Books into film and television

Wag the dog

From the novel American Hero by Larry Reinhart

Waiting to exhale

From the 1992 novel Waiting to exhale by Terry McMillan

Wake of the red witch

From the 1946 novel Wake of the red witch by Garland Roark

I wake up screaming

From the 1941 novel I wake up screaming by Steve Fisher

Walk the line (2006)

Based on the two Johnny Cash autobiographies: Man in black (1975) and Cash: the autobiography (1997)

A Walk to remember

From the 1999 novel A Walk to remember by Nicholas Sparks

Walking through the fire

From the 1977 book Walking through the fire by Laurel Lee

Walking with dinosaurs

Tie-in book by Tim Haines

War horse

Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel is the tale of one horse’s experience in the chaos and carnage of World War I. It follows the experiences of Joey, a young farm horse, who is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges towards the enemy, witnessing the horror of the frontline. The novel has already been adapted into a play and been very successfully staged in London. The film version has Steven Spielberg directing and features a young British actor named Jeremy Irvine as Albert, the owner of the young horse. The big British cast includes Emily Watson, Peter Mullan and David Thewlis and a host of little known British actors, many from the stage. Playwright Lee Hall and scriptwriter Richard Curtis have adapted the novel and it has been made on location around England.
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The War of the Worlds (2005)

From the 1898 novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

War stories our mothers never told us

Tie-in book, edited by Judith Fyfe

The War zone

From the novel The War zone by Alexander Stuart

Warlock

From the 1958 novel Warlock by Oakley Hall

Washington Square

From the novel Washington Square by Henry James

Water For Elephants

Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel was one of those successes that seemingly come from nowhere and end up resulting in one of those novels that get an unswervingly loyal readership. Turning such books into films is tricky and can go wrong (The lovely bones springs to mind). The novel tells the story of a young man named Jacob Jankowski who joins a travelling circus called The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth. The film version is directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine) and stars Robert Pattinson as Jacob with Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz.
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The Waterhorse

This adaptation of the 1990 children’s novel by Dick King-Smith is a co-production between Walden Media, Beacon Pictures and Revolution Studios, tells the story of a lonely boy in Scotland who finds a mysterious egg on the shore of a lake. When the egg hatches, what emerges is a "water horse," a mythical sea monster of Scottish legend. The boy is played by Alex Etel (who was in the children’s film Millions) and his mother is played by Emily Watson. Others in the cast include David Morrissey, Ben Chaplin, Geraldine Brophy, Craig Hall, Marshall Napier and Joel Tobeck. Jay Russell, who has previously directed children’s films Tuck everlasting and My dog Skip, is directing and filming has been done on New Zealand locations.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Watermelon

From the 1996 novel Watermelon by Marian Keyes

The Way through the woods

From the novel The Way through the woods by Colin Dexter

The Way West

From the 1949 novelThe Way West by A. B. Guthrie

We joined the navy

From the 1959 novel We joined the navy by John Winton

We of the never never

From the 1908 book We of the never never by Mrs Aeneas Gunn

We were the Mulvaneys

From the 1996 novel We were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

We were soldiers

From the 1992 book We were soldiers once - and young by Harold G. Moore

The Wedding

From the novel The Wedding by Dorothy West

The Wedding date (2005)

From the 2001 novel Asking for trouble by Elizabeth Young

Welcome to Sarajevo

Based on the book Natasha’s story by Michael Nicholson

Welcome to Woop Woop

From the 1994 novel The Dead heart by Douglas Kennedy

The Well

From the novel The Well by Elizabeth Jolley

West Side story

From the musical play West Side story

Whale rider

From the 1987 novel Whale rider by Witi Ihimaera

What a girl wants

A remake of the 1950s movie The Reluctant debutante which was adapted from the 1955 play of the same name by William Douglas Home

What becomes of the broken hearted

From the novel What becomes of the broken hearted by Alan Duff

What dreams may come

From the 1978 novel What dreams may come by Richard Matheson

What love sees

From the 1988 novel What love sees by Susan Vreeland

What not to wear

Tie-in book to the series is by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine

What the deaf man heard

From the 1996 novel What the deaf man heard by G. D. Gearino

Whatever happened to Baby Jane?

Remake of the 1962 film which was based on the 1960 novelBaby Jane? by Henry Farrell

What’s eating Gilbert Grape?

From the novel What’s eating Gilbert Grape? by Peter Hedges

What’s the worst that could happen?

From the 1996 novel What’s the worst that could happen? by Donald E. Westlake

When the light comes

From the 1993 novel Waar blijft het licht by Heleen van der Laan, never translated into English

Where eagles dare

From the 1967 novel Where eagles dare by Alistair MacLean

Where the heart is

From the novel Where the heart is by Billie Letts

Where the rivers flow north

From the 1978 novel Where the rivers flow north by Howard Frank Mosher

Where the truth lies

Canadian director Atom Egoyan, who made the excellent adaptation of the Russell Banks novel The sweet hereafter, is adapting and directing the 2003 novel by Rupert Holmes. It’s the story of a young female journalist who tries to uncover the truth behind the breakup, some years earlier, of a famous comedy duo. A girl had been found dead in their hotel room and, although the two men had alibis and neither was accused, the death wrecked their joint career. The novel is a slick and clever if overlong work and the two showbiz characters seem heavily modelled on Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth play the duo and Alison Lohman is the journalist.
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Where the wild things are

The Maurice Sendak picture book classic from 1963 about Max, the little boy who creates his own world of a forest inhabited by the wild things of the title, has been adapted for the screen by novelist Dave Eggers. The film, directed by Spike Jonze, is a mixture of live action, CGI and animatronics and was partly made in Australia. The cast includes Max Records (as Max), Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Forest Whitaker, Michelle Williams some in the flesh, some voicing characters.
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Where there’s smoke

From the 1997 novel Where there’s smoke by Simon Beckett

Where’s Poppa?

From the 1970 novel Where’s Poppa? by Robert Klane

While my pretty one sleeps

From the 1989 novel While my pretty one sleeps by Mary Higgins Clark

The Whipping boy

From the novel The Whipping boy by Sid Fleischman

Whiskey galore

From the novelWhiskey galore by Compton Mackenzie

White Fang

From the novel White Fang by Jack London

White Hot - The Mysterious murder of Thelma Todd

From the 1989 book Hot Toddy by Andy Edmonds

White oleander

From the 1999 novel White oleander by Janet Fitch

Who framed Roger Rabbit?

From the 1981 novel Who censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf

Whore

From the play Bondage, first produced 1991, by David Hines

The Wilby conspiracy

From the 1972 novel The Wilby conspiracy by Peter Driscoll

Wild at heart

From the 1990 novel Wild at heart by Barry Gifford

Wild Australasia (2003)

Tie-in book Wild Australasia

Wild Bill

From the 1986 novel Deadwood by Pete Dexter and the 1978 play Fathers and sons by Thomas Babe

Wild Geese II

From the 1982 novel The Square circle by Daniel Carney

Wilde

From the book Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann

Will any gentleman?

From the 1950 play Will any gentleman? by Vernon Sylvaine

Willows in winter

From the novel Willows in winter by William Horwood

Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory

From the novel Charlie and the chocolate factory by Roald Dahl

The Wimbledon poisoner

From the novel The Wimbledon poisoner by Nigel Williams

The Wind in the willows

From the novel The Wind in the willows by Kenneth Grahame

Windtalkers

Novelisation Windtalkers by Max Allan Collins

The Wingless bird

From the novel The Wingless bird by Catherine Cookson

The Wings of the dove

From the novel The Wings of the dove by Henry James

The Winner

From the play A Darker purpose by Wendy Riss

The Winslow boy

From the 1946 play The Winslow boy by Terence Rattigan

The Winter guest

From the 1993 play The Winter guest by Sharman MacDonald

Winter’s Bone

Based on the novel Winter’s bone by Daniel Woodrell.

The wire in the blood

This TV series is adapted from novels by Val McDermid: the first two episodes come from the 1995 novel The mermaids singing and the other two from the 1997 novel The wire in the blood

The Witches

From the novel The Witches by Roald Dahl

The Witches of Eastwick

From the novel The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

Wives and daughters

From the novel Wives and daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Wizard Of Oz

From the novel The Wizard Of Oz by L. Frank Baum

White teeth

From the 2000 novel White teeth by Zadie Smith

The Whole wide world

From the 1986 book One who walked alone by Novalyn Price Ellis

The Woman in the window

From the 1942 novel Once off guard by J. H. Wallis

A Woman of independent means

From the novel A Woman of independent means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

The Woman on the beach

Based on the 1945 novel None so blind by Mitchel Wilson

The women

Claire Boothe Luce’s play was first produced in 1936 and has been an enduring hit with actresses because it gives its all women cast good lines and endless bitchery so it is a play that encourages over the top diva style acting. It was first made into a movie in 1939 with Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford, remade for television in 1955 with Mary Astor and Paulette Goddard, called The opposite sex in 1956 with Joan Collins and June Allyson, filmed as Women in New York by dour German director Rainer Maria Fassbinder in 1977 and now it is being brought to the screen by Diane English who comes from American television comedy, most notably Murphy Brown. The cast includes Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing and Candice Bergen.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Women in love

From the novel Women in love by D. H. Lawrence

The Women of Brewster Place

From the 1982 novel The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

Women without Men — Zanan bedoone mardan

Based on the novel by Shahrnush Parsipur.

Wonder boys

From the novel Wonder boys by Michael Chabon

The Woodlanders

From the 1887 novel The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

The world according to Bush (2004)

Based on two French books, La guerre des Bush and Le monde secret de Bush by Eric Laurent

The World according to Garp

From the novel The World according to Garp by John Irving

The World is not enough

Based on Ian Fleming’s character and novelized as The World is not enough by Raymond Benson

Worst case scenario

Tie-in book is The Worst case scenario survival handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht

The Wrecking crew

Loosely based upon the Matt Helm novels by Donald Hamilton

Wuthering Heights

From the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte