History Main / Novelization

The novelization isn't exclusive to film; episodes of popular television shows may also be novelized: i.e., all of the original series ''Series/DoctorWho'' serials were novelized, as can ComicBook {{Story Arc}}s, and even video games (usually the ones with strong narrative elements, like [=RPGs=]). These vary from ExpandedUniverse material to complete bastardizations that [[InNameOnly only bear the name of the original.]]

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2018'' has a short [[Literture/GodOfWar2018 novelization]] that focuses on the internal monologues of the two protagonists.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' had one unique and bizarre enough for it to get [[Literature/BackToTheFuture its own page.]]

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4: Deadly Fortune'' is a NoExportForYou two-volume novelization written by the game's scenario writer that further fleshed out the game's background, like a better explanation as to why Dante was in Fortuna. It also contains some details omitted from the game, such as [[spoiler:Nero being Vergil's son, which was never revealed in the games until ''Devil May Cry 5'']]. [[note]]Some categorize it as a LightNovel.[[/note]]

* In fact, there's a novelization of ''Film/TheRoom'' (not authorized by Tommy Wiseau), written in the same terrible style as the original film. It also elaborates on certain plot points: Lisa cheats on Johnny because she's dissatisfied with him [[ItMakesSenseInContext fucking her belly button]], and Denny asks for baking ingredients because he is [[{{Foreshadowing}} making meth brownies]]. [[http://theroomnovelization.blogspot.com/ It's also available for free.]]

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', after the manga series originally ended in May, 2020, Japan, a novelized adaptation began in June of that same year; it follows the manga religiously, following an Story Arc structure per book, where one Volume adapts about two to four manga volumes depending on the arc.

* ''Fanfic/HailToTheJewelsInTheLotus'' has the short story "Son of the Sun", which is a novelization of the events of the ''[[VideoGame/{{Warframe}} Warframe's]]'' "Sands of Inaros" sidequest.

* ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'' directly adapts the events ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' with ComicBookFantasyCasting. Link is given an AgeLift, Zelda is given a RaceLift, and some new characters are added, and there are some original subplots, such as [[spoiler: a massive brief war against the Yiga Clan, the addition of powerful spirit animals wielded by Zelda, Link, Ganondorf and Impa]]. There are also some changes to the canon, such as [[spoiler: Ganondorf being Groose's reincarnation, and the revelation that Ganon is actually a victim of Demise's curse, which has possessed him and his power for its own bidding.]]

* The novelization of independent thriller/horror film ''Ten'' was written by script co-writer and cast member Jade Sylvan (who portrayed The Renegade). It was written while the movie was being filmed and based on an early version of the screenplay and therefore included scenes that were cut from the film; most notably, a major clue towards the main PlotTwist shows up halfway through the novel, but not the movie. On the other hand, the fact that it was written by someone on set at the time means that a few moments from the film that were purely ThrowItIn got to be included in the book too. The novelization also has an unusual structure where each of the ten main characters narrates one of the novel's ten chapters, which means the characters get more fleshed out than in the film - since the movie was a NamelessNarrative,each character makes up nicknames or short descriptions to refer to everyone else when it's their turn to do narration.

** Creator/PeterDavid wrote the novelization for ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon''. It features several scenes that were changed in the finished film such as having [[TheScrappy Mudflap and Skips]] killed by Sentine Prime. Notably Megatron's offer of a truce is accepted by Optimus here and the Decpticons leave Earth for Cybertron

* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' was [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy novelized]] so skillfully by its then little-known writer, Creator/DouglasAdams, that [[AdaptationDisplacement many readers are unaware it began as a radio series]]. The novel covers the first four episodes with much additional material, some of which was in the original script but had to be cut for time. The sequel ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'' is a looser novelization of a few of the following episodes, with the chronology shuffled and some subplots removed or heavily rewritten. The later novels (starting with ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', a very loose adaptation of an unproduced ''Series/DoctorWho'' script -- the original script itself, ''Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen'', was ''also'' novelized in 2018) received an AudioAdaptation much later.

* Franchise/ResidentEvil

* Literature/WorldsOfPower was a series of novelizations of various third-party NES games published by Scholastic and written by various authors under the collective pen name "F.X. Nine" (a name chosen for indexing purposes due to the first three letters of "Nine" matching Nintendo's). Since the books were aimed at children, the cover art from the games were retouched for the book versions to omit any weapon a character might be using (like Solid Snake's gun or Ryu Hayabusa's kunai knife). The stories were often altered to downplay or omit any deaths (most notably, Ken Hayabusa doesn't die in the ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' novel). There were eight regular books in this series, plus two "Junior Edition" books aimed at an even younger audience.

* ''WebComic/DarylAndSusie'' got a loose novelisation in ''[[https://myweirdwriting.wordpress.com/index/ Daryl and Denise]]''.

** There were two novelizations to the original ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]'' movie. The U.S. novelization was written by Randall Frakes, a close friend of James Cameron, after Cameron gave him access to the movie's backstory. Thus, most of the book goes into in-depth details about the characters' motivations and feelings. The U.K. novelization by Shaun Hutson didn't have the same luxury and serves more as a direct retelling of the movie in prose form.

* The novelization of ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' reads more like [[ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen the comic it was based on]] than the movie. You can *feel* where the ExecutiveMeddling ripped things apart.

* A large portion of ''Creator/MontyPython's Big Red Book'' consisted of sketches from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' edited into humor book format. (As the show was SketchComedy, the book isn't a novel ''per se.'')

* A lot of Disney and Pixar animated films have junior novelizations which change plot elements: including scenes not present in the film (e.g., the novelization of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' adding an extra scene in the ending where Simba is alone at the top of Pride Rock at night), changing the fates of certain villains (e.g., the novelization of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} Cars 2]]'' having Grem and Acer falling into a garbage truck instead of being beaten up inside a bar in London, England), etc.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has a whole raft of these, though since it ''started'' as a book series, it's [[RecursiveAdaptation sometimes hard to tell]] which ones are adaptations. Some of them have notable bits of AdaptationExpanson (e.g. ''[[FeudEpisode Locked in the Library]]'' adding an ImagineSpot where Arthur dreams he's fighting Francine during the UsefulNotes/HundredYearsWar).

* One of the ''Literature/{{Arthur}}'' novels was based on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' T.V. episode "Arthur And The Crunch Cereal Contest".

* ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheAirshipCity'' brings the first story arc of ''WebComic/GirlGenius'' into print, using the format to expand the background.
** Followed by ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheClockworkPrincess,'' ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheVoiceOfTheCastle'' and ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheSiegeOfMechanicsburg''. Each novel roughly equals 3 volumes of comics or 3 years of webcomics.

* Creator/JamesCameron, director of ''Film/TheTerminator'', ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', and other films, has gone on record in the preface to the novelization of ''Film/TheAbyss'' that he ''hates'' most novelizations because he respects books and the crass way authors write most novelizations. He then goes on to laud Creator/OrsonScottCard, the writer of the novelization for ''The Abyss'', as getting it right. Cameron gave pages of Card's draft to his actors for character backstory.
** There were two novelizations to the original ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]'' movie. The U.S. novelization was written by Randall Frakes, a close friend of James Cameron, after Cameron gave him access to the movie's backstory. Thus, most of the book goes into in-depth details about the characters' motivations and inner feelings. The U.K. novelization by Shaun Hutson didn't have the same luxury and serves more as a direct retelling of the movie in prose form.

* ''The Adventures of Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit'' combined the plots of ''Smokey And The Bandit'' and the sequel - but put "the pregnant elephant caper" first chronologically. Which the sequels are universally regarded as weaker the original is understandable.

** The ''Alien'' novelizations probably had it better than most. ''All'' of the novelizations up until ''Film/AlienResurrection'' were written by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, the same guy who ghostwrote the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' novel. At least, Foster cared about his books' tone, and they're written quite passably, if not well. The author's consistency also means there's little if any discontinuity between these three novels; the style and mood are the same across all three. Foster even [[ShoutOut gives his readers a wink]] by using similar images for the opening of each book, even though the films were the better part of a decade apart in each case.

** The ''Film/BatmanForever'' novelization by Creator/PeterDavid is generally praised as an improvement over the film. He throws in some deleted scenes from the film (like Two-Face's escape from Arkham) and rearranges some scenes that the film showed out of sequence to help the story make more sense. He added more character development for characters like Dr. Chase Meridian, ComicBook/{{Robin}}, ComicBook/TheRiddler, and ComicBook/TwoFace. Peter David gives additional insight into Riddler's obsession with Bruce, stemming from Nygma's childhood, and also adds details that fill in plot holes from ''Batman Returns'', such as how Batman clears his name. Unlike the film, the book has a stronger connection to the previous films with mentions of ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/ThePenguin, and some classic Batman characters like Lucius Fox and Harvey Bullock have cameo appearances. There's even a mention of ComicBook/PoisonIvy. Bizarrely, The Riddler briefly wears a robotic muscle suit for a few pages during the climax, like in the licensed game version.
** ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' had novelizations done by Dennis O'Neil, who'd written and edited Batman comics for roughly three decades beforehand. As a result, he's confident in making a ''lot'' of expansions and outright changes. The changes made range from the minor ([[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]] is somewhat closer to the comics take, even using Joker Venom at one point) to the truly bizarre (Scarecrow's motivations are explained as those of a WellIntentionedExtremist trying to create utopia through fear).

* ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' has a novelization. It retains almost all of the scripts and story elements, though the songs are only described. However, the novel does occasionally give added info on what characters are thinking and includes a few scenes that in the film are available only as deleted scenes on the DVD release. The novel also removes a couple of the more suggestive moments from the film, such as Nancy's comment about Robert having some "grown-up girl bonding time" with Giselle, and Morgan's line that boys are only after one thing, but nobody will tell her what it is.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov agreed to write the novelization of the movie ''Film/FantasticVoyage''; between him [[NovelizationFirst finishing early]] and delays in the film's production, much of the audience believed the movie was a [[TheFilmOfTheBook Film Of The Book]] when it was released. His frustrations with ExecutiveMeddling lead him to write ''Fantastic Voyage II'', a non-movie-based take on the same themes, years later.

** David Morrell, the author, lampshades the trope by addressing perhaps the most significant CanonDiscontinuity between novel and film. In the ''preface'' to the first sequel, he explicitly acknowledges that, "In my book, [[spoiler:Rambo died.]] In the films, [[spoiler:he lives.]]"

* The novelization of ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' is pretty notable. The author explicitly writes it as a comedy, just as the film is, but it's written in true DeadpanSnarker fashion, just as Venkman is. Few novelizations have such a grasp of the characters that they can sum up Egon Spengler like so:

* The novelization of ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' was ''exponentially'' better than the film. Written by ''Film/NationalLampoon'' alumnus Ellis Weiner, he went wild with the source material, spicing up the action with sharp, funny descriptions, inserting long digressions that steered the reader from the silly plot. In some cases, he invented elaborate, absurd backstories for characters and items with only brief appearances in the movie. For instance, the disintegrator ray that plays a significant role in the film's climax was revealed by Weiner to have been thought up by President Reagan over a bowl of Smurfberry Crunch; this detail is not in the movie.

* ''Film/TheHumanComedy'' (1943) is a very interesting example. Writer William Saroyan wrote the story and screenplay for the film and was running to direct it. When he clashed with [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] head, Louis B. Mayer, Clarence Brown was selected instead. When Saroyan became dissatisfied with the resulting film, he wrote a novel that reflected his vision for the story and published it before the film was released. This action led many to believe the film was based on the novel when it was technically the other way around. Simultaneously, the film was later adapted for [[AudioPlay radio plays]], a TV movie, and a musical. The novel was adapted as a film, released in 2015, entitled ''Ithaca'', directed by Creator/MegRyan (in her directorial debut) and produced by Creator/TomHanks. In other words, it's the film based on the novel based on the film!

** James Kahn's novelization of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' is relatively faithful to the movie, except for one entire chapter (two) which deals with Short Round's life before meeting up with Indy. One of the elephants is called Large Short Round, which leads SR to assume it's his reincarnated dead brother. Kahn also negates a few of the movie's problems with ArtisticLicense and even justifies some of them InUniverse; for instance, he has Indy and Captain Blumburtt discuss the ''very'' un-Hindu gross-out feast at Pankot Palace, turning it into a brilliant bit of {{Foreshadowing}} that all is not right at Pankot.

* The junior novelization of ''Film/IronMan3'' tacks on an epilogue of the ''real'' Mandarin, supposedly the true leader of the Ten Rings group referenced in ''Film/IronMan1'' whose identity was appropriated by [[spoiler: Aldrich Killian for his fake terrorist campaign]], watching news coverage of the events of the film. This has been confirmed as canon by ''Film/AllHailTheKing'' included with the home release of ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', where [[spoiler: ''faux'' Mandarin Trevor Slattery is broken out of jail to face the true Mandarin's wrath for the impersonation]].

** ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' was different from [[Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe the original novel]] in practically every way -- Creator/IanFleming's [[CreatorBacklash dissatisfaction with the book]] led him to try and suppress it wherever he could, and that included only allowing the title to be used when he sold the movie rights. It's therefore unsurprising that the movie spawned a novelization by Christopher Wood, who also wrote the screenplay. Entitled ''James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me'', it added characters and organizations from the Fleming novels to the plot, and incorporates the events of the film into the literary Bond's continuity.
** Wood also wrote the screenplay and the novelization for ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''. While ''James Bond and Moonraker'' stays close to the movie, for the most part, Jaws (here TheVoiceless again) is missing from the freefall scene at the beginning and the waterfall chase, and he doesn't have a girlfriend. Also, in the Venice chase scene, 007's gondola doesn't sprout wheels.

** It is explained who is responsible. It's a Voodoo witch-doctor named Papa Jacques, who cast a curse on the Brody family because Michael Brody was a jerk to him a few times, and Papa Jacques apparently lives by DisproportionateRetribution, and therefore finds murdering Michael's entire family to be a reasonable form of retaliation.

* ''Film/LondonAfterMidnight'' got two novelizations. The first was written by Marie Coolidge-Rask based on an early screenplay. The second was written by Lucien Boisyvon based on the film as it was released. Because the film is now lost, the novelizations are valuable for the insight they provide and the closest one can get to experiencing the film.

-->Voice from ship: RELINQUISH YOUR PROJECTILE WEAPON, LESS THAN OPTIMALLY-BRAINED ONE.

* ''Film/TheNutcrackerAndTheFourRealms'' received an "extended" novelization by Meredith Rusu, titled ''The Secret of the Realms''. It heavily expands on the backstories of both the villain and Clara's mother Marie in much more detail than the movie could cover and is generally considered the superior version.
* ''Film/OrcaTheKillerWhale'' has one that is substantially different from the film it is based upon. It has its own page. ''Literature/OrcaTheKillerWhale''.

** Wiseau himself originally wrote the story as a play, and then a 500-page novel before he decided to make it as an independent film. The novel has never been published.
* ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'' has a novelization that has tons of additional WorldBuilding details, {{Backstory}} for several characters (Joe and Cornelia especially), and scenes that didn't make it into the finished film and often qualify as AllThereInTheManual material. They deal with everything from Santa's WeightWoe to Patch's nigh-precognitive ability to predict/create inventions to ALL of the issues the ending LeftHanging.
* The junior novelizations of the live-action ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' films were interesting in that they were told from a different character's perspective each chapter (rotating around Velma, Shaggy, Daphne, and Fred). For what it's worth, the character development was more fleshed out, and the story had more depth, while still being funny and entertaining at the same time.

* The novelization of ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' was, uncharacteristically, written by the screenwriter of the film, and seems like an elaborate attempt to repair a broken story. Heartland's inhabitants are described in elaborate detail, more characters are added to BD Records' staff of shifty record-biz personas, and the story wraps up with an outlandish ending in which Sgt. Pepper's band magically gains the members of hundreds (literally) of other popular bands, all of whom are listed over the last several pages of the book. Unlike the ''Grease'' novel, musical numbers don't become awkward dialogue pieces - the characters actually sing as if in a musical movie. The story stops, the lyrics of a Beatles song are printed in full, and the story continues.
* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}: The Movie'' has ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Spaceballs-Book-Jovial-Bob-Stine/dp/0590412264 Spaceballs: The Book]]''. By ''Scholastic Press''. Think about that for a second: the novelization of a ''Creator/MelBrooks movie'' was marketed expressly to ''elementary school students''. Fortunately, the plot and humor are largely intact, but the language is heavily {{Bowdlerize}}d.

*** In ''Search For Spock'', Saavik and David's friendship blooms into romance, which was unfortunately not seen in the movie. And when David is killed, Saavik becomes so enraged that she takes on three Klingon guards by herself and is only taken down after two disruptor blasts. (Also, Kirk doesn't say the famous line "You Klingon bastard, you've killed my son!"; he calls him a "spineless coward" instead).

*** [=McIntyre's=] ''Voyage Home'' novel also elaborates and expands on the probe's nature. [[spoiler:It's a sentient being of near godlike power, and is referred to as "the traveler." It's maintained contact with Earth's whales for centuries across the vastness of space and visited Earth previously before humans evolved. It considers whales a superior species because it enjoys their songs, and doesn't even notice or care about humans. Its reason for coming is it heard the cries of the whales as they were hunted centuries ago. It had come with the intention of rescuing them, but the journey took so long that the whales are all dead by the time it arrived. When it discovers this, it plans to purge Earth of life and begin it anew - until George and Gracie are brought to the present and answer its call, persuading it to spare the planet]]. This explanation and backstory for the probe were eventually rendered non-canonical by a later novel entitled ''Probe'', however, which revealed that [[spoiler space whales sent it]].

** ''Film/DraculasDaughter'' have more details about the titular vampire woman, as implicit and possible origins, as a theory that implies she was a possible victim from Dracula, or that Dracula attacked a pregnant woman, and the baby born half vampire half human. There are a interesting analysis by Garth about Countess Zaleska's paintings revealing a psychological trauma with a man, possibly her father. The lesbic scene is more explicit, and at the climax, Janet as a captive by Marya Zaleska at Castle Dracula in Transylvania, had nightmarish and disturbing visions, as a stench of rancid blood, and the Countess herself awakening from earth, with corpse features, as her fingers being leperous by dirt, and a teeth exposed falling jaw, with a lifeless expression of hunger in contrast with the human-like face she showed in London. In the ending, Van Helsing implies that after her death, Marya's soul is saved, but it's also implied by Janet's psychological trauma, that she could survived.

Novelizations are also often put together quickly, using an early draft of the film's script so the author can finish writing and have the book published to [[TieInNovel tie in]] with the movie's theatrical release. This work process that incurs a genuine risk that the script copy the author was working from may [[EarlyDraftTieIn differ vastly from the film's final version]]. This mishap occurred with Creator/ChrisClaremont's ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' novelization and Creator/PeterDavid's ''Film/SpiderMan3'' novelization, amongst many others. If the movie winds up having its release delayed, the book might be in something of a no man's land when it comes to sales, while the film itself is potentially spoiled by anyone who reads the novel (which happened to ''Penelope''). On the other hand, sometimes the book is better than the movie, mostly if the movie wasn't great in the first place or was subject to a lot of ExecutiveMeddling.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Certain anime episodes (some books even compile several episodes within its pages) and at least two of the movies (some of the later films have been released in manga format).

* The ''Film/{{Constantine}}'' novelization was a lot better than the film: the scenery and events were amazingly detailed, it had better-defined characters, and there were even more elements from the original Hellblazer comics incorporated into the story -- the ghosts of Constantine's old friends stalking him, the inclusion of pagan Gods, references to Midnite's gladiator games, etc.

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* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Certain anime episodes (some books even compile several episodes within its pages) and at least two of the movies (some of the later films have been released in manga format).
** On a more obscure note, there exist two ([[NoExportForYou Japan-only]]) [[Literature/PocketMonstersTheAnimation novelizations of the anime]], written by the original anime director Creator/TakeshiShudo, which are [[DarkerAndEdgier probably the grimmest official interpretation of the Pokémon world]]. The second volume includes a ToBeContinued note in the afterword, but it was CutShort; no third installment was released, plus Shudo died in 2010.
** Many of the US ''Pokémon'' books were written by Tracey West who wrote ''many'' of these types of books for Scholastic for ''Pokémon'' and other series like ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' and...
* ''Anime/SailorMoon''! Scholastic had a few Sailor Moon books that were essentially adaptations of the anime (specifically, the [=DiC=] dub since they used their character names. Interestingly, they covered some episodes skipped by [=DiC=]). They covered roughly the first arc.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'' has an English-language junior novel series based on the manga and features images taken from it for illustrations.
** In Japan, [[Manga/DragonBall all]] [[Anime/DragonBallZ three]] [[Anime/DragonBallGT anime]] were adapted into an "animanga" using screenshots of the show, [[RecursiveAdaptation despite the show being based on a manga]]. The main appeal was that it was in color, but then the Full Color edition of the original manga was released using Toriyama's stronger artwork. As Kanzenshuu's Julian says, it's redundantly redundant.

* ''{{Anime/Robotech}}'' was adapted into a successful 12-volume novel series by "Jack [=McKinney=]" (a pen name for James Luceno and Creator/BrianDaley). The series led to more than one TieInNovel, creating a 21-volume novel series that significantly expands on the original television series. The novels based on the unproduced scripts for ''The Sentinals'' were later adapted into the comic book series.
** The novelizations were declared to be CanonDiscontinuity by the current head of ''Robotech'' licensing and production... and then the ones based on the T.V. series were later re-issued with new covers under the current ''Robotech'' branding. However, the novel-exclusive stories and related omnibus remain out of print, although some are officially available as e-books. All of the novels are easy to find through the used book circuit.
** The original ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' franchise has had novelizations of ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove'', and ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' (the ''DYRL?'' one, in particular, restores several plot points from ''SDF'' and adds new scenes [such as a mock combat between Hikaru and a newly-recruited [[TheAce Max Jenius]]). However, good luck finding translations, as the folks at Harmony Gold haven't budged...
* Most of the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series have had novel adaptations, sometimes resolving very differently from the anime. And some side stories and sequels originate as novels. Notable is ''Beltochika's Children''; initially, it was Creator/YoshiyukiTomino's rejected plot for ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'', which, in turn, is an adaption of Tomino's novel ''Hi-Streamer''. In other words, it's a novelization of TheFilmOfTheBook (by the same author).
* Even the SliceOfLife {{yonkoma}} ''Manga/HidamariSketch'' was adapted into LightNovels.

* ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'' had a series of light novels retelling the entire first installment of the anime.
* ''[[VideoGame/PriPara [=PriPara=]]]'' got two: one retelling the series' first story arc, and another retelling the events of the BigDamnMovie, ''Let's Go [=PriParis=]''.

* The novelization for the ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' story arc is better. (Except for completely removing ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, Superman, and ComicBook/{{Azrael}} from the plot.) With a plot that spread out over a year and was covered in at least four different titles with different writers, the novel smoothed the rough edges.
* ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' omitted large portions of the storyline. While ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' are written under the assumption that the person reading it is familiar with the story, meaning casual readers will have no clue what's going on...

* The ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' movies had novelizations.
* Each of the four ''WesternAnimation/{{BIONICLE}}'' DirectToVideo movies have been adapted into novels in such a way that they fit neatly into the ongoing novel series. Since they were written according to pre-finalized scripts, they were all different from the films in various degrees and often contained deleted scenes. The book for the fourth movie, in particular, had a very different feel since the writer allegedly wasn't aware that the movie would take a more "cartoony" approach.
* The novelization of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'' was written by Amy Keating Rogers, who also co-wrote the movie and the show's comic book adaptation.

* The novelization of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' added a new subplot to fill a plot hole left in the movie ([[spoiler:with the Phantasm supposedly going up in smoke at the end, how did Batman prove to the authorities that he didn't commit the Phantasm's murders?]]).

* The novelization of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' actually portrayed its villain, Shen, as a more sympathetic character than in the movie, while the film's prologue had Shen develop his cannons for evil for no reason, the novelization stated that the real reason he was evil was that his parents [[WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent hated him]] because of his [[AlbinosAreFreaks pale coloration]] and poor health.
* The novelization of ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'' (a RecursiveAdaptation) is mostly faithful to the movie but includes a few extended scenes, such as Brent badgering Flint at the tackle shop, and Flint's food fight with the Mayor.
* The novelization of ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'' went into a lot more detail than the film did, particularly involving the title character's backstory.

* ''Film/AnimalHouse'' was created and released as an oversized book simultaneously with the movie itself. In true ''Film/NationalLampoon'' style, it was more than a straight novelization; parts are done as comic strips and as parodies of college documents of the period, such as the student orientation handbook, the campus newspaper, and the yearbook. (The original is both hard to find and expensive in good condition; a "29th Anniversary Edition" was released in 2007.)
* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' had one unique and bizarre enough for it to get [[Literature/BackToTheFuture its own page.]]
* The novelization of ''Film/TheMummyReturns'' has an added bit where showing loyalty to the Scorpion King meant "cutting off your forehead" and chanting "Mi Phat As." Rick O'Connell tries to mimic it as best as he can: "My fat ass!" After Anck-Su-Namun abandons Imhotep, Rick pities him and offers to help him, but the heartbroken Imhotep refuses.
* 1913 silent drama ''Film/TrafficInSouls'', which was probably the first feature film produced in the United States, also had a novelization produced, making it the TropeMaker for cinema.

* ''Film/Halloween1978'''s novelization by Richard Curtis (under the pen name Curtis Richards) is quite renowned by the film's fans for exploring more of the characters and depth that the movie wasn't able to cover. The novel has become a collector's item among modern fans since copies are harder to find. The book was so renowned that lines from it ("You don't know what death is!") appear in the sequel. Michael Myers' added backstory was incorporated into the [[Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers sixth film]]. [[Film/HalloweenII1981 The second]] and [[Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch third]] films were also novelized by Dennis Etchison (under the pen name Jack Martin), who was asked to write the script for ''[[Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers Halloween 4]]'' (however, while his treatment was used, his script wasn't). Nicholas Grabowsky novelized the fourth film. ''Film/Halloween2018'' was novelized by John Passarella (best known for writing novels from the Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}).
* ''Film/TheHumanComedy'' (1943) is a very interesting example. Writer William Saroyan wrote the story and screenplay for the film and was running to direct it. When he clashed with [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] head, Louis B. Mayer, Clarence Brown was selected instead. When Saroyan became dissatisfied with the resulting film, he wrote a novel that reflected his vision for the story and published it before the film was released. This action led many to believe the film was based on the novel when it was technically the other way around. Simultaneously, the film was later adapted for [[AudioPlay radio plays]], a TV movie, and a musical. The novel was adapted as a film, released in 2015, entitled ''Ithaca'', directed by Creator/MegRyan (in her directorial debut) and produced by Creator/TomHanks. In other words, it's the film based on the novel based on the film!

* Rarely, TheFilmOfTheBook [[RecursiveAdaptation will itself have a novelization]].
** Particularly notable: ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' by Creator/FredSaberhagen, a tacit admission that Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film didn't quite fit the [[Literature/{{Dracula}} original story]].
** Likewise, ''Creator/MaryShelley's Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' by Leonore Fleischer, the novelization of Creator/KennethBranagh's [[Film/MaryShelleysFrankenstein 1994 film]]. (Saberhagen reportedly offered his services for this novelization as well, primarily because it would then have been "''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'', by the author of ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''".) Fleischer is a veteran novelizer, with "Based on..." works including ''Film/RainMan'', ''Film/ThreeAmigos'', ''Film/{{Annie|1982}}'' (yes, that's right, the book of the film of the musical of the comic strip) and even ''Film/{{Fame}}''. (Yes, that's right, the book of the musical.)
** Furthermore, there was a novelization of the 1979 version of ''Nosferatu'', a remake of the 1922 ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'', which was an unauthorized adaptation of ''Dracula''.
** Creator/PiersAnthony did a novelization of ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', which was inspired by ''We Can Remember It For You Wholesale'', a novella by [[Creator/PhilipKDick Philip K. Dick]].
** The 1980s remake of ''Film/TheThing1982'', based on the short story "Literature/WhoGoesThere" by Creator/JohnWCampbell, was novelized.
** And the ''Literature/LittleWomen'' movie (the 1993 version) had one.
** They even had one for the [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action version]] of ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. A "junior novelization," but still.
** And a very bland version of ''[[Film/TheSecretGarden1993 The Secret Garden]]''.
** The 1998 version of ''Literature/GreatExpectations'', starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow and based on the Charles Dickens novel, was novelized.
** All three ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' movies got junior novelization, even though the first two movies were based on books. To be fair, the films were (especially [[Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark the second one]]) reasonably different from the source material.
** ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' got a 50th Anniversary Novelization in 1996. People aware of the filmmaking are most certainly aware that it was based on a Christmas card ("The Greatest Gift" by Phillip Van Doren Stern).
** ''[[Film/Scarface1983 Scarface]]'', itself a remake of [[Film/Scarface1932 an adaptation]] of a novel, received a novelization by Creator/PaulMonette.
* All the ''Franchise/StarWars'' films received novelizations.
** The novelization of ''Film/ANewHope'', ghostwritten by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, introduced several plot points not elaborated on in the movie, including the first official reference to Darth Vader as a "Lord of the Sith" and the name of the first Emperor (Palpatine). It has a fair bit of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness such as Palpatine only being the first in a line of emperors and a powerless puppet rather than the ManipulativeBastard and EvilOverlord he would be established as in the later films. It has some scenes that didn't make it to the movie, like the special edition-exclusive Han and Jabba scene. Interestingly, it was released before the movie came out. (Unfortunately, since Foster wrote it before the script doctors got to it, you have to slog through a fair bit of Creator/GeorgeLucas' original dialogue, about which Creator/HarrisonFord once said, "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it.")
** The novelization of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', written by Donald F. Glut, sticks fairly close to the movie. The most noticeable changes are that Vader's lightsaber is blue instead of red, Luke's Jedi training is given a bit more detail, and Yoda has blue skin instead of green and chews on his walking stick, which is called a Gimer Stick.
** The novelization of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', written by James Kahn, features a handful of changes. It expands on some characters (Wicket has more characterization, Moff Jerjerrod is depicted as a sadist, etc.). It also makes the Rebel fleet larger, drawing out the battle more, and dramatically enhances the confrontation between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor, making the dueling more detailed and revealing a lot of Vader's thoughts. For some reason, it has the dialogue of many of the non-human characters written out in excruciating detail, down to emphasizing the pitch changes in Artoo's beeps and boops. It also oddly refers to Owen Lars as Obi Wan's brother.
** Nearly forty years later, Foster returned to the franchise to write the novelization of ''Film/TheForceAwakens''. Like his previous work, it elaborates on some plot points and background detail, including a plausible (for SpaceOpera) explanation of how Starkiller Base works.
** Creator/TerryBrooks' novelization of ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' sticks close to the final film while adding additional material with young Anakin that better flashes out his character, including a scene where he helps an injured Tuskan, while providing some {{Foreshadowing}} for his character arc in Episodes II and III thanks to Brooks having Creator/GeorgeLucas's input while writing. It also includes a scene detailing the history of the Sith and the story of Darth Bane and the Rule of Two.
** Creator/RASalvatore's novelization of ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' spends more time flashing out Anakin and Padmé's relationship. He also has scenes exploring Padmé's family that were cut from the movie and spends some time fleshing out the Lars family and Shmi's relationship with them. Its also calls back to wounded Tuskan Anakin encountered in Brooks' Episode I novelization. [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfUnits It's also responsible for propagating the "one unit equals one clone" error which left the Clone army numbering in the millions.]]
** Creator/MattStover's work on ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', which has [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith its own page]], has a tremendous amount of character detail and [[AllThereInTheManual background information]] shoehorned into the text, broadly [[{{Retcon}} explaining]] some of the [[IdiotBall seemingly inexplicable actions]] of some characters; more dialogue is also added, even to scenes which the film itself covers; and even the action scenes are written with grand vision and style. It also adds back in the cut subplot of Padmé working with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to lay the foundation for the Rebel Alliance. Not for nothing since a portion of the fandom regards the novelization as ''better than the original film.'' Which is saying something, given the film itself has an 80% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
** There is also a ''Revenge of the Sith'' novelization by Creator/PatriciaCWrede. Though the book itself is a "junior novelization" essentially, and Amazon's description refers to it as that. This novelization provides the plot's basics and additional insight into the characters. But it doesn't offer anywhere near the depth or detail of Stover's novelization. It's about 190 pages and also includes some photos from the film.

* Two above-average novelizations that take larger than usual liberties with the source material are: Orson Scott Card's novelization of ''Film/TheAbyss'' (which introduced backstory that director James Cameron gave to the actors) and William Kotzwinkle's novelization of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' (which he wrote with the screenwriter, and which includes many details on E.T.'s home planet and motivations that do not appear in the film - it also consists of the scene with Elliot's principal [filmed, with Harrison Ford as the principal, but cut]. Most importantly, it retains the M&M's). Kotzwinkle later wrote a sequel, ''E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet'', a sequel to the film based on a story by Creator/StevenSpielberg.
* Another is ''Film/TheReturnOfSwampThing'' novel by veteran comics writer Creator/PeterDavid, often considered more faithful to the source material.
* ''Film/EventHorizon'''s novelization was superior to the film in many areas, especially character development.
* The ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' films also had adaptations made, usually featuring scenes that were shot but weren't used in a version of the film. At least, in the book for ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', which included subplots not used until the Director's Cut of the film, as well as a scene where Company sleazebag Burke is cocooned in the Alien hive) for many years.
** The ''Alien'' novelizations probably had it better than most. ''All'' of the novelizations up until ''Film/AlienResurrection'' were written by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, the same guy who ghostwrote the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' novel. At least, Foster cared about his books' tone, and they're written quite passably, if not well. The author's consistency also means there's little if any discontinuity between these three novels; the style and mood are the same across all three. Foster even [[ShoutOut gives his readers a wink]] by using similar images for the opening of each book, even though the films were the better part of a decade apart in each case.
** The novelization of ''Film/AlienCovenant'' was based on an early version of the script and contains various scenes changed in or outright removed from the final cut of the movie -- such as a battle between a Neomorph and a Xenomorph.
* The CultClassic ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise'' has a notoriously bad novelization. Not only did it remove ''every single supernatural element,'' including the DealWithTheDevil that the film's plot centers on, but it also threw the characterization into a shredder. A prime example is Phoenix, the Phantom's love interest. In the movie, she's a sweet, innocent IdolSinger; in the novelization, her first appearance sees her come out on stage topless and sing about anal sex.
* After previously writing the comic book series of both characters, Creator/PeterDavid handled the novelizations of the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' and ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'' movies. Notably, the novelization of ''Film/SpiderMan3'' included many scenes cut from the movie, most notably several scenes in the final battle that make it play out much differently than it did in the film. David also added the touch of giving names to background characters that went unnamed in the ''The Incredible Hulk'' film, which corresponded to similar characters from the source comics.
* ''Film/LondonAfterMidnight'' got two novelizations. The first was written by Marie Coolidge-Rask based on an early screenplay. The second was written by Lucien Boisyvon based on the film as it was released. Because the film is now lost, the novelizations are valuable for the insight they provide and the closest one can get to experiencing the film.

* Related to this are various tie-in books aimed at kids. Depending on the film, especially when you hit the PG-13 rating, this can overlap with MisaimedMarketing. A single movie can be given:
** Paperback picture books - Sometimes focusing only on a segment of the story, depending on the film's length.
** Easy readers - Simple prose for beginners.
** Storybooks - Mini-novelizations, particularly in the early-to-mid 1980s, generously illustrated with stills. Sometimes happens with TheFilmOfTheBook adaptations (for instance, ''Film/TheGoldenCompass''), where younger kids might not be ready for the original book.
** "Junior novels" - mostly with action/adventure films, these are distinct from the formal novelizations by way of different authors, much shorter lengths, and occasional sanitizing (the ''Film/IronMan'' one drops the sex-related material, for example).
** ''Film/MarleyAndMe'' has a junior novel entitled "Marley: A Dog Like No Other" in addition to a reissued edition of the original book with a movie tie-in cover.
** Coloring books, puzzle/activity books, trivia books, and the list goes on...
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' had several novelizations based on [[Film/{{Transformers}} the 2007 movie and its first two sequels]].
** Creator/AlanDeanFoster penned the novelizations for ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen.'' Both books stick fairly closely to the finished films plot but with a number of minor differences such some changed dialogue and scenes. Jazz is killed when Megatron rips out his spark rather than being torn in half. Notably, Wheelie is called Wheels and has a more privative Dinobot-esque way of speaking, a holdover from an earlier script draft. Here, the Fallen promised to make Megatron a Prime as reward for his aliegence and Megatron abandons him to die after Optimus revealed that he lied.
** Foster also wrote two prequel novels to each movie, ''Ghosts of Yesterday'' which follows a Sector 7 lauched at the same timeas the Apollo 11 mission that runs into the Cybertronians and ''The Veiled Threat'' which follows the Autobots and NEST as they mop up Decepticon forces across the globe.
** Creator/PeterDavid wrote the novelization for ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon''. It features several scenes that were changed in the finished film such as having [[TheScrappy Mudflap and Skips]] killed by Sentine Prime. Notably Megatron's offer of a truce is accepted by Optimus here and the Decpticons leave Earth for Cybertron

* When ''Film/{{Grease}}'' was novelized, the novelization dealt with the songs by turning them into prose dialogue. It was [[https://web.archive.org/web/20191028220412/http://montyonmovies.blogspot.com/2008/12/grease-novel.html awkward]]. On the positive side, however, the novelization is a vast expansion of the film, starting before Danny and Sandy meet and incorporating loads of extra scenes, such as the characters dealing with the death of Buddy Holly. Scattered throughout are profanities more representative of the original stage version (Kenickie calls Danny a "faggot" at one point); and there is a T-Bird named Roger, as in the play - Doody is merely the name of an otherwise unimportant Rydell student. But that's not all - the entire story is told from the point of view of Sonny, whose girlfriend is a Pink Lady named Marcia, the addition of whom causes all of the Pink Lady/T-Bird romances to be shuffled around.
** ''Film/{{Grease 2}}'' has a novelization, which is geared towards a young audience. As the book is based on a rough draft of the film, now-lost deleted scenes can be read (such as the rest of the Frenchie material and a scene at the talent show which completely spoils the 'Michael drove off a cliff and died' concept). However, the real fault lies in the pure stupidity evident in spots - for example, Cool Rider Michael rides his motorcycle *up* a flight of stairs.
* Because Creator/JimHenson himself supervised their writing and provided tons of material to author Anthony Charles Hockley Smith (as revealed in a 2012 ''Empire'' magazine tribute to Henson), the 1982 novelizations of ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' and ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' contained information and scenes that didn't make it into the finished films. For the former, this included the names of all the Skeksis and Mystic characters, the alternate name for the Mystics ([=uRu=]), the passages in an invented language which were changed to English for the final script, the deleted funeral scenes, etc.. The ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' novelization was again very close to the movie but contained expanded versions of the doorknockers and Fireys' sequences, the backstory of Sarah's mother leaving the family for an actor she worked with (and whom Jareth is the fantasy world equivalent of), and so forth.
** ''Labyrinth'' also had a children's picture book version with drawn illustrations, written by Louise Gikow. It stuck closely to the film, with one ''big'' change -- the issue of Jareth being a StalkerWithACrush isn't brought up. Not only is the DreamBallet sequence presented as a delaying tactic, but the climax also has him destroyed by ThePowerOfLove (specifically, Sarah's love for Toby). In the film, [[spoiler: Sarah figures out that his Reality Warper powers don't include control over her, and a declaration of this is enough for him to admit defeat]]. This change didn't apply to the novelization or the ''Photo Album'''s telling (which used dialogue excerpts and stills from the film), aimed at older audiences.
* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}: The Movie'' has ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Spaceballs-Book-Jovial-Bob-Stine/dp/0590412264 Spaceballs: The Book]]''. By ''Scholastic Press''. Think about that for a second: the novelization of a ''Creator/MelBrooks movie'' was marketed expressly to ''elementary school students''. Fortunately, the plot and humor are largely intact, but the language is heavily {{Bowdlerize}}d.
** Heck, they ran ''ads'' for the movie on the back cover of ''Junior Scholastic'' magazine.
* The novelization of ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' was so half-assed it got ''Hironobu Sakaguchi's name wrong'' on the front cover. (He's both the creator of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' and the "original story writer" for the movie.)
* The novelization of ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' was ''exponentially'' better than the film. Written by ''Film/NationalLampoon'' alumnus Ellis Weiner, he went wild with the source material, spicing up the action with sharp, funny descriptions, inserting long digressions that steered the reader from the silly plot. In some cases, he invented elaborate, absurd backstories for characters and items with only brief appearances in the movie. For instance, the disintegrator ray that plays a significant role in the film's climax was revealed by Weiner to have been thought up by President Reagan over a bowl of Smurfberry Crunch; this detail is not in the movie.

* ''Film/TheMasterMystery'' had one. In ''1919''.
* The ''Film/{{Constantine}}'' novelization was a lot better than the film: the scenery and events were amazingly detailed, it had better-defined characters, and there were even more elements from the original Hellblazer comics incorporated into the story -- the ghosts of Constantine's old friends stalking him, the inclusion of pagan Gods, references to Midnite's gladiator games, etc.
* The novelization of ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' includes a ''metric buttload'' of additional information, such as the fact that [[spoiler: the mogwai are an artificial, disposable slave race created by an alien scientist named Mogturman (and later almost destroyed the civilization that created them), the secondary mogwai all have names (like poor doomed Clor), and that the movie-ending line "Bye, Billy" was the result of hours of personal angst and effort by Gizmo]].
* The novelization of ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' is pretty notable. The author explicitly writes it as a comedy, just as the film is, but it's written in true DeadpanSnarker fashion, just as Venkman is. Few novelizations have such a grasp of the characters that they can sum up Egon Spengler like so:
--> "Nobody has explained the facts of life to Spengler. He worked them out for himself on a pocket calculator and vaguely suspected he came up with the wrong result."
** It should be noted that ''Ghostbusters'' actually has ''two'' different novelizations: one written by Richard Mueller (who later wrote for ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters''), the other written by Larry Milne and published in Britain - the latter, unusually, is written in the present tense and also contains bios of key cast and crew members... and, bizarrely, virtually all of the film's credits ("From Columbia-Delphi Productions").
** The ''Film/GhostbustersII'' novelization isn't ''quite'' as great, but does have this line:
---> "Legend has it that, even as a child, Peter Venkman was incapable of a sincere smile."
* Each of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movies has been novelized.
** The one for ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' features a good deal of AdaptationExpansion, with author Campbell Black adding his own scenes, one of which comprises an entire chapter. Of course, in the first chapter, Indy's failed quest to get the golden idol at the beginning. But instead of the second chapter being his return to the States and teaching his class, as in the film, it introduces Dietrich and has him being given his mission to obtain the Ark by a high-ranking Nazi named Eidel. Black also frequently cuts back to "meanwhile, with Belloq and Dietrich" style scenes throughout the book to make them (Belloq, especially) seem more like actual characters with their own story.
** James Kahn's novelization of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' is relatively faithful to the movie, except for one entire chapter (two) which deals with Short Round's life before meeting up with Indy. One of the elephants is called Large Short Round, which leads SR to assume it's his reincarnated dead brother. Kahn also negates a few of the movie's problems with ArtisticLicense and even justifies some of them InUniverse; for instance, he has Indy and Captain Blumburtt discuss the ''very'' un-Hindu gross-out feast at Pankot Palace, turning it into a brilliant bit of {{Foreshadowing}} that all is not right at Pankot.
** Rob [=MacGregor=]'s novelization of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' is also relatively faithful to the movie, adding a few details such as the background behind the encounter with Panama Hat on the ship, the animal representations of the six stages of the Grail quests (all of which Indy encounters), what Elsa said in her sleep to make Henry realise she was a Nazi ("Mein Führer") and the Grail Knight's explanation of why he looks so old.

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the movie that tied-up the loose ends of ''Firefly'', was novelized. Most fans enjoy the added depth to the characters, especially River (who, according to the book, makes up her own languages)
* The novelization of ''Film/TheFunhouse'' gives its characters more depth and back story and is also slightly more disturbing than the film. It was written by Creator/DeanKoontz (under the pen name Owen West) and released while the film was delayed. This led some to believe the film was an adaptation of the book, but it was actually the other way around.
* ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' has a novelization. It retains almost all of the scripts and story elements, though the songs are only described. However, the novel does occasionally give added info on what characters are thinking and includes a few scenes that in the film are available only as deleted scenes on the DVD release. The novel also removes a couple of the more suggestive moments from the film, such as Nancy's comment about Robert having some "grown-up girl bonding time" with Giselle, and Morgan's line that boys are only after one thing, but nobody will tell her what it is.

* ''[[Film/{{Clue}} Clue: The Movie]]'' got a novel, which had a fourth ending that was filmed but now presumably lost.
* The movie ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' has a novelization written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the movie's writers (Emmerich was also the director). The book is slightly better than the movie. While it has the same ending, dialogue, and even shares its cover with the poster, the book provides more insight into each character's motivations, particularly Ra and Abydos's inhabitants.
* ''Film/{{Tron}}'''s novelization was written up by Creator/BrianDaley. Notable for amping up the roles of minor characters, fleshing out the dynamic among the three human heroes, providing a few WordOfGod details about the cyberspace society, and added {{Deleted Scene}}s ([[LingerieScene including]] [[FantasticArousal that one]]) back in.
* ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' had a novel written for it...''21 years'' after the original film's release. It adds considerably more backstory, characters, RefugeInAudacity, VulgarHumor, and {{Gorn}}.
* ''National Lampoon's Class Reunion'', bizarrely, is a photographic book.
* ''Film/TheGoonies'', penned by James Kahn, has its chapter headings in the forms of summations of the events in each chapter ("...We Stop For Provisions...") and is narrated by Mikey, except for chapter six ("Chunk's Story") which details what happened when the Fratellis took Chunk in his own words.
* ''The Adventures of Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit'' combined the plots of ''Smokey And The Bandit'' and the sequel - but put "the pregnant elephant caper" first chronologically. Which the sequels are universally regarded as weaker the original is understandable.

* ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' spawned a tie-in book calling itself a "Movie Novel" - though it isn't. It's merely a [[FilmComic comic book that adds speech bubbles to poor-quality screencaps from the film.]] There were several of these in TheSeventies; ''Hair'' was another example of them.
* The novelization of ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' was, uncharacteristically, written by the screenwriter of the film, and seems like an elaborate attempt to repair a broken story. Heartland's inhabitants are described in elaborate detail, more characters are added to BD Records' staff of shifty record-biz personas, and the story wraps up with an outlandish ending in which Sgt. Pepper's band magically gains the members of hundreds (literally) of other popular bands, all of whom are listed over the last several pages of the book. Unlike the ''Grease'' novel, musical numbers don't become awkward dialogue pieces - the characters actually sing as if in a musical movie. The story stops, the lyrics of a Beatles song are printed in full, and the story continues.
* The novelization of ''Film/JohnCarter'' [[http://disney.go.com/books/john-carter-movie-novelization-1423165586 includes]] the original Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs novel ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars A Princess of Mars]]''. Compare and contrast!
* The novelization of ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'' features some great additional description that didn't make it from script to film, including a description of [[spoiler:the infamous Kevin.]]
* The junior novelization of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' hit bookstores before the movie hit theaters, so it took an unusual approach to avoid spoilers ''and'' get the reader up to speed on the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse up to that point -- it retold the plots of the previous five films in alternating chapters for each hero, and wrapped up with a rundown of the first act of this one, ending as the heroes are initially brought together.
* The novelization for ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' is written by Hank Searls. Despite being the trope namer for VoodooShark, it is better than the movie (it would be hard to do worse.) It explains that a voodoo curse was put on the shark and that's why it was attacking members of the Brody family (though it's not clear why or who is doing this). It also has tighter and more action-packed scenes, chooses [[spoiler: to not resurrect Jake]], and has a subplot involving Michael Caine's character smuggling drugs, making it more interesting and more thought out than the movie.
** It is explained who is responsible. It's a Voodoo witch-doctor named Papa Jacques, who cast a curse on the Brody family because Michael Brody was a jerk to him a few times, and Papa Jacques apparently lives by DisproportionateRetribution, and therefore finds murdering Michael's entire family to be a reasonable form of retaliation.
* The junior novelizations of the live-action ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' films were interesting in that they were told from a different character's perspective each chapter (rotating around Velma, Shaggy, Daphne, and Fred). For what it's worth, the character development was more fleshed out, and the story had more depth, while still being funny and entertaining at the same time.

* The junior novelization of ''Film/IronMan3'' tacks on an epilogue of the ''real'' Mandarin, supposedly the true leader of the Ten Rings group referenced in ''Film/IronMan1'' whose identity was appropriated by [[spoiler: Aldrich Killian for his fake terrorist campaign]], watching news coverage of the events of the film. This has been confirmed as canon by ''Film/AllHailTheKing'' included with the home release of ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', where [[spoiler: ''faux'' Mandarin Trevor Slattery is broken out of jail to face the true Mandarin's wrath for the impersonation]].
* The novelization of ''Film/MenInBlack'' adds onto a lot of the background aliens to flesh out the world a bit more without feeling like {{Padding}}, but the best part has to be the scene where the Bug (who in fact has a name) takes over Edgar. The SpockSpeak voice that speaks to Edgar from the ship is actually a UniversalTranslator, and it has the problem of making everything sound overly stilted and formal. We get the way Bug ''actually'' said it in his own language (though the translator isn't word-for-word identical to the film.)
-->Bug: Put the gun down, stupid.
-->Voice from ship: RELINQUISH YOUR PROJECTILE WEAPON, LESS THAN OPTIMALLY-BRAINED ONE.
-->Edgar: You can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!
-->Bug: ''There's'' a deal.
-->Voice from ship: YOUR PROPOSAL IS ACCEPTABLE.
* The novelization of ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' reads more like [[ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen the comic it was based on]] than the movie. You can *feel* where the ExecutiveMeddling ripped things apart.
* ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' had one that added tidbits about the mythology (or the film's version it contradicts the series many times already), a scene where Connor first met Kastagir, and a few added bits to scenes in the film.
* Although the original ''Film/{{Planet of the Apes|1968}}'' film wasn't novelized, the sequels were. ''[[Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes Conquest]]'' one has the film's original ending, not the altered one. The [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001 2001 film]] also got one, though it omitted the twist ending.
* The films ''Film/{{Reptilicus}}'', ''Film/{{Gorgo}}'' and ''Film/{{Konga}}'' all had tie-in novels published by Monarch Books in the 60s. All three are notorious for the fact that their author wrote in softcore sex scenes to spice things up. In the case of ''Gorgo'', a film without any major female characters, author Carson Bingham had to invent an [[CanonForeigner original female character]] for Joe to sleep with (the alternative was [[HoYay him and Sam]]).
* The novelization of independent thriller/horror film ''Ten'' was written by script co-writer and cast member Jade Sylvan (who portrayed The Renegade). It was written while the movie was being filmed and based on an early version of the screenplay and therefore included scenes that were cut from the film; most notably, a major clue towards the main PlotTwist shows up halfway through the novel, but not the movie. On the other hand, the fact that it was written by someone on set at the time means that a few moments from the film that were purely ThrowItIn got to be included in the book too. The novelization also has an unusual structure where each of the ten main characters narrates one of the novel's ten chapters, which means the characters get more fleshed out than in the film - since the movie was a NamelessNarrative,each character makes up nicknames or short descriptions to refer to everyone else when it's their turn to do narration.
* Creator/JohnMilius's ''Film/TheWindAndTheLion'' received a tie-in novelization, reputedly by Milius himself. The book adheres closely to the movie's plot but is much heavier on PurpleProse and exotic atmosphere (a long description of Eden having a Moroccan steam bath for instance), rather than the film's action/adventure focus.
* Creator/SamPeckinpah's ''Film/MajorDundee'' has a novelization based on a ''very'' early script draft by Harry Julian Fink (hence before the movie's notorious ExecutiveMeddling). Though it maintains the plot outline (Union and Confederate soldiers teaming up to fight Apache Indians), it contains more characters than the movie, changes the fate of existing ones (Captain Tyreen most notably), and elaborated on numerous scenes deleted from the final cut - including the Apache massacre that originally opened the movie.
* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' has a novelization based on a much older draft of the script, though YMMV on whether it's better or worse than the film. While it includes a lot of interactions not found in the film (shippers have noted that it reads like a Maleficent/Diaval fanfiction at times), a lot of characterization is changed, making Stefan much more unambiguously evil and Maleficent retains her villainous nature for longer.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** ''Film/SupermanII'' had an unusual book, made up to look like Daily Planet news stories discussing the events of the film. Fitting into the newspaper motif, it also had fake ads, advice columns, a gossip column, and a classified ads page, all done tongue-in-cheek.
** ''Film/SupermanReturns'''s novelization includes a sizeable portion on Krypton that was not in the film - both the relationship between Lara and Jor-El and the DeletedScene of Kal-El's return to Krypton. It also notably lacks the controversial [[spoiler:Superman's son]] element. It has a good deal of internal monologue from Superman, particularly during the plane save scene and the island scene. Overall, Superman is portrayed as a much more fallible and struggling character, even shedding ManlyTears at Krypton's destruction.
** ''Film/Supergirl1984'' had a [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Supergirl:_The_Official_Movie_Novelization novelization]] by Norma Fox Mazer which delved more deeply into characters, mainly [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Linda Lee]] and the witch Selena.
* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'', while not receiving complete novelizations, did receive junior novelizations.
* ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' and its sequel ''Film/TheJewelOfTheNile'' both had tie-in novels. Since the movies are about a romance novelist named Joan Wilder, both books were not only ghostwritten by someone writing ''as'' Joan Wilder (as in the covers literally say "by Joan Wilder"), but the cover artwork for both of them, as well, calls to mind the kind of cheesy romance novels Joan writes in the movie(s), especially the one for ''Romancing the Stone'' which depicts an enraptured Joan swooning in the arms of a shirtless Jack Colton.
* ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' had two novelizations, one by Vargo Statten which was faithful to the movie (other than a bit of AdaptationExpansion involving a man-eating underwater tree), and another by Walter Hariss writing under the pseudonym "Carl Dreadstone" which... wasn't.
* In fact, there's a novelization of ''Film/TheRoom'' (not authorized by Tommy Wiseau), written in the same terrible style as the original film. It also elaborates on certain plot points: Lisa cheats on Johnny because she's dissatisfied with him [[ItMakesSenseInContext fucking her belly button]], and Denny asks for baking ingredients because he is [[{{Foreshadowing}} making meth brownies]]. [[http://theroomnovelization.blogspot.com/ It's also available for free.]]
** Wiseau himself originally wrote the story as a play, and then a 500-page novel before he decided to make it as an independent film. The novel has never been published.
* For the ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', there are novelizations of the first two films. ''Film/PitchBlack'', by Frank Lauria, is mostly a cut-and-paste from an early draft of the script (so that one important twist from the movie doesn't appear), but it does add some backstory on how Riddick was captured and why he went to prison in the first place. The one for ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' by Creator/AlanDeanFoster added in tons of details, several extra scenes, and detailed backstory, including an appendix with more details on the Necromonger religion.
* ''Film/BlackChristmas1974'' was novelized by Lee Hayes. It's become a collector's item among fans.
* ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'' has a novelization that has tons of additional WorldBuilding details, {{Backstory}} for several characters (Joe and Cornelia especially), and scenes that didn't make it into the finished film and often qualify as AllThereInTheManual material. They deal with everything from Santa's WeightWoe to Patch's nigh-precognitive ability to predict/create inventions to ALL of the issues the ending LeftHanging.
* ''Film/{{Tamara}}'' has one based on the earlier HotterAndSexier script that has its own page. ''Literature/{{Tamara}}''.
* ''Film/OrcaTheKillerWhale'' has one that is substantially different from the film it is based upon. It has its own page. ''Literature/OrcaTheKillerWhale''.
* ''Film/HocusPocus'' had two novelizations: one released in 1993 to tie in with the film's release, and 2018's ''Literature/HocusPocusAndTheAllNewSequel'', which is both a novelization of ''Hocus Pocus'' as well as a SpinOffspring sequel.
* ''Film/TheNutcrackerAndTheFourRealms'' received an "extended" novelization by Meredith Rusu, titled ''The Secret of the Realms''. It heavily expands on the backstories of both the villain and Clara's mother Marie in much more detail than the movie could cover and is generally considered the superior version.
* ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' was novelized in 1972 by Creator/FrankChandler.
* Alan Dean Foster also novelized ''Film/TheBlackHole'', adding a lot of detail that includes replacing Dr. McCrae's ESP with a cybernetic implant, more details on the technology that allows the USS Cygnus to be so close to a black hole, and a very different ending to the movie's one.
* Yvonne Navarro wrote novelizations for ''Film/{{Species}}'' and ''Film/SpeciesII'' that [[http://www.yvonnenavarro.com/offerings.htm she made sure to notice in her website]] that for being based on the scripts before ExecutiveMeddling cut details or downright dumbed down to "a bloodbath movie story" (with the original having the close collaboration of the film's writer), feel more like complete stories - although Navarro noted that the book for the sequel had meddling itself, as half of it had unfortunate editing by "a clueless television exec". The audiobook for the first, narrated by cast member Creator/AlfredMolina, even got an award.
* The 1999 film Film/RideWithTheDevil has a novelization written by Daniel Woodrell.

* ''Literature/IPartridgeWeNeedToTalkAboutAlan'' and ''Nomad'' are partially novelisations of the various film and TV exploits of the British comedy character Franchise/AlanPartridge and partially original novels which expand on his life and adventures. They're written [[{{Defictionalisation}} as memoirs by Alan himself]], and so flesh out notable scenes from the various media he's appeared on from his perspective coupled with original material. ''Nomad'' in particular sends Alan on an all-new exploits based around his desperate desire to get back on television by staging his own TravelogueShow to disastrous effect, but also touches on aspects of the film ''Film/AlanPartridgeAlphaPapa'' which he had appeared in a few years before it was published.

* ''Music/TheAstonishing'' by Music/DreamTheater is set to have a novelization released sometime in 2018. The novel is said to expand on the story originally featured in the album.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has an impressive number of novelizations and short stories set in its universe. The quality of writing varies but is usually decent. [[Literature/GauntsGhosts At least one series]] supposedly changed the way the fanbase perceived an entire faction; Creator/GamesWorkshop (which both makes the tabletop game and publishes the literature under its own publishing branch) knew a good thing when it saw it and adjusted accordingly.

* ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'' was co-written, under the pseudonym Kathryn Wesley, by the husband and wife team of Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. It was based on an earlier version of the screenplay that suffered from invalidated script syndrome. The final result contains some things which would have made for intriguing scenes in the movie: the Queen telling the Dog Prince a "bedtime story" about how she ended up in prison, the literal burying of the magic ax, Virginia's RecurringDreams about Wolf, or an interesting variation on the Swamp Witch's cottage scene with Clay Face rather than Acorn). Other sections have some surprisingly deep explorations of character and motivation: the longer conversations between Virginia and the Huntsman, Virginia and the Queen, Virginia and Snow White, or Virginia and Tony about her mother; or where they hear in Little Lamb Village about the Trolls ravaging the kingdom and Tony, who accidentally golded Wendell, feels responsible. And some [[AllThereInTheManual explanations]] for otherwise head-scratching moments are included, such as the old woman in the forest and the Cupid girl in Kissing Town both being Snow White in disguise. There's also lots of fun [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]] in the characters' thoughts, especially Wolf's and Tony's.

** The novelization of ''Film/ANewHope'', ghostwritten by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, introduced several plot points not elaborated on in the movie, including the first official reference to Darth Vader as a "Lord of the Sith" and the name of the first Emperor (Palpatine). It has a fair bit of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness such as Palpatine only being the first in a line of emperors and a powerless puppet rather than the ManipulativeBastard and EvilOrverlord he would be established as in the later films. It has some scenes that didn't make it to the movie, like the special edition-exclusive Han and Jabba scene. Interestingly, it was released before the movie came out. (Unfortunately, since Foster wrote it before the script doctors got to it, you have to slog through a fair bit of Creator/GeorgeLucas' original dialogue, about which Creator/HarrisonFord once said, "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it.")

** The novelization of ''Film/ANewHope'', ghostwritten by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, introduced several plot points not elaborated on in the movie, including the first official reference to Darth Vader as a "Lord of the Sith" and the name of the first Emperor (Palpatine). Palpatine was only the first in a very long line. It has some scenes that didn't make it to the movie, like the special edition-exclusive Han and Jabba scene. Interestingly, it was released before the movie came out. (Unfortunately, since Foster wrote it before the script doctors got to it, you have to slog through a fair bit of Creator/GeorgeLucas' original dialogue, about which Creator/HarrisonFord once said, "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it.")

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' had a novel and comic book based on [[Film/{{Transformers}} the 2007 movie]], which was based off the TV show which was inspired by a toyline which had a film that many would say ''Star Wars'' inspired in the same way ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]]'' is. The novel also had a prequel novel; its plot varied greatly from the prequel comic and seemed to take place on the planet Dune.

** The novelization of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', written by James Kahn, features a handful of changes. It expands on some characters (Wicket has more characterization, Moff Jerjerrod is depicted as a sadist, etc.). It also makes the Rebel fleet larger, drawing out the battle more, and dramatically enhances the confrontation between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor, making the dueling more detailed and revealing a lot of Vader's thoughts. For some reason, it has the dialogue of many of the non-human characters written out in excruciating detail, down to emphasizing the pitch changes in Artoo's beeps and boops.

** Creator/MattStover's work on ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', which has [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith its own page]], has a tremendous amount of character detail and [[AllThereInTheManual background information]] shoehorned into the text, broadly [[{{Retcon}} explaining]] some of the [[IdiotBall seemingly inexplicable actions]] of some characters; more dialogue is also added, even to scenes which the film itself covers; and even the action scenes are written with grand vision and style. Not for nothing since a portion of the fandom regards the novelization as ''better than the original film.'' Which is saying something, given the film itself has an 80% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

* ''WebVideo/EscapeTheNight'' has received a [[Fanfic/EscapeTheNightNovelization fanmade one]] [[https://archiveofourown.org/series/862056 here]]. Yes, all the seasons, [[{{Doorstopper}} each installment having over 100,000 words]].

** On a more obscure note, there exist two ([[NoExportForYou Japan-only]]) [[LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation novelizations of the anime]], written by the original anime director Creator/TakeshiShudo, which are [[DarkerAndEdgier probably the grimmest official interpretation of the Pokémon world]]. The second volume includes a ToBeContinued note in the afterword, but it was CutShort; no third installment was released, plus Shudo died in 2010.

** ''Film/DraculasDaughter'' have more details about the titular vampire woman, as implicit and possible origins, as a theory that implies she was a possible victim from Dracula, or that Dracula attacked a pregnant woman, and the baby born half vampire half human. There are a interesting analysis by Garth about Countess Zaleska's paintings revealing a psychological trauma with a man, possibly her father. The lesbic scene is more implicit, and at the climax, Janet as a captive by Marya Zaleska, had nightmarish and disturbing visions, as a stench of rancid blood, and the Countess herself awakening from earth, with corpse features, as a falling jaw, with a lifeless expression of hunger in contrast with the human-like face she showed in London. In the ending, Van Helsing implies that after her death, Marya's soul is saved, but it's also implies by Janet's psychological trauma, that she could survived.
** ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' novel is way more different that the movie, as the Gill Man is now a kaiju-like hermaphrodite amphibious. He is killed by a napalm bombs.
** ''Film/TheWolfMan'' novelization have Larry Talbot's fight with a big bear, where he almost loses his mind and goes berserker.