Adapted to survive

May 16 was Throwback Thursday, as Gareth Edwards’ re-imagining “Godzilla” surfaced at the box office.

This monster flick is part of a franchise standard dating back to 1954. With the mega-lizard rampaging across many screens during the years, “Godzilla” is part of a bigger beast. Filmmakers have been participating in an ever-growing love for using existing content, and we’re not just talking about sequels.

Film adaptations have represented a thriving strain in the evolution of cinema. Here we have mapped out a few recent and upcoming works that represent the backbone of current adapted films. Compare these recent flicks to their original content, and see the different time periods and forms of media movie makers turn to when seeking inspiration for the next big thing.

“Man of Steel”
Inspired by its comic book series that began in 1941, Superman, like Godzilla, represents a Hollywood icon that has seen many screen adaptations.

“The Lone Ranger”
Johnny Depp might be the reason why many people know of “The Lone Ranger” now, but it was first a 1930s radio show that later came to television.

“12 Years a Slave”
Before “12 Years a Slave” moved audiences in 2013, the Solomon Northup’s memoir titled “Twelve Years a Slave” came to print in 1853.

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
A Walter Mitty is someone who is often lost in their own waking dreamscape. It was not Ben Stiller but James Thurber who first introduced the character in his famed 1939 short story.

“Catching Fire”
Following in the footsteps of the “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” franchises, “Catching Fire” is the second installment in the book-to-film “Hunger Games” series.

“Frozen”
While some of the themes of Disney’s “Frozen” were quite modern, the film was nonetheless inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Snow Queen.”

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
When approaching the retelling of Bilbo Baggins’ mystical adventures, director Peter Jackson blended J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” with the posthumously published “The Silmarillion.”

“Veronica Mars”
Fans proved their love for TV show “Veronica Mars” by helping to fund the movie continuation of the series through a kickstarter campaign.

“Noah”
While Russell Crowe and Emma Watson are not explicitly mentioned in any religious doctrine, their work is now alongside other Bible-based epic films such as “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Ten Commandments.”

“Godzilla”
The iconic monster first terrorized Japan on screen in 1954. Pre-CGI special effects called for a man dressed as the gorilla-whale stomping around a miniature Tokyo.

“Maleficent”
This boss-ass witch was so timeless in Disney’s 1959 animated feature “Sleeping Beauty” that we get to see Angelina Jolie tackle the live-action villainess this summer.

“The Fault in Our Stars”
Many young adult fiction readers are already stockpiling tissues in preparation for John Green’s book, which comes to screens in a few weeks