# Which author's books have made the most money in movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564 "2009-10-21T02:33:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/1 "2009-10-21T02:33:35Z")
A recent thread on J.K. Rowling made me wonder which author has had their books go on to make the most successful movies. I’m not talking money for the author him of herself - they may have sold the rights for pennies. I’m just talking about the total box office from the movies based on their books. A few possibilties: J.K. Rowling - The Harry Potter movies have all been successful. J.R.R. Tolkein - So were the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Plus there must have been something from the earlier Hobbit movies. Ian Fleming - All of the early Bond movies Bram Stoker - Probably not. It depends on whether you credit every Dracula movie to his original book. Plus there hasn’t been any huge Dracula blockbusters. Tom Clancy - The Jack Ryan movies. Mario Puzo - The Godfather plus maybe the two sequels depending on how you divide up the credit. Margaret Mitchell - If adjusted for inflation. Bob Kane and Bill Finger - Why not? There have been several big Batman movies. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/2 "2009-10-21T02:45:37Z")
Probably not the winner, but you should add Philip K. Dick to a list like this. Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report and several others. [Linky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_k._dick#Films_2) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/3 "2009-10-21T02:55:42Z")
I’d add Stephen King. The list of movies based on his stories is quite long. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/4 "2009-10-21T03:20:35Z")
I would say King, myself. > [@squeegee](#): > > Probably not the winner, but you should add Philip K. Dick to a list like this. Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report and several others. [Linky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_k._dick#Films_2) This brings up another question. All of those, as I understand it (I never read the books, myself) were extremely heavily altered for the film, to the point where you can recognize the original, but only barely. Are these really considered to be the author’s film. How far can you take them before it’s meaningless? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/5 "2009-10-21T03:35:30Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > This brings up another question. All of those, as I understand it (I never read the books, myself) were extremely heavily altered for the film, to the point where you can recognize the original, but only barely. Are these really considered to be the author’s film. How far can you take them before it’s meaningless? I can’t speak to the larger question, but I can tell you that Phil loved _Blade Runner_. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner) > [@](#): > > The producers of the film arranged for a screening of some special effects rough cuts for Philip K. Dick shortly before he died in early 1982. Despite his well known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, he became quite enthusiastic about the film. He said, “I saw a segment of Douglas Trumbull’s special effects for Blade Runner on the KNBC-TV news. I recognized it immediately. It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly.” He also approved of the film’s script, saying, “After I finished reading the screenplay, I got the novel out and looked through it. The two reinforce each other, so that someone who started with the novel would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie would enjoy the novel.” ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/6 "2009-10-21T05:25:12Z")
[Domestic $](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/) (not adjusted for inflation): **Tolkien** : $1.061 billion **Fleming** : $1.609 billion **Rowling** : $1.712 billion The only other one that looks like it might break a billion: Michael Crichton. The _Jurassic Park_ movies tally $767M, and he also wrote _Twister_ ($242M), though that wasn’t an adaptation from a novel. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/7 "2009-10-21T05:29:35Z")
As for Stephen King: [$1.015 billion](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=stephenking.htm). I didn’t include comic books since “authorship” is a bit more fluid there. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/8 "2009-10-21T07:16:24Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I didn’t include comic books since “authorship” is a bit more fluid there. I’m sure you can make a case for Stan Lee’s work, or Alan Moore’s? I don’t know how to run the numbers on that site, though… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/9 "2009-10-21T07:24:39Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > The only other one that looks like it might break a billion: Michael Crichton. The _Jurassic Park_ movies tally $767M, and he also wrote _Twister_ ($242M), though that wasn’t an adaptation from a novel. Even if you discount Twister for not being an adaptation, all of the following are also adaptations from his books: worldwide grosses Timeline 44 million Sphere 50 million The 13th Warrior 62 million Rising Sun 107 million Congo 152 million Disclosure 214 million ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/10 "2009-10-21T07:25:07Z")
nvmnd beat to it ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/11 "2009-10-21T07:27:33Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Timeline 44 million > Sphere 50 million > The 13th Warrior 62 million > Rising Sun 107 million > Congo 152 million > Disclosure 214 million Wow that’s fairly close to the opposite of what I’d have expected in terms of gross ranking! Very interesting… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/12 "2009-10-21T07:32:29Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Wow that’s fairly close to the opposite of what I’d have expected in terms of gross ranking! Very interesting… So it’s not just me then. I was thinking “what was Disclosure, again? guess I better look it up too…” and was surprised. I still don’t really remember that movie, but the cover looks familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/13 "2009-10-21T07:39:36Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > [Domestic $](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/) (not adjusted for inflation): > > **Tolkien** : $1.061 billion > **Fleming** : $1.609 billion > **Rowling** : $1.712 billion > > The only other one that looks like it might break a billion: Michael Crichton. The _Jurassic Park_ movies tally $767M, and he also wrote _Twister_ ($242M), though that wasn’t an adaptation from a novel. Crichton breaks $1B Domestically by a wide margin. _Andromeda Strain_ ($12M), \*Disclosure \*($80M), \*Sphere \*($37M), _Rising Sun_ ($63M), _13th Warrior_ ($85M), \*Timeline \*($20M), \*Congo \*($81M). Additionally, _Next_ and _Pirate Latitudes_ are scheduled to be adapted into movies in the near future and I’d be surprised if his other novels that haven’t been sold yet don’t end up on the big screen before too long. Considering Speilberg is a fan of his and is planning on doing _Pirate Latitudes_ him getting another several hundred million under his belt seems likely. If director/producers of similar talent and reputation latch onto his other works $2B isn’t out of the question. Incidentally, how much credit does Ian Fleming get for the Bond franchise? Most of the movies have nothing to do with anything he wrote, and even the ones that are based on his novels were changed dramatically in both plot, mood and characterization. ETA: Rats. Beaten to the punch while I did my research. Curse you all! ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/14 "2009-10-21T08:13:03Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > As for Stephen King: [$1.015 billion](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=stephenking.htm). > > I didn’t include comic books since “authorship” is a bit more fluid there. If you decided to use adjusted numbers I think he’d end up at the top. _The Shining_ for example would be well over $110M in today’s dollars as opposed to the $44M it took in in 1980. _Stand By Me_, _Carrie, Misery, Pet Semetary_ and \*The Running Man \* would all probably be poking the $100M mark adjusted as well. Only Bond and _The Godfather_ movies reach back far enough to really grow substantially, and Puzo would still not be able to reach $1B. Bond would be well ahead based on adjusted numbers since the Bond movies have always been big sellers and span back decades but I’m not sure I credit Fleming with any of the newer ones. Gone With The Wind adjusted is at $1.451B so that’s probably the mark to beat other than _Harry Potter_. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/15 "2009-10-21T10:40:01Z")
John Grisham had a number of adaptations. Another question to consider is whether to give any weight to merchandising or related spinoffs from the movie (like the Bond video games). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/16 "2009-10-21T12:09:38Z")
I thought of another one: Richard Matheson. His big hit would be _I Am Legend_ (along with the two previous adaptations). But his books were also the basis for _What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Somewhere in Time, The Legend of Hell House, It’s Alive,_, and _The Incredible Shrinking Man_. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/17 "2009-10-21T13:00:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I thought of another one: Richard Matheson. His big hit would be _I Am Legend_ (along with the two previous adaptations). But his books were also the basis for _What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Somewhere in Time, The Legend of Hell House, It’s Alive,_, and _The Incredible Shrinking Man_. Also the upcoming _The Box_, adapted from the Twilight Zone ep “Button, Button”, which was adapted from the short story of the same name. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/18 "2009-10-21T13:12:21Z")
**Jules Verne** has to be incredibly profitable – not because of blockbuster movies (although Disney’s _20,000 Leagues_ and Mike Todd’s _Around the World in 80 Days_would probably qualify), but simply because there were so many film versions in countries all over the world, essentially since the beginning of cinema. I understand that Russian versions of _In Search of the Castaways_ were immensely popular, even though, as far as I know, they’ve never been shown in the US. The IMDb lists 134 adaptations of his works, all but about 20 of them made since 1950: > **[Jules Verne | Writer, Additional Crew](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0894523/)** > > Known for: Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/19 "2009-10-21T13:35:06Z")
For single books, I’d bet Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with Wind, L. Frank baum’s The Wizard of Oz, or Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. ---
**Author:** ![candide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@candide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/candide)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564/20 "2009-10-23T01:18:30Z")
Don’t forget these Crighton vehicles: _Westworld_ with Yul Brenner as the robot run amok, and _The Great Train Robbery_ with Sean Connery and Donald Southerland as Victorian-era thieves. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-authors-books-have-made-the-most-money-in-movies/514564.md?page=2)