Film adaptations of young adult books allow us to linger in our favorite stories a little bit longer. Lois Lowry's "The Giver" has been adapted into a movie starring newcomers Brenton Thwaites and Odeya Rush. Thwaites portrays Jonas, the central character, who begins to realize that the utopia he was raised in isn't as perfect as it seems. Here are some of the other titles that went from best-seller to box office. 
The hotly anticipated film version of John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort reached theaters on June 6 and opened at No. 1. 
Stephen Chbosky wrote "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and then adapted it into a successful film in 2012 starring Ezra Miller, Emma Watson and Logan Lerman. 
All seven of J.K. Rowling's books made the leap from page to screen, beginning with the first one in 2001 and wrapping up in 2011. It's been a trend to split the last book in a series into two films, with the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" franchises following suit. The success of the "Harry Potter" films also led to adaptations of "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Inkheart" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," none of which replicated the success of "Potter." Pictured: Matthew Lewis, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe. 
Author Stephenie Meyer signed on as producer for the last two films of her "Twilight" saga, as well as the adaptation of her novel "The Host." "Twilight" was also the first franchise to spark Summit Entertainment's interest in adapting young adult novels for the screen. Another vampire adaptation, "Cirque de Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," didn't inspire the same viewership, although L.J. Smith's "The Vampire Diaries" has found success on the small screen. Pictured: Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Foy, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. 
"The Hunger Games" franchise, starring Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence, has been a hit. Based on Suzanne Collins' politically themed dystopian trilogy, "The Hunger Games" consists of four films: 2012's "The Hunger Games"; 2013's "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay Part I" and "Mockingjay Part II." The first "Mockingjay" film arrives in theaters in November. 
The first "Percy Jackson" adaptation, based on Rick Riordan's popular series, came out in 2010 and fans were struck by serious deviations from the original plot and even the hair color change for a main character, Annabeth. "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" continued the franchise in summer 2013 and gave Annabeth (played by Alexandra Daddario) back her original blond hair. Also pictured: Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson. Meg Cabot's popular "The Princess Diaries" series made the leap to the silver screen in 2001, a year after the first book published. After two films, the second of which deviated sharply from the books, Disney didn't pursue any more of the series. The bestselling books detailing the life of Mia Thermopolis (played by Anne Hathaway in the films), however, grew to include 17 titles. 
The first of Christopher Paolini's successful Inheritance Cycle series, "Eragon" was adapted in 2006 during the fantasy boom, inspired by "Harry Potter." But the film, starring Ed Speleers, didn't reach the expectations of fans who adored the books. None of the other books have been adapted. 
C.S. Lewis' famous series hit the big screen with "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" in 2005. The franchise continued with "Prince Caspian" in 2008 and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (pictured) in 2010. "The Silver Chair" has been announced, but there is no release date yet. Fans had mixed reactions to the films so far. The first movie grossed $291 million, while the third only netted $104 million. Pictured: Will Poulter, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley and Ben Barnes. 
Also part of the "Narnia" and "Harry Potter" fantasy boom, the first of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series hit the screen in 2007. It was full of star power, with Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as young Lyra, as well as plenty of CGI. But the series has yet to continue on the big screen. 
This retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" starring Vanessa Hudgens was connected to Alex Flinn's book by name and little else, according to fans. But it allowed actor Alex Pettyfer to continue his string of young adult film projects in 2011. Pettyfer previously starred in "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker." 
Pittacus Lore's (pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes) science fiction series seemed like the perfect material for a film in 2011. But the sequel was shelved. However, Alex Pettyfer strikes again. 
Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia's bestselling series opener "Beautiful Creatures," starring Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert, didn't fare well at the box office, but the books have sold millions of copies and the fan base continues to grow. A spinoff series of books, "Dangerous Creatures," is also in the works, thanks to 4 million new readers after the movie's debut in February 2013. 
After a lackluster release for the adaptation of the first book in Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series, production for the second film was initially put on hold. But one thing fans did seem to like? Casting, with Jemima West as Isabelle, Robert Sheehan as Simon, Lily Collins as Clary, Kevin Zegers as Alec and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace. 
Orson Scott Card's novel "Ender's Game," which began as a short story in 1977, finally made the jump to the big screen in November 2013, starring Asa Butterfield as Ender and Hailee Steinfeld as Petra. 
The film adaptation of Markus Zusak's award-winning novel "The Book Thief" brings to life young Liesel's struggle to steal books and share them with the Jewish refugee in her home against the backdrop of WWII Germany. Sophie Nelisse plays Liesel Meminger in this story, narrated by Death. It reached the big screen in November 2013. 
The beginning of Richelle Mead's popular "Vampire Academy" six-book series debuted in theaters February 2014. The story follows Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry), a vampire princess, and her bodyguard Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch, pictured here with Cameron Monaghan as Mason Ashford), at a boarding school for vampires and the half-human teens trained to protect them. 
An adaptation of Veronica Roth's bestselling first novel in her "Divergent" trilogy landed in theaters in 2014, starring Shailene Woodley as protagonist Tris Prior and Zoe Kravitz as Christina. The first novel in James Dashner's dystopian sci-fi trilogy "The Maze Runner" is also expected to light up the big screen in 2014. Dylan O'Brien plays the young hero Thomas in a post-apocalyptic world.
- With young adult movies being popular, the spotlight now belongs to "The Giver"
- The 1993 novel was a controversial best-seller in its day
- Jeff Bridges, who was among its fans, saw it through to production across 18 years
(CNN) -- Outside of superheroes, young adult adaptations have become one of the few thing studios can count on.
From the "Twilight" series ($3.3 billion earned globally) to "Harry Potter" ($7.7 billion total) to "The Hunger Games" ($1.5 billion worldwide so far), franchises based on popular books made for adolescents have turned into a safer gamble. With the alluring promise of an eager, built-in fanbase, even stand-alone YA adaptations -- like "The Fault In Our Stars," which opened at No. 1 in June -- hold the potential to be deliciously lucrative.
Taking stock of the studio landscape, it isn't too surprising that "The Giver's" moment at the movies has finally come to pass. Based on Lois Lowry's best-selling, award-winning 1993 novel, "The Giver" actually struggled to make it into production, being ahead of its time with dystopian themes of an all-controlling government and a young boy who begins to rebel against it.
That sounds de rigueur now, but in the '90s the book's popularity was only eclipsed by its reputation among some as too disturbing for the classroom. Lowry's story follows a 12-year-old named Jonas who is raised in what he believes is a utopia, a place where conformity isn't an option and being different can cost you your life. The residents' world is void of color and strong emotion, but they also don't suffer from war or pain, and have no memories to remind them of what they're missing.
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When Jonas is elected to become the Receiver of Memory, he learns from The Giver -- the wizened, silver-haired gentleman seen gazing out from the book cover -- all that's amiss in his world.
Lowry's tale resonated with actor Jeff Bridges upon its release, and he initially pictured his father, Lloyd Bridges, playing the role of The Giver. But Bridges' road to getting the movie made turned out to be longer than he thought.
According to Lowry, Bridges and his team first approached her about two years after "The Giver" was published.
"He was passionate about the book," Lowry said at the movie's August 11 premiere in New York. "What sold me on it was his passion. I knew he wouldn't let the themes and ideas of the books be lost."
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But the actor's passion had to sustain him for 18 years as he lost the movie rights and regained them again.
"Originally I wanted to direct my father in the movie, and he is no longer with us," Bridges said of his dad, who died in 1998.
"But I was originally inspired by this old grisly guy on the cover of Lowry's book, and more and more I started to look like this old, grizzled guy," the now-64-year-old continued. "And I thought, 'Oh, maybe I can play this part,' so I'm just thrilled we put together this wonderful team and after 18 years we finally got it up on screen."
With Bridges installed as The Giver, the movie tapped Australian actor Brenton Thwaites to play Jonas, who in the movie is already a teenager rather than on the cusp of becoming one.
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Jonas' older age is one of the tweaks the movie adaptation made to accommodate the story for the screen. For critics, the movie hasn't exactly lived up to the book, but for Lowry the movie's right on time.
"If they had made the movie 20 years ago, or even 18 years ago when they first optioned it, many things couldn't have happened," Lowry said. "Jeff Bridges wasn't old enough to play the title role. Some of the kids in the movie weren't even born and the technology wasn't as good. They made a better movie because they waited."
CNN's Lorenza Brascia and Joan Yeam contributed to this report.
