List of non-fiction works made into feature films

This is a list of nonfiction works that have been made into feature films. The title of the work is followed by the work's author, the title of the film, and the year of the film. If a film has an alternate title based on geographical distribution, the title listed will be that of the widest distribution area.

Please note: This list does not include documentary films that are based on real events and people which are not based chiefly on a written work. For other documentary film categories, see documentaries.

Books

• Across the Wide Missouri, Bernard DeVoto - Across the Wide Missouri, 1951
• Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Piers Paul Read - Alive: The Miracle of the Andes
• All the President's Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein - All the President's Men, 1976
• The Anarchist Cookbook, William Powell - The Anarchist Cookbook, 2002
• And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts - And the Band Played On, 1993
• Awakenings, Oliver Sacks - Awakenings, 1990
• The Basketball Diaries, Jim Carroll - The Basketball Diaries, 1995
• Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, Mark Bowden - Black Hawk Down, 2001
• Bravo Two Zero, Andy McNab - Bravo Two Zero, 1999
• Bully: Does Anyone Deserve to Die?, Jim Schutze - Bully, 2001
• Catatan Seorang Demonstran, Soe Hok Gie - Gie, 2005
• Charlie Wilson's War, George Crile III - Charlie Wilson's War, 2007
• A Civil Action, Jonathan Harr - A Civil Action, 1998
• Class Action, Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler - North Country, 2005
• The Conquest of Space, Chesley Bonestell & Willy Ley - Conquest of Space, 1955
• The Dam Busters, Paul Brickhill - The Dam Busters, 1954 - see also Enemy Coast Ahead
• Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean - Dead Man Walking, 1995
• Enemy Coast Ahead, Guy Gibson - The Dam Busters, 1954 - see also The Dam Busters
• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind - Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, 2005
• Escape from Alcatraz, J. Campbell Bruce - Escape from Alcatraz, 1979^{[citation needed]}
• Estação Carandiru (Carandiru Station), Drauzio Varella - Carandiru, 2003
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask), David Reuben - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), 1972
• The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice, Thomas Hauser - Missing, 1982
• Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser - Fast Food Nation, 2006
• The Final Days, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein - The Final Days, 1989
• Friday Night Lights, H. G. Bissinger - Friday Night Lights, 2004
• The Game of Their Lives, Geoffrey Douglas - The Game of Their Lives, 2005
• In Cold Blood, Truman Capote - In Cold Blood, 1967
• Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild, 2007
• J'ai serré la main du diable (Shake Hands with the Devil), Roméo Dallaire - Shake Hands with the Devil, 2007
• Jarhead, Anthony Swofford - Jarhead, 2005
• Live from Baghdad, Robert Wiener - Live from Baghdad, 2002
• Lost Moon, Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger - Apollo 13, 1995
• The Man-eaters of Tsavo, John Henry Patterson - Bwana Devil, 1952 ; The Ghost and the Darkness, 1996
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, 1997
• Molly's Daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara - Rabbit-Proof Fence, 2002
• The Mountain Road, Theodore White - The Mountain Road, 1961
• Never Cry Wolf, Farley Mowat - Never Cry Wolf, 1983
• A Night to Remember, Walter Lord - A Night to Remember, 1958
• Ondskan (Evil), Jan Guillou - Evil
  
• The One That Got Away, Kendall Burt and James Leasor - The One That Got Away, 1957
• The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean - Adaptation., 2002
• The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger - The Perfect Storm, 2000
• Pork Chop Hill, S. L. A. Marshall - Pork Chop Hill, 1959
• Queen Bees and Wannabees, Rosalind Wiseman - Mean Girls, 2004
• Reversal of Fortune, Alan Dershowitz - Reversal of Fortune, 1990
• The Secret Life of Plants, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird - The Secret Life of Plants, 1979
• See No Evil, Robert Baer - Syriana, 2005
• The Short-Timers, Gustav Hasford - Full Metal Jacket, 1987
• The Story of Mankind, Hendrik Willem van Loon - The Story of Mankind, 1957
• Storyville, New Orleans, Al Rose (1974) - Pretty Baby, 1978
• The Strawberry Statement, James Simon Kunen - The Strawberry Statement, 1970
• To See and Not to See, Oliver Sacks - At First Sight, 1999
• Touching the Void, Joe Simpson - Touching the Void, 2003
• True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny, Daniel Topolski - True Blue, 1996
• Twelve Days of Terror, Richard Fernicola - 12 Days of Terror, 2004
• We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young, Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway - We Were Soldiers, 2002
• Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked, Robert Graysmith - Zodiac, 2006

Biographies

• 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff - 84 Charing Cross Road, 1975, 1987
• Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel, Marty Jezer - Steal This Movie!, 2000
• Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, Spike Milligan - Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, 1972
• The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone - The Agony and the Ecstasy, 1965
• Aimée & Jaguar, Erica Fischer - Aimée & Jaguar, 1999
• Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt - Angela's Ashes, 1999
• Before Night Falls, Reinaldo Arenas - Before Night Falls, 2000
• Blow: How a Small- Town Boy Made $100 Million With the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All, Bruce Porter - Blow, 2001
• Bound for Glory, Woody Guthrie - Bound for Glory, 1976
• Camille Claudel, Reine-Marie Paris - Camille Claudel, 1988
• Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career, George Plimpton - Infamous, 2006
• Carve Her Name with Pride, R. J. Minney - Carve Her Name with Pride, 1958
• Cash: The Autobiography, Johnny Cash - Walk the Line, 2005
• Castaway, Lucy Irvine - Castaway, 1986
• Catch Me If You Can, Frank Abagnale - Catch Me If You Can, 2002
• Chaplin: His Life and Art, David Robinson - Chaplin, 1992
• Cheaper by the Dozen, Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey - Cheaper by the Dozen, 1950
• Crazy, Benjamin Lebert - Crazy, 2000
• Diarios de motocicleta, Che Guevara - The Motorcycle Diaries, 2004
• Elegy for Iris, John Bayley - Iris, 2001
• Finding Fish, Antwone Quenton Fisher - Antwone Fisher, 2002
• Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, Hayden Herrera - Frida, 2002
• The General, Paul Williams - The General, 1998
• Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen - Girl, Interrupted, 1999
• Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fossey
• The Great Impostor, Robert Crichton - The Great Impostor, 1961
• Gypsy: A Memoir, Gypsy Rose Lee - Gypsy, 1962, 1993
• Hideous Kinky, Esther Freud - Hideous Kinky, 1998
• The Honest Courtesan, Margaret Rosenthal - Dangerous Beauty, 1998
• I, Tina, Tina Turner - What's Love Got to Do with It, 1993
• I Was Cicero, Elyesa Bazna - 5 Fingers, 1952
• Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon (I Was Hitler Youth Salomon), Solomon Perel - Europa Europa, 1990
• In Search of Captain Zero, Allan Weisbecker - In Search of Captain Zero (future)
• Inside Hitler's Bunker, Joachim Fest - Der Untergang (Downfall), 2004
• Iron & Silk, Mark Salzman - Iron & Silk, 1990
• Jackson Pollock: An American Saga, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith - Pollock, 2000
• Joe Gould's Secret, Joseph Mitchell - Joe Gould's Secret, 2000
• The Learning Tree, Gordon Parks - The Learning Tree, 1969
• Leaving Las Vegas, John O'Brien - Leaving Las Vegas, 1995
• Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, Fantasia Barrino - The Fantasia Barrino Story, 2006
• Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words, Johnny Cash - Walk the Line, 2005
• The Man Who Was Peter Pan (play), Allan Knee - Finding Neverland, 2004
• Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Antonia Fraser - Marie-Antoinette, 2006
• Midnight Express, Billy Hayes - Midnight Express, 1978
• A Mighty Heart, Mariane Pearl - A Mighty Heart, 2007
• Mommie Dearest, Christina Crawford - Mommie Dearest, 1981
• My Autobiography, Charlie Chaplin - Chaplin, 1992
• My Early Life: A Roving Commission, Winston Churchill - Young Winston, 1972
• My Father and Myself, J. R. Ackerley - Secret Orchards, 1979
• My Left Foot, Christy Brown - My Left Foot, 1989
• My Posse Don't Do Homework, Louanne Johnson - Dangerous Minds, 1995
• Nine and a Half Weeks: a memoir of a love affair, Elizabeth McNeill - 9½ Weeks, 1986
• One Who Walked Alone and Day of the Stranger, Novalyne Price Ellis - The Whole Wide World, 1996
• Our Cancer Year, Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner - American Splendor, 2003
• Our Sunshine, Robert Drewe - Ned Kelly, 2003
• Out of Africa, Karen Blixen - Out of Africa, 1985
• Papillon, Henri Charrière - Papillon, 1973
• The Pianist, Władysław Szpilman - The Pianist, 2002
• Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Jean Kerr - Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1960
• Prisoners are People, Kenyon J. Scudder - Unchained, 1955
• Private Parts, Howard Stern - Private Parts, 1997
• Prozac Nation, Elizabeth Wurtzel - Prozac Nation, 2001
• Raging Bull: My Story, Jake LaMotta - Raging Bull, 1980
• Riding in Cars with Boys, Beverly D'Onofrio - Riding in Cars with Boys, 2001
• Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam - October Sky, 1999
• A Rumor of War, Philip Caputo - A Rumor of War, 1980
• Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs - Running with Scissors, 2006
• Savage Messiah, H. S. Ede - Savage Messiah, 1972
• Seabiscuit: An American Legend, Laura Hillenbrand - Seabiscuit, 2003
• The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia, 1962 ; A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, 1990
• Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrer - Seven Years in Tibet, 1997
• Śmierć Miasta (Death of a City), Władysław Szpilman - The Pianist, 2002
• The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Maria von Trapp - The Sound of Music, 1965
• Stung, Gary Ross - Owning Mahowny, 2003
• To America with Love, Abbie Hoffman - Steal This Movie!, 2000
• The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, Maxwell Anderson - The Wrong Man, 1956
• Truman, David McCullough - Truman, 1995
• Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom - Tuesdays With Morrie, 1999
• UFO Crash at Roswell, Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt - Roswell, 1994
• Various articles, Leon G. Turrou - Confessions of a Nazi Spy, 1939
• Various works, Mark Brandon Read - Chopper, 2000
• Viva Villa!, Edgecumb Pinchon & Odo B. Stade - Viva Villa!, 1934
• Wallace : The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace, Marshall Frady - George Wallace, 1997
• The Walton Experience, Travis Walton - Fire in the Sky, 1993
• The Wild Boy of Aveyron, Jean Itard - L'Enfant Sauvage (Wild Child), 1970
• Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi, Bob Woodward - Wired, 1989
• Wise Guy, Nicholas Pileggi - Goodfellas, 1990
• Young Man with a Horn, Dorothy Baker - Young Man with a Horn, 1950

Essays and articles

• "Adventures in the Ransom Trade", William Prochnau, Vanity Fair - Proof of Life, 2000
• "The Allman Brothers Story", Cameron Crowe and Faybeth Diamond, Rolling Stone magazine, December 6, 1973 - Almost Famous, 2000
• "The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy: America's Search for True Grit", Aaron Latham, Esquire, 1978 - Urban Cowboy, 1980
• "Biker Boyz", article by Michael Gougis, New Times Los Angeles, [2000?] - Biker Boyz, 2003
• "The boys in the bank: A fouled-up holdup moves step by step from threats to farce to violence", article by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore in Life magazine (September 22, 1972) - Dog Day Afternoon, 1975
• "The Death and Life of Dith Pran", Sydney Schanberg - The Killing Fields, 1984
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson, based on two-part series in Rolling Stone, 1971 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• "Life's Swell", Susan Orlean, Women Outside magazine, 1998 - Blue Crush, 2002
• "The Man Who Knew Too Much", Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, 1996 - The Insider, 1999
• "Mark of a murderer", article by Mike McAlary, Esquire, 1997 - City by the Sea, 2002
• "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly", article by Elizabeth Gilbert, GQ Magazine, March 1997 - Coyote Ugly, 2000
• "Racer X", Ken Li, Vibe magazine - The Fast and the Furious, 2001
• "Shattered Glass" by Buzz Bissinger, Vanity Fair, 1998 - Shattered Glass, 2003
• "Someone to Lean On" by Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated, December 16, 1996 - Radio, 2003
• "Something's Got To Give", Darcy Frey, The New York Times Magazine - Pushing Tin, 1999
• "To See and Not See"[1], Oliver Sacks - At First Sight, 1999
• "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", New York - Nik Cohn - Saturday Night Fever, 1977

See also

• Film adaptation
• Films based on the Bible
• List of fiction works made into feature films
• Lists of film source material

Sources

This film-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.