Tag: books

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Happy Book Lovers Day: Books That Became Major Motion Pictures

 

By Mia Miller

From paper, to hardcover, to script to film celebrating books on National Book Lovers Day - we recognize the international best-selling books that made it to the big screen by being international best-sellers. One international best-seller dating back to the 1800s was Jane Austen’s, Pride and Prejudice, which most recently was adapted to film in 2005, starring Keira Knightly. This internationally-acclaimed book is widely-known and recognizable with over 20 million copies sold, and is favored among scholars and general audiences as a classic. The romantic novel as been adapted into movies, televeision shows, and sequels, and it itself has been transformed in the past 200 years into one of the most popular novels in English literature.

In modern times, a more recent international best-selling book was a novel by author Stieg Larsson, who wrote the Swedish crime novel, The Girl with Dragon Tattoo in 2005. After being translated to English, the Swedish book was internationally sold and became a popular topic throughout the reading community. The Swedish book then became a Hollywood movie in 2009 and opened at United States box office at number three, grossing $102,514,793 domestically.

On the other hand, the Swedish crime novel Män som hatar kvinnor (English title: Men Who Hate Women), had many mixed reviews. The psychological thriller addressed political issues, the darkness in human nature, and sexual politics that provoked and angered many audiences in the way Swedish men treat women. Despite it’s themes, the crime novel captured audiences with characterization, plot, and despicable human nature.

One of our own past releases, Ways to Live Forever (2010), was turned into a movie from a book, written by award-winning author Sally Nicholls. Written and produced in the United Kingdom, Ways to Live Forever is about a young pre-teen living with the final stages of cancer and figure out life before it ends. We here at World Wide fell in love with the film and the book.

Celebrating Book Lovers Day, we have to recognize the most popular and most well-known international book sold to date, and that would be J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. This international best-seller turned into a huge franchise and a world-wide film series that influenced the 21st century and mainstreamed pop culture. The first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was first released in 1997 and was almost immediately picked up to be produced into a film. The Harry Potter book and movie series earned over $25 billion dollars and over the course of twenty years it is known as a classic and a must read for younger generations to come. Even as the books have ended and the movies concluded, Harry Potter fans are still strong and are still Potterheads*. Spin offs have been created with films like Fantastic Beasts and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park opened at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2016. To those who have not read these inspiring books or have not seen the movies, these are classics that we recommend and hope you enjoy.

From all of us at World Wide Motion Pictures happy reading and happy Book Lovers Day!

 

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Celebrate Your Favorite Stories on National Tell A Story Day!

 

Whether it be a story from a book, your imagination, or from memory, telling stories is a special way to learn and expand your mind. Each year on April 27, people all over the country celebrate National Tell A Story Day, a day where people get together and share various kinds of stories.

Special reading events are often times held in community centers, churches, libraries, and schools. Many libraries even have special story telling times for children.

Besides being educational, telling stories from past generations can help carry on family traditions and help families grow closer.

This brings to mind the character Sam (played by Robbie Kay) in the film Ways To Live Forever, as he documents his life and tells stories about his experiences after finding out he has been diagnosed with leukemia.

Sam’s heartwarming story takes you on an adventure as he learns more about his disease and grows into a teenager. He finds meaning to his life by leaving behind his story for all people to know.

As Sam’s homeschool teachers says in the film, “Humans have discovered that living forever is not possible, but there is something eternal that we can leave behind…works of art.”

To celebrate this day, you can create your own tale and work on your creativity and public speaking skills, or even tell a story your grandma told you about her grandma. It can be a short story or a long story, fiction or nonfiction - take advantage of this day to share your story!