Oftentimes, behind an Academy Award-winning film is a magnificent — and, occasionally, better than the film itself — novel that inspired it  Here is a lengthy list of some novels-turned-movies that received Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nominations (or, in some cases, wins), including the 2013 nominees:

• American Hero (1993) by Larry Beinhart –> Wag the Dog (1997) — directed by Barry Levinson
• Atonement (2001) by Ian McEwan –> Atonement (2007) — directed by Joe Wright
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2004) by Aron Ralston –> 127 Hours (2010) — directed by Danny Boyle
• Capote (1988) by Gerald Clarke –> Capote (2005) — directed by Bennett Miller
• The Children of Men (1992) by P.D. James –> Children of Men (2006) — directed by Alfonso Cuarón
• The Descendants (2007) by Kaui Hart Hemmings –> The Descendants (2011) — directed by Alexander Payne
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997) by Jean-Dominique Bauby –> The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) — directed by Julian Schnabel
• The Hours (1998) by Michael Cunningham –> The Hours (2002) — directed by Stephen Daldry
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007) by Brian Selznick –> Hugo (2011) — directed by Martin Scorcese
• Life of Pi (2001) by Yann Martel –> Life of Pi (2012) — directed by Ang Lee
• Little Children (2004) by Tom Perrotta –> Little Children (2006) — directed by Todd Field
• Moneyball (2003) by Michael Lewis –> Moneyball (2011) — directed by Bennett Miller
• The Motorcycle Diaries (1993) by Che Guevara –> The Motorcycle Diaries (2003) — directed by Walter Salle4
• Mystic River (2001) by Dennis Lehane –> Mystic River (2003) — directed by Clint Eastwood
• No Country for Old Men (2005) by Cormac McCarthy –> No Country for Old Men (2007) — directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
• Notes on a Scandal (2003) by Zoë Heller –> Notes on a Scandal (2006) — directed by Richard Eyre
• The Orchid Thief (1998) by Susan Orlean –> Adaptation (2001) — directed by Spike Jonze
• Push (1996) by Sapphire –> Precious (2009) — directed by Lee Daniels
• Q & A (2005) by Vikas Swraup –> Slumdog Millionaire
  (2007) — directed by Danny Boyle
• The Reader (1995) by Bernhard Schlink –> The Reader (2008) — directed by Stephen Daldry
• Schindler’s Ark (1982) by Thomas Keneally –> Schindler’s List (1992) — directed by Steven Spielberg
• The Sheep-Pig (1983) by Dick King-Smith –> Babe (1995) — directed by Chris Noonan
• Sideways (2004) by Rex Pickett –> Sideways (2004) — directed by Alexander Payne
• Silver Linings Playbook (2008) by Matthew Quick –> Silver Linings Playbook (2012) — directed by David O’Russell
• True Grit (1968) by Charles Portis — True Grit (2010) — directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
• Up in the Air (2001) by Walter Kirn –> Up in the Air (2009) — directed by Jason Reitman
• Winter’s Bone (2006) by Daniel Woodrell –> Winter’s Bone (2010) — directed by Debra Granik
• Wiseguys (1986) by Nicholas Pileggi –> Goodfellas (1990) — directed by Martin Scorcese

Image credits: 1, 2.

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