Why don't movies like this do well?

Hmmm well Willy Wonka, Matilda, Tuck Everlasting and The Neverending Story were pretty successfull i think.

Eragon slaughtered the book and thats about all i can say on the matter. Ive not seen City of Ember so i cant comment.

But Inkheart was a complete drag...it should have been good but for some reason it just wasnt It had everyhting going for it, good actors, big names, good director, good story, good visuals etc etc...but it was just a complete borefest for me.

However i see your point, alot of the movies deserve more success than they have i agree with you there. Its a shame.

Give hugs not drugs

<3 One man can change his stars <3

Unfortunately, the book adaptions aren't exceeded to their fullest height like they should be. I believe it's because critics are far more interested with adult content, violence, some car explosions and etc. That seems to be catching their eye. My recommendation is that they start reading books.

IMO it's because they are made by studios that don't care enough about the films.
It's easy to be critical of Disney being all sickly sweet and idealistic etc, but the thing they did back in th eearly days up to the late 70's was care about making "original" films for kids. Quite often they would be especially written screenplays. Films like; That Darn Cat, Digby The Biggest Dog in the World, Blackbeards Ghost, The Love bug and it's verious sequels.
This isn't to say they didn't do adaptations of existing novels such as Mar poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but the main thing by commisioning their own stories and screenplays they showed they were interested in making good films that kids would like and have a good level of quality.
These days studios seem to be happy to just look at which books are popular sign up the rights so another studio can't make a version even if they don't make one and then churn something out if they can be bothered or just before their rights run out.
None of those films listed with the exception of the original Willy Womka one had any real promotion to it and had the feel of let's make the film version so it's been done and concentrate on the "real films" like the blockbusters and the ones with huge merchandising oportunities.

The merchandising is also an area where these films fall down. Most were made before it was known just how lucrative merchandising is for a company. But, were you to look at what merchandising oportunities you have, it is limited.
Yes you can do scrap books, posters, pencil cases etc but there is limited shelf life on those. Once the film is out of the cinema the sales will drop off with those. It's hard to make cuddly toys, T Shirts, etc whisch have a longer shelf life. You can always create a new beanie or a new t shirt design every few months that the fans will buy.

I think that is why despite the success of the james bond franchise of films nobody has bought up the rights to the kids James Bond Jnr books. Even if they get it right and make good films there isn't much money in it away from the box office takings. That film would most likely end up in with the above list. Good films, but not a masssive success because it's not pushed enough.

You forgot the Golden Compass movie.

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It's simple (kind of):

Books can afford to be targeted toward a specific audience, in this case to young people who are into the fantasy genre.
Movies, on the other hand, have to have a wider appeal, because their one objective is to make money.
Therefore, fantastic books get slaughtered when made into movies (*ahem* Eragon).