10 Authors Who Can't Stand Their Film Adaptations

Sometimes there are terrible book to film adaptations that audiences just aren't a fan of for whatever reason. But other times, there are books that get adapted into extremely successful and popular movies— which the authors of the original material hate!

For example, you might be surprised to learn that The Shining author Stephen King and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory author Roald Dahl don't like the films that came from their books. Click through our gallery to find out about more book to movie adaptions that authors hated!

Anne Rice was writing vampire fiction long before it became a popular trend, and was less than enthused by the adaptation of her novel Interview with the Vampire. She called the casting "so bizarre," specifically saying that Tom Cruise "is no more my vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler."

Stephen King has famously criticized Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his horror classic The Shining! King expressed his displeasure with Kubrick's approach to the creepy tale, saying that "he sought evil in the characters and made the film a family tragedy" and was "deeply disappointed" by the film.

Roald Dahl hates the movie that came from his children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! The British author reportedly said it was "lousy," and criticized actor Gene Wilder's portrayal of "Willy Wonka," calling him "pompous" in the role.

P.L. Travers is said to have hated one particular aspect of Disney's take on Mary Poppins, which is the way the film incorporated animated sequences! This reportedly made the author so distraught she cried while screening the film.

Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is known as a literary classic, but the author isn't happy about a key change that was made for the film! He is said to have been upset by how Jack Nicholson's character "Randle McMurphy" took centre stage in the adaptation.

Anthony Burgess was ready to completely disavow his novel A Clockwork Orange after seeing the film that resulted from it! Burgess is said to have been disturbed by how the movie "seemed to glorify intercourse and violence."

Winston Groom doesn't like what was done with Forrest Gump! The author was so disappointed by the changes the movie made to his book, that he responded to it with a follow-up novel. "Don't ever let anyone make a movie of your life's work," Groom wrote in his 1995 Forrest Gump & Co.

J.D. Salinger may be best known for The Catcher in the Rye, but it was an adaptation of one of his short stories that disappointed the author! My Foolish Heart was reportedly detestable enough to Salinger that he didn't want any of his other works turned into films.

Clive Cussler's adventure novel Sahara ended up turning into a movie that's known as one of the biggest box office flops! The author was not pleased that he didn't have as much creative control as he would have liked, and actually tried to sue the film's director.