Pachinko, the epic Korean series celebrated by critics and TV fans alike, is returning this month, with season two landing on Apple TV+ on August 23. The political TV series, which reviewers described as “ ” and a “roller coaster ride through time and space” is based on the 2017 best-selling historical fiction novel of the same name by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee. A 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, the ambitious novel tells the story of Korean immigrants living in Japan from 1910 up to the modern day.
Pachinko is the latest in a long line of incredible films and TV shows that started out as books: from blockbuster films based on the Harry Potter novels and the wildly popular TV adaptation of Game of Thrones, to indie projects such as the Oscar-winning The Quiet Girl and screen versions of classics such as Hitchcock's Psycho. This crossover isn't remotely surprising, either: a lot of the heavy lifting is done by the author who has spent years mapping out a universe, or developing complicated characters. As we wait for the release of Pachinko, here are some of our favourite films and TV series that began on paper.
It took 50 years for a director to successfully adapt Frank Herbert's futuristic tome for the screen: previous efforts had never quite captured the mystery, nor size, of his interstellar universe. But then along came Canadian director (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival), who had been obsessed with the novel since reading it as a teenager .