Does an author have the right to choose which director gets to film his/her novel?

E

ezra

New member
I was told that in every literary agency, authors sign a contract. And part of the contract is that any film industry has the right to make a movie out of the novel weather the author likes it or not. If thats true, then what happens, how does the process goes afterwards? Like how did Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Narnia, etc become movies in the first place and did the authors have "any, absolutely any" control what so ever of the filming process? And not just in those films but in any (in general, throughout the history of film making)? I mean is it all about luck: either you get good film makers (like the ones for Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter) or the worst film makers of all time (like Twilight)? Is it really all about chances?

(plz answer all my questions. Pretty plz)
 
I think the author can sign the rights to make a movie to a certain director or compnay. After they sign over the rights they don't really have a say in casting or anything else. I don't think the author is forced to give movie rights to anyone.
 
in the contract, you specify whether movie rights go to the author or the publisher. so normally, the producers or the directors for a movie based off a book will try to buy rights to make a movie, which involves another contract. i imagine that if the author still kept the movie rights from the publisher that he could include terms in the contract about how he gets the final decision on directors, actors, etc
 
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