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Hollywood ate my novel:Novelists reveal what it’s liketo have their book turned intoa movie

 VIEW GALLERY

Literary adaptations rule this year's Oscarnominations. But, for an author, having a book

transformed by movie magic isn't always

pleasant. Five writers tell Charlotte Philby what

it's like to see your creation 'brought to life'.

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Released 2011

KAUI HART HEMMINGS

'he (escendants was my first published novel. ) wrote it aged *+, while living in "an &rancisco as a full-time mum. )t was thesecond novel )d attempted. 'he first never came together/ there

 was a desperation after that, ) needed to know if ) could do it. )

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 went back to a character ) still had in my head from an earliershort story, writing for two hours a day while my one-year-olddaughter was napping.

) had an agent in 0ondon whod sent my manuscripts to variousfilmmakers, who could put in for an option to buy the rights tomake a movie/ the option usually lasts for two years, at whichpoint they can hold, renew, let go entirely, or buy. 1ust before mynovel hit the stores, producer and screenwriter 2le3ander Payne4who produced "ideways and 2bout "chmidt5 optioned it.

6ne day, Payne rang me and said, 7) want this to be my ne3tpro8ect7. !y then ) and my family had moved out to Hawaii, and

he flew out there the following week/ we met at this restaurant inmy neighbourhood in 9ailua. Payne arrived with his set designer,and ) was really intimidated at first but he had this very easy,casual way of talking, he put me at my ease. 'hat night, my aunt was having a birthday party at her house, ) invited them to that.'he ne3t day we drove around the island and ) showed him theplaces ) was thinking of when ) wrote the book.

Payne met my whole family, and they all ended up being in themovie. ) was on set all the time and even got to be in the filmmyself. 2lmost every line of dialogue was right out of the book,every sequence, the music )d mentioned, the clothes they wore,the places they went to. )t was a very inclusive process. ) wasntpossessive of the story because ) trusted Payne, but ) knew in the wrong persons hands it could have been horribly melodramatic.

) still see myself as a struggling writer. 'he (escendants is something )ve

already done. Now )m struggling with my ne3t novel, in my own bubble at home,now with a second child. 'here have been benefits, mainly that now my book is being

read, which it wasnt before. )t was reviewed all over the place when it was first

published but that didnt necessarily translate into readers. Now ) have people e-

mailing me saying, 7) loved your book, )d never heard of it until the movie7. )ts great

that its been given a second chance.

THE BOYS ARE BACK 

Released 2009

SIMON CARR 

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)ts the authors madness to assume that what youve done should go to a wider

audience. "o even though ) wrote 'he !oys are !ack in 'own 4a memoir about the

death of arrs wife from cancer5 in around si3 weeks, with no notion that there was

anything remotely filmic about it, there was a moment when ) had this fleeting, self-

indulgent idea that the book might be transferred to screen.

 2t that point ) phoned my friend Peter !ennett-1ones, who at the time owned 'iger

 2spect 4the production company that eventually made the film5. #e had a drink at

the $ose ; rown on North Parade in 63ford and ) asked him, 7"o then, should my

story be made into a '< series or a film=7. He said, 7&unnily enough my wife 8ust read

the book, and were going to make a film of it7. ) said, 7>oull never do it mate, films

dont get made7. !ecause thats the essential principle for a writer, most films get

canned the day before photography starts.

)n the end it took nearly ?@ years to make 'he !oys are !ack. 2t one point they hadlive 6wen all lined up to play the lead, photography was about to start, and then he

pulled out to do (uplicity with 1ulia $oberts. "o then everything had to be put back

together again, all the money put back in place, and thats no small thing because

once the cash e3pires, it e3pires.

&inally, on signing day, after a decade of production, they had to get something like

*@@ signatures on a contract between Aam and midday, from financiers, producers,

insurance companies, %od knows who/ and if any one of them wasnt there to sign,

the whole thing would fall into disarray. 2t this moment the insurers realised that

they hadnt got written evidence from my e3-wife in New Bealand stating that she wouldnt sue/ so they were scrabbling around trying to get hold of her. 'hese kind of

problems are infinite, its a wonder anything ever goes ahead.

Having a male personality disorder, ) ignored the fact that ) was handing my very

personal story over to a team of screenplay writers to do with what they liked. #hen

the film did come out there were some pretty strong emotional repercussions in my

 boys, which were the defects ) hadnt predicted. "eeing your own story on screen

 wakes up all the trauma, and wed presented it to them in a way that was very

powerful. )m afraid to say ) didnt handle the whole thing terribly well. 'he final film4with live 6wen back on board5 looked amaCing. 2lthough it was shot in 2ustralia,

the landscape was very similar to the particular part of Hawkes !ay in New Bealand,

 where we lived. 'he writers were impressive, they drew out of the ball of cotton that

 was my book a single thread, which is the story/ and that is a difficult thing to do.

)m not sure authors are particularly well-qualified for it. ) couldnt have done it.

 #hen ) saw the script, ) didnt understand it at all/ it was completely unintelligible,

like algebra, everything was happening in the silences and not in what people were

saying to each other.

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Having your book adapted is not something you can really prepare for/ indeed, )m

pretty certain it wont happen to me again. Now when ) write )m constantly

searching for the authentic tone of voice ) had in that book, but ) cant seem to find it

again. 2s it turns out, ) have a limited imagination.

SHE-DEVIL

Released 1989

AY !ELDON

'hree years after the brilliant !! mini-series adaptation of my book, 'he 0ife and

0oves of a "he-(evil, two 2merican production companies approached us separately

about making it into a movie. 6ne of them was with "usan "eidelman as director/ my

agent said, 7(o this one and not the other one,7 so we did. )n this sort of situation,

one doesnt have the faintest idea what will happen, so one simply says 7thank you7,

takes the money and runs.

'his was the Eighties, when you had to go to the D" embassy and be presented with a

contract, which you signed but not before holding up your hand and swearing

allegiance: 7) henceforth give up the film rights to my characters, throughout the

universe and for all eternity7, before answering the question, 72re you of right and

sane mind=7. ) thought one couldnt answer 7yes7 to both, so ) took away the contract

and never did sign it, though no one noticed.

'he Hollywood e3perience for a novelist is that they dont want to know that youre

alive: theyd rather you were dead. ) only watched filming of the movie once. 'hey

 were shooting in the 'win 'owers, a scene where $uthie the heroine, played by

$oseanne !arr, was coming in to steal something. 'here wasnt much cohesion. )

could see theyd rather missed the point of the novel so ) didnt have much faith in it

after that.

!ut the film company had given me money and in return ) had given my book to

them. 'hat was the deal. 'hey kept the name and basic situation of the story but

missed the point entirely/ the characters in the film were all right, but what they did

 was so completely out of character.

y book was about feminism. >et for the film, the studio bosses wanted $uth,

$oseanne !arrs character, to lose four stone and win her husband back, which ) felt

slightly undermined the plot. #e ended up with her e3-husband !ob learning how

difficult it is to bake, in prison, and $oseanne putting on a pretty dress and thus

 winning his affections.

 2pparently the film went down very well in Peru. #hat ) got from it was FG,@@@ I

 without having to do anything I which in those days was a lot of money. 2s a writer,

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 you have to disassociate. )f someone wanted to film another one of my books )d say

 yes like a shot. )ts not a definite science/ because one doesnt work doesnt mean

another one cant.

 !E NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Released 2011

L"#$el S%&"'e&

 #hen you sell a book it is a gamble/ you take the risk that someone will take your

 work and turn it into something youre ashamed of.

!ut something happening is generally more interesting than something not

happening, so its a risk worth taking.

)d had books optioned before and then nothing had come of it, so when 0ynne

$amsay and the !! got together to adapt #e Need to 'alk 2bout 9evin in *@@, )

had no e3pectation that the film would ever be made. )t nearly didnt. 0ynne

originally raised J?* million for the pro8ect and then with the global financial crisis,

funding from alifornia disappeared as the film was suddenly felt to be 7in the wrong

mood7, and she had to start all over again. "he eventually raised JK million, which

meant rewriting the script to create a film that could be shot for half the original

 budget.

0ynne told me little bits as she went along, like when she got 'ilda "winton to play

Eva, who was an e3cellent choice. !ut ) wasnt involved in the screenplay or casting, )

 was kept at arms length, which was 8ust as well. &or a director I particularly a writer-

director I there is a process by which you need to make your material your own,

 which means wrestling away possession of your story from its author.

'here was a long time when 0ynne disappeared, but )m emotionally sympathetic to

that need. &or a while ) was the enemy, the person who thought the story was mine.

"omething like this is a co-operative pro8ect, but if youre too respectful of the original

material you cant e3ercise a sense of ownership and therefore any sort of power overit. "he needed to change and re-e3press it enough to make the story her own.

Now, when ) read reviews of the film, ) dont feel its my work being appraised, which

made the films release fairly rela3ing for me. ) wish it well and )m pleased when its

positively reviewed, but only in the way that you feel when youre happy for someone

else.

) didnt have a vivid picture in my head of what the film was going to be. 6f course it

 was totally different to the film ) would have made. )f it had been my movie, no one

 would ever have shut up because ) tend to become quite enamoured with my own

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dialogue. ) do think the film really shines when my dialogue meets the acting and

0ynnes directing. 'he script was quite sparse I there wasnt a lot of talking I so ) was

especially satisfied when it did happen. )t also would have been much more

chronological, because thats the way ) think.

$amsays film isnt what ) would have made but thats whats rather wonderful about

it. ) regard it now as a separate entity, not a perfect recapitulation of my novel. )ts

$amsays interpretation. 'here are significant differences/ the movie does lean

towards 9evin being evil from birth, whereas thats more up for grabs in the novel. )

dont think the film is as successful as the book in e3pressing the moral ambiguity,

 but ) anticipated that from the beginning. 2 film-maker has only two hours, so theres

a comple3ity you cannot impart/ a movie has to be telescoped.

) didnt mind being left out in the script-writing process. 'hankfully it was done with

passion and integrity and a real loyalty to the novel. ) didnt want to get involved inthe trappings as of movie-making. !esides, a little division of labour goes a long way,

its nice to be surprised by someone bringing something new to your material, rather

than ploddingly putting your book on the screen. 'he nice thing, too, is that ) have a

plausible deniability/ if the film sucked, it wouldnt have been my fault.

THE GHOST

Released 2010

ROBERT HARRIS

)ve had several of my books made into films. "ome were good, others were not. y

first novel, &atherland, was made into a very bad film, starring 2nthony Hopkins. 'he

novel was originally bought by ike Nicholls I who made 'he %raduate I to be made

into a feature film. !ut in the end he couldnt get a studio to back it so the pro8ect

 became a made-for-television movie for H!6 instead.

!y the time it was shot thered been so many artistic compromises I in particular two

fundamental changes in the story I that it ceased to have the feel of the novel. "ome

people like it but ) have to say that ) dont.

) wasnt put off by the e3perience. )n *@@?, my second novel, Enigma, was made into

a much better film, with the screenplay written by 'om "toppard. 2t that time ) took

the view that the screenplay was not my business: ) had done my work having written

the novel, and now someone else could take it on and turn it into something else. !ut

my view on that has changed on that recently. Now ) feel ) know the story better than

anyone else, and ) know what )m trying to do better than anyone else.

 2ccordingly, together with $oman Polanski, ) wrote the screenplay for 'he %host

4Polanski was in e3ile at the time5. ) used to go over to Paris and "witCerland to write

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 with him, he used to say that in writing a screenplay youre writing a cartoon of your

novel. 'hats a helpful way of looking at it, because the change for a novelist is that

 you have to go for the visual element. )ts no longer the case that youre describing

 whats going on inside a characters head. $ather, things have to be shown on screen/

there are lots of technical issues and constraints when working in this medium that

)d never encountered before.

$oman and ) worked together for three years on that pro8ect, and ) think we did a

 wonderful 8ob. 'he film was wonderfully acted/ ) was very pleased. Polanski and ) had

 worked together before, on the screenplay for my historical novel Pompeii some years

earlier, but that fell through.

Now, taking what )ve learnt from these collaborations, )m currently writing the

screenplay for my book, 'he &ear )nde3, on my own. Paul %reengrass is directing. )m

still finishing the script at the moment, then it has to go to &o3 and the producers to be read before we start any work on the film, but )ve been talking to Paul a bit as ) go

along/ ) have some ideas about casting but first ) have to complete the script. )ts a

 very different process from a novel, though as my books tend to feature characters

and stories, its not as different as it might be.

Even when youre adapting your own story, a movie can only remain true to the spirit

of the book/ you have to change things because its a different medium. 6n screen you

have to show rather than tell the story, you also have to deal with the restrictions of

time. 2s an author, theres no point complaining that the film version is not identical

to the book because it cant be. !ut ) try to get the essence of the original workconveyed to the screen. )n the end its a lottery.

 $ idepede!.co.u%