The Outsiders Summary and Analysis

Films based on S.E. Hinton's novels

Francis Ford Coppola was convinced to direct The Outsiders film by Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Jr. High School in Fresno, California, and her students. The film was shot in 1982 and released in 1983. In 2005, Coppola re-released the film as The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, and included scenes that would make the movie more faithful to the novel. For example, the beginning scene in which the Socs jump Ponyboy, the court scene, and a conversation between Ponyboy and Mr. Syme at the end were now included.

After reading The Outsiders, Coppola also read Hinton's novel Rumble Fish, and was inspired to adapt it to film as well. He wrote the screenplay with Hinton while filming The Outsiders - on Sundays when they had time off from shooting - and filmed it right after. Many of the same locations were used in both films, as were many of the same cast and crew members. Both films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tex was Hinton's last young adult novel, but the first to be made into a film in 1982. It starred Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez, both of whom also starred in The Outsiders. The film was directed by Tim Hunter and produced by Walt Disney Pictures.

That Was Then, This Is Now was made into a film by Paramount Pictures in 1985, and also starred Emilio Estevez. Estevez wrote the screenplay.