The movie is never as good as The Book. The Book is special and must be treated as such. The evil movie producers should never stray from anything as small as a line of dialogue in The Book. They shall scour the Earth to find the one person who looks EXACTLY as the author described the main character, or else we The Readers shall rebel.
Really, we get so upset over these things, myself included.
I was on this nice little fantastical train of thought the other day where The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping was being made into a movie. Of course, I would be highly involved in the production process and the movie would be wildly successful. (Hey, I said it was a fantasy, right?)
Anyway, I started to think: If these really talented Hollywood types who are experts at telling a visual story make recommendations and changes to the original story, would I be so selfish with my book as to not let it happen? Would I tell them, “Oh, hell no. My readers expect that wooden box to be square, not rectangular. I don’t care what your props department thinks; have them carve another one.”
No.
I just started watching the Outlander series on Starz. I have read and absolutely adored the books. Even though it’s been several years since I read the first book, I can already tell that the series is not an exact reflection of the book. But I do know that Diana Gabaldon was highly involved, and she has said on her own Facebook page that “the book is the book, and the show is the show.” She understands that some changes have to be made to convert the story into one that can be told visually. And the thing is, it’s still a good story. Yes, I am usually a staunch supporter of The Book. But I’m beginning to realize that just because it’s a little bit different in film format doesn’t mean that it’s wrong or bad.
You can all feel free to remind me of this when I do get a movie deal, and I’m yelling at the actors. 🙂
Feel free to stop by my Facebook page and drop a like on it!
Ashley O'Melia, Author 
Any movie or show made from a book is as good as its ability to stand on its own. I usually prefer the book too, but when I like the movie I usually like both equally for their own merits.
As an author, if one of my books were made into a movie and the reaction was that the book was better, I would have mixed feelings. Part of me would be sad that the vision of the book wasn’t captured and part of me would high-five myself.
I think the biggest issue is that the movie medium is so time limited, so it is hard to get the same level of character development that a book can achieve. I also find it rare when a movie image (of a world or character) matches what my imagination conjures up.
Old post of mine, but given what you wrote I thought you might appreciate it or toss in your two cents!
http://justplainolvic.com/2015/09/05/books-are-better-than-movies/