Dec 5, 2007 0
Look, We Made a Movie of This Book
Am I the only one who hates movie tie-in covers on books?
The other day I was wandering around Borders, looking for a new book or two and happened across Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. I’ve seen both of the movies made from this book and know the plot, but I’ve never actually sat down and read the book. However, all I could find was the massively tacky movie tie-in cover. So, it went un-bought.
(I did find a trade edition on Amazon without the tacky cover. Yay me.)
I can understand why authors and publishers get excited when a book is made into a movie. After all, movies attract a wider audience and just might actually manage to convince a few people to pick up the original book. I’m sure the Tolkein estate was ecstatic over the trilogy hitting the big screen a few years ago. However, what’s the need to put out a new cover. Not only a new cover, but one that is usually just a piece of the movie poster with the ubiquitous “Now a major motion picture!” stamped onto the cover.
Is it that people wouldn’t recognize the book without the actor’s face on the cover? Or perhaps they think that even people oblivious to the film will be impressed the book was made into a “major motion picture.” I honestly don’t know, but I’ve never liked it.
-K
