The Highest Grossing Book-To-Film Adaptations Of All Time

At some point, we’ve all obsessed over our favorite book series and imagined what their movie adaptations would look like. Regardless of the outcome, there’s something oddly enticing about when the book and movie worlds collide with each other.

Avid readers have sky-high expectations from books being turned into movies. Of course, there are time and budget constraints to keep in mind, but managing such factors and using them to create a masterpiece on screen is an art only a few have mastered.

Whether you’re a fan of reading and watching sci-fi or prefer romantic versions that are too good to be true, you’ll find everything to please the bibliophile and movie buff in you. Below, see the list of the top-grossing book-to-film adaptations of all time.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter emerged as a global phenomenon, based on the series of six novels by J. K. Rowling published in 1997. The young wizards set the muggle world ablaze with their awe-inspiring talent.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 became the highest-grossing book-to-film adaptation in history, earning $1.3 billion at the box office.

Jurassic Park

The 1993 movie adaptation of Jurassic Park book by Michael Crichton wreaked havoc in the film industry. The movie was part of an entire franchise, comprising two sequels and a reboot version, the Jurassic World trilogy.

Apparently, the audience loved seeing dinosaurs grace the big screen, and the five Jurassic Park films grossed a total of $4.8 billion.

The Twilight Saga

There’s something about supernatural beings, particularly vampires, that tends to hit us, humans, differently. The Twilight Saga raged a storm with its series of five novels, written by Stephenie Meyer. A huge debate is already going on whether the last book of the series, Midnight Sun, would be adapted into a movie or not.

The books and movies are based on the love triangle between a human girl Bella Swan, vampire Edward Cullen, and werewolf Jacob Black. The movie saga concluded in 2012, with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 earning a whopping $829.7 million at the box office.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games emerged as a top-performing movie franchise, based on the series of three novels of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The films introduced us to phenomenal actors like Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, earning $2.9 billion combined.

The Lord Of The Rings

The Lord of the Rings was an adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel series, with the first book published in 1954. The trilogy received sheer praise and love from the audience, making $2.9 billion at the box office.

Alice In Wonderland

Lewis Carroll’s evergreen classic story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has been adapted in more than twenty different films. However, the 2010 adaptation by Tim Burton starring Mia Wasikowska as Alice became a global success, grossing $1.025 billion.

The Hobbit

Another J. R. R. Tolkien’s book adaptation, The Hobbit, was the prequel trilogy to The Lord of the Rings. The first movie made it to the big screen in 2012, with the complete Hobbit book split into three different films, earning $2.9 billion at the global box office.