Every Friday, we uncover the hidden creative process behind media adaptations. Everything comes from something. Why this now?
Avatar | the mythological origins of the Na'vi world
Avatar (2009) · Dec 30, 2022
Black Panther | the origins of T’Challa and Wakanda
Black Panther (2018) · Nov 18, 2022
Black Panther | the origins of T’Challa and Wakanda
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) · Nov 18, 2022
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | becoming the musical parody guy
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) · Nov 11, 2022
All Quiet on the Western Front | how a WW1 story becomes about WW2
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) · Nov 4, 2022
Halloween | why the film franchise frequently fractures
Halloween (1978) · Oct 14, 2022
The Lord of the Rings (part 3) | the influence of the adaptations
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) · Oct 7, 2022
Laal Singh Chaddha | it’s Forrest Gump, but for India
Laal Singh Chaddha (2022) · Aug 19, 2022
Nope | the weird life of the guy who invented movies
Nope (2022) · Jul 29, 2022
Where the Crawdads Sing | on murder, the past, and author Delia Owens
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) · Jul 22, 2022
Minions | how they came to influence EVERYTHING
Minions (2015) · Jul 8, 2022
Elvis | the real origins of the King
Elvis (2022) · Jul 1, 2022
Spiderhead | the short story mastery of George Saunders
Spiderhead (2022) · Jun 24, 2022
Jurassic Park | how dinos became a modern craze
Jurassic Park (1993) · Jun 10, 2022
Top Gun | when the Pentagon helps with motion pictures
Top Gun (1986) · Jun 3, 2022
The Godfather | how Mario Puzo made up the mafia
The Godfather (1972) · May 6, 2022
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | who is the real Nicholas Cage
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) · Apr 29, 2022
Sonic the Hedgehog | how the blue blur got his start
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) · Apr 15, 2022
CODA | what you don’t know about sign language
CODA (2021) · Apr 1, 2022
Batman (part 2) | why there’s so many different Batmen
The Batman (2022) · Mar 18, 2022
Batman (part 1) | the mystery behind the World’s Greatest Detective
Batman (1989) · Mar 12, 2022
Texas Chainsaw Massacre | why you don’t know this film’s true story
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) · Feb 25, 2022
Nightmare Alley | why remake a forgotten noir from the 1940’s?
Nightmare Alley (2021) · Jan 29, 2022
Scream | why the slasher didn’t die off
Scream (1996) · Jan 22, 2022
Scream | why the slasher didn’t die off
Scream (2022) · Jan 22, 2022
Don’t Look Up | what everybody gets wrong about satire
Don't Look Up (2021) · Jan 8, 2022
The Matrix | why are we getting plugged back in?
The Matrix (1999) · Dec 24, 2021
Being the Ricardos | why everyone loved Lucy
Being the Ricardos (2021) · Dec 17, 2021
The Power of the Dog | on what makes a cowboy
The Power of the Dog (2021) · Dec 10, 2021
Ghostbusters | why there are aren’t that many movies
Ghostbusters (1984) · Nov 26, 2021
Ghostbusters | why there are aren’t that many movies
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) · Nov 26, 2021
Clifford the Big Red Dog | how to create a children’s classic
Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) · Nov 19, 2021
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | why we love cats
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) · Nov 12, 2021
Dune | why this unadaptable sci-fi story endures
Dune (2021) · Oct 29, 2021
Cry Macho | getting back in the saddle with Westerns
Cry Macho (2021) · Sep 24, 2021
Candyman | the history of the honey hook killer
Candyman (1992) · Sep 3, 2021
Candyman | the history of the honey hook killer
Candyman (2021) · Sep 3, 2021
The Green Knight | decoding the mysterious King Arthur tale
The Green Knight (2021) · Aug 6, 2021
Zola | the first movie ever written on twitter
Zola (2021) · Jul 30, 2021
Space Jam | dunking commercials and cartoons into a global phenomenon
Space Jam (1996) · Jul 24, 2021
Space Jam | dunking commercials and cartoons into a global phenomenon
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) · Jul 24, 2021
The Fast & the Furious | how street racing became a superstar saga
The Fast and the Furious (2001) · Jun 25, 2021
In the Heights | making Lin-Manuel Miranda’s movie musical
In the Heights (2021) · Jun 18, 2021
The Conjuring | why our paranormal gets investigated
The Conjuring (2013) · Jun 11, 2021
Cruella | the truth behind the 101 Dalmatians thief
Cruella (2021) · Jun 4, 2021
Army of the Dead | where zombies really begin
Army of the Dead (2021) · May 28, 2021
The Woman in the Window | how to be a best-selling (lying) author
The Woman in the Window (2021) · May 21, 2021
From the Vault: Motherless Brooklyn | detectives, Tourette’s, & 20 year projects
Motherless Brooklyn (2019) · May 7, 2021
Mortal Kombat | how to make a video game movie
Mortal Kombat (2021) · May 1, 2021
The Princess Bride | the inconceivable master adapter
The Princess Bride (1987) · Apr 23, 2021
Promising Young Woman | on female revenge thrillers
Promising Young Woman (2020) · Apr 16, 2021
Concrete Cowboy | the heritage of America’s Black cowboys
Concrete Cowboy (2020) · Apr 9, 2021
Godzilla vs. Kong | what the massive monsters really mean
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) · Apr 3, 2021
Justice League | and the forgotten creator of superhero teams
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) · Mar 26, 2021
Minari | how a Korean American family pursued the American Dream
Minari (2021) · Mar 19, 2021
Nomadland | the hidden story of unsettled Americans
Nomadland (2021) · Mar 5, 2021
The United States vs Billie Holiday | the start of the Civil Rights Movement
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) · Feb 27, 2021
Judas and the Black Messiah | Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) · Feb 19, 2021
One Night In Miami | Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Malcolm X, and Jim Brown
One Night in Miami... (2020) · Feb 12, 2021
Shaft | on blaxploitation and Gordon Parks
Shaft (1971) · Feb 5, 2021
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | the Mother of the Blues
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) · Jan 8, 2021
Die Hard | how to make a Christmas story
Die Hard (1988) · Dec 26, 2020
Hillbilly Elegy | can memoirs make good movies?
Hillbilly Elegy (2020) · Nov 27, 2020
Elections | stories of the American voting system
Primary Colors (1998) · Nov 6, 2020
Elections | stories of the American voting system
The Candidate (1972) · Nov 6, 2020
Books of Blood | the horrifyingly thoughtful mind of Clive Barker
Books of Blood (2020) · Oct 9, 2020
Who Framed Roger Rabbit | the founding of modern animation
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) · Oct 2, 2020
Enola Holmes | it’s elementary, my dear listener
Enola Holmes (2020) · Sep 25, 2020
Moonlight | the path to portraying masculinity
Moonlight (2016) · Sep 18, 2020
I’m Thinking of Ending Things | the pɹ!ǝʍ world of Charlie Kaufman (& Iain Reid)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) · Sep 11, 2020
The Secret Garden | the forgotten story of the bestselling female novelist
The Secret Garden (1993) · Aug 14, 2020
The Secret Garden | the forgotten story of the bestselling female novelist
The Secret Garden (2020) · Aug 14, 2020
Tread | building a Killdozer for small town revenge
Tread (2020) · Aug 7, 2020
The Kissing Booth | how fan fiction gets sold for millions
The Kissing Booth (2018) · Jul 31, 2020
Harriet | why no one really knows Harriet Tubman
Harriet (2019) · Jul 24, 2020
Hamilton | America then, told by America now (Lin-Manuel Miranda & Ron Chernow)
The Undefeated Presents: Hamilton In-Depth (2020) · Jul 10, 2020
Da 5 Bloods | Black Veterans of the Vietnam War (from Spike Lee & Wallace Terry)
Da 5 Bloods (2020) · Jun 19, 2020
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy | don't forget your towel
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) · May 1, 2020
Peter Pan & Wendy | the adventure of growing up
Peter Pan & Wendy (2023) · Mar 13, 2020
The Call of the Wild | how to be a real dog (feat. Togo)
The Call of the Wild (2020) · Feb 28, 2020
Color Out of Space | HP Lovecraft & the long-lost Richard Stanley
Color Out of Space (2020) · Feb 7, 2020
Ford v Ferrari | why racing is about people (feat. Go Like Hell)
Ford v Ferrari (2019) · Nov 22, 2019
Motherless Brooklyn | detectives, Tourette’s, & 20 year projects
Motherless Brooklyn (2019) · Nov 8, 2019
The Laundromat | the Panama Papers and their “Secrecy World”
The Laundromat (2019) · Nov 1, 2019
Jojo Rabbit | finding comedy in Hitler (feat. Caging Skies)
Jojo Rabbit (2019) · Oct 25, 2019
The Goldfinch | do great books make bad movies?
The Goldfinch (2019) · Sep 20, 2019
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark | why children need horror
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) · Aug 16, 2019