Book adaptations are everywhere right now, and the next couple of years are especially packed. Huge fantasy franchises are returning, BookTok favorites are finally getting casts, and everything from literary fiction to psychological thrillers is headed to theaters and streaming. One of the supplied sources points to the current boom in adaptations built around books that already have enormous online fandoms. Here are 30 upcoming projects worth keeping on the watchlist, presented in release-date order where possible.
The Dog Stars
Ridley Scott is adapting Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel with Jacob Elordi as survivor and pilot Hig. Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Allison Janney round out a seriously stacked cast.
The Whisper Man
Alex North’s creepy bestseller is becoming a Netflix thriller starring Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, and Michelle Monaghan. The story follows a writer whose young son disappears, reopening connections to an old serial-killer case.
Practical Magic 2
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are finally returning as the Owens sisters nearly three decades after Practical Magic. The sequel draws from Alice Hoffman’s The Book of Magic, with Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest also returning.
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood’s enormously popular fake-dating romance gets the Prime Video treatment with Lili Reinhart as Olive and Tom Bateman as Adam. Anyone who spent the past few years seeing this book everywhere will finally get to see the infamous academic romance on screen.
Verity
Colleen Hoover’s much darker side comes to theaters with Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett. Its mix of ghostwriting, marriage, obsession, and a deeply disturbing manuscript should translate naturally into a twisty psychological thriller.
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen is returning to the big screen with Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne. Georgia Oakley directs this latest take on the sisters’ very different approaches to love and heartbreak.
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed sci-fi novel has Taika Waititi directing Jenna Ortega as Klara, an Artificial Friend searching for a home. Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, and Natasha Lyonne are also part of the cast.
Ebenezer
Ti West is putting his own spin on A Christmas Carol, with Johnny Depp playing Ebenezer Scrooge. Ian McKellen, Daisy Ridley, Rupert Grint, and Andrea Riseborough make this one of the stranger Dickens adaptations in years.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Suzanne Collins takes audiences back to Panem for the Games that turned young Haymitch Abernathy into the man Katniss eventually meets. Joseph Zada leads an enormous ensemble that includes Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Maya Hawke, Kieran Culkin, and Glenn Close.
Dune: Part Three
Denis Villeneuve’s third Dune film moves into the events of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya return, while Robert Pattinson joins a saga that has already become one of modern sci-fi cinema’s biggest events.
Remain
Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan might be the most unexpected creative pairing on this list. Their supernatural romance stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor, with Shyamalan directing his version of the story they developed together.
Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi’s fantasy epic is getting a huge theatrical adaptation directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Thuso Mbedu, Amandla Stenberg, Damson Idris, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Regina King, Cynthia Erivo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor are all involved.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew
Greta Gerwig is restarting The Chronicles of Narnia with the story of how Narnia itself came to exist. Netflix is treating it like a genuine theatrical event before its April streaming debut, with Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, and Emma Mackey among the cast.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah’s WWII bestseller is finally making its long-delayed trip to theaters. Real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning will play the novel’s sisters, marking the first time they have actually acted opposite each other on screen.
Beach Read
Emily Henry’s beloved rivals-to-lovers romance has Phoebe Dynevor playing January and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Gus. Yulin Kuang is directing the story of two blocked writers who spend a summer challenging each other to swap genres.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin’s novel about friendship, creativity, and video-game development is headed to theaters with Daisy Edgar-Jones as Sadie. CODA filmmaker Siân Heder will write, produce, and direct.
The Housemaid’s Secret
The first Housemaid movie became a major hit, so Freida McFadden’s second book is already following it to theaters. Sydney Sweeney returns as Millie, Kirsten Dunst joins the cast, and Paul Feig is back behind the camera.
The Midnight Library
Florence Pugh will star in and produce the film version of Matt Haig’s bestseller about a woman exploring all the lives she might have lived. Lion director Garth Davis is attached, with filming planned for 2027.
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros’ dragon-filled romantasy phenomenon is officially becoming a Prime Video series. Michael B. Jordan is producing, Lisa Joy is directing the pilot, and the inevitably intense debate over who should play Violet and Xaden can continue until casting arrives.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman’s wonderfully bizarre LitRPG series has received a straight-to-series order from Peacock. Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door is producing, with Carl and Princess Donut’s alien-apocalypse dungeon crawl planned as live action.
The God of the Woods
Liz Moore’s summer-camp mystery is becoming a Netflix series with Maya Hawke and Kerry Condon. The disappearance of a teenage girl gradually connects to another mystery involving the same wealthy family decades earlier.
The Corrections
Jonathan Franzen’s acclaimed family novel is getting another chance at television, this time at Netflix. Meryl Streep will star as Enid Lambert, with American Fiction filmmaker Cord Jefferson directing and Franzen adapting his own book.
The Husbands
Holly Gramazio’s wonderfully odd novel begins when Lauren comes home to discover a husband she has never met, and then realizes her attic can keep producing replacements. Juno Temple stars in A24 and Apple TV’s eight-episode adaptation.
Count My Lies
Sophie Stava’s thriller has assembled an especially fun trio in Shailene Woodley, Lindsay Lohan, and Kit Harington. Production was underway in New York this year, but Hulu has yet to announce a premiere date.
It Happened One Summer
Tessa Bailey’s BookTok romance is currently being filmed with Nina Dobrev as glamorous outsider Piper Bellinger and Tyler Hoechlin as fisherman Brendan Taggart. Gavin Leatherwood and Virginia Gardner have also joined the adaptation.
You Deserve Each Other
Meghann Fahy and Penn Badgley play an engaged couple who secretly try to force each other into cancelling their wedding. The adaptation of Sarah Hogle’s enemies-to-lovers comedy has finished filming, although Amazon MGM has not announced a release date.
Rose Hill
Elsie Silver’s small-town romance series is officially coming to Prime Video. Jake Weary, Sean O’Pry, Hannah Galway, and Sadie Dickerson will lead the adaptation, which begins with material from Wild Love.
Happy Place
Another Emily Henry favorite is headed to Netflix, this time following ex-fiancés Harriet and Wyn as they pretend they are still together during their annual vacation with friends. Henry herself is writing the screenplay, with Jennifer Lopez among the producers.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke’s surreal fantasy feels almost impossible to adapt, which makes LAIKA’s involvement especially exciting. The stop-motion studio acquired the novel for an animated feature with Travis Knight directing and Dave Kajganich writing.
Shatter Me
After years of fans imagining an adaptation, Tahereh Mafi’s dystopian YA phenomenon finally has one in development at Warner Bros. The project was announced only this summer, so there’s no cast or release date yet.
