Do you have a favourite novel you would love brought to life on the big or small screen? Got some beloved characters that you would like to see in reality - and find out if the movie-makers imagine them just like you?
Maybe you just like watching the movie so you can say, ‘The book was better.’
There’s just something we love about an adored book being turned into a movie or TV adaptation. Did you watch Bridgerton and The Queen’s Gambit series’ last year? You may not have realised that they both came from books.
Check out this list of upcoming book to screen adaptations - you are sure to find something to get you pretty excited.
Jane Austen
Do you love a little bit of Austen? There is just something special about these gorgeous stories that still resonates with lovers and dreamers today, while the author’s criticism of social roles and norms is ever-relevant.
Netflix has got in the works a contemporary Pride & Prejudice adaptation called The Netherfield Girls which will be well worth a look. The flirtation and witty interplay of Eliza and Mr Darcy transports beautifully to the challenges of dating in an online world.
There is also a modern-day Persuasion movie adaptation on Netflix starring Dakota Johnson, which is due to be released in 2022. Or if you are more of a traditionalist, there is also a period-set movie in production starring the brilliant Sarah Snook with the release date yet to be announced.
Shakespeare
Could you imagine a more gloriously tortured Macbeth than Denzel Washington? Nope, neither can we.
The Tragedy of MacBeth is directed by Joel Coen and is presented in black and white - gloomy, moody and full of beauty and angst. It also stars acting powerhouses Frances McDormand and Brendan Gleeson who are always wonderful, so if you love the Bard, you will likely love this.
Sci-Fiction
For fantasy and sci-fi fans we’ve got some great classics in the works.
Frank Herbert’s Dune has been often described as unfilmable, and that bringing this incredible tale to the screen would never truly give it justice.
Some people thought that of Stephen King’s It too, but the recent adaptations of this awesome novel show that modern filmmaking has finally caught up with the imaginations of our best horror writers.
Dune was filmed not long after the book was released in 1984, but was somehow not a patch on the novel. The upcoming 2022 Dune looks a bit more impressive, with modern effects, a massive budget, and stars like Timothy Chalamet, Zendaya and Jason Momoa.
We are also very excited about an upcoming TV series based on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The 2005 film adaptation was very good, but there was so much more detail that could have been included - a full length television series was always going to be the best way to go.
And while we’re discussing books that deserved a full-length TV series, The Lord of the Rings is getting the Game of Thrones treatment and turning up on our small screens sometime next year or later. This television adaptation of the beloved Tolkien stories is said to be the most expensive TV show ever made.
What else has got us excited?
The 1929 novella Passing by Nella Larsen made some noise at Sundance earlier this year and will be released soon on Netflix. This is the story of two high school friends who reunite as grown women - both are African-American but one of them ‘passes’ as white and has married a white man with no knowledge of her ancestry.
Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile movie starring Gal Gadot is due next year. Directed by Kenneth Branagh who also stars as Hercule Poirot, if you enjoyed the fun of the star-studded Murder on the Orient Express then you should get in line for this next one.
Across the River and Into the Trees is Hemingway’s beautiful tale of romance set in Italy in the first world war, the story of American officer’s love for a young italian woman. Starring Liev Shrieber, the film is in the editing stages as I write this article, and hopefully will be released in the coming year.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a sweeping, multi-generational story filled with interesting characters, that kind of begs to make it to the screen. Netflix are developing this story into a must-see series which is still in pre-production, with no release date as yet.
Get ready to binge.