very sexual phone calls” from the actor.

“I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life,” Leto said Wednesday in a statement to HuffPost about the allegations in the documentary. “These claims are absolutely and categorically false.”

Someone named Simon, who worked with Leto’s band 30 Seconds to Mars for a decade, told the BBC that he witnessed Leto inviting a lot of young girls to a house where the band was recording. He said he remembered one instance when a girl’s parents dropped her off. He said Leto and the girl went to a bedroom and, when they returned, there was a feeling of shame and embarrassment in the air.

“I just remember being really moved by it,” Simon told the BBC.

A total of 10 women told the BBC about their experiences with Leto; nine of them were talking about their allegations for the first time.

About a year ago, Air Mail published a report featuring nine women accusing Leto of sexual misconduct dating back to 2006. Leto, now 54, denied the allegations.

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Sam Smith Announces Engagement To Christian Cowan After About 3 Years Of Dating

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As they gear up for the release of their fifth studio album, Sam Smith is celebrating the start of a new life chapter.

On Monday, the singer-songwriter confirmed to The New York Times that they and Christian Cowan, a fashion designer who has dressed the likes of Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez, had gotten engaged. The pair have been dating for about three years.

The news comes just weeks before the release of Smith’s new album, Hazel Eyes. In their chat with the Times, the five-time Grammy winner said the album’s title is a nod to Cowan’s eye colour, while songs like Everlasting Love and My Guy are inspired by their relationship.

Smith, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, did not divulge details of the proposal in the interview, but told the outlet, “I feel good, I feel happy.”

Singer Sam Smith, left, has confirmed their engagement to designer Christian Cowan after about three years of dating.
Singer Sam Smith, left, has confirmed their engagement to designer Christian Cowan after about three years of dating.

Udo Salters via Getty Images

Later, they added: “For me, there’s something radical about being queer in this time, in this world, and singing love songs. I’m not going to allow the poison that I read and that I see to affect my way of loving.”

Smith and Cowan grew up about 10 minutes apart from one another near Cambridge, England, but met online in 2022.

According to People, in December of that year, Cowan accompanied Smith to the White House, where Smith performed at a ceremony on the South Lawn after then-President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law.

The couple made their red carpet debut at the 2024 Met Gala, with Smith wearing a bespoke tuxedo designed by Cowan.

Smith, right, wore one of Cowan’s designs to this year’s Met Gala in May.
Smith, right, wore one of Cowan’s designs to this year’s Met Gala in May.

Mike Coppola via Getty Images

“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better companion for the occasion,” Smith told Vogue at the time. “I always feel beautiful whenever I wear Christian’s clothes, both inside and out. Tonight’s is a particularly perfect fit.”

The musician also wore one of Cowan’s designs to this year’s Met Gala in May.

“I have always loved Erté. I love the way he brought costume art to the world through his visionary illustrations,” Cowan later said of Smith’s 2026 Met Gala look, alluding to the Russian-born French artist and designer known for his opera and theatre designs. “This look is a love letter to the king of fashion illustration, and to my love, Sam.”

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Studio Behind The Odyssey Addresses ‘Misunderstanding’ About Damage To Replica Ship

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The production company behind The Odyssey has responded to claims that the film’s crew damaged a replica of a Viking boat during filming, without paying for the damage.

Earlier this week, the chair of the Vikingaleden association in western Sweden told The Guardian the organisation had given permission for one of its boats to be used during the making of Christopher Nolan’s film.

A year later, they have said they invoiced Universal for $6000 (around £4500) for repairs after it was damaged during the infamously-gruelling shoot, but have still not received a payment.

“We are only charging for the material cost, not the labour. Of course Universal can afford this $6,000. We feel forgotten,” they said, adding: “The agreement was that we would fix it and get financially reimbursed.”

A Universal spokesperson said in response: “Our records show that all invoices relating to the Glad av Gillberga were paid in full, including repairs. The studio and the production have contacted the association to clear up any misunderstanding.”

The boat in question was used in several sequences in The Odyssey, an adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek tome.

While promoting the film, director Christopher Nolan has opened up on numerous occasions about his preference for on-location shooting and practical effects, rather than green-screen technology and CGI, as much as possible.

He told Empire magazine last year: “By embracing the physicality of the real world in the making of the film, you do inform the telling of the story in interesting ways. Because you’re confronted on a daily basis by the world pushing back at you.”

More recently, Nolan has spoken candidly about the “terrifying” feat of bringing the film’s cyclops character to life without relying on computer wizardry, while the cast have voiced their own disbelief over one particular sequence that they were shocked to learn doesn’t feature any CGI.

The Odyssey is now in cinemas.

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Bad News For Anyone Hoping To Find Out What A Christopher Nolan Rom-Com Would Look Like

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Still, the director has insisted that he’s more in his comfort zone doing something as strenuous as his latest big-screen epic than he would be something seemingly more straightforward, like a traditional romantic comedy.

During a new interview on The Tonight Show about just how much his latest film put him through his paces, host Jimmy Fallon joked to Nolan: “Did you ever think to yourself, ‘man, next movie I want to do an easy one?’. How about a Christopher Nolan rom-com?”

“I think doing a rom-com would be incredibly difficult,” the Oscar winner responded. “I love watching those movies, but I think comedy, people who direct comedy, people who do comedy, I think that’s one of the hardest things in the world – to make people laugh that way.”

He explained: “You know, if I show [one of my films] to people and maybe they don’t respond to bits of it, I’m like, ‘ah, they don’t get it’. There’s no hiding behind that when you do comedy.”

“I would be terrified of doing anything like that,” he insisted.

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Over the years, Nolan has tried his hand at a range of genres, including the sci-fi offering Interstellar, his superhero Dark Knight trilogy, the war movie Dunkirk and the psychological thrillers Memento, Insomnia and The Prestige.

In 2023, he unveiled the historical biopic Oppenheimer, which was lauded by critics, made almost a billion dollars at the box office and picked up a string of prizes at the Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and acting prizes for cast members Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.

His latest offering is similarly star-studded, led by Matt Damon alongside the likes of Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Lupita Nyong’o.

The Odyssey is in cinemas now.

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