Film
The NeverEnding Story was the first film adaptation of the novel. It was released in 1984, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Barret Oliver as Bastian, Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress. It covers only the first half of the book, ending at the point where Bastian enters Fantasia, and features characters who look markedly different from how they are described in the book (most notably Bastian, who is very self-conscious about his weight in the book, but is depicted as slender in the film). Ende, who was reportedly "revolted" by the film, requested they halt production or change the film's name, as he felt it had ultimately and drastically deviated from his novel; when they did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case.
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, directed by George T. Miller and starring Jonathan Brandis and Kenny Morrison, was released in 1990. It used plot elements primarily from the second half of Ende's novel, but told a new tale. Ende has dismissed both the 1984 film and its 1990 sequel as "gigantic melodrama made of kitsch and commerce, plush and plastic".
The NeverEnding Story III, directed by Peter MacDonald and starring Jason James Richter, Melody Kay and Jack Black, was released in 1994 in Germany. This film was primarily based only upon the characters from Ende's book but had an original story. The film was lambasted by film critics for its poor and laughable dialogue and special effects and was a box-office bomb. In addition, the US release went straight to video and received a limited theatrical run in 1996.
In 2024, Michael Ende Productions, in association with See-Saw Films, announced plans for a series of films based on the book.
