BookCon 2026: Andy Weir and Emily St. John Mandel talk maintaining the spirit of a page to screen adaptation

For book fans, book-to-screen adaptations can be a sensitive subject of changed endings and casting errors. But authors are not as valuable to them. In the final panel of BookCon 2026, authors Andy Weir (Hail Mary Project, The Martian), Emily St. John Mandel (Station eleven), May Cobb (The Hunting Wives), and Robinne Lee (The idea of ​​you) were joined by moderator Jason Blitman (host and producer of the show Gays reading podcast) to discuss the joys and limitations of bringing a book to the screen.

Cutting straight to the heart of the matter, Blitman kicked off the discussion with the ultimate question: What makes a successful adaptation? Across the panel, there were varied adaptations. spillway Hail Mary Project and that of Cobb The Hunting Wives had mostly faithful adaptations, while The idea of ​​you And Station eleven are larger deviations from the source material.

St. John Mandel responded regarding the adaptation of Station eleven, saying, “They changed every plot, but they kept the spirit of the original.”

Lee added: “How can I be true to what readers fell in love with while still creating something that will appeal to a broader audience? »

A potentially surprising sentiment shared by all four authors is that, regardless of their involvement in the adaptations, there was a lack of preciousness towards the projects. This should not be confused with enthusiasm, however, as all panel members expressed their willingness to be champions and cheerleaders for the adaptations.

Novels, television and films are such different media that change is inevitable in an adaptation, as Weir says: “There are things you can do in a visual medium that are very difficult to do in a narrative medium. »

On screen, when you don’t need to spend pages filling in interiority or describing scenes and settings, there is room for play and character development. Cobb found this to be true in The Hunting Wives like “The husband who takes out the trash is now running for governor.”

Lee made the most apt analogy of the panel, saying, “You’re going to view your book as your baby, but you have to view any adaptation as a sort of distant relative.” She added, “When you see this adaptation, suddenly there are other people taking it on and owning these characters. People judging the movie, to me, doesn’t seem as personal. It doesn’t feel like a judgment on my work.”

Although there is often a contentious relationship between fans and adaptations of their favorite books, authors go into these projects with an open mind. “I feel like I’m almost pathologically welcoming to changes in the adaptation process,” St. John Mandel said.

Cobb, who first met The Hunting Wives Producer Rebecca Cutter, when she came to visit Texas, remembers driving through the woods of East Texas. She said Cutter presented Cobb with her vision for the TV show, describing how she wanted to change the ending, which Cobb met enthusiastically, saying, “Where were you when I was writing the book?”

In fact, Weir said in his book Artemiswhich has been on the back burner for several years, that when there is movement on the project, he has a list of changes ready to be implemented: “I’ve identified a bunch of issues in Artemis that I think are places where the writing is weak. I’m going to give to the directors and the people who are pitching it to the studios, I’m going to give a bulleted list of an alternate plot sequence for Artemis.“

The panel was the finale of BookCon, which returns in 2027 on April 10-11.