The 30 Biggest Books-To-Movies
Harry Potter is back, as a J.K. Rowling bestseller again hits the big screen. From Jaws to The Sound of Music, The Daily Beast ranks the books that became the biggest blockbusters.
Everett
Based on:
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Director: Victor Fleming
Released: 1939
Original box office gross: $198,676,459
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $1,606,254,800
Everett
Based on:
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp
Director: Robert Wise
Released: 1965
Original box office gross: $158,671,368
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $1,132,202,200
Everett
Based on: The Hebrew Bible
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Released: 1956
Original box office gross: $65,500,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $1,041,450,000
Joseph Eid, AFP / Getty Images
Based on:
Jaws by Peter Benchley
Director: Steven Spielberg
Released: 1975
Original box office gross: $260,000,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $1,018,226,600
Everett
Based on:
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Director: David Lean
Released: 1965
Original box office gross: $111,721,910
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $986,876,900
Based on:
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Director: William Friedkin
Released: 1973
Original box office gross: $232,671,011
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $879,020,900
Based on:
Snow White by the Brothers Grimm
Director: David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen
Released: 1937
Original box office gross: $184,925,486
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $866,550,000
Everett
Based on:
The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman
Released: 1961
Original box office gross: $144,880,014
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $794,342,100
Based on:
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace
Director: William Wyler
Released: 1959
Original box office gross: $74,000,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $779,100,000
Based on:
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Director: Steven Spielberg
Released: 1993
Original box office gross: $357,067,947
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $685,336,400
Based on:
The Graduate by Charles Webb
Director: Mike Nichols
Released: 1967
Original box office gross: $104,901,839
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $680,292,600
AP Photo
Based on:
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Released: 1972
Original box office gross: $134,966,411
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $627,434,400
Getty Images
Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his role in Forrest Gump.
Everett Collection
Based on:
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard
Director: Robert Stevenson
Released: 1964
Original box office gross: $102,272,727
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $621,545,500
AP Photo
Based on:
Thunderball by Ian Fleming
Director: Terence Young
Released: 1965
Original box office gross: $63,595,658
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $594,660,000
AP Photo
Based on:
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Released: 1967
Original box office gross: $141,843,612
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $585,755,300
Based on:
La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault
Director: Clyde Geromini, Les Clark, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman
Released: 1959
Original box office gross: $51,600,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $577,774,600
Based on:
Love Story by Erich Segal
Director: Arthur Hiller
Released: 1970
Original box office gross: $106,397,186
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $556,485,300
Everett Collection
Based on:
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Director: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske, Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts
Released: 1940
Original box office gross: $84,254,167
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $535,856,500
Based on:
Cleopatra by Carlo Maria Franzero
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Released: 1963
Original box office gross: $57,777,778
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $534,108,500
Everett Collection
Based on:
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
Director: Guy Hamilton
Released: 1964
Original box office gross: $51,081,062
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $527,085,000
Everett Collection
Based on:
Airport by Arthur Hailey
Director: George Seaton
Released: 1970
Original box office gross: $100,489,151
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $525,584,700
Based on:
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
Director: Henry Koster
Released: 1953
Original box office gross: $36,000,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $520,363,600
Based on:
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Director: Michael Anderson
Released: 1956
Original box office gross: $42,000,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $513,692,300
Everett Collection
Based on:
Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten
Director: David Hand
Released: 1942
Original box office gross: $102,247,150
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $506,514,000
Based on:
The Two Towers and
Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Director: Peter Jackson
Released: 2003
Original box office gross: $377,027,325
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $489,228,200
Everett Collection
Based on:
The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and
The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson
Director: John Guillermin
Released: 1974
Original box office gross: $116,000,000
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $487,936,500
Based on:
Christian Bible’s New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Director: Mel Gibson
Released: 2004
Original box office gross: $370,782,930
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $474,653,500
Everett Collection
Based on:
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Director: Peter Jackson
Released: 2002
Original box office gross: $341,786,758
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $458,161,800
Everett Collection
Based on:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Director: Chris Columbus
Released: 2001
Original box office gross: $317,575,550
Box office gross adjusted for inflation: $444,508,200
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