"I Can't Think Of A Single Thing In The Movie They Didn't Royally Screw Up" – 24 Films And TV Shows That Missed Out Key Details From The Books

    "How hard could it possibly be to find an orange cat."

    Benjamin Dzialdowski
    by Benjamin Dzialdowski

    BuzzFeed Staff

    You know the feeling – one of your fave books is being adapted for the screen and you just can't wait! But sometimes the details you imagined and desperately want to see brought to life get completely ignored, or changed so much they are barely recognisable.

    Hulu

    Well, in a recent post, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to name the book details that adaptations either ignored or changed entirely. Here are some of the best submissions...

    1. Dear Edward

    Apple TV+

    "I loved the book, but had to stop watching the show. They added new characters instead of focusing on the ones from the book, and they made the aunt really unlikeable. They also completely missed the mark regarding Edward's struggle with moving in with his aunt and uncle, and him being the only survivor."

    —amandakins

    2. Game of Thrones

    HBO

    "They cut out some major storylines. I get that they couldn't fit every detail into the show, but the writers even refused extra episodes, so it's not like they weren't given the chance to include more. They even killed off a character who was part of a bigger storyline in the books (and still alive), then mocked the actor when he told them."

    —halloweenonchristmas

    3. The English Patient

    Miramax Films

    "It completely changed the ending of the book. You can't cut the scene where Kip learns about the atomic bomb, it's crucial to the message of the book."

    —singingeachtoeach

    4. The Handmaid's Tale

    Hulu

    "I hated that they made the Commander and his wife relatively young and sexy. In the book, all of the Commanders and their spouses are decrepit and old (and definitely unable to have kids)."

    —gwinevere

    5. The Hunger Games

    Lionsgate

    "They got rid of Madge! She gave Katniss the Mockingjay pin – the thing that arguably became the most iconic and recognisable part of the books and films. Also, there was a small storyline about her mom and Haymitch in the second book that I am fairly certain they just skipped over in the movies."

    —andjane

    6. Daisy Jones & The Six

    Amazon Prime Video

    "None of the original songs were in there, even though the main song was pivotal to the plot. Daisy and Billy never kissed in the book, but they did in the series."

    —laurenw4f1a3ef74

    7. Where The Crawdads Sing

    Sony Pictures Releasing

    "They missed entire plot points, like when Tate helped Kya when she started her period, and how much of a relationship Kya had with Jumpin'. They also didn't mention her poetry. In the book, her poetry is what made the ending so incredible but it was completely wiped out in the movie."

    —laurenw4f1a3ef74

    8. Gone Girl

    20th Century Studios

    "I'm always bothered by the fact that David Fincher left out almost all of Nick's troubled relationship with his father. The book detailed their rough history, and Nick's father played such a significant role. It's easy to understand where Nick learned his ideas about women, and what drove him throughout the novel. The movie barely referenced his father; they only interacted in one scene. It was such a misstep, in my opinion."

    —kminfl

    9. My Sister's Keeper

    Warner Bros. Pictures

    "It fills me with so much rage. By killing off the wrong sister they ruined the whole point. She fought so hard for control over her own body, but in the end, what control did she actually have?"

    —heatherf46ca94bd6

    10. The Hunger Games (again)

    Lionsgate

    "In the first film, the cat was black and white. Its name is Buttercup, for god's sake, and it was clearly described in the books as being a big orange cat. I knew immediately the movie would suck if they could mess up that little detail right off the bat. How hard could it possibly be to find an orange cat?"

    —meganmontesi

    11. Artemis Fowl

    Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

    "It made me royally angry. Overall, the movie is a completely different story. The Fowls are these stand-up people who have been cataloguing magic for centuries, and it's a great battle to protect this magical artefact, blah blah blah, very boring.

    In the book, Artemis' whole thing is he wants to grow the wealth of his family like every patriarch before him. In the first scene, he poisons and nearly kills a fairy; he kidnaps another fairy and keeps her hostage, and he tricks an entire population out of a butt load of gold. It was AMAZING. 10/10 read.

    But no, Disney couldn't have a 12-year-old protagonist be a dick. And that's just the story changes. There are a multitude of other changes that break the story in various ways."

    —renashinoa

    12. Red, White & Royal Blue

    Amazon Prime Video

    "They missed out June! She's Alex's sister and not in the movie! Instead, some of her traits went to Nora, his best friend. June brings out a softer, brotherly side of Alex we don't see with Nora. Also, they cut out Senator Rafael Luna, an openly gay senator who is Alex's inspiration in politics. He has a MAJOR role in the book, and it's a shame, honestly. The movie is S-tier, but these inclusions would have made it make more sense."

    —bangtanuniverse0707

    13. Ella Enchanted

    Miramax

    "I can't think of a single thing in the movie that they didn't royally screw up. Everything was wrong. Hugh Dancy was lovely, yes, but the character himself was drastically different from the prince in the novel."

    —renashinoa

    14. Good Omens

    Amazon Prime Video

    "It's a small detail, but in Good Omens, Death is playing a Trivial Pursuit arcade game with a bunch of hardcore bikers watching... The bikers were unaware that they were just chilling with Death. Death gets all the questions right, but one that comes up is 'what year did Elvis die?'

    The bikers think he doesn't know the answer... Death just stares at the game and then says, 'I never laid a hand on him' – I really wanted to see that in the show."

    —vicpeg87

    15. World War Z

    Paramount Pictures

    "Virtually all of it was wrong. They took a dramatic, gripping anthology about how society falls apart and how people react, and turned it into a generic zombie thriller. The only thing that distinguishes the movie from any other Z-flick on Netflix or Hulu is Brad Pitt."

    —moncynnes

    16. Fried Green Tomatoes

    Universal Pictures

    "Ruth and Idgie's relationship was basically ignored in the film version. Much of the book was left out, which I get because it was a lot to fit into a couple of hours. It could be a three or four-season show. However, Ruth and Idgie's relationship was a major plot point. The movie showed them as good friends, not a couple, which they were in the book."

    —dellarock

    17. The Gray Man

    Netflix

    "Courtland Gentry, in ALL of the books is a stealth expert, absolute master of moving in the shadows. In the film, Ryan Gosling was like a bull in a China shop… I just pretended it was a different film altogether and an average one at that."

    —jamesgoldsmith

    18. Knock at the Cabin

    Universal Pictures

    "I was furious that they changed the entire ending. The book ending made so much more sense to how the characters acted and just ripped your heart out… That didn't translate to what they did on screen."

    —jrschuss

    19. Dune

    Warner Bros. Pictures

    "I understand you couldn't possibly fit all of Dune into one film, even two. It's dense, and it has a very broad scope. That being said, I was disappointed they didn't do much with Thufir Hawat or Piter de Vries. They're both more important in the story than the film lets them be. Hopefully, we'll see more of Thufir in Part Two."

    —daisyneptune

    20. The Lord of the Rings

    New Line Cinema

    "Tom Bombadil. Okaaay Peter Jackson, you claim his role did 'nothing' to advance the plot. But then in The Hobbit, you add an albino Orc and throw in Legolas and a love story that, oh I dunno, DID NOTHING TO ADVANCE THE PLOT?"

    —thesettledpirate

    21. The Host

    Open Road Films

    "A lot of things were snipped when the movie was made. The Stephenie Meyer book has SO MUCH detail. There are many aspects that would be very difficult to show – like alien planets and life there, and that was fine to omit – but there is so much missing!

    Walter, a character who dies of cancer in the caves, doesn't exist in the movie. The Seeker's host, Lacey, turns out to be a terrible human being with a beyond-frustrating personality. And the most important bit: what happens when Melanie wakes up. This was written as a bonus scene by Meyer specifically to be included in the movie, but they didn't. We deserved this scene!"

    —ruchav

    22. Percy Jackson

    20th Century Fox

    "The lack of blue food that Percy's Mum makes. I had read the book before and when I saw the film I just remember saying, 'why doesn't she make blue food?'"

    —georgiabadiali

    23. A Wrinkle in Time

    Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

    "Remember Aunt Beast? I loved this character in the book. She was so kind and endearing, and I was disappointed she wasn't there in the 2018 movie."

    —silencesilence

    Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

    Oh, and if you're wondering "where TF is Harry Potter", then don't worry. There were so many HP submissions that it warranted its own post – and that's exactly what I'm gonna do!

    Warner Bros. Pictures

    What book detail were you disappointed not to see in the screen adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!