To adapt or not to adapt.

I'm going to spoil 'Watchmen' here, both the film and comic. So be warned.


Adaptation. It's a tricky thing. Like almost every writer I've tried my hand at adaptation, mainly more as an exercise in writing than anything I was seriously pursuing. It serves as a good way to get back into the groove of writing as most of the work is laid out for you. Just work on adapting some pages until you're back into the swing of things and it leaves you ready for whatever next big project you're working on.

The biggest problem though is just how to adapt? Do you stay slavishly devoted to the text or do you make it palatable for the screen (Or Stage)? More often that not the biggest problem comes from the fact that what works in one medium simply doesn't work in another. A book offers a much richer insight into any given character as we're given a glimpse behind their thoughts and feelings. Film doesn't offer the same comfort unless you're planning on overlaying every single scene with voiceover.

Moreover, there's just simply no way to replicate what's on the page. It's a problem that often faces anyone who's tried adapting Stephen King. Not to spoil it but the ending of 'IT' in book form involves a psychological battle through time and space...sort of. In the film it's against a giant spider. Two different mediums, two very different results. It's no surprise that the biggest success when it comes to King is in his more Human stories. Take 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'The Green Mile' (Both from Frank Darabont). The former is a straight up drama, but the latter is more fantastical. But both work on the screen. 'The Shining' works because Stanley Kubrick tossed out everything in Kings book apart from the basic story. As an adaptation its terrible, but as a film it works great. Even King himself failed when he adapted a faithful version of 'The Shining' for TV. There's just something not scary about killer hedge cuttings.

So how do you adapt the unadaptable? Well don't. But if you're the persistent sort who has to then theme is always the key. If you have the same destination but take a different road to get there well then there's no harm there at all.

Let's take 'Watchmen' for instance. Spoilers obviously...

The end of the Graphic Novel features a Giant Squid that lands in the centre of New York city, dying on impact. As it does it sends a Psychic shockwave throughout the city, killing everyone unfortunate enough to be close by. It's all a plan on the part of the bad guy (I won't say who) to scare the World off from the brink of Nuclear War. The threat is no longer each other, the threat comes from outside.

The film tackles it differently. In the film the only true "Superhero" Dr Manhattan is tricked into having his energy harvested and placed in bombs throughout all the major cities in the world, all being set off simultaneously. It sets Manhattan up as the villain, that he launched an unprovoked attack on the World. Same destination, different roads.

There was a lot of fan uproar over the change (As fans are want to do), particulary as the rest of the film is so close in content to the Graphic Novel, but the ending works, and dare I say it might be better. For 2 reasons...

1) The original ending never worked that well for me. It often felt like the most poorly thought out part of the whole thing. It helps that it lays the groundwork for it throughout the Novel and admittedly there's a genuine shock when you first realise what's happening. However, there's always the thought "Really? A giant squid?" in the back of your mind.

2) 9/11 happened. America WAS attacked, and most of the world (Even the enemies) rallied behind them. But only for a time. Not to get into American foreign policy but the calm was only short lived before things went back to normal (And then got worse). In this version though the world lives under constant threat that Dr Manhattan is always going to be watching them, like an Old Testament God.

If you are working on an adaptation then consider what works and what doesn't. Also don't be afraid to change things ('LA Confidential' veers wildly away from the Book and works great as a film, 'The Black Dahlia' stays faithful and well...doesn't). If you keep the essence of the story and don't betray it then it's hard to go wrong.

Same destination, different roads.