10 Oscar winning movies that were adopted from a novel

The Oscar Awards 2025 have finally taken place, and the winners of the year have been announced, with some surprising and some much-deserved wins. The Academy Awards ceremony celebrates every aspect of cinema, from the actors and directors to the film editing and makeup and hairstyling.

One of those categories is the most coveted: Best Picture. The Best Picture category is the last award to be presented and celebrates the combined effort put into making a film great. Furthermore, the award is not limited to original screenplays only, as many movies adapted from popular novels have also received this award.

There are many movies based on novels that went on to earn the Best Picture award. Here is a list of 10 such Oscar-winning movies that were adapted from a novel.

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1) The Godfather

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather was adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name. The story of the epic crime film revolves around the Corleone family in New York City. It delves into the criminal activities and the lives of the people surrounding crime.

The film also highlights the life of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone, the youngest son of the family who tries his best to keep himself away from the criminal activities of his family but is ultimately drawn into these activities.

Other than the best picture award, the film also won the best actor and best adapted screenplay awards. The sequel of the movie, The Godfather II, also won many Academy Awards, making it the first sequel to win the Best Picture award.

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2) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The 1975 film is based on Ken Kesey’s novel of the same name. Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is regarded as one of the best films by both the audience and the critics.

The film follows the story of Jack Nicholson’s Randle Murphy, who pretends to be mentally ill to avoid hard labor in prison.

He is then transferred to a mental institution where his presence threatens the authority of the overly controlling Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). A battle of wills ensues between the two because of one’s rebellious nature and the other’s controlling nature.

The film won all major Oscar awards, including Best Picture.

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3) Forrest Gump

Based on the novel by Winston Groom, Forrest Gump was a mega-hit. With Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, the movie illustrates the life of Hanks' Gump and his colorful adventures in 20th-century America, like meeting President Kennedy and Elvis Presley.

Other than the Best Picture, the film also won five more Oscar Awards.

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4) Schindler's List

Steven Spielberg’s historical drama is based on Thomas Keneally’s novel, Schindler’s Ark. It tells the story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who happens to save the lives of many Polish Jewish people from the Holocaust by employing them for various jobs in his factories.

After seeing the horrors that the Jewish people were going through, Neeson’s Oskar devised a plan and started employing them with his accountant, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley).

The film went on to win seven Oscar awards for its portrayal of one of the sensitive matters of history.

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5) The Silence of the Lambs

Adapted from Thomas Harris’s novel, The Silence of the Lambs is an Oscar-winning movie that follows the story of an FBI agent, Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling, who tries to catch a serial killer with the help of another dangerous serial killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).

Hopkins’s Lecter tries to manipulate Starling into revealing her personal trauma in exchange for details on the serial killer called Buffalo Bill. The film shows the level of intelligence and the manipulative techniques that Lecter uses to extract what he wants.

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6) No Country for Old Men

Joel and Ethan Coen did a daring job by adapting a Cormac McCarthy novel into a film. And their efforts did not go unnoticed as No Country for Old Men won many awards, including Oscar awards, and was a huge hit.

The story follows three characters: Josh Brolin’s Llewelyn Moss, a war veteran who finds a briefcase full of money in the aftermath of a failed drug deal; Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh, a hitman who is hired to track and bring back the money; and Tommy Lee Jones’s Ed Tom Bell, the sheriff who is investigating the drug deal.

The film also shows us three different psychological perspectives of a single event through the three characters.

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7) 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave, an Oscar-winning film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, is based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup. It shows the kidnapping of Ejiofor's Northup to the 12 years he spent as a slave before he ultimately gained his freedom.

Through Northup's story, the film gives us glimpses into the struggles that African Americans in the United States would have to contend with in the 19th century.

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8) The French Connection

William Friedkin’s neo-noir film is based on Robin Moore’s nonfiction book about the French connection drug scheme.

The film follows the story of two NYPD detectives, Jimmy Doyle and Buddy Russo, as they try to capture a French heroin smuggler.

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9) Rebecca

Alfred Hitchcock’s film Rebecca is adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s novel of the same name.

The film follows the new unnamed wife of Maxim de Winter, whose life is filled with the presence of de Winter’s dead wife, Rebecca.

Even after death, Rebecca is more significant in this psychological tale than the new wife, whose name we never get to know. Hitchcock shot the movie in a black-and-white Gothic style.

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10) Ordinary People

The Oscar-winning movie Ordinary People was based on Judith Guest’s novel of the same name. The film revolves around the Jarrett family, who are trying to come to normal terms after the death of the older teenage son, Buck, and the suicide attempt by the younger son, Conrad.

The film also shows us how each member of the family struggles with the trauma and tries to deal with it. Conrad tries to do it by talking to his psychologist, his father tries to do it by understanding his wife and son, and his mother tries to entirely dismiss the issue and appear normal.

However, it changes a little as the younger son, Conrad, and his father, Calvin, start to support each other in their situation.

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