I just recently watched the first three seasons Game of Thrones. I have already read the books on which it is based. I loved the books, and I had heard good things about the series, so I decided to watch it. I was a little skeptical at first because I've been burned by bad media crossovers in the past. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The series is excellent, and I recommend it to anyone who can handle the copious amounts of sex and violence.
Watching the series made me start thinking about media crossovers. They are everywhere these days. It's not surprising when you think about it, though. You have a successful franchise, and you wonder how to make it more successful. You cross into another media. Not only will you generate more success from your existing fans, you also have the potential to reach new fans as well. Not everyone reads books, but they may watch a television series or a movie. They may play a video game. And once they've seen the movie or played the video game, they may go back and read the book. To me, anything that gets people reading is a good thing.
Of course, there have been many failed attempts at media crossovers as well. The people in charge assume that the strength of the original work will carry through to the crossover and make up for any shortcomings it may have. That's not always the case. Each piece needs to be able to stand on its own if it is to be truly successful. People should want to watch a movie because it is a good movie, not because it is based on their favorite book. The latter is just icing on the cake.
This is especially true with video games. You see so often where a video game is released along with a new movie. However, most of these games are terrible. They end up in bargain bins within a year of release. It doesn't make sense to me for companies to waste resources making the game if it is just going to fail. And the reverse is also true. There have been many successful video games that have been turned into movies. Unfortunately, most of these movies have been terrible.
Aside from making each entity good on its own, they still need to be closely related. When you start making major changes from the original work, you run the risk of alienating the existing fans, which can cause a negative backlash. You need to make sure the important characters and plotlines stay intact. It is understandable to make minor changes based on the new media, but you need to make sure it still mostly resembles the original.
Game of Thrones is one of the best examples I've seen recently of a successful media crossover. The books are very good and have quite a few readers. When HBO decided to turn the books into a series, obviously they had to make a few changes. There is too much information in the books to put into a TV series because there are different constraints in that media. However, they have been very true to the major characters and plot points in the books. There are certain events in the books that I expect to see when I watch the show and thus far I have not been disappointed.
However, Game of Thrones is also an excellent show on its own merits. If someone had never heard of the Song of Ice and Fire books, they would still be able to enjoy the show. This is obvious in the success the show has had. It is filled with a high quality cast and excellent writers. Of course, it helps that the author of the books has a direct hand in the show, even going so far as to write scripts for some of the episodes.
If any of my works ever have a media crossover, I would want to have my hand in it as well. I think this leads to the best product because it helps make sure the true vision of the original work stays intact. Maybe one day, I will get to see "based on the book by Eddie Walker" at the beginning of a movie. I can't even imagine what that would feel like.
-Eddie
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