Books To Film: Our Fave Big Screen Literary Adaptations

Here are beautifully written movies that went from best-sellers to box office gold.

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Without writers, we wouldn't have our favorite television shows and movies, often from authors. To support the writers' strike, here are books that masterfully transitioned to Hollywood thanks to brilliant writers.

Photo By Lee Daniels Entertainment Smokewood Entertainment Harpo Films 34th Street Films Amblin Entertainment The Guber-Peters Company

Think Like a Man (2012) - Despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, Black films have a long history of coming in No. 1 at the box office. Think Like a Man is just the latest, scoring a $33 million opening weekend and knocking Hunger Games out of the top spot. Even though insiders had a hunch this rom-com would do well at the box office, nobody could have anticipated just how well.  Check out our list of memorable films that topped the box office.(Photo: Courtesy Screen Gems)

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With a screenplay by Keith Merryman and David A. Newman, Steve Harvey's instant-classic dating advice book was turned into one of the biggest films of 2012—a sequel followed in 2014. (Photo: Screen Gems)

The Color Purple, Saturday at 10P/11C - Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey & Danny Glover fight for their lives. Encore presentation on Sunday at 6P/5C.(Photo: Warner Bros Pictures) 

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The Color Purple - Steven Spielberg's adaptation of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker not only did justice to the source material, it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Though the intricate Southern drama, starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, sparked plenty of controversy, it was universally praised as one of the best films of the year. Menno Meyjes wrote the screenplay. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Beloved - Bringing Toni Morrison's 1987 novel to the big screen became a personal mission for Oprah Winfrey, who took ten years to get the film made. This movie marked Winfrey's return to the big screen after a twelve year hiatus, and reunited her with her Color Purple co-star Danny Glover. (Photo: Harpo Productions)

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Beloved - Bringing Toni Morrison's 1987 novel to the big screen became a personal mission for Oprah Winfrey, who took ten years to get the film made. This movie marked Winfrey's return to the big screen after a twelve-year hiatus and reunited her with her Color Purple co-star Danny Glover. The screenplay was penned by Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks and Akosua Busia, who played Nettie in The Color Purple. (Photo: Harpo Productions)

The Women of Brewster Place - Once again, it was Oprah Winfrey who was responsible for turning this acclaimed novel, about the lives and relationships of a group of urban men and women, into a dramatic miniseries. Winfrey assembled an all-star cast of Black actors—including Cicely Tyson, Robin Givens and a young Larenz Tate—for the project, which was so successful, it spawned a weekly series called Brewster Place. (Photo: Harpo Productions)

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The Women of Brewster Place - Once again, it was Oprah Winfrey who was responsible for turning this acclaimed novel, about the lives and relationships of a group of urban men and women, into a dramatic miniseries for television. Winfrey assembled an all-star cast of Black actors—including Cicely Tyson, Robin Givens and a young Larenz Tate—for the project, which was so successful, it spawned a weekly series called Brewster Place. Gloria Naylor's iconic novel was adapted the small screen by Karen Hall. (Photo: Harpo Productions)

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Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 coming-of-age novel about a Black teenage girl from southern Florida was given new life on the small screen by—who else?—Oprah Winfrey, who introduced the film when it was first telecast in 2005. Halle Berry played the lead character Janie Crawford, with Michael Ealy as her young lover.(Photo: Harpo Films)

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Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 coming-of-age novel about a Black teenage girl from southern Florida was given new life on the small screen by—who else?—Oprah Winfrey, who introduced the film when it was first telecast in 2005. Halle Berry played the lead character Janie Crawford, with Michael Ealy as her young lover. The miniseries was written by Suzan-Lori Parks, Misan Sagay and Bobby Smith Jr. (Photo: Harpo Films)

Precious, Monday at 9P/8C - Gabourey Sidibe's a diamond in the rough. Encore on Tuesday at 3P/2C.(Photo: Lionsgate)

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Precious - Newcomers Lee Daniels and Gabourey Sidibe knocked it out of the park with Precious, their adaptation of Saffire's brilliant-but-devastating novel Push. Of course, they had a bit of help from an all-star cast, including Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and Sherri Shepherd, as well as the promotional support of heavyweights Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey. Geoffrey S. Fletcher won an Oscar for penning the screenplay. (Photo: Lionsgate)

The Shawshank Redemption - Straight from the twisted mind of Stephen King came this…touching tale of brotherhood among prisoners. Though the novella upon which this classic 1994 film, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is based was a departure from King's signature genre (horror), it has become one of his most popular adaptations to date. (Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment)

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The Shawshank Redemption - Straight from the twisted mind of Stephen King came this…touching tale of brotherhood among prisoners. Though the novella upon which this classic 1994 film, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is based was a departure from King's signature genre (horror), it has become one of his most popular adaptations to date. The film was directed and written by Frank Darabont. (Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment)

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee's novel, which is required reading for middle schoolers everywhere, was turned into a big screen classic by director Robert Mulligan and actor Gregory Peck. AFI named this triple-Oscar winning film one of the greatest American movies of all time. (Photo: Universal Pictures)

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To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee's novel, required reading for middle schoolers everywhere, was turned into a big screen classic by director Robert Mulligan and actor Gregory Peck in 1962. With a screenplay by Horton Foote, AFI named this triple-Oscar-winning film one of the greatest American movies ever. (Photo: Universal Pictures)

Roots - It's difficult to overestimate the impact of this mini-series, adapted from Alex Haley's seminal novel, on both American culture and television history. Roots received an unprecedented Nielsen rating when it first aired in 1977, and still stands as the third-highest rated TV program ever in the US. The mini-series, which stars a young LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, was nominated for 36 Emmys.(Photo: Warner Bros. Television)

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Roots - It's difficult to overestimate the impact of this mini-series, adapted from Alex Haley's seminal novel, on both American culture and television history. Roots received an unprecedented Nielsen rating when it first aired in 1977, and still stands as the third-highest rated TV program ever in the US. The mini-series, which stars a young LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, was nominated for 36 Emmys. Alex Haley wrote the screenplay with James Lee. (Photo: Warner Bros. Television)

Native Son - The 1986 adaptation of this canonized novel by Richard Wright cost about as much as one of star Oprah Winfrey's pedicures, but it introduced a new generation to the seminal story of a young Black man in 1930s Chicago who is charged for the murder of a young white girl.(Photo: American Playhouse)

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Native Son - The 1986 adaptation of this canonized novel by Richard Wright introduced a new generation to the seminal story of a young Black man in 1930s Chicago who is charged for the murder of a young white girl. This made-for-TV movie was written by Richard Wesley. (Photo: American Playhouse)