This is a list of nonfiction works that have been made into feature films. The title of the work is followed by the work's author, the title of the film, and the year of the film. If a film has an alternate title based on geographical distribution, the title listed will be that of the widest distribution area.
The list does not include documentary films that are based on real events and people which are not based chiefly on a written work. For other documentary film categories, see documentaries.
Books Non-fiction work(s) Film adaptation(s) Ref. 13 Hours (2014), Mitchell Zuckoff 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) The Accidental Billionaires (2009), Ben Mezrich The Social Network (2010) Across the Wide Missouri (1947), Bernard DeVoto Across the Wide Missouri (1951) Air America (1985), Christopher Robbins Air America (1990) Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (1974), Piers Paul Read Alive: The Miracle of the Andes (1993) All the President's Men (1974), Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein All the President's Men (1976) American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2005), Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin Oppenheimer (2023) An Anthropologist on Mars (1995), Oliver Sacks At First Sight (1999) The Music Never Stopped (2011) And the Band Played On (1987), Randy Shilts And the Band Played On (1993) Awakenings (1973), Oliver Sacks Awakenings (1990) The Big Short (2010), Michael Lewis The Big Short (2015) Black Hawk Down (1999), Mark Bowden Black Hawk Down (2001) A Brief History of Time (1988), Stephen Hawking A Brief History of Time (1991) Bringing Down the House (2003), Ben Mezrich The Last Casino (2004) 21 (2008) The Broken Seal: "Operation Magic" and the Secret Road to Pearl Harbor (1967), Ladislas Farago Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge (1998), Jim Schutze Bully (2001) Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas (1995), Nicholas Pileggi Casino (1995) Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History (2003), George Crile III Charlie Wilson's War (2007) A Civil Action (1996), Jonathan Harr A Civil Action (1998) Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law (2002), Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler North Country (2005) The Conquest of Space (1949), Chesley Bonestell & Willy Ley Conquest of Space (1955) The Dam Busters (1951), Paul Brickhill The Dam Busters (1954) The Day the World Ended (1969), Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts When Time Ran Out (1980) Dead Man Walking (1993), Sister Helen Prejean Dead Man Walking (1995) Dispatches (1977), Michael Herr Apocalypse Now (1979) Full Metal Jacket (1987) Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties (2015), Elijah Wald A Complete Unknown (2024) Escape from Alcatraz (1963), J. Campbell Bruce Escape from Alcatraz (1979) The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice (1978), Thomas Hauser Missing (1982) The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage (1979), Robert Lindsey The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) Fast Food Nation (2001), Eric Schlosser Fast Food Nation (2006) The Final Days (1976), Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein The Final Days (1989) Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer (1984), Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) (TV) The Flight of Dragons (1979), Peter Dickinson The Flight of Dragons (1982) (TV) Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996), Doris Pilkington Garimara Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) Freeing the Whales (1989), Tom Rose Big Miracle (2012) The French Connection (1969), Robin Moore The French Connection (1971) Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream (1990), H. G. Bissinger Friday Night Lights (2004) The Game of Their Lives: The Untold Story of the World Cup's Biggest Upset (1996), Geoffrey Douglas The Game of Their Lives (2005) The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld (1928), Herbert Asbury Gangs of New York (2002) The Hindenburg (1972), Michael M. Mooney The Hindenburg (1975) Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), David Simon Homicide: The Movie (2000) (TV) In Cold Blood (1966), Truman Capote In Cold Blood (1967) Imperial Life in the Emerald City (2006), Rajiv Chandrasekaran Green Zone (2010) Into the Wild (1996), Jon Krakauer Into the Wild (2007) Killers of the Flower Moon (2017), David Grann Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) The Last Days of Patton (1981), Ladislas Farago The Last Days of Patton (1986) (TV) Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (1991), Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton The Hurricane (1999) The Longest Day (1959), Cornelius Ryan The Longest Day (1962) Lost Moon (1994), Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger Apollo 13 (1995) The Man Who Never Was (1954), Ewen Montagu The Man Who Never Was (1956) The Mars Project (1952), Wernher von Braun Conquest of Space (1955) The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), Jon Ronson The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994), John Berendt Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) Moneyball (2003), Michael Lewis Moneyball (2011) The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (2007), Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter The Monuments Men (2014) The Mountain Road (1958), Theodore H. White The Mountain Road (1961) The Mothman Prophecies (1975), John Keel The Mothman Prophecies (2002) A Night to Remember (1955), Walter Lord A Night to Remember (1958) Nomadland (2017), Jessica Bruder Nomadland (2020) Ondskan (The Evil) (1981), Jan Guillou Evil (2003) The One That Got Away (1956), Kendall Burt and James Leasor The One That Got Away (1957) The Onion Field (1973), Joseph Wambaugh The Onion Field (1979) The Orchid Thief (1998), Susan Orlean Adaptation. (2002) Patton: Ordeal and Triumph (1963), Ladislas Farago Patton (1970) The Perfect Storm (1997), Sebastian Junger The Perfect Storm (2000) Pork Chop Hill: The American Fighting Man in Action, Korea, Spring, 1953 (1956), S. L. A. Marshall Pork Chop Hill (1959) Prince of the City: The True Story of a Cop Who Knew Too Much (1978), Robert Daley Prince of the City (1981) The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist (2009), Matt Baglio The Rite (2011) The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns Billy the Kid (1930) Billy the Kid (1941) The Outlaw (1943) The Left Handed Gun (1958) Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid (1989) (TV) The Sea Around Us (1951), Rachel Carson The Sea Around Us (1953) A Season on the Brink (1986), John Feinstein A Season on the Brink (2002) The Secret Life of Plants (1973), Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird The Secret Life of Plants (1979) The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985), Wade Davis The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) The Smartest Guys in the Room (2003), Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) The Story of Mankind (1921), Hendrik Willem van Loon The Story of Mankind (1957) Storyville, New Orleans (1974), Al Rose Pretty Baby (1978) Ten Days that Shook the World (1919), John Reed October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1928) Reds (1981) Red Bells (1982) Ten Rillington Place (1961), Ludovic Kennedy 10 Rillington Place (1971) The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley The Three Faces of Eve (1957) True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny (1987), Daniel Topolski True Blue (1996) The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, Maxwell Anderson The Wrong Man (1956) The Turning Point (1982), Fritjof Capra Mindwalk (1990) Twelve Days of Terror (2001), Richard G. Fernicola 12 Days of Terror (2004) Voyage of the Damned (1974), Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts Voyage of the Damned (1976) We Were Soldiers Once... And Young (1992), Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway We Were Soldiers (2002) Zodiac (1986), Robert Graysmith Zodiac (2007)
Biographies Book Subject Film adaptation(s) Ref. Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel (1982), Marty Jezer Abbie Hoffman Steal This Movie! (2000) The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961), Irving Stone Michelangelo The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) Aimée & Jaguar. Eine Liebesgeschichte, Berlin 1943 (1994), Erica Fischer Lilly Wust and Felice Schragenheim Aimée & Jaguar (1999) Blow: How a Small- Town Boy Made $100 Million With the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All (1993), Bruce Porter George Jung Blow (2001) Camille Claudel: 1864-1943 (1988), Reine-Marie Paris Camille Claudel Camille Claudel (1988) Carve Her Name with Pride (1956), R.J. Minney Violette Szabo Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) Chaplin: His Life and Art (1985), David Robinson Charles Chaplin Chaplin (1992) Diamond Jim Brady (1933), Parker Morrell Diamond Jim Brady Diamond Jim (1935) Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983), Hayden Herrera Frida Kahlo Frida (2002) The General (1995), Paul Williams Martin Cahill The General (1998) The Great Impostor (1959), Robert Crichton Ferdinand Waldo Demara The Great Impostor (1961) The Honest Courtesan (1992), Margaret Rosenthal Veronica Franco Dangerous Beauty (1998) Jackson Pollock: An American Saga (1989), Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith Jackson Pollock Pollock (2000) Joe Gould's Secret (1965), Joseph Mitchell Joe Gould Joe Gould's Secret (2000) Inside Hitler's Bunker (2002), Joachim Fest Adolf Hitler Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004) The Life and Times of Cleopatra (1958), by Charles Marie Franzero Cleopatra Cleopatra (1963) Magic Fire: The Story of Wagner's Life and Music (1954), Bertita Harding Richard Wagner Magic Fire (1954) The Man Who Was Peter Pan (1998 play), Allan Knee J. M. Barrie Finding Neverland (2004) Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001), Antonia Fraser Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (2006) Our Sunshine (1991), Robert Drewe Ned Kelly Ned Kelly (2003) Phantom Crown: The Story of Maximilian & Carlota of Mexico (1934), Bertita Harding Maximilian I of Mexico and Charlotte of Belgium Juarez (1939) Savage Messiah (1931), H. S. Ede Henri Gaudier-Brzeska Savage Messiah (1972) Seabiscuit: An American Legend (1999), Laura Hillenbrand Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (2003) Stung: The Incredible Obsession of Brian Molony (2002), Gary Stephen Ross Brian Molony Owning Mahowny (2003) Triumph Over Pain (1940), René Fülöp-Miller William T. G. Morton The Great Moment (1944) Truman (1992), David McCullough Harry S. Truman Truman (1995) Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career (1997), George Plimpton Truman CapoteInfamous (2006) Viva Villa! (1933), Edgecumb Pinchon & Odo B. Stade Pancho Villa Viva Villa! (1934) Wallace: The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace (1968), Marshall Frady George Wallace George Wallace (1997) The White Rabbit (1952), Bruce Marshall F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas The White Rabbit (1967) (TV) (mini) The Wild Boy of Aveyron (1802), Jean Marc Gaspard Itard Victor of Aveyron The Wild Child () (1970) Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984), Bob Woodward John Belushi Wired (1989) Wiseguy (1985), Nicholas Pileggi Henry Hill Goodfellas (1990)
Autobiographies and memoirs