Is it possible to make a good adaptation of a bad wuxia novel?

[Ken Cheng]

We usually speak of how television and film production companies make a hash out of the wuxia novels they adapt.

Do you believe, however, that this is possible: a mediocre or even bad wuxia novel somehow gets optioned for a television or movie adaptation and somehow, the production company manages to turn the weak source material into a solid, entertaining adaptation.

Has that ever been done? Can it be done? Or is this a case of "garbage in, garbage out?"

[CC]

We usually speak of how television and film production companies make a hash out of the wuxia novels they adapt.

Do you believe, however, that this is possible: a mediocre or even bad wuxia novel somehow gets optioned for a television or movie adaptation and somehow, the production company manages to turn the weak source material into a solid, entertaining adaptation.

Has that ever been done? Can it be done? Or is this a case of "garbage in, garbage out?"

To be fair, one of the ways a good novel becomes a BAD TV series is because the scriptwriter rewrote the story.

So if a good scriptwriter can re-write a bad novel into a good script, that might make a good series.

In the end, its the scriptwriter and director that decides if a series/movie is good. The background material is just that.

[tweety365]

I agree with CC^

But I think it is not too often that a studio would want to take such a risk by adapting a bad novel with little fan base. The execs want to make money and I don't think they want to leave it in the hands of the director and scriptwriter, even if they are talented.

[Hoju!]

Although I personally am quite fond of it, JY's Bi Xue Jian is generally viewed by most as a mediocre novel. However, the 2007 Mainland adaptation of it has been praised by many as being a great series.

[Ren Ying Ying]

Although I personally am quite fond of it, JY's Bi Xue Jian is generally viewed by most as a mediocre novel. However, the 2007 Mainland adaptation of it has been praised by many as being a great series.

The production was pretty decent...but i think the story/plot still fell pretty flat.

[jiang bao]

Of course, it's possible to make a good adaptation out of any novel. They sometimes sure take liberty with good novels, so why not take the same liberty with bad ones. They writers should give their rewrite some serious lookover to see if what they change made sense.

The main problem with tv adaptation is not because they changed the story, but because they change it in a way that doesn't make much sense. For example, they change one plot point, but forget to change other parts of the book to compensate, and the result doesn't make sense.

[ChanceEncounter]

I thought 2007 Bi Xue Jian was pretty boring, in all honesty.

Of course it's possible, though it depends on what made the novel bad, and if that can be corrected or adapted in the new medium.

[kyss of the sword]

the ode to gallentry novel was rather short and did not have much in terms of villains and such. it was more a bit of mystery and character comedy. but the adaptions about it added a great deal and made the story far better then the novel so i do believe a bad wuxia novel can lead to a good adaption if you rewrite it enough.

[AnhHung]

the ode to gallentry novel was rather short and did not have much in terms of villains and such. it was more a bit of mystery and character comedy. but the adaptions about it added a great deal and made the story far better then the novel so i do believe a bad wuxia novel can lead to a good adaption if you rewrite it enough.

Which adaptations are you thinking about? The TVB Tony Leung version was crap. I also remember a ATV production from the 80's. It too was crap.

[kyss of the sword]

Which adaptations are you thinking about? The TVB Tony Leung version was crap. I also remember a ATV production from the 80's. It too was crap.

it was a long time since i saw it so i'm not sure but it was the one where the real shi potian/shi zhongyi was made the main character first and the guozazhong entered later. they made shi zhongyi into a wei xiaobao character. the doctor of happiness clan was the real mega powerful villian and i think the story was a bit more interesting then what had gone on so far in the novel through i haven't read the novel in full before.

[Ghaleon]

BXJ was alright.

how about Journey to the West? Boring a$$ novel made into an entertaining series by TVB and Mainland China.

[Trinie]

Which adaptations are you thinking about? The TVB Tony Leung version was crap. I also remember a ATV production from the 80's. It too was crap.

I actually enjoyed Tony's version a lot and did not like the novel at all... There was also a Taiwanese version with Max Mok in it from the 80s that was accurate to the novel from what I heard. However, not sure since I did not watch it.

[Trinie]

We usually speak of how television and film production companies make a hash out of the wuxia novels they adapt.

Do you believe, however, that this is possible: a mediocre or even bad wuxia novel somehow gets optioned for a television or movie adaptation and somehow, the production company manages to turn the weak source material into a solid, entertaining adaptation.

Has that ever been done? Can it be done? Or is this a case of "garbage in, garbage out?"

I think it can and has been done before. They can just rewrite things, spend a lot of money on hiring a popular cast, etc... and then voila, a bad novel can turn into a good adaption.

It can also go the other way, a good novel can be the result of a bad adaption like for example DOMD 2000. Gosh, that was a BIG disgrace.... They changed TOO much...