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See also the mini-story on film novelizations from 99% Invisible: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mini-stories-volume-9/ https://99percentinvisible.org/e

See also the mini-story on film novelizations from 99% Invisible: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mini-stories-volume-9/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mini-stories-volume-9... A funny part of these is that the author often doesn't get to see the movie they're adapting! > The novelization of “Alien,” for example, does not have a description of the alien, because 20th Century Fox wouldn’t let the writer look at the puppet while it was being designed. And in “The Empire Strikes Back,” the famously green character Yoda is described as having blue skin. > Author Hank Searls went off the rails during his adaptation of “Jaws: The Revenge,” adding a plot about the shark being controlled by a “voodoo curse.”

squeaky-clean 5y ago
Another funny anecdote in that category I didn't see in the article is Isaac Asimov's novelization for Fantastic Voyage. Because of filming delays the book was published 6 months before the film release, leading many people to believe the film was an adaptation of the book. That novelization differs significantly from the movie, but mostly because Asimov thought the screenplay was filled with bad sci-fi plot-holes and was given permission to change whatever he liked.
Finnucane 5y ago
Usually (having worked on the editorial/production side of some novelizations) the author is working from a script, because the book has to be written, typeset, and printed before the film is released. The folks on the Hollywood side do not understand publishing schedules.
gxqoz 5y ago
Licensed videogames before around 2000 commonly had this problem. They'd get an early script and have to build a game based on it. Sometimes, like with Ghostbusters 2, the script would change significantly over the course of the shooting / edit and there'd be game scenes that are no longer important / removed from the final cut.

squeaky-clean 5y ago

Another funny anecdote in that category I didn't see in the article is Isaac Asimov's novelization for Fantastic Voyage. Because of filming delays the book was published 6 months before the film release, leading many people to believe the film was an adaptation of the book. That novelization differs significantly from the movie, but mostly because Asimov thought the screenplay was filled with bad sci-fi plot-holes and was given permission to change whatever he liked.

Finnucane 5y ago

Usually (having worked on the editorial/production side of some novelizations) the author is working from a script, because the book has to be written, typeset, and printed before the film is released. The folks on the Hollywood side do not understand publishing schedules.

gxqoz 5y ago

Licensed videogames before around 2000 commonly had this problem. They'd get an early script and have to build a game based on it. Sometimes, like with Ghostbusters 2, the script would change significantly over the course of the shooting / edit and there'd be game scenes that are no longer important / removed from the final cut.