What film owe to books and what books owe to film.

Top Twenty Films of All Time

20. Django Unchained 

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 

18. The Incredibles

17. Rocky

16. Jurassic Park 

15. Reservoir Dogs

14. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 

13. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 

12. The Godfather

11. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 

10. Inception

9. The Dark Knight

8. Jaws 

7. The Godfather Part II 

6. Braveheart

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

4. The Lord of the Rings 

3. Goodfellas

2. The Shawshank Redemption 

1. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 

The movies that were based of a book are in bold lettering and the those that inspired a book are italicized. All together, nine of these films were based off of books and five inspired books. 

Some of the films that were based off a book were huge summer blockbusters such as "Jaws" and "The Dark Knight" and others were apart of an immensely popular franchise such as "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings". The books that were inspired by the movies on this list tended to be comics or novels that expanded the film's universe such the countless array of literature created after the release of "Star Wars" and the comic series written as sequel to "Django Unchained".

Chances are that if film releases in the summer and earns a great deal at the box office, it is based off or inspired by a book. For example, Christopher Nolan's masterpiece, "The Dark Knight",  is based off the beloved comic book character of Batman and is also inspired by one of the Caped Crusader's most popular comic series, "The Long Halloween", by Jeph Lobe. The point here is that "The Dark Knight" had a well-established brand similar to how "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", which also opened in the summer, is based off one of the most popular book series in the history of literature. Two films on this list inspired an incredible amount of books and both are apart of the world-renowned franchise, "Star Wars", which also happens to be my personal favorite. The amount of books from short stories to children's novels that have been inspired by "Star Wars" is astronomical and the success that all of these novels and comics receive is all due to the success of the film that started it all. 

Popular movies can bring attention to a book that fans of the film version never knew existed. "The Shawshank Redemption" is based off a novella by Stephen King and before the film became the hailed classic that it is not many film goers knew King's book existed. I fell in love with the film as soon as I watched it for the first time and I read the novella shortly after. Many movies on this list are based off books that were already popular and only became even more acquainted with the public after the release of their film counterparts. Books and movies benefit one another. What's good for Francis Ford Coppola's historic film, "The Godfather", was good for Mario Puzo's book of the same title. The more popular the film gets, the more popular the book does and vice-versa.