For the second consecutive summer, fans of author John Green eagerly anticipate a movie adaptation of one of his best-selling novels. Last summer, it was the much-hyped The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) movie. This summer it is a movie coming to theaters July 24, based on his book Paper Towns.
The book follows the story of high school senior Quentin Jacobsen and how his life changes after his mysterious neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman invites him on an all-night adventure around their hometown of Orlando, Florida. In the movie, Quentin and Margo are played by Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne. As devoted John Green fans may know, Wolff also played Isaac in last year’s The Fault in Our Stars.
Paper Towns was published in 2008, four years before The Fault in Our Stars. Despite this time gap, the excitement for the Paper Towns movie appears to be just as big as that of The Fault in Our Stars.
“There was so much hype around The Fault in Our Stars because the book is so popular, but I think Paper Towns is equally as good and will make a fantastic movie,” said senior Ariel Waldman. “Paper Towns made me laugh and cry, which are two extremes a lot of books don’t cover. I’m beyond excited to see how it’s adapted into a movie and I
think it’ll be fantastic.”
As was the case with the movie
adaptation for The Fault in Our Stars, John Green was a constant presence on the movie set. He oversaw the entire process of making Paper Towns, from the original cast read-through to the final day of production. His legion of fans has greatly appreciated his devotion to making these movie adaptations as faithful to his beloved novels as possible.
“The position of my favorite John Green novel fluctuates between Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, however I love Paper Towns as well,” said senior Jesse Epstein. “After seeing how well the production team of The Fault in Our Stars movie respected the storyline and key elements of the book and its fanbase the best they could, I feel confident that the team behind the Paper Towns movie will work similarly. I cannot wait to see it!”
To further promote the July release of Paper Towns, on May 30, John Green and members of the movie’s cast and production staff appeared at a panel at Book Con in New York City. There they discussed, among other things, the differences between the novel and its movie counterpart, the process of filming the movie, and how much they have enjoyed working with each other.
“I am a big John Green fan and I’m so excited for Paper Towns,” said senior Jake Arlow. “At his Book Con panel John talked about how movies shouldn’t be exact copies of books and that the Paper Towns movie captures the feeling of reading the book without copying it word-for-word, which I think is a really important thing when bringing a book to the big screen.”
With the enormous buzz surrounding the upcoming Paper Towns movie, this summer promises viewers laughter and tears. This movie will continue to show fans’ devotion to John Green’s literary franchise.