5 Bestselling Books That Should Be Blockbuster Movies - March 30, 2020

Many people will say that, for the most part, the book is always better than the movie. There are so many reasons why this is true - you can visualize the character in your mind and there’s usually more story in a book than a movie. Sometimes movies disappoint us because they weren't accurate to the book. Despite that, there are a few books that we feel would do well as a movie.

Here is our Top 5 list.
 
   1. Gone by Michael Grant

Gone is the first book in a six-part series by Michael Grant. The story is unique and has a cool premise. What happens when all the adults disappear from a small little California town called Perdido Beach? The answer - kids take over and rule everything. Some are less honorable than others, and it’s not long before everything descends into chaos. The book is slightly graphic, so it would have at least a PG-13 rating, should it make it to the big screen. Despite that, throughout the book, many of the kids develop special powers that would be super cool to see, such as laser hands, cancelling gravity, and teleportation. All the main characters are teenagers, so famous young adult actors could easily play the residents of Perdido Beach.

   2. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is a famous middle-grade author who has written many different series. The Lost Hero is the first book of his sequel series, following the events of the original Percy Jackson series. If you remember (or maybe you’d like to forget) his first two books, The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters received a movie adaptation, with mixed reviews. Although The Lost Hero does feature Percy Jackson, he is not the main focus of the story anymore. The Lost Hero follows three new characters - Jason, Piper, and Leo - who all realize they are descendants of Greek gods. They must travel across the United States and defeat an army of giants raising havoc. There aren’t many books that blend fantasy and humour cohesively, but The Lost Hero effectively does, which is something that Hollywood needs more of on-screen.

   3. The Dogs by Allan Stratton

The Dogs is categorized as a psychological thriller, and the first book on this list to lean more towards horror over fantasy. The Dogs is about a boy named Cameron and his mom, who are repeatedly on the run from the boy’s abusive father. After relocating to a small house in a secluded rural area, they think they’re safe. But it’s not long before Cameron begins to see things in the backyard that live in his nightmares. The book has elements similar to Steven King and would be a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The novel features more real-life situations, rather than fantasy fiction, but it is still exciting and suspenseful.

   4. Exo by Fonda Lee

Exo is another story with a unique premise. What happens when humans try to live in harmony with aliens? The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the aliens won and are running society themselves. Many humans feel oppressed, which causes them to form hate groups, such as Sapience. Others have accepted their new world and have begun integrating alien technology into their bodies to protect their world from other external threats. If this book were a movie, there would be plenty of cool special effects to light up the screen. Exo is also a fresh twist on how a young boy finds his true identity in a dystopian world.

   5. Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined by Danielle Young-Ullman

Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined is a comedy, adventure, and a coming-of-age book all rolled into one. The story revolves around a girl named Ingrid who gets thrust into this extreme wilderness survival camp unexpectedly. She must bond with teenage criminals who have been sent to this camp as punishment and survive to the end, so she can go to her dream music school. Through flashbacks, we see Ingrid’s relationship with her opera singer mother and how it impacts the person she becomes on the wilderness trip. A privileged character who then learns to fend for herself is prevalent in Hollywood movies. There are plenty of female actresses who could be perfect for the role of Ingrid. Also, because her mother is a famous opera singer, this could be an opportunity for a well-known musician to be part of the movie, such as Celine Dion who has already been involved in many movie productions throughout her career.

So who knows, maybe some of these books will eventually make it onto the big screen someday. Perhaps one or two will be made into a Netflix series. But for now, we just have to be satisfied with the fact that they are great books.
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