What Novels Were Turned Into A Split Trilogy Series?

I still get a little giddy when people bring this up, because one of my favorite oddities in film adaptations is when a single novel gets stretched into multiple movies. The clearest, most talked-about case is definitely 'The Hobbit' — a single, relatively short J.R.R. Tolkien novel was turned into a three-film trilogy: 'An Unexpected Journey', 'The Desolation of Smaug', and 'The Battle of the Five Armies'. I watched those back-to-back in a tiny theater once on a whim and the stretch from book to epic cinematic trilogy was wild to witness: new subplots, added characters, and a lot of material pulled from appendices and Tolkien’s broader legendarium to bulk it out.

If you look a bit broader, there are similar situations where one novel became the seed for a film trilogy even if the later installments weren’t direct adaptations. Mario Puzo’s 'The Godfather' is a neat example — the original novel inspired Francis Ford Coppola’s three-part film saga, even though parts II and III expand beyond the single book’s pages. Peter Benchley’s 'Jaws' is another case where one story launched a film series (eventually a trilogy) as Hollywood kept going back to the box office well.

Studios pull this trick for lots of reasons: brand recognition, the chance to milk an existing story for more box office, or simply because they see more story in the margins. Sometimes it works brilliantly, sometimes fans grumble, but to me it’s always fascinating to see how a book’s world is reimagined when it’s stretched into multiple films — and it makes for a great topic when arguing with friends over drinks about which adaptation improved on the source and which one watered it down.

I get asked this a lot when people notice how many book-to-film adaptations feel…inflated. The standout, pretty undisputed example is 'The Hobbit' — one novel turned into a three-part movie series. Those films borrowed material from Tolkien’s appendices and new subplots were added to justify three features rather than one or two.

There are also cases where a single novel essentially grew into a film trilogy because the first film was so successful that sequels followed, even if the later films weren’t faithful adaptations of the same book. 'The Godfather' began as Mario Puzo’s novel and evolved into a renowned film trilogy. 'Jaws' likewise started from one Peter Benchley novel and became a multi-film franchise. Those are slightly different than splitting one book across multiple movies, but they’re relevant when people ask about novels turned into trilogies.

If you’re thinking strictly of single-book-to-three-films, stick with 'The Hobbit' as the prime example. If you meant any novel that ended up spawning a three-part movie series (including sequels not in the book), then there are a few more franchises to point to. Tell me which angle you meant and I’ll dig up a fuller list and some behind-the-scenes reasons studios go this route.

I’m the kind of person who geeks out over adaptation choices, so I’ll be blunt: the most famous instance of a single novel being turned into a split trilogy is 'The Hobbit' — one book adapted into three films. That’s the textbook example where filmmakers expanded a relatively short children’s novel with material from appendices and invented scenes to build three feature-length movies.

A related but slightly different phenomenon is when one novel sparks a film trilogy that then continues past the book’s story. 'The Godfather' is one such case: Mario Puzo’s single novel led to a celebrated three-film saga, while 'Jaws' started from one Peter Benchley book and spawned sequels, forming a trilogy of sorts. Those aren’t one-to-three direct splits like 'The Hobbit', but they show another way a single novel can become a trilogy in cinema.

If you had a particular book or film in mind, tell me and I’ll zero in on that example and explain how the adaptation expanded (or diluted) the original material.