The Best Movies Based on Short Stories
Some of the greatest movies in the history of film were based on a short story. Authors like Edgar Allan Poe have inadvertently shaped the film industry with their literary classics that were eventually turned into movies. What are the best movies based on short stories? Vote up the best films below and see where your favorites rank!
Â
The movies on this list were all based on short stories or novellas and have been ranked by users as the best. The genres featured here range from classic black and white films to more recent box office hits. You might have read the short fiction or novella these films were based on, or maybe you are just learning that these movies were based on one.
Â
This list features the best movies based on short stories including, The Shawshank Redemption, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Million Dollar Baby, Brokeback Mountain, and Minority Report. Vote up the best movies below or add one you love that isn't already on the list.
- 1Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
- Released: 1994
- Directed by: Frank Darabont
Based on Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to a tough prison. However, only Andy knows he didn't ...more - 2Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: Rob Reiner
Based on Stephen King's novella, The Body.After learning that a stranger has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four Oregon boys decide to go see the body. On the way, Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Vern Tessio (Jerry ...more - 3James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
- 4Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Based on Philip K. Dick's story, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a bored construction worker in the year 2084 who dreams of visiting the colonized Mars. He visits "Rekall," a company that plants false memories into people's ...more - 5Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Based on Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness.In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who ...moreAvailable On:
- 6Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
- Released: 1968
- Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Based on Arthur C. Clarke's short story, The Sentinel.An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. When Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir ...more
