3 Fantasy Books That Failed As Movies, but Worked Much Better As TV Shows (& 1 That’s Upcoming)

Adapting fantasy books is always a risk, as diehard fans will be critical of any changes to the source material — and even sticking to it closely isn’t a guarantee of success. Not all fantasy novels are unfilmable, but they all take work to bring to the screen. Depending on budgets, creators’ visions, and other details, some stories don’t translate well. For every Lord of the Rings trilogy and Game of Thrones, there’s a less successful attempt at bringing a popular book series to life.

It doesn’t help when studios choose the wrong medium to adapt a story — something that happened all too often during the fantasy boom of the 2000s. Bringing the genre to the big screen may be appealing, as the action and visuals associated with it will look that much better. However, TV tends to be a stronger format for the category, if only because it can cover the full length of fantasy books and series. These adaptations are proof of that, as they failed as films and worked much better as TV shows. Judging by them, one upcoming series will outshine its former adaptation as well.

4) The Mortal Instruments

Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter books haven’t had much luck as films or TV shows, but the latter certainly served the series better — even if we’re still waiting on someone to tackle these books properly. 2013’s The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was definitely the weaker take on Clare’s story, and its disappointing $95 million box office haul proved as much (via Box Office Mojo). City of Bones may have had the right atmosphere for Clare’s books, but it rushed through the events of Clary and Jace’s story, and it failed to do the side characters or villain justice.

Freeform’s Shadowhunters series had its own problems, but it did better on those fronts. A TV runtime gave the many storylines and arcs of The Mortal Instruments room to breathe. Its production quality and fidelity to the books could’ve been better, but the world-building and character work was a step up from the fantasy film.

3) His Dark Materials

The Golden Compass attempted to bring Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials to the big screen back in 2008, but the fantasy film was a flop. This was somewhat surprising despite its promising cast — one that included Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman — but its $372 million box office wasn’t impressive compared to its reported $180 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). The viewer response wasn’t great, either. There were complaints about changes to the series’ themes, as well as it feeling rushed. It wasn’t surprising that it never got a sequel.

It was later turned into a TV series, however, and His Dark Materials fared much better than the 2008 movie. With stars like Dafne Keen and James McAvoy at the helm, its cast was equally impressive. And TV proved the right format for this series, as the show was able to do the complex religious themes, detailed world-building, and Lyra’s inner journey justice on-screen. Years after the film failed, the show gave fans a full adaptation of this iconic fantasy story.

2) Percy Jackson and the Olympians

On the heels of the Harry Potter movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians was another prime contender for a film adaptation. And 2010’s The Lightning Thief wasn’t all bad, even if it deviated from its source material in frustrating ways. The Sea of Monsters movie made those problems worse, though, eliminating any chance of Rick Riordan’s series being adapted in its entirety. Like many fantasy films, it tried to stuff certain details from later books into its narrative too early, altering crucial details along the way.

Fortunately, Disney+ is giving Percy Jackson and the Olympians a second life on-screen — and just two seasons in, the TV show is doing much better than the prior adaptations. For one, the production quality is leagues ahead of the films. That could be a product of the time, but the series is also nailing the characters, plot, and humor in ways the films failed to. Rick Riordan’s involvement as an executive producer likely has something to do with this. Even the changes the series does make feel more natural, whereas the films’ biggest divergences left longtime fans scratching their heads.

1) Upcoming: Eragon

Failed fantasy movies getting turned into TV shows seems to be a modern trend, and it’s happening again with one upcoming remake. An Eragon reboot is set to come to Disney+, though details about the show are still sparse. It’ll have to be better than the 2006 film adaptation of Christopher Paolini’s book, though, which was critically panned and deemed a box office disaster. (Per The Numbers, it raked in just $249 million on a $100 million budget.) Eragon was a poor choice for 2006, as the technology to do a dragon story right just wasn’t what it is now. It was also rushed and made questionable story choices, things that will ideally be handled better in the upcoming TV show. Judging by the other successes, this could be Hollywood’s chance to get Eragon right.

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