Now that’s magical.

Revolutionize the entire film industry, for starters.

(The only thing scarier?

Special Award for Overall Excellence Source: Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007) Seven beloved books became eight blockbuster movies (the seventh book was split

Peter Mountain; Jaap Buitendijk

A series of increasingly poor quality sequels and one truly misguided shot-for-shot 1998 remake by Gus Van Sant.)

The hard work by all paid off.

The well-reviewed miniseries holds the record for most Emmys.

Source: Life of Pi (2001) Many people thought that the fantasy adventure novel about a young man stranded in the middle of the ocean with

Rhythm & Hues

ButPerksisn’t a slavish transliteration of its source material, perhaps because director Stephen Chbosky adapted his own novel.

Alex Haley’s 12-hour miniseries was never less than a labor of love.

It was also a smash hit, to this day one of the most-watched programs in U.S. history.

Who: Executive producers Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, and producer Sue Vertue When: Thursday, July 18, at 2:15 p.m. Where: Ballroom 20 This year, the British

BBC

Darabont went on to successfully adapt two more of King’s works:The Green MileandThe Mist.

Jodi Walker

Blade Runner(1982)

Source:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Tolkien’s work into a sweeping epic, complete with breathtaking battles and intense action.

Source: The Godfather (1969) Francis Ford Coppola took author Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel about the life and crimes of Mafia boss Don Vito Corleone and

His passionate filmmaking paid off the movie was honored with 11 Oscars, including the 2004 Best Picture statuette.

McMurphy, a character known as a boisterous rebel as opposed to the quiet and observant Chief.

Relatively minor character Shane lived much longer (probably too long) on TV than in the comics.

Source: The Silence of the Lambs (1988) Jonathan Demme’s lean, unforgettable film brought Thomas Harris’s twisty serial killer story to horrifying life, wowing both critics

Ken Regan/Camera 5

Leads like Andrea and the Governor differed wildly from their comic-book incarnations.

The changes seem to have paid off:Tiffany’swas nominated for five Oscars and won two.

(Leslie Howard is?fine.)

Game Of Thrones

HBO

For example, the film is perhaps best known for its bathing scene featuring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

It took home Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for Sydney Pollack.

And did we mention Colin Firth’swet T-shirt scene?

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Murray Close

(Did we even have to?)

And who can forget that toilet sequence?

(Seriously, can you?

Eight hours and 56 years pass in what feels like a matter of minutes in the biographical miniseries about America’s brilliant, if irritable, Founding Father

Kent Eanes/HBO

If so, tell me how.)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) Too often, adaptations of beloved novels try (and fail) to literally translate the book’s story from page

John Bramley

This sweeping look at the life and legacy, both historical and genetic, of a single slave remains one of the most-watched programs in U.S. history.

ABC/Getty Images

Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, … | Source: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (1982) Taking on a Stephen King novella is no small feat. But Frank Darabont — or as you may

Everett Collection

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Everett Collection

Source: Pretty Little Liars (2006) You wouldn’t think a weekly TV series could possibly keep up the fast-paced twists and turns of this serialized whodunnit,

Andrew Eccles/ABC Family

Source: The Return of the King (1955) The fantasy series was already well-adapted in the television and film world by the time Peter Jackson took

Pierre Vinet

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) While Chief is the narrator of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , the film

Everett Collection

Source: The Walking Dead (2003-Present) With the guidance of Dead creator Robert Kirkman, AMC transformed the writer’s long-running comic book series into a pop phenomenon,

Gene Page/AMC

Despite a rotating set of directors and controversy over the decision to cast English actress Vivien Leigh to play feisty, fussy Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara,

Everett Collection

Source: MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (1968) Following in the footsteps of Robert Altman’s 1970 iteration of MASH , which was nominated for

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Source: The Devil Wears Prada (2003) Two words: Meryl Streep. No disrespect to Anne Hathaway, who was fetching as the harried and all-too-easily made-over fashion

Everett Collection

Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, … | Source: Out of Africa (1937) The film was based loosely on Isak Dinesen’s memoir, maintaining the book’s overall story arc but taking a few liberties.

Everett Collection

Source: Pride & Prejudice (1813) Jane Austen’s classic novel has been adapted many times — and many times very well (most recently with Joe Wright’s

Everett Collection

Source: Schindler’s Ark (1982) Though Steven Spielberg received some criticism on the historical accuracy of his film, in the book from which it was adapted,

Everett Collection

Source: Wiseguy (1985) Nicholas Pileggi’s account of mob rat Henry Hill found its perfect steward in director Martin Scorsese. With a stellar cast and some

Everett Collection

Source: The Thorn Birds (1977) When you score a Sopranos reference more than two decades later, you know you did something right. Roots producer David

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Source: Trainspotting (1993) A shot of frenzy straight from the eyes through to the veins, Danny Boyle’s jumpy, jagged style brilliantly articulated Irvine Welsh’s jittery

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Source: The Maltese Falcon (1930) The movie that ignited the film noir genre, defined the career of Humphrey Bogart, and introduced the world to stage

Everett Collection

Source: Little House series (1932-43, 1968) In hindsight, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s folksy novel series was tailor-made for serialized television, and the Ingalls family became America’s

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images