Rain Man. Poster of the 1988 movie and cover of the book novelization
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Rain Man
Leonore Fleischer, 1989
movie vs book   [NOVELIZATION]
Barry Levinson, 1988

Charlie Babbitt is in the middle of importing four grey market Lamborghinis to Los Angeles for resale. Through social engineering, he learns the money is being directed to a mental institution, where he meets his elder brother, Raymond Babbitt, of whom he was previously unaware.


The Graduate. Poster of the 1967 movie and cover of the 1963 book
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The Graduate
Charles Webb, 1963
movie vs book
Mike Nichols, 1967

After earning his bachelor’s degree from an East Coast college, Benjamin Braddock returns to his parents’ Pasadena, California home. However, Benjamin’s parents, unaware of the affair, are eager for their son to date Elaine and relentlessly pester him to ask her out, as does Mr. Robinson.


Papillon. Poster of the 1973 movie and cover of the 1969 book
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Papillon
Henri Charrière, 1969
movie vs book
Franklin J. Schaffner, 1973

Henri Charrière, a safecracker nicknamed Papillon because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp. One day, Papillon defends Dega from a sadistic guard and escapes into the jungle, but is captured and sentenced to two years in solitary confinement.


All the President's Men. Poster of the 1976 movie and cover of the 1974 book
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All the President's Men
Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, 1974
movie vs book
Alan J. Pakula, 1976

On June 17, 1972, security guard Frank Wills at the Watergate complex finds a door’s bolt taped over so that it will not lock. Woodward learns that the five men, four Cuban-Americans from Miami and James W. McCord, Jr., had electronic bugging equipment and are represented by a high-priced country club attorney.


Kramer vs. Kramer. Poster of the 1979 movie and cover of the 1977 book
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Kramer vs. Kramer
Avery Corman, 1977
movie vs book
Robert Benton, 1979

Ted Kramer is a workaholic advertising executive who has just been assigned a new and very important account. Ted arrives home and shares the good news with his wife Joanna only to find that she is leaving him. After months of unrest, Ted and Billy learn to cope and gradually bond as father and son.


Midnight Cowboy. Poster of the 1969 movie and cover of the 1965 book
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Midnight Cowboy
James Leo Herlihy, 1965
movie vs book
John Schlesinger, 1969

Joe Buck, a young Texan working as a dishwasher, quits his job and heads to New York City to become a male prostitute hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women. In New York Joe finds a companion in Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.


Sleepers. Poster of the 1996 movie and cover of the 1995 book
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Sleepers
Lorenzo Carcaterra, 1995
movie vs book
Barry Levinson, 1996

Lorenzo Carcaterra, Tommy Marcano, Michael Sullivan, and John Reilly are childhood friends in Hell’s Kitchen in the mid-1960s. However, they start running small errands for a local gangster, King Benny. There, the boys are physically and sexually abused by guards Sean Nokes, Henry Addison, Ralph Ferguson, and Adam Styler.


Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Poster of the 2006 movie and cover of the 1985 book
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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Süskind, 1985
movie vs book
Tom Tykwer, 2006

A boy is born in Paris, France in the year 1738. He is named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and is fostered but is a difficult, solitary child and is eventually apprenticed to a local tanner. As a result he can perform apparently magical feats such as identifying bad vegetables by the worms they contain, or visitors as they approach the house, and can navigate in total darkness by the smell of objects around him.


Straw Dogs. Poster of the 1971 movie and cover of the 1969 book, The Siege of Trencher's Farm
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The Siege of Trencher's Farm
Gordon M. Williams, 1969
movie vs book
Sam Peckinpah, 1971

After securing a grant to study stellar structures, American applied mathematician David Sumner moves with his glamorous young English wife Amy to her home village of Wakely in the Cornish countryside. Amy’s ex-boyfriend Charlie Venner, along with his cronies Norman Scutt, Chris Cawsey, and Phil Riddaway, immediately resent that the meek outsider has married one of their own.


Kung Fu Panda. Poster of the 2008 movie and cover of the book novelization
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Kung Fu Panda: The Junior Novel
Susan Korman, 2008
movie vs book   [NOVELIZATION]
Mark Osborne, John Stevenson, 2008

In the Valley of Peace, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, Po is a fan of kung fu, and idolizes the Furious Five-Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis-a group of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu. However, Po is unable to pursue his dream of learning kung fu while he helps his adoptive father, Mr. Ping the goose, in his noodle restaurant.


Marathon Man. Poster of the 1976 movie and cover of the 1974 book
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Marathon Man
William Goldman, 1974
movie vs book
John Schlesinger, 1976

Thomas’Babe’ Levy is a history Ph.D. student and an avid runner researching the same field as his father, H.V. Levy, who committed suicide after being investigated during the Joseph McCarthy era. After Dr. Szell’s brother is killed in a fit of road rage, Szell feels that he can’t trust anybody anymore and proceeds to try to have all of the diamond handlers and couriers murdered, including Doc himself.


Wag the Dog. Poster of the 1997 movie and cover of the 1993 book, American Hero
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American Hero
Larry Beinhart, 1993
movie vs book
Barry Levinson, 1997

The president is caught making advances on an underage girl inside the Oval Office, less than two weeks before the election. Inspired by the idea that he was discarded like an old shoe, Brean and Motss ask the Pentagon to provide a special forces soldier with a matching name around whom a POW narrative can be constructed.