It’s a debate that’s raged since the dawn of contemporary pop culture—when it comes to screen adaptations, do you have to read or listen to the original before you watch? Many bookworms consider it borderline blasphemy to queue up a film before finishing the source material; countless others have discovered a favorite author through an adaptation of their work. While we may be a bit biased toward audio storytelling, there’s no denying the unique magic of a page-to-screen adaptation, especially one that masters all formats.
As the category of great page-to-screen storytelling continues to grow, we scoured our libraries, grilled audiophiles and cinephiles, and vetted the entire Audible catalog for the 100 greatest screen adaptations for watchers and listeners alike. These are the stories that inspired some of the greatest on-screen stories of all time, from Academy Award winners and cult classics to must-see TV. However you experience them, we assure you: They're well worth the price of admission.
Explore the depths of human drama
The full spectrum of the human experience shines in fiction, including these acclaimed film and TV adaptations. Effectively incorporating realism and emotional resonance, these masterful tales have captured the hearts of listeners and watchers alike.
Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script for his mafia masterpiece with the story's original author, Mario Puzo, crafting a saga of crime, power, and family.
Anna Karenina director Joe Wright is no stranger to book adaptations, but this heartbreaking WWII-era tale of innocence lost is one to remember.
A coming-of-age romance that follows first love and first heartbreak, this listen (and its big-screen accompaniment) explores the beauties and pains of desire.
This novel, based on the true story of a Nazi Party member credited with the quiet rescue of 1,200 Jewish people, inspired Spielberg's Best Picture winner.
Gregory Peck gave an unforgettable performance as Atticus Finch, a lawyer representing a Black man in 1930s Alabama, in the 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee's classic.
This moving narrative centers on the unwavering love between Fonny, a sculptor falsely imprisoned for an unthinkable crime, and Tish, who works tirelessly to free him.
Ken Kesey's searing takedown of flaws in midcentury America's psychiatric institutions is unforgettable for its characters, including the cold Nurse Ratched and jail-dodging McMurphy.
In perhaps the most iconic film role of her career, Audrey Hepburn brought a wide-eyed naivety to Holly Golightly, an eccentric woman who depends on social outings to survive.
The novel that served as the basis for the 2015 film of the same name recounts the story of Joy, an abducted woman, through the eyes of her son Jack, who was fathered by his mother's captor.
The Coen Brothers (of Fargo fame) further cemented their place in film history with the 2007 adaptation of this raw Western that follows an everyman hunted after making off with money he found in the desert.
Stevens (exquisitely portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins) is the quintessential English butler: prim, proper, and refined. As he comes to the end of his career, he's left to ruminate on 30 years of service.
John Coffey, a gentle giant with supernatural abilities accused of the unthinkable, broke our hearts. On film, Michael Clarke Duncan shattered us all over again with a stirring performance.
The Emmy-nominated adaptation of Sally Rooney's sophomore novel was a tender reflection of Connell and Marianne's story, one of love, intimacy, shame, and belonging.
This acclaimed short story following cowboy lovers Ennis and Jack inspired a film adaptation that served as a turning point in mainstream queer media.
Laura Dern, who played Marmee in Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation, returns to the March household in this dramatized edition of a perennial favorite.
An unflinching look at young heroin addicts living through addiction and poverty on the streets of Edinburgh, this experimental story broke the mold.
Alice Walker's Pulitzer winner about Celie, a resilient woman facing poverty and abuse in early 1900s Georgia, inspired an acclaimed 1985 film and Tony-winning musical.
Quiet but arresting, this listen and its correlating film center on Eilis Lacey, an Irish immigrant who finds opportunity and complication in 1950s New York.
After a hospital stay, Pat finds himself looking for the bright side and seeks to reconnect with his ex-wife, a goal that shifts after meeting young widow Tiffany.
The adaptation of this novel, which earned 12 noms at the 69th Academy Awards, stars Ralph Fiennes as a mysterious man dying of burn wounds in WWII Italy.
Swoon for these stories of love and identity
We can't help falling for these romantic page-to-screen adaptations—they just perfectly capture the excitement and nervous thrill of finding that special someone, even when up against the odds.
A captivating blend of time travel and historical romance, this bestseller-turned-television-smash is an epic love story that spans the ages: from the Scottish Highlands to colonial America.
Austen's enduring romance, which has been adapted time and again, is rich in commentary on class and gender, with a pairing that practically created the enemies-to-lovers trope.
Played fabulously by Angela Bassett in the 1998 adaptation, Stella is a career-driven single parent who finds love (and a new lease on life) on a spontaneous trip to Jamaica.
Netflix's adaptation of this sweet coming-of-age romance blends the fake-dating trope with the heights and pitfalls of teenage love, all beginning with the fateful sending of a few private letters.
Millions around the globe have fallen in love with the Regency-era Netflix original born from Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series, a saga of courtships, rogues, and debutantes.
Like John M. Chu's romantic dramedy starring Constance Wu and Henry Golding, the novel that inspired it is as much a gorgeous travelogue as it is a story of love, money, and social climbers.
The story behind the 2015 Oscar nominee follows the blooming relationship between sales clerk Therese and housewife Carol, marking a historic departure from tragic queer narratives.
Hugh Grant proved his rom-com credentials yet again in 2002 with his portrayal of Will Freeman, a charming cad who devises a scheme to woo single mothers, in About a Boy.
Speculate on alternate worlds and far-off galaxies
Fantasy and sci-fi are two genres practically made for the big screen. From sword fights and magical realms to journeys across the stars to speculative fic a little closer to home, these listens are pure imagination fuel.
Boris Karloff’s performance as The Creature is synonymous with the dawn of sci-fi horror on film—a genre that may not have existed without Mary Shelley’s magnum opus.
All three of Peter Jackson’s adaptations of the Lord of the Rings trilogy are exceptional, but The Return of the King stands out as one of the most decorated films of all time.
Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster of the same name proved that this cautionary tale of ambition, avarice, and the commodification of life was a natural fit for film.
Frank Herbert’s classic series redefined sci-fi forever, and inspired two massive hits: David Lynch’s funky 1984 cult favorite and Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed two-part epic.
The world of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? offered a compelling, ominous tone for Ridley Scott’s neo-noir, cyberpunk adaptation, Blade Runner.
HBO’s take on the A Song of Ice and Fire series wove political intrigue and high fantasy, and created one of the biggest cultural phenoms of the past decade.
Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote the screenplay for Stanley Kubrick’s arresting 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, also penned this story, the movie's initial inspiration.
A technicolor masterpiece, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, based on this enchanting children's classic, completely revolutionized fantasy filmmaking.
A sharp satire skewering authoritarianism and militarism, 1997’s take on Starship Troopers served as both an adaptation and critique of the source material.
Though there’s eight film adaptations of the Harry Potter series, Alfonso Cuarón’s darker third installment is a spellbinding standout well-received by fans and critics alike.
The Academy Award-nominated film (led by Matt Damon) expertly captured Andy Weir's brilliant hard sci-fi tale of Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars after a dust storm.
More speculative than sci-fi, The Handmaid’s Tale is a distressingly prescient look at a theocratic, oppressive dystopia where women are little more than wives and reproductive vessels.
Michael Sheen and David Tennant are delightful as angel and demon Aziraphale and Crowley in both the Prime Video series and this edition of the Gaiman/Pratchett collab.
Steven Spielberg's 2005 film traded gentler notions of first encounters (phoning E.T.) for a more contentious meeting between man and alien inspired by H.G. Wells’s radio classic.
Henry Cavill (who will be sorely missed going forward) masterfully captured the cool cunning of Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's take on The Witcher saga, which also inspired a hit video game.
Over the course of six seasons, viewers were immersed in the layered, politically-aware worldbuilding of space opera The Expanse, a show based on the ongoing fan favorite series.
With its vivid magical realms, timeless themes of good and evil, and core cast of four endearing, adventurous siblings, C.S. Lewis's classic has inspired a number of beloved adaptations.
Though the plot differs between book and film, the core themes of this look at a bleak future rocked by infertility—action and hope versus power and corruption—still hold true.
The much-lauded His Dark Materials trilogy (which prompted both big and small screen adaptations) is celebrated for its multiverse-spanning world and deeper philosophical musings.
Though it's new to television, The Sandman has long been a visual spectacle of art and mythos. Fans can enter The Dreaming anew with this audio drama.
From page to scream...
Hold onto your popcorn—these horror adaptations are the stuff of nightmares. From the eerie to the downright petrifying, we’re not sure which is scarier: the on-screen versions or the creeptastic listens they’re based on.
The first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture, The Exorcist also makes for an exceptional audiobook, with the author delivering a bone-chilling performance.
The masterful 1975 shark thriller is based on a novel of the same name, which follows three men determined to end a people-eating great white's reign of terror.
From Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee to Gary Oldman, a number of decorated actors have donned the Count's cape and brought Stoker's classic foe to life.
Though the novel and film are somewhat removed, it's undeniable that King and Kubrick each created a terrifying tale of ghosts, both literal and metaphoric.
From Halloween to The Fog, John Carpenter is a legend of horror filmmaking, and his 1982 sci-fi cult classic The Thing, based on this novella, is no exception.
Narcissistic serial killer Patrick Bateman is in many ways more unsettling than any paranormal monster, proven by this vicious, dark satire and the film that it inspired.
Mia Farrow, who portrayed Rosemary Woodhouse in the landmark 1968 film, lends her talented voice to this superb audio edition of the source material.
Daphne du Maurier's short story "Don't Look Now" and its 1973 film counterpart are memorable for their evocation of mood and foreboding sense of unease.
With a cinematic interpretation that captured the aches of immortality detailed so beautifully in the novel, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt enlivened the brooding saga of Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt.
The late Shirley Jackson's spooky haunted house classic was adapted into two films (one in 1963 and another in 1999) and served as the basis for a widely adored Netflix series that premiered in 2018.
This take on the vampire myth—an effective, stirring character study commenting on the brutality of mortals and immortals alike—buoyed two films (in 2008 and 2010) and a Showtime original.
Considered one of the greatest films ever made, the adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs is one of only a few to sweep the “Big Five” (Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, and Screenplay) at the Oscars.
Crack the case with these tales of intrigue
Mysteries and thrillers make for a particularly fun movie night—dodging red herrings and following clues, trying to unravel the mystery before the characters do. Oh, and it's just as fun to do with the audio versions—even if you think you know whodunit.
An expertly crafted, twisty thriller adored by listeners, this bestseller translated brilliantly to film with the help of Rosamund Pike's layered portrayal of missing Missouri wife Amy Dunne.
Tom Ripley is a handsome, ambitious con man living in mid-century New York with a fondness for the finer things in life—a desire that soon grows obsessive and dangerous.
Both the Swedish adaptation starring Noomi Rapace and the US version with Rooney Mara mirrored the grim landscape and high stakes of Larsson's psychological thriller.
Martin Scorsese directed this weighty psychological thriller with an ominous air while its star, Leonardo DiCaprio, lent depth and intrigue to protagonist Teddy Daniels.
A pillar of the hard-boiled genre, this listen also provided the plot for one of the most significant films of all time: the Humphrey Bogart-led 1941 noir of the same name.
In this smart mystery, symbologist Robert Langdon (played on screen by the peerless Tom Hanks) races to unravel a puzzle entwined in art, history, and theology.
RDJ and Benedict Cumberbatch are just two of many to don the deerstalker in film and television, bringing literature's greatest detective to life.
Sidney Lumet's 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie's locomotive ensemble whodunit starred the likes of Albert Finney, Sean Connery, and Lauren Bacall.
Villanelle is a vicious, highly gifted assassin. Eve is the MI5 agent tasked with taking her down. The BBC series captured the tension of their cat-and-mouse game and growing bond.
Daniel Craig made his debut in the 007 world with 2006's adaptation of Ian Fleming's spy thriller, which finds Bond at the baccarat table, aiming to take down the villainous Le Chiffre.
Penn Badgley expertly captures the unhinged unreliable narrator, stalker-turned-serial-killer Joe Goldberg, in Netflix's rendition of this suspenseful, paranoia-fueled series.
A cult favorite, Fight Club features Edward Norton as the aimless, unfulfilled protagonist and Brad Pitt as the tough, enigmatic Tyler Durden. When the pair meet, things quickly get out of hand.
From real life to film reel
Biopics and historic retellings recount the past through the lens of those who lived it. With stellar, layered performances and deftly researched narratives, these nonfiction films were inspired by equally riveting nonfiction storytelling.
American abolitionist Northup recounts the years he spent enslaved in this staggering memoir, one that bolstered the movement to end slavery and inspired both a PBS film and a Best Picture winner.
The basis for a star-studded dramedy, Michael Lewis's fascinating glimpse into the origins of the 2008 financial crisis traces the small, individual transactions that snowballed into fiscal disaster.
Led by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe, the adaptation of this phenomenal true story followed three Black women whose calculations fueled some of NASA's greatest leaps.
This volume, which loosely inspired the epic historical biopic Lincoln, is the definitive account of the 16th President's fight to preserve the Union while bringing together dissident political rivals.
The acclaimed 2014 biopic The Theory of Everything is based on this memoir of married life with renowned physicist Stephen Hawking amidst the anguish of his declining health.
Meryl Streep stars as Julia Child in the adaptation of this memoir, which follows the author as she whisks her way through the chef's cookbook, finding joy, peace, and purpose.
This historical account of Operation Cyclone, a Cold War-era CIA initiative to support Afghan militants during the Soviet-Afghan War, centers on an early supporter, US Rep Charlie Wilson.
Dev Patel won a BAFTA for his portrayal of Saroo Brierley, a young Indian man searching to reclaim home and identity after years spent looking for the family he'd lost at age five.
Spike Lee's brilliant crime thriller take on Ron Stallworth's memoir stars John David Washington as the Black Colorado detective who devised a plan to infiltrate the most nefarious hate group in America.
The movie version of this vital work starred Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein and Robert Redford as Bob Woodward, the journalists whose explosive stories on Watergate set Nixon's downfall into motion.
Inspired by the film The Imitation Game, this listen sheds light on both Alan Turing's contributions to technology and the very outcome of WWII and the era's homophobic policies that condemned him.
Led by Zoe Saldaña, the Netflix adaptation of Tembi Locke's stirring memoir is a testament to love and family, recalling Locke's marriage to Italian chef Saro and her path towards healing after his death.
In translating this true crime story to film, David Fincher honed in on the hunt for the elusive Zodiac Killer and the effect of the investigation on cops and journalists working the case.
Those familiar with the Russell Crowe film of the same name will be moved by its inspiration, a layered bio of math genius John Nash that delves into the complexities of the human mind.
Aaron Sorkin won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network, a compulsively watchable account of the two Ivy Leaguers behind the creation of Facebook.
Among the best worst films ever made, The Room has developed a cult following in years past. This insider account of its production (which itself generated a biopic) is a wild ride.
Get animated with these kids' favorites
Whether you're looking to entertain little ones or you're a kid-at-heart craving a little bit of nostalgia, these beloved favorites offer something special for the whole family to watch or listen to together.
Any fan of Studio Ghibli will recognize Kiki, the spunky half-witch, and her clever little black cat, Jiji, the charming leads of this tale of friendship, magic, and belonging.
A Dreamworks favorite of millennials, the time-tested Shrek films featured an all-star cast, led by SNL's Mike Myers as the voice of the surly swamp-dwelling ogre.
A beloved children's classic on compassion and found family, Charlotte's Web was spun into both animated (1973) and live action (2006) adaptations.
Adapted for the screen multiple times, Carroll's enduring kidlit fantasy with its host of odd and irascible characters is voiced by the perfect Alice: Scarlett Johansson.
This series that inspired a popular trilogy of films unwinds the story of Hiccup, a teen Viking who must prove his mettle by catching and training a dragon.
Dahl's sweet-toothed favorite fable was adapted twice, in 1971 and 2005, into two vastly different films, yet both still capture that wondrous world of Wonka.
This modern middle-grade classic following Stanley Yelnats's stint in juvenile detention won the 1999 Newbery Medal and a 2003 adaptation with Sigourney Weaver.
Created by legendary animator Don Bluth, 1982's The Secret of NIMH brought the story of Mrs. Frisby and a team of brainy lab rats to life in immaculate detail.
Considered by many to be one of the very best films of the 2010s, Paddington 2 continued to follow the hijinks of the beloved, marmalade-snacking sun bear.
The 2007 film adaptation stayed true to this enchanting work of imaginative children's fiction, refusing to shy away from a realistic portrayal of grief.
Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, returned to spooky storytelling with a visually-arresting stop-motion retelling of Coraline.
Rising star Storm Reid traveled through time with a cast of veteran talent, including Reese Witherspoon and Oprah Winfrey, in the 2018 film adaptation of this sci-fi staple.