There are so many outlets for watching movies and series out there nowadays, the amount of content is a bit overwhelming! With the current glut of original content hitting our big and small screens, it can be a bit of a shot in the dark to find something to watch that’s actually good. Which is why literary adaptations are experiencing a bit of a heyday, movies and TV based on popular books have a built-in fan base from people who’ve read and enjoyed the books, and also introduce the source material to new readers.

Several book-based series are continuing with new seasons this year:  season 5 of the Starz series Outlander, (based on The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon), season 3 of BBC series C.B. Strike, (based on Lethal White by Robert Galbraith),  and season 2 of the HBO series His Dark Materials, (based on The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman) are all coming to the small screen in 2020.

Beyond that, the list of new movies and television set to be released in the coming year is  HUGE. Check out all this book-based programming :

JANUARY

• Dolittle (theatrical release based on The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting)
• Just Mercy (theatrical release based on the book by Bryan Stevenson)
• The Turning (theatrical release based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James)
• The Rhythm Section (theatrical release based on the book by Mark Burnell)
• The Outsider (HBO series based on the book by Stephen King)

FEBRUARY

• The Call of the Wild (theatrical release based on the book by Jack London)
• The Invisible Man (theatrical release based on the book by H.G. Wells)
• Emma (theatrical release based on the book by Jane Austen)
• Good Lord Bird (Showtime series based on the book by James McBride)
• All the Bright Places (Netflix movie based on the book by Jennifer Niven)
• To All the Boys : PS I Still Love You (Netflix movie based on the book by Jenny Han)
• Locke & Key (Netflix series based on the graphic novels by Joe Hill)

MARCH

• Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu series based on the book by Celeste Ng)
• The Plot Against America (HBO series based on the book by Philip Roth)

APRIL

• The Secret Garden (theatrical release based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett)
• Fatherhood (theatrical release based on Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin)

MAY

• Greyhound (theatrical release based on The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester.
• Woman in the Window (theatrical release based on the book by A.J. Finn)
• Personal History of David Copperfield (theatrical release based on David Copperfield by Charles Dickens)
• Artemis Fowl (theatrical release based on the book by Eoin Colfer)

AUGUST

• The One and Only Ivan (theatrical release based on the book by Katherine Applegate)
• Dragon Rider (theatrical release based on the book by Cornelia Funke)

SEPTEMBER

• Without Remorse (theatrical release based on the book by Tom Clancy)

OCTOBER

• Death on the Nile (theatrical release based on the book by Agatha Christie)
• The Witches (theatrical release based on the book by Roald Dahl)

DECEMBER

• News of the World (theatrical release based on the book by Paulette Jiles)
• Dune (theatrical release based on the book by Frank Herbert)
• The Luminaries (BBC2 series based on the book by Eleanor Catton)

There are still more book adaptations expected to premiere in 2020, with release dates yet to be finalized:

• Chaos Walking (theatrical release based on The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness)
• Enola Holmes (theatrical release based on The Case of the Missing Marquess: an Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer)
• Bridgerton (Netflix series based on the books by Julia Quinn)
• Shadow and Bone (Netflix series based on Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo)
• The Devil All the Time (Netflix movie based on the book by Donald Ray Pollock)
• Rebecca (Netflix movie based on the book by Daphne Du Maurier)
• Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix movie based on the book by J.D. Vance)
• Ratched (Netflix series based on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey)
• Firefly Lane (Netflix series based on the book by Kristin Hannah)
• The Willoughbys (Netflix movie based on the book by Lois Lowry)
• Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu series based on the book by Liane Moriarty)
• Normal People (Hulu and BBC series based on the book by Sally Rooney)
• I Know This Much is True (HBO series based on the book by Wally Lamb)
• Y (FX series based on Y: The Last Man graphic novels by Brian K. Vaughan)

This is not a completely comprehensive list, and is subject to change as the year goes on. What literary adaptations are you most excited to see this year?