Book-to-Screen Adaptations Coming in 2023

If you love seeing your favorite books come to life on the big or small screen, 2023 is shaping up to be a great year. And if you’re a read-it-before-you-see-it person, you’ll want to take note of the screen adaptations slated for release this year, and add the following books to your reading list! (Release dates are given when known, though they are subject to change).

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (on Apple TV+ Feb. 3)

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay (in theaters Feb. 5)

The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black (in theaters Feb. 15)

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (on Amazon Prime Mar. 3)

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume(in theaters Apr. 28)

Text for You (movie title: Love Again)by Sofie Cramer (in theaters May 12)

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (in theaters May 2023)

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (in theaters June 30)

American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (in theaters July 21)

Hallowe’en Party (movie title: A Haunting in Venice) by Agatha Christie (in theaters Sept. 15)

Dune (Part Two) by Frank Herbert (in theaters Nov. 3)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (in theaters Nov. 17)

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (movie title: Wonka) by Roald Dahl (in theaters Dec. 15)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (in theaters Dec. 20)

Expected to premier in 2023, but no release dates available yet for:

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (on Amazon Prime)

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (on Amazon Prime)

The Power by Naomi Alderman (on Amazon Prime)

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (on Apple TV+)

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (on Disney+)

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (on Netflix)

The Three-Body Problem Series by Cixin Liu (on Netflix)

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (on Showtime)

The big, BIG list of literary adaptions coming to screens in 2020

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

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

DECEMBER

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

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?

 

Upcoming Books-to-Movies

Not every book becomes a movie; not every movie started out as a book, but the two feed off each other like peanut butter and chocolate. Many of the top Oscar-winning films started out as books (The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, No Country for Old Men, Schindler’s List, and more). Some movies were better films than their book (in my opinion, Planet of the Apes, Poseidon Adventure, and Casino Royale are three). Some people want to read a book before they see a film adaption, while others see a great film and want to read the book to see if any good bits were left out.

If you’re of the group that prefers to read the book first, better get started! A whole new wave of book adaptions is readying for the coming year. Here’s a peek at some of them:

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats – that’s the collection of T.S. Elliott’s poem collection that became the musical CATS. Whether this is a filmed “stage” production or a cohesive musical film remains to be seen, but it stars Judi Dench and Ian McKellan, no theater slouches. Look for it at Christmas.

Death on the Nile – Kenneth Brannaugh’s second attempt to capture Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot in a mystery due out in October of 2020. It also stars Gal Godot of Wonder Woman fame.

Doctor Sleep – Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining stars Ewan McGregor as the adult Danny Torrence, due out in November 2019.

Dune – Yet another attempt to harness Frank Herbert’s cornerstone classic, most assuredly without the winged underwear. Although it bears an all-star cast, I loved the deep details of the novel, and I have a special affinity for the admitted mess of the 1984 Lynch adaption. Like Batman, all the reboots get tedious after a while. Sometimes you can’t capture greatness.

The Goldfinch Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel hits theaters in September of 2019. It has promised to be faithful to the book, a coming of age story of a boy whose life changes in an instant.

The Turning – A modern adaption of Henry James’s Turn of the Screw, it’s produced by Stephen Spielberg. Spielberg’s track record isn’t perfect, but still one of the best in Hollywood. The story is the one of the classic horrors of literature. Due out in January of 2020.

Little Women – The long-time classic of girl literature by Louisa May Alcott, it was first adapted for film in 1933, and most recently in 1994. A very strong cast (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, the list goes on) has given this move a lot of buzz. Now’s the time to catch up on the classic story you may have missed (it’s not as bad as you fear). Look for it at Christmas, 2019.

 

The Good Liar – Nicholas Searle’s novel will star Helen Mirren and Ian McKellan as a con man trying to steal from a widow who has more than one trick up her sleeve. Look for it in November of 2019.

The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn’s #1 thriller of a woman who witnesses a crime will star Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, and Gary Oldman. Since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, it’s technically a Disney film (with no princesses, no mermaids, and no singing), due out in October of 2019.

Bond 25: Ian Fleming wrote only 12 Bond novels, and two collections of short stories. The films have now exceeded the original material. The movie has been through a long list of issues from a revolving door of writers and directors to explosions on set, and the working title of Bond 25 gives away no details about the story, but you can get your fill on the original novels. The movie, purportedly the last for Daniel Craig, is set for April of 2020.

Deadpool 3, Black Panther 2, Black Widow, Wonder Woman 1984 : 2020’s crop of Comic-book Hero films, from Marvel and DC. Most of them still have current story lines, or track down the older versions online or in graphic novel compilations.

Motherless Brooklyn – Jonathan Lethem’s novel of a detective with Tourette’s Syndrome searching for the killer of his best friend won multiple awards for fiction and crime fiction. The all-star cast is headed by Ed Norton, who stars, directed, produced, and wrote the script. During filming, a set caught fire and a fireman died during the response, fueling accusations and lawsuits. It’s due out in November of 2019.

Books Coming to the Big Screen in the 2016

book-to-filmBooks adaptations have been big hits in the movie theaters over the last few years, so is it any wonder that the number of books heading to the big screen seem to be on the rise? There are a number of great books making their way to the big screen again this year, some of which I am very excited to see. Here are some of the books-to-movies I am most excited about for 2016. I have included the current scheduled release date for each film, which is subject to change.

You might want to put the books on hold now if you want to beat the rush to read them (or watch previous versions of favorites) before watching the new releases in the theater! I have linked each title to the available versions that our library currently owns.

MOVIESChildren
Alice Through the Looking Glass (May 27, 2016)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November 18, 2016)
The Jungle Book (April 15, 2016)
The BFG (July 1, 2016)
The Little Prince (March 18, 2016)
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (October 7, 2016)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (February 16, 2016)

MOVIES2Young Adult
Allegiant (March 18, 2016)
The 5th Wave (January 15, 2016)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (December 25, 2016)
Delirium (September 30, 2016)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (October 14, 2016)
Let It Snow by John Green (December 9, 2016)

MOVIES3Adult
The Finest Hours (January 29, 2016)
The Girl on the Train (October 7, 2016)
The Shack (August 12, 2016)
Tarzan (July 1, 2016)
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (February 5, 2016)
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (October 21, 2016)
The Lost City of Z by David Grann (No Date Given 2016)

Movies or Television Shows and the Books You Did Not Know They Were Based On

We know that many television shows and movies are based on books. Love them or hate them hits like Twilight, Harry Potter, Gone Girl, True Blood, Game of Thrones, and many more were based on (or inspired by) the written word. However, there are so many more movies and television series that you have already seen, or could be currently binge watching, that are also based on books and you just do not know it. Here are some of the titles that I thought were the most interesting or surprising.booktomovie1

Pitch Perfect the film may have been based on Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin, a non-fiction book about a capella competitions, but I have to imagine that the movie version is much more audibly entertaining.

The movie Die Hard is based on Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. The book was published in the late ’70s, and went out of print before the movie adaptation was released almost a decade later.booktomovie2

Shrek! by William Steig is a picturebook about an ogre who falls in love with an “ugly” princess, so part of the concept remained when the animated version of Shrek was made.

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom might have been changed a great deal in the film adaptation of Forrest Gump.  However, the award-winning film certainly helped book sales.

booktomovie4Gordon Buford wrote Car, Boy, Girl in 1961, seven years before the first Herbie the Love Bug adaptation.

The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas M. Disch was a critically acclaimed science fiction novella long before it was turned into a beloved children’s movie, also named The Brave Little Toaster, it was nominated for both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award.

The self-help book Queen Bees & Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman might not seem like the typical book to inspire a movie. However, it is what  Mean Girls is based on.booktomovie6

Ted Hughes, former poet laureate of England,  wrote a children’s book called The Iron Giant in 1968. The animated movie, also titled The Iron Giant, was released in 1999.

Jack Bickham wrote The Apple Dumpling Gang, a novel about orphans during the California gold rush. Disney adapted it into the classic The Apple Dumpling Gang with Don Knotts in 1975.

booktomovie7I know of a few more that were surprising, either because I did not know the book existed or because the adaptation so barely resembled the book that I could not recognize it. Are there any here that surprised you, and do you know of any more book to movie or television series adaptations that might be surprising? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments.