What are some movies based on longform journalism stories?
January 16, 2013 9:45 AM Subscribe
What are some movies based on longform journalism stories? So far I'm coming up with Bernie (Midnight in the Garden of East Texas in Texas Monthly), 21 (Hacking Los Vegas in Wired), and Into Thin Air (Into Thin Air in Outside) but there must be more! (I think Into the Wild was a book first and not an article, but I could be wrong.) Both names of movies and links to the articles that inspired them would be most helpful.
In Cold Blood based on In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.
posted by griphus at 9:47 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by griphus at 9:47 AM on January 16, 2013
Saturday Night Fever
posted by Ideefixe at 9:48 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 9:48 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh, sorry: the original article Adaptation was based on is here.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:49 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:49 AM on January 16, 2013
Best answer: Michael Bay's yet to be released Pain & Gain and Urban Cowboy.
posted by dortmunder at 9:59 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by dortmunder at 9:59 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Blackhawk Down was originally a series of articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Friday Night Lights was also written by a reporter for the Inquirer, but was published as a book. I'm not sure if that blurs your definition of longform journalism.
posted by bl1nk at 9:59 AM on January 16, 2013 [2 favorites]
Friday Night Lights was also written by a reporter for the Inquirer, but was published as a book. I'm not sure if that blurs your definition of longform journalism.
posted by bl1nk at 9:59 AM on January 16, 2013 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Into the Wild was based upon the book by Jon Krakauer, which was originally based upon an article called "Death of an Innocent" that he wrote for Outside Magazine in 1993.
posted by fso at 10:00 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by fso at 10:00 AM on January 16, 2013
The Informant was a book first. I also remember reading lots of great long-form stories on the MIT Blackjack Team.
posted by jquinby at 10:01 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by jquinby at 10:01 AM on January 16, 2013
Into the Wild was an article first. From Wikipedia (with citation):
Into the Wild is a 1996 non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It is an expansion of Krakauer's 9,000-word article on Christopher McCandless entitled "Death of an Innocent", which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside.[1]posted by namewithoutwords at 10:01 AM on January 16, 2013
On a less serious note than many of these.
Pitch Perfect was loosely based on the non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory.
And The Men Who Stare at Goats was based on the non-fiction book The Men Who Stare at Goats.
posted by bswinburn at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2013
Pitch Perfect was loosely based on the non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory.
And The Men Who Stare at Goats was based on the non-fiction book The Men Who Stare at Goats.
posted by bswinburn at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2013
Joshua Bearman wrote the original article that was expanded into Argo as well as the piece that made people produce the documentary The King of Kong.
posted by mmascolino at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by mmascolino at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2013
Best answer: 127 Hours - The original article in Outside magazine.
posted by azlondon at 10:23 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by azlondon at 10:23 AM on January 16, 2013
Best answer: The Insider was adapted from/inspired by an article from Vanity Fair titled "The Man Who Knew Too Much."
posted by cribcage at 10:26 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by cribcage at 10:26 AM on January 16, 2013
The Soloist is based on a book which is based on a series of articles by Steve Lopez in the LA Times.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:30 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by Room 641-A at 10:30 AM on January 16, 2013
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:38 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:38 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't know if this counts, but The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a musical that was made into a dreadful movie, is based on a non-fiction article that appeared in Playboy.
posted by Wordwoman at 10:46 AM on January 16, 2013
posted by Wordwoman at 10:46 AM on January 16, 2013
Best answer: Coyote Ugly was based on an article by Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame.
posted by acidic at 1:44 PM on January 16, 2013
posted by acidic at 1:44 PM on January 16, 2013
Zodiac feels like it was.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 2:29 PM on January 16, 2013
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 2:29 PM on January 16, 2013
Best answer: The excellent Shattered Glass was based on a Vanity Fair article
posted by jabes at 9:21 PM on January 16, 2013
posted by jabes at 9:21 PM on January 16, 2013
Fast Times at Ridgemont High was based on an article in Rolling Stone by the same name.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:55 AM on January 17, 2013
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:55 AM on January 17, 2013
Best answer: Sofia Coppola's upcoming The Bling Ring, based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins".
posted by Smallpox at 5:36 PM on January 17, 2013
posted by Smallpox at 5:36 PM on January 17, 2013
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if tv series count, Generation Kill
posted by elizardbits at 9:47 AM on January 16, 2013 [1 favorite]