The film adaption of Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver did not score as big as expected in box offices opening weekend.
The Giver was released August 15, and despite the novel it is based off of’s popularity, the movie only scored $12.8 million its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.
The release date could be to blame for the lackluster opening weekend. With school starting for many young adults this time of year, the target audience of the YA film may have been too busy to see the movie.
The Giver also had stiff competiion in theaters this weekend with Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Let’s Be Cops out. All of these movies scored higher in the box office this weekend and all also were made to appeal to young adults.
Deadline speculated that the failing to bring in big money was due to the two unknown young stars of the film. Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep also have large roles in The Giver but still did not draw in adult audiences.
Other speculations include that the drastic changes that took place from the book to become a film may have thrown off loyal fans. According to Hypable, many changes take place to make the plot more similar to popular dystopia films The Hunger Games and Divergent. A romantic relationship is more prevalent in the film than in the book and a background character from the novel becomes the villain in the film.
Although cinematic changes are necessary to make book adaptations appealing, too bi of changes can alienate loyal readers.
The movie’ budget was around $27 million.
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