It’s rather typical for Hollywood to acquire the rights to books to convert them into blockbuster films. With global picture office hits like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games, it’s logical that more book series has been adapted in the hopes of becoming the next big smash.
If Twilight and The Hunger Games have taught us anything, it’s that Young Adult (YA) novels can attract a devoted following, implying that if the first picture succeeds, the remainder of the franchise will follow suit. But what about the first installments, which were a flop?
We’ve compiled a list of 10 popular YA series that never made it past the first installment.
These series deserved better, whether it was due to poor scriptwriting, terrible acting, or a deviation from the beloved books.
1. Beautiful Creatures (2013)
The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl sounded like the perfect “next great thing” after the Twilight craze.
A human is romantically linked with a supernatural creature, in this instance a “Caster,” who will be claimed by either the Light or the Dark by her 16th birthday, in a narrative similar to Twilight.
According to Publishers Weekly, the first book in the series has a “compelling and complex mythology,” and one reviewer noted, “There are enough kids will like: romance, magic, hauntings, and the promise of more to come.”
Regrettably, this did not transition well to the big screen. The picture flopped, grossing only $60.1 million on a $60 million budget.
Variety Magazine even called it “one of Hollywood’s worst box office flops of 2013.” Unfortunately, Garcia and Stohl’s work suffers from Hollywood’s desire to imitate the success of another picture rather than exploring and celebrating the unique qualities of the Caster Chronicles that set it apart from others in the overcrowded genre.
2. Inkheart (2008)
Cornelia Funke, a well-known German author, has been labeled “the German counterpart to J.K. Rowling,” since they both create wonderful worlds that readers can’t help but fall in love with.
The 2008 film, which was based on a book that sold 3 million copies worldwide, is a flop. The biggest issue with this adaptation is the removal of a lot of backstories.
It was barely a commercial success (a $60 million budget only grossed $62 million), and the main fault with it is the removal of a lot of backstories. Naturally, there will be cuts in a book-to-movie adaptation, but the film’s choice of cuts makes it a confusing experience.
The film makes sense to those who have read the novels and are familiar with the backstory. However, anyone who views the film without this knowledge would be disappointed.
The magic that is so brilliantly reproduced in the Harry Potter series is not replicated here. On Rotten Tomatoes, the general judgment is that the film is “heavy on clichés and low on charm,” and that “this kid-lit fantasy adventure doesn’t quite get off the ground.”
Unfortunately, author Cornelia Funke shares similar sentiment about the film adaptation, saying, “A book is like a flying carpet; you give it to the movies, and they hand you a napkin and say, “This is the same thing, Cornelia!” but it isn’t!”
3. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
When employing a famous trope, a film must develop its distinct take in the overcrowded realm of YA fantasy. Unfortunately, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones falls short of expectations.
Despite its box office success, critics blasted the picture, which The Telegraph called “one of the most terrible page-to-screen adaptations in memory.”
A sequel was never made, but it was evident that The Mortal Instruments series had far too much potential to be squandered.
In 2014, it was revealed that the books would be adapted into a television series. Shadowhunters began in 2016 and lasted three seasons before being canceled in 2019.
4. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009)
Making the first film in a franchise is difficult because it must strike a balance between being able to stand alone and laying the stage for a sequel.
If the creation of the sequels to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or Twilight were to be halted for some reason, the films would still operate (and make sense) on their own.
Cirque de Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant fails because it introduces multiple characters who have no purpose in the film other than to build up a sequel—a sequel that never materialized because the film was a commercial failure (earning $39.2 million on a $40 million budget).
Cirque de Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant was a film that included all three books in Darren Shan’s Vampire Blood Trilogy (part of the larger series The Saga of Darren Shan).
With films like A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was a box office success, this has been demonstrated to work. Unfortunately, they were more concerned with prospective future films than with the one in front of them in this case.
‘One of the film’s main obligations is to develop characters and subplots for potential sequels […] the difficulty is, too many people must be introduced in the interest of future episodes without having much to do with this one,’ as The Hollywood Reporter puts it.
5. Fallen (2016)
The cinematic version of Lauren Kate’s first installment made every error we’ve outlined so far, even though the 6-book series has a devoted fanbase.
Fallen debuted at #3 on The New York Times Best Seller List for Children’s Books in January 2010 (and stayed there until April 2011), so there was enough good stuff to work with.
Despite this, it was a box office flop. Critics panned the picture, calling it “an eye-rollingly predictable romance” and “nothing but a poorer replica of everything that came before it.”
It not only came across as generic, but it also fell into the trap of focusing too much on the setup for future films rather than the content of the current picture. Unsurprisingly, there has been no confirmation of a sequel, though there are still rumors that one is in the works.
6. Eragon (2006)
Nothing proves this more than Eragon, which proves that box office success does not guarantee a hit franchise. Eragon was the 31st highest-grossing film of 2006, with a total of $250.4 million.
There was universal agreement that the picture was poor in every way: acting, visuals, screenplay, and fidelity to the book. The Inheritance Cycle’s first two volumes were both New York Times Best Sellers, so there was plenty of material to work with.
Instead, critics panned it, calling it “amateur writing” and “borrowing from Lord of the Rings,” and describing Eragon’s world as “without much texture or depth.”
Eragon was meant to be the first of three films, with the next two being shot back-to-back, but the rest of the series was canceled due to poor reviews.
7. I Am Number Four (2011)
I Am Number Four, the first novel in the Lorien Legacies series debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List in Children’s Chapter Books and remained there for seven weeks.
Despite the popularity of the seven-book series, the science fiction film version was panned for being unoriginal, with “bland stereotypes and listless recycling of concepts from numerous other YA works.”
Although it wasn’t a box office bomb (it made $150 million on a $50 million budget), all plans for a sequel were shelved. There was certainly optimism for a sequel, with critics claiming that the first installment was “laden with story devices that aren’t entirely explained or were seemingly introduced so that they may play a larger role in the sequels.”
Despite this, screenwriter Noxon stated in 2011 that plans for a sequel were shelved due to the poor reception of I Am Number Four.
8. Vampire Academy (2014)
Vampire Academy is a complete flop, proving that you can’t just throw vampires in a movie and expect it to work. The film barely made $15.4 million on a $30 million budget.”
Even though many of the adaptations on the list feature otherworldly creatures, most of them, including this one, fall short of being unique.
It’s easy for critics and fans to identify not only similarities but even exact replicas of successful shows, which never guarantees success. Harry Potter and Twilight are unique in that they are the first of their sort in a generation.
While the book was named #4 in the ALA’s Top 10 for Teens, the film only has a 16 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, with the opinion being that it “borrows carelessly from its predecessors and offers few laughs or thrills to accompany its dense history.”
9. City of Ember (2008)
The City of Ember, the largest financial flop on the list, with a $55 million budget but only grossed $17.9 million. Saoirse Ronan, who plays the main protagonist in the City of Ember, was the film’s saving grace. Critics lauded the young actress, but there was little else in the film to admire.
Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote that Saoirse Ronan’s “talents were wasted in the science-fiction juvenilia of City of Ember.”
‘Saoirse Ronan is a terrific heroine, but the script and the rest of the ensemble can’t keep up with her brisk pace, Katey Rich from Cinema Blend said.
It’s easy to observe how much the films lacked the enthusiasm of Jeanne DuPrau’s series by comparing book reviews to film reviews.
The film was described as a “simple-minded exercise in infantile dystopia” that “had been shredded in the editing room,” whereas the novel featured “full-blooded characters as every bit as good as the plot which would hook readers till the end.”
10. The Golden Compass (2007)
The Golden Compass is a 2007 cinematic adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights. Pullman’s series explores themes of religion and governance in a society ruled by The Magisterium (commonly known as “The Church”).
Although there has been some criticism of Pullman’s criticism of Christianity, significant figures such as Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury) have praised the book and encouraged it for use in R.E. classes.
The powerful thoughts and words were watered down, and the perverted power was steered away from any religious overtones.
The film was a heavily altered version of the novel, focusing on the “bare bones” and “removing the very purpose and soul of Pullman’s writings.” Despite its efforts to distance itself from the corrupted Church, the Catholic League has called for a boycott of the film, claiming that watching it will lead to reading books that advocate atheism.
The film was a flop, and star Sam Elliot blamed censorship and the Catholic Church for the trilogy’s cancellation. It’s not all doom and gloom for Pullman’s trilogy adaptation.
In November 2019, the TV series His Dark Materials was released, which is far more faithful to the trilogy and does not hide the Magisterium’s relationship to the Church. Season 3 is now in production, and the series has an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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