Literature Adaptations

Updated May 2025

We have collected many film and television adaptations of classic literature on home video over the years. This is an attempt to list them all in somewhat chronological order.

  • Greek Mythology
    • Clash of the Titans (adaptation of the tale of Perseus), 1981
    • Clash of the Titans (adaptation of the tale of Perseus), 2010
    • Wrath of the Titans (story featuring Perseus), 2012
    • Troy (adaptation of the Fall of Troy), 2004
  • The Old Testament
    • The Ten Commandments (adaptation of the story of Moses), 1956
    • The Prince of Egypt (adaptation of the story of Moses), 1998
    • Exodus: Gods and Kings (adaptation of the story of Moses), 2014
    • Noah, 2014
    • Joseph: King of Dreams, 2000
  • The New Testament
    • King of Kings (general and special release) (adaptation of the story of Jesus), 1927-1928
    • The Greatest Story Ever Told (adaptation of the story of Jesus), 1965
    • Jesus of Nazareth, 1977
    • The Passion of the Christ (adaptation of the story of Jesus), 2003
    • Last Days in the Desert (adaptation of the story of Jesus), 2015
    • The Robe (story of a man living at the time of Jesus), 1953
    • Ben-Hur (story of a man living at the time of Jesus), 1959
    • Monty Python's Life of Brian (story of a man living at the time of Jesus), 1979
  • Beowulf:
    • Beowulf, 2007
    • Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, 2015 
  • Shakespeare:
    • Henry V, 1944
    • Henry V, 1989
    • Hamlet, 1947
    • Hamlet, 1980
    • Hamlet, 1990
    • Hamlet, 1997
    • Hamlet, 2009
    • Richard III, 1955
    • Richard III, 1995
    • Othello, 1952
    • Othello, 1965
    • Othello, 1981
    • Othello, 1995
    • Romeo & Juliet, 1968
    • Romeo + Juliet, 1997
    • Romeo & Juliet, 2013
    • Macbeth, 1971
    • Macbeth, 1983
    • Macbeth, 2010
    • Macbeth, 2015
    • The Merchant of Venice, 1973
    • The Merchant of Venice, 1980
    • The Merchant of Venice, 2004
    • King Lear, 1983
    • Much Ado About Nothing, 1993
    • Coriolanus, 2011
    • Chimes at Midnight (adaptation of the Henriad and The Merry Wives of Windsor), 1965
    • An Age of Kings (adaptation of the Henriad), 1960
    • Looking for Richard (documentary about Richard III), 1996
    • In Search of Shakespeare (documentary), 2004
    • The Hollow Crown (adaptation of the Henriad), 2012-2016
    • Shakespeare Uncovered season one (documentary), 2012
    • Ophelia (adaptation of Hamlet), 2018
    • Shakespeare in Love, 1998
  • Fairytales & Folktales:
    • Knights of the Round Table, 1953
    • Monty Python & the Holy Grail, 1975
    • Sword of the Valiant, 1984
    • First Knight, 1995
    • Mists of Avalon, 2001
    • King Arthur, 2004
    • King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, 2017
    • The Green Knight, 2021
    • King Arthur: His Life and Legends (documentary), 1995
    • Ancient Mysteries: Camelot (documentary), 1995
    • Quest for the Holy Grail (documentary), 1997
    • Knights and Armor (documentary), 1998
    • Quest for King Arthur (documentary), 2004
    • Robin Hood, 1922
    • The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938
    • The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, 1946
    • The Prince of Thieves, 1948
    • Rogues of Sherwood Forest, 1950
    • The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, 1952
    • The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1955-1960
    • Sword of Sherwood Forest, 1960
    • Robin and the 7 Hoods, 1964
    • Robin Hood, 1973
    • Robin and Marian, 1976
    • Robin of Sherwood, 1984-1986
    • The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1985
    • Robin Hood, 1991
    • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (theatrical & extended), 1991
    • Robin Hood: Man, Myth, Legend (documentary), 1991?
    • Robin Hood: Men in Tights, 1993
    • Wishbone: Paw Prints of Thieves, 1995
    • The True Story of Robin Hood (documentary), 2000
    • Robin Hood, 2006-2009
    • Robin Hood, 2010
    • Robin Hood: The Ghost of Sherwood, 2012
    • Robin Hood, 2018
    • Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, 1937
    • Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012
    • Cinderella, 1950
    • Cinderella, 1965
    • A Cinderella Story, 2004
    • Cinderella, 2015
    • Ever After (adaptation of Cinderella), 1998
    • Sleeping Beauty, 1959
    • Beauty and the Beast, 1991
    • Beauty and the Beast, 2017
    • Aladdin, 1992
    • Aladdin, 2019
    • Maleficent (adaptation of Sleeping Beauty), 2014
    • Mirror, Mirror (adaptation of Snow White), 2012
    • Tangled (adaptation of Rapunzel), 2010
    • Hansel and Gretel, 2020
    • The Little Mermaid, 1989
  • Jane Austen: 
    • Pride and Prejudice, 1940
    • Pride and Prejudice, 1985
    • Pride and Prejudice, 1995
    • Pride and Prejudice, 2003
    • Pride and Prejudice, 2005
    • Bride and Prejudice, 2005
    • Pride + Prejudice + Zombies, 2016
    • Emma, 1972
    • Emma, 1996
    • Emma, 1996
    • Emma, 2009
    • Emma, 2020
    • Persuasion, 1971
    • Persuasion, 1995
    • Persuasion, 2008
    • Sense and Sensibility, 1981
    • Sense and Sensibility, 1995
    • Sense and Sensibility, 2007
    • Mansfield Park, 1986
    • Mansfield Park, 2007
    • Northanger Abbey, 1987
    • Northanger Abbey, 2008
    • Love & Friendship (adaptation of Lady Susan), 2016
    • Sanditon season one, 2019
    • Miss Austen Regrets (fictional portrait of Austen), 2007
    • Becoming Jane (fictional portrait of Austen), 2007
    • Lost in Austen (fictional story about a modern woman going into Austen stories), 2008
    • Austenland (fictional story about an Austen theme park), 2013
  • Charlotte Brontë:
    • Jane Eyre, 1944
    • Jane Eyre, 1970
    • Jane Eyre, 1996
    • Jane Eyre, 1997
    • Jane Eyre, 2006
    • Jane Eyre, 2011
    • To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters (fictional portrait), 2016
  • Emily Brontë: 
    • Wuthering Heights, 1939
    • Wuthering Heights, 1992
    • Wuthering Heights, 2011
    • To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters (fictional portrait), 2016
  • James Fenimore Cooper
    • The Last of the Mohicans, 1992
  • Washington Irving
    • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (partially an adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow), 1949
    • Sleepy Hollow, 1999
  • Walter Scott
    • Ivanhoe, 1952
    • Ivanhoe, 1982
    • Ivanhoe, 1997
    • Rob Roy, 1995
  • John Keats
    • Bright Star (fictional portrayal of Keats), 2009
  • Alexandre Dumas, père:
    • The Three Musketeers, 1921
    • The Three Musketeers, 1948
    • The Three Musketeers, 1973
    • The Four Musketeers, 1974
    • The Three Musketeers, 1993
    • The Musketeer, 2001
    • Micky, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, 2004
    • The 4 Musketeers, 2005
    • Barbie and the Three Musketeers, 2008
    • The Three Musketeers, 2011
    • The Musketeers, 2014-2016
    • La Femme Musketeer, 2004
    • The Man in the Iron Mask, 1998
    • The Count of Monte Cristo, 2002
  • Charles Dickens: 
    • A Tale of Two Cities, 1935
    • A Christmas Carol, 1938
    • A Christmas Carol, 1951
    • A Christmas Carol, 1984
    • Great Expectations, 1946
    • Great Expectations, 2011
    • Oliver Twist, 1948
    • Oliver Twist, 2005
    • David Copperfield, 1970
    • David Copperfield, 1999-2000
    • Nicholas Nickelby, 2002
    • Bleak House, 2005
    • Little Dorrit, 2008
  • Elizabeth Gaskill:
    • North and South, 2005
    • Cranford, 2008
    • Return to Cranford, 2010
  • George Eliot
    • The Mill on the Floss, 1997
    • George Eliot (Kultur Famous Authors Series), ?
  • Victor Hugo
    • Les Misérables, 1935
    • Les Misérables, 1952
    • Les Misérables, 1998
    • Les Misérables, 2012
    • Les Misérables, 2019
  • The Book of Mormon
    • The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd, 2000
  • Louisa May Alcott: 
    • Little Women, 1933
    • Little Women, 1949
    • Little Women, 1994
    • Little Women, 2018
    • Little Women, 2018
    • Little Women, 2020
  • Thomas Hardy:
    • Far From the Madding Crowd, 1967
    • Far From the Madding Crowd, 1998
    • Far From the Madding Crowd, 2015
    • Jude the Obscure, 1971
    • Jude, 1996
    • Tess, 1979
    • Tess of the d'Urbervilles, 1998
    • Tess of the d'Urbervilles, 2008
    • Trishna (adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles), 2011
    • The Claim (adaptation of The Mayor of Casterbridge), 2000
    • The Mayor of Casterbridge, 2003
    • The Return of the Native, 1994
    • Under the Greenwood Tree, 2005
    • Thomas Hardy (Kultur Famous Authors Series), ?
  • August Strindberg:
    • Miss Julie, 1951
    • Miss Julie, 1999
    • Miss Julie, 2014
  • Arthur Conan Doyle
    • Sherlock Holmes, 2009
    • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011
    • Mr. Holmes, 2015
  • William Butler Yeats
    • A Fanatic Heart: Bob Geldof on Yeats (documentary), 2016
  • Bram Stoker:
    • Dracula, 1992
  • L. Frank Baum:
    • The Wizard of Oz, 1939
    • Oz the Great and Powerful, 2013
  • Kenneth Graham:
    • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (partially an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows), 1949
    • Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (partial adaptation of The Wind in the Willows), 1996
  • J. M. Barrie
    • Peter Pan, 1953
    • Peter Pan, 2003
    • Pan, 2015
    • Finding Neverland (fictional portrayal of Barrie), 2004
    • Hook, 1991
  • L. M. Montgomery: 
    • Anne of Green Gables, 1985
    • Anne of Avonlea, 1987
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