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The Truth of How Books Become Movies

2024-02-06 · explainer · John · 5:31 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Explainer · tags: self promotion, timely hook

John explains how books become movies (options, development hurdles, payment at principal photography, studios shelving finished films), says the outcome still matters to him because he loves the Turtles All the Way Down film, and announces it will come out later in 2024 on Max.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — How a book becomes a movie: options, the hurdles where most adaptations fail, and payment at principal photography

  • ★★ John says that the day after Turtles All the Way Down came out, a movie studio offered to option it. — 00:00:00 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★ John explains that an option gives a studio the right to develop a book into a film for a set period, say 24 months. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says most optioned books never become movies: An Abundance of Katherines was optioned and never made, and Paper Towns was optioned three times first. — 00:00:29 · An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns
  • ★ John jokes that an option is nice for an author: a little money for no extra work, which is kind of the American dream. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John says development usually breaks down at the screenplay stage: the script isn't good enough, no director signs on, or the author turns out to be a bad screenwriter. — 00:00:29
  • ★ John says even with a good director a project can fall apart over casting or budget. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John says a movie executive once pulled a film twelve days before shooting because he felt a cast member looked unsettling, and literally told John so. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John says if a movie falls through, the only money the author gets is the option money. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ John says that had The Fault in Our Stars not become a movie he thinks he would have been paid $60,000: a lot of money, but not Hollywood fantasy money. (hedged) — 00:01:27 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★★ John explains that when principal photography begins the option is exercised and the author is paid, generally several times the option amount. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ John says unless an author is wildly famous there is no box-office cut, so the last paycheck comes at the start of principal photography. — 00:01:56

00:02:26 — Why release still matters: loving the Turtles film, book sales, and studios that shelve finished films for tax reasons

  • ★★★ John says financially it doesn't matter to the author whether the movie comes out, yet it matters a great deal. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ John says he never expected to love the Turtles script by the writers of Love, Simon, or to care so much about the cast, crew and director Hannah Marks. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ John calls the Turtles movie truly brilliant: about class, friendship, free will and mental illness, raw and honest without feeling sensationalized. — 00:02:55 · mental disorder
  • ★★ John admits a financial incentive: a successful movie sells many books, which pay him, though this varies with how people respond and whether they know it's an adaptation. — 00:02:55
  • ★ John notes Die Hard is adapted from a book that never became a classic: nobody reads it every Christmas. (playful) — 00:03:24
  • ★★ John says the Looking for Alaska show was brilliant but didn't sell a lot of books. — 00:03:24
  • ★★ John says The Fault in Our Stars movie sold a ton of books. — 00:03:24 · The Fault in Our Stars (film), The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ John says studios increasingly shelve finished, paid-for movies as a tax strategy, taking a write-off when they expect release to lose more money. (hedged) — 00:03:53
  • ★★ John, admittedly biased, calls Turtles a great movie that tested well, but worried because it has no superheroes and isn't a franchise sequel. — 00:03:53

00:04:22 — The Turtles All the Way Down movie will stream on Max later this year; relief and joy at a rare collaboration

  • ★★★ John announces he got a call saying the Turtles All the Way Down movie is coming out later this year (2024) on Max. — 00:04:22 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★ John says some viewers wanted a big theatrical release, but in 2024, for this kind of movie, streaming is a massive win and the right way to share it. — 00:04:22
  • ★★ John says he doesn't yet know about international distribution, but the movie will be in lots of places around the world. — 00:04:52
  • ★★ With Hollywood not chasing The Anthropocene Reviewed or his forthcoming tuberculosis book, John says this may be his last time seeing hundreds of people make something wonderful together. (hedged) — 00:04:52 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book), Everything Is Tuberculosis

In the description and comments

  • ★ In a later comment John answers whether he finally has a cameo that makes it into the movie: maybe. (hedged) — creator comment
  • ★★ In a later comment John says yes, everyone will watch the movie together on Discord, Reddit or somewhere when it comes out. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: film adaptation · Turtles All the Way Down (film)

Also: Works: An Abundance of Katherines · Die Hard · Everything Is Tuberculosis · Looking for Alaska (miniseries) · Paper Towns · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book) · The Fault in Our Stars · The Fault in Our Stars (film) · Turtles All the Way Down

Organizations: Max

Concepts: American Dream · free will · mental disorder · social class · tuberculosis

Only in the description or credits: Elizabeth Berger · Hannah Marks · Isaac Aptaker · Love, Simon

Also centred on film adaptation: Is the Paper Towns Movie Like the Book? Thoughts on Adaptations · The Book Was Better? · I Already Got Paid

Also centred on Turtles All the Way Down (film): On the Movies · An Amazing Day · Hello! Meet Daisy! · A Casting Announcement · Hello! Meet Aza! · Director Hannah Marks Is Nervous To Meet You

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