Novelization
The year 1915 marked the first known novelization of a silent film when publishers released an adaptation of Les Vampires. This French serial ran from 1915 to 1916 and featured a criminal mastermind named Irma Vep. Novelizations began appearing in the 1910s and 1920s specifically for silent films like London After Midnight which arrived in theaters during 1927. One of the earliest sound films to receive this treatment was King Kong in 1933. The novel version appeared two months before the actual movie hit cinemas. Publishers used these books as marketing tools long before home video existed.
Film novelizations became especially profitable during the 1970s before home video technology became available to consumers. These books served as the only way for fans to re-experience popular movies outside of television airings or theater rereleases. Star Wars sold millions of copies after its release in 1977 while Alien followed suit with similar success in 1979. Star Trek: The Motion Picture also achieved massive sales figures in 1979. Industry estimates suggest that about one or two percent of any film audience will purchase its corresponding novelization. This small percentage makes these relatively inexpensive works commercially attractive for blockbuster franchises. Even today the adaptation of Godzilla from 2014 appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for mass-market paperbacks. About fifty percent of all novelizations sell to people who have already seen the film and want to explore characters further.
Writers must multiply the twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand words of a screenplay into at least sixty thousand words. They achieve this expansion by adding description or introspection to the original material. Publishers aim to have novelizations ready in shops before a film is released. This necessity means writers often base their work on an early draft instead of the completed movie. Max Allan Collins had to write the novelization for Road to Perdition without access to details he created for the graphic novel version. Collins faced another challenge when writing In the Line of Fire which required completion within nine days. Script rewrites can force last-minute changes to the novel text. The script for Modesty Blaise was rewritten by five different authors during production. An insider might tell whether a novelization diverges unintentionally because it relies on an earlier version containing deleted scenes. Sometimes separate novelizations appear for different countries based on different screenplay drafts.
Alan Dean Foster wrote the Alien novelization without knowing what the Xenomorph looked like until later in the process. He described the experience as making his own director's cut with unlimited budget and creative freedom. Several critically acclaimed literary authors have written novelizations including Arthur Calder-Marshall William Kotzwinkle and Richard Elman. Best-selling author Ken Follett wrote one early in his career while Isaac Asimov took on the task later in life. David Morrell negotiated unprecedented liberties for his Rambo novelization that resulted in six weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers hands out annual awards called Scribes to recognize these writers. Despite this recognition tie-in writing still carries disadvantages from the writer perspective such as modest pay tight deadlines and no ownership in intellectual property created. Writers Guild of America rules require screenwriters to have right of first refusal but they rarely exercise this due to lack of prestige and money.
The first video game to be novelized was Shadowkeep which appeared in 1984. Matt Forbeck became a writer of novels based on video games after spending over a decade writing tabletop roleplaying game books. Eric Nylund introduced a new concept by delivering a Halo trilogy consisting of a prequel titled The Fall of Reach an actual novelization called First Strike and a sequel named Ghosts of Onyx. Raymond Benson novelized Metal Gear Solid in 2008 while Project Itoh wrote a Japanese language version of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots also in 2008. Doctor Who stories were novelized particularly during the era published by Target Books. Episodes of Star Trek were adapted into short stories by James Blish with each volume containing multiple adaptations. Mel Gilden merged three episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 into one book requiring him to find a joint story arc. Peter O'Donnell scripted the Modesty Blaise comic strip before later authoring novels featuring that character not directly based on the strips themselves.
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Common questions
When was the first known novelization of a silent film published?
The year 1915 marked the first known novelization of a silent film when publishers released an adaptation of Les Vampires. This French serial ran from 1915 to 1916 and featured a criminal mastermind named Irma Vep.
Why did film novelizations become especially profitable during the 1970s?
Film novelizations became especially profitable during the 1970s before home video technology became available to consumers. These books served as the only way for fans to re-experience popular movies outside of television airings or theater rereleases.
How many words must writers multiply a screenplay into for a novelization?
Writers must multiply the twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand words of a screenplay into at least sixty thousand words. They achieve this expansion by adding description or introspection to the original material.
Who wrote the Alien novelization without knowing what the Xenomorph looked like until later in the process?
Alan Dean Foster wrote the Alien novelization without knowing what the Xenomorph looked like until later in the process. He described the experience as making his own director's cut with unlimited budget and creative freedom.
What was the first video game to be novelized and when did it appear?
The first video game to be novelized was Shadowkeep which appeared in 1984. Matt Forbeck became a writer of novels based on video games after spending over a decade writing tabletop roleplaying game books.