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Literary adaptations in 2017 were especially good — and kind of not good, too

As it happens every year, there were some swings in 2017 at adapting books into movies. Also as usual, there were some big misses on supposedly can't-miss properties.

And Stephen King's name is attached to both.

It bowed to almost universal acclaim, while, even though Idris Elba can do no wrong, The Dark Tower was, perhaps, not dark enough?

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See also Valerian, The Circle, The Mountain Between Us and Fifty Shades Darker. Actually, don't. (Even though Elba can still do no wrong.)

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Wins, though, could be found with Murder on the Orient Express and — yes, superhero movies count, too — Wonder Woman. And the kids liked The Adventures of Captain Underpants enough to push it to a positive outcome for all concerned.

But a curious thing happened on the way to the movie theater: Small, intimate books became well-received movies, such as Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of WaterWonder and Everything,  Everything. And Hidden Figures was everything.

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Perhaps the key for Hollywood is to think small, even if it's a series of books that are being adapted. Couldn't hurt, even though that formula didn't work much for The Shack, graphic novel Rock Dog or Suicide Squad, each of them kind of living up to its name.

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