The BookTok to Hollywood pipeline is up, running and producing hits with page-to-screen adaptations coming in thick and fast. There was the murderous marriage thriller His & Hers by Alice Feeney, which went to No 1 on Netflix, and the chart-topping, globe-trotting love story People We Meet on Vacation by queen of literary romcoms Emily Henry.
The classics are getting the same treatment, with a shiny new take on Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials starring Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman. Meanwhile, a TV adaptation of George RR Martin’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms landed on HBO. Even this year’s Oscar frontrunner, Hamnet, started life as a book.
There’s plenty more on the docket too – and if you’re one of those people who like to read the book first (if only to cast aspersions on the inevitably inferior adaptation when it comes out), well there’s plenty of source material to get stuck into in the coming months.
The Beauty by Jeremy Haun and Jason A Hurley (Disney+, 21 January)
Beauty is pain. This comic book takes that adage to extremes in its story of a disease that makes people gorgeous: clear skin, sky-high cheekbones, luscious locks. The bad side? It’s also killing people. If ever there was a book primed for Ryan Murphy, the king of camp behind American Horror Story, Nip/Tuck, and Scream Queens, this is it. Evan Peters leads the cast, but expect plenty of cameos: Isabella Rossellini,, Vincent D'Onofrio, Bella Hadid, Ben Platt, Meghan Trainor, and more.
H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (in cinemas on 23 January)
What is it about birds and sad people? Just as Max Porter’s memoir Grief Is the Thing with Feathers was adapted into a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch last year, Helen Macdonald’s moving memoir about training a goshawk while grieving her father is getting the movie treatment with The Crown’s Claire Foy stepping into the role of Helen, and Brendan Gleeson as her father.
Broken by Don Winslow (in cinemas on 13 February)
The frenzy around last year’s Louvre burglary shows a jewel heist never fails to captivate us. This one’s fictional and led by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, who enters the picture as Mike Davis, the prolific thief at the heart of Don Winslow’s exhilarating 2020 novella. Mark Ruffalo plays the detective hot on his trail in a dashing pas de deux. Barry Keoghan, Halle Berry, Monica Barbaro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte round out the cast.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (in cinemas on 14 February)
One of the biggest adaptations of the year, one of the biggest books of all time. Emily Brontë’s gothic tale is making its way to the big screen once again courtesy of Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn), which means all bets are off as to what this film could hold. So far the trailer, featuring Margot Robbie’s Cathy eating a comically large strawberry in a historically inaccurate costume, has been met with mixed reactions. At the very least, colour us intrigued.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (in cinemas on 6 March)
Shelley’s cobbled-together monster is proving mighty popular, with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on the classic horror story arriving just months after Guillermo del Toro’s underwhelming adaptation with Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth landed on Netflix. Gyllenhaal’s iteration, titled The Bride! and starring Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley, redirects the attention to the monster’s sidelined bride. Let’s hope this one has more bite.
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell (Prime Video, 11 March)
Between Nine Perfect Strangers and The Perfect Couple, Nicole Kidman is doing a lot of telly these days. Next up for the Australian star is a Prime Video adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s enormously popular crime series Scarpetta. Kidman will play Kay Scarpetta, a forensic pathologist whose brilliant scientific acumen makes her the perfect person to crack the toughest of cases.
Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover (in cinemas on 13 March)
Colleen Hoover’s last film adaptation It Ends With Us was overshadowed by some serious behind-the-scenes turmoil, but the queen of literary romantic dramas is returning to screens once more with Reminders of Him. Former scream queen Maika Monroe (It Follows, Longlegs) will play Kenna Rowan, a young woman who returns home from prison following the accidental death of her boyfriend to find a very different place to the one she left – and a man she can’t seem to shake.
Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall (Apple TV+, 18 March)
This is one for everyone still mourning the end of Big Little Lies: Aramanti Hall’s bestselling psychological thriller tells the story of a devastating crime that has an impact on a decades-old friendship group. Add Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington, and Kate Mara into the mix and this is a show worth adding to your watchlist.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (in cinemas on 20 March)
The author Andy Weir is no stranger to adaptations; just look at the stratospheric heights reached by 2015’s The Martian, which saw Matt Damon play a straggler left behind on Mars. A similarly terrifying situation awaits Ryan Gosling’s amnesiac astronaut in Project Hail Mary when he wakes up on a spaceship alone with no memory of how he got there – or who he is.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (AppleTV+, 15 April)
A witty and heartwarming story of motherhood in the modern age, Margo’s Got Money Troubles does what it says on the tin. Elle Fanning is Margo, a single mum who drops out of college to raise her child and has, you guessed it, money troubles. Enter OnlyFans. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Margo’s mother, with the gruff Nick Offerman stepping into the role of her ex-pro wrestler father.
The Odyssey by Homer (in cinemas on 17 July)
Granted, the prospect of reading Homer’s ancient Greek poem before Christopher Nolan turns it into a summer blockbuster is a big ask. If you do get around to it, you’ll discover an epic tale of a king’s journey back home to his waiting wife after the Trojan war, and all the mythical creatures he encounters on the way. Nolan has gathered an appropriately stacked cast for his adaptation with Matt Damon playing Odysseus, plus Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, and more attached. Phew!
Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (in cinemas on 11 September)
Daisy Edgar-Jones steps into the coveted corset of Elinor Dashwood, Jane Austen’s reserved and stoic heroine most famously portrayed by Emma Thompson in 1995. Elinor is one of two sisters left destitute after the sudden death of their father. One could say “they’ve no money and no prospects!” In the director’s chair is Georgia Oakley, a promising indicator given the tenderness with which she directed her breakout film Blue Jean.
Verity by Colleen Hoover (in cinemas on 2 October)
As if one adaptation a year wasn’t enough, Colleen Hover has a second on the way. Unlike the intimate romantic dramas she’s become known for, Verity is a twisty thriller centred around the character of Lowen, a struggling writer (played by Dakota Johnson) who uncovers plenty of secrets when she is hired to complete the unfinished works of a bestselling author. Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett also star.
Lucky by Marissa Stapley (AppleTV+, TBC in 2026)
Frankly a TV adaptation was all but inevitable after Marissa Stapley’s thrilling coming-of-age tale was selected for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club back in 2021. Finally it’s coming to fruition with a seven-episode collaboration between Apple TV+ and Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine. Anya Taylor-Joy is Lucky, a plucky grifter with a string of successful heists behind her and a boyfriend (Drew Starkey) by her side. When she wins the lottery on a whim, she must decide what to do: cashing it in would mean revealing her identity and risking capture; not cashing it in would mean giving up millions. What would you do?
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