Upcoming Book-To-Screen Adaptations: What To Read Before The Movie Or TV Show

Do you love reading the book before the movie or TV show? Well, you’ve come to the right place. There have already been some solid adaptations to come out this year on the 2025 movie schedule and among 2025 TV premiere dates (like the Murderbot series and Mickey 17 movie) but, there’s much more to come. So if you love watching how a beloved story is adapted from pages in a book as much as we do, we’ve got you prepared with everything you should read before the Hollywood adaptation hits theaters and our TV screens.

Time to open your TBR list, because a lot of upcoming book-to-screen adaptations are on the way across loads of genres, from the multiple exciting upcoming Stephen King movies including two of his dystopian novels, The Running Man and The Long Walk to the next Hunger Games prequel focused on Haymitch soon starting production after getting an all-star cast being lined up with tons of returning characters. We promise, it’s not all dystopian books! Across numerous genres, pick up these titles so you can say ‘I read that book’ before they become major movie and TV releases.

The Better Sister (Alafair Burke)

The new Amazon Prime series starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks is based on a “domestic noir” bestseller that Alafair Burke published in 2019. It’s about two estranged sisters who are forced to unite after one of their husbands (and the other’s ex) is murdered. The thriller full of winding twists doubles as a murder mystery and a family drama.

The Life Of Chuck (Stephen King)

Another Stephen King adaptation on the way is The Life of Chuck adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Karen Gillan and Jacob Tremblay. The movie is based on a novella King published in 2020 comprising three acts that each play out in reverse chronological order. While many of King’s stories fall in the horror genre, this one is more of a science fiction drama.

How To Train Your Dragon (Cressida Cowell)

As more upcoming live-action Disney remakes remain on the way, the beloved Dreamworks title, How To Train Your Dragon is getting its own live-action remake, too. The movie was written and directed by the animated trilogy’s Dean DeBlois and is part of this summer’s releases. The story is based on a series of books from Cressida Cowell that follows a young viking named Hiccup and his unlikely friendship with a dragon named Toothless. You can also check out our thoughts on the early footage we got to see ahead of its summer release.

We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)

The bestselling young adult novel, We Were Liars, has been adapted into a miniseries with the help of author E. Lockhart. Starring Emily Alyn Lind, who was in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and the new Gossip Girl series, will star in the series as Cadence Sinclair, a teen who spends her summers on a private island with her wealthy family. However, she suffers a tragic accident that leads to a head injury, and cannot remember many of her memories from that summer. When she goes back to the island two years after the incident, she begins to recall what happened and makes some startling discoveries.

We’ll Always Have Summer (Jenny Han)

Jenny Han’s beloved trilogy about a teen named Belly, and her love triangle between brothers Jeremiah and Conrad is set to conclude its three season adaptation of the novels this summer. After Season 1 covered the events of The Summer I Turned Pretty and Season 2 adapting It's Not Summer Without You, the upcoming third season will be from We’ll Always Have Summer. In the final season, Belly will have to confront her feelings for both boys and break one of their hearts.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Lois Duncan-Arquette)

Back in 1998, an adaptation of the 1978 YA suspense novel was made starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Philippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. Nearly 30 years later, a new sequel for I Know What You Did Last Summer is coming out with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. among the cast. While we don’t expect the original book to be as pertinent here, it’s a good time to read the source material that began the franchise.

My Oxford Year (Julia Whelan)

Just a few months after Sofia Carson fronted another adaptation of a book for Netflix with the hitmaking The Life List, the actress has another one lined up with My Oxford Year, this time with Queen Charlotte’s Corey Mylchreest. The Julia Whelan novel from 2018 is a delightful romance book about an American woman who ventures off to study at Oxford on a scholarship who gets surprisingly swept away by a local that makes her burgeoning career in Washington D.C. more complicated.

The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman)

Richard Osman’s murder mystery series, The Thursday Murder Club, is also being adapted for Netflix with an all-star cast of legendary actors. Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie will play the core group of elderly Brits living in a retirement home who meet every week to pass their days attempting to solve old crime cases. But, when an actual murder occurs on the grounds, they become a full-fledged private detective team (much to the police’s chagrin).

Caught Stealing (Charlie Huston)

Charlie Huston’s 2004 mystery novel, Caught Stealing, is being adapted by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky with the screenplay being written by the author himself. The book is about a retired baseball player who finds himself immersed in New York crime in the 1990s. Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith (who was seen in a full mohawk in set photos), Liev Schreiber and Bad Bunny are among the cast of the film.

The Long Walk (Stephen King)

Along with The Life Of Chuck being adapted by Mike Flanagan this summer, one of Stephen King’s early novels, The Long Walk is also going to be a movie. Hunger Games franchise director Francis Lawrence has helmed the dystopian story where one hundred teen boys competing in an endurance test is America’s most popular source of entertainment. During CinemaCon, Lionsgate debuted the first trailer to us and it looks like it’s going to adapt the harrowing novel in ways that will please fans of it.

Vineland (Thomas Pynchon)

One of the most acclaimed directors of our time, Paul Thomas Anderson, has teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Alana Haim for a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland. The novel itself is about a group of Americans living in Northern California in 1984, struggling with the consequences of their lives in the sixties.

The Woman In Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware)

This 2017 New York Times Bestseller follows a travel magazine writer named Lo Blacklock, who is on an assignment aboard a luxury cruise. It’s set to be a relaxing voyage until she witnesses a woman being thrown overboard, and yet all the passengers are apparently accounted for. Now, Ruth Ware’s thriller is set to become a Netflix thriller starring Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, Hannah Waddingham, Kaya Scodelario and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (Warren Zanes)

Since music biopics have been in fashion lately, between the Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, Elvis and the record-breaking Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody, the trend will officially continue with a book about Bruce Springsteen. Rather than the movie trying to hit all the beats of the musician’s career thus far, the film from Scott Cooper will focus on Dylan putting together his sixth album, Nebraska. This follows Warren Zanes’ work on the novel Deliver Me From Nowhere novel from 2023. Jeremy Allen White is playing Springsteen, and Springsteen himself being part of the production process.

Regretting You (Colleen Hoover)

After Colleen Hoover’s bestselling phenomenon It Ends With Us was adapted in 2024, more of the author’s books are being made into movies. Regretting You is about a mother, Morgan, and her 16-year-old daughter Clara having a difficult relationship as they butt heads following the death of Morgan’s husband and Clara’s father. The movie version will star Allison Williams as Morgan, McKenna Grace as Clara and Dave Franco as the new love interest Morgan finds during the plotline.

The Running Man (Stephen King)

Stephen King’s 1982 dystopian novel, The Running Man, is set to get a remake with Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim filmmaker Edgar Wright behind the camera. After the story of a guy who goes on a violent popular reality TV show to provide for his family was written by the King of Horror, it was initially adapted into an Arnold Schwarzenegger film. In the new adaptation, which will chillingly take place in the same year King set the novel in, Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, William H. Macy, Katy O’Brian, Michael Cera, Lee Pace and Emilia Jones in the cast.

Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West (Gregory Maguire)

Wicked became a phenomenon all over again in 2024 with the release of the first movie, and now audiences are anticipating the Wicked: For Good release date. While the movies starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are primarily based on the hit Broadway musical, it is also based on Gregory Maguire’s book, which has the Wicked Witch telling her origin story before Dorothy kills her with a bucket of water.

Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

We’ve had Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein on this list over the years for various other movies, and we’re not surprised because it’s such a classic! After Diablo Cody recently put her own spin on the novel with Lisa Frankenstein, which critics were mixed on, we’re soon set to get a more faithful adaptation from Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro. The movie coming to Netflix is set to star Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the monster, Mia Goth as Victor’s fiancee and Christoph Waltz and Lars Mikkelsen also among the cast.

Hamnet (Maggie O’Farrell)

Oscar winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao is behind the Hamnet movie adaptation with Jesse Buckley, Paul Mescal and Joe Alwyn. Zhao wrote the screenplay with the book’s author Maggie O’Farrell. The book itself is from 2020, and is a fictional account of William Shakespeare’s life with his wife Agnes after their 11-year-old son died. Mescal will play Shakespeare and Buckley will play Agnes.

Percy Jackson And The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan)

After Rick Riordan’s beloved Percy Jackson books became a hit Disney+ series in 2023, we’re happy to know that a second season is officially in the works that will adapt the first sequel, The Sea of Monsters. The 2006 young adult novel follows demigod Percy Jackson on his second hero’s quest, which takes him and his friends to the Bermuda Triangle to save Grover from the Cyclops Polyphemus.

The Housemaid (Freida McFadden)

Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried have teamed up to star in an adaptation of The Housemaid from the director of Bridesmaids, Paul Feig, who was just behind Another Simple Favor. The mystery novel is an emotional rollercoaster of a read that follows a young woman with a criminal record who takes a job as a live-in housekeeper for a wealthy couple, and soon learns there’s something off with her new boss.

Reminders Of Him (Colleen Hoover)

The era of Colleen Hoover adaptations will continue at the top of 2026 (just in time for Valentine’s Day) with Reminders Of Him. The 2022 novel is about a woman named Kenna who has just served five years in prison and returns home to connect back with her four-year-old daughter, which proves to open old wounds in her community. Amidst Kenna trying to gain trust back with her community, a romance grows in a risky direction. Scream queen Maika Monroe has been cast as Kenna along with Gilmore Girls’ Lauren Graham.

Crime 101 (Don Winslow)

One of the most stacked casts we’ve seen has been assembled for an adaptation of the novella, Crime 101. Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Tate Donovan and Halle Berry are all part of the Amazon Studios crime thriller coming to theaters. The original story is about a jewelry thief who goes uncaught due to his personal “Crime 101” code of ethics while being pursued by a detective on his trail.

Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)

Emily Brontë’s classic gothic novel, Wuthering Heights, is being turned into another movie after the source material has been adapted over a dozen times in the past. But this time Saltburn’s Emerald Fennell is making it with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. The book itself is a love story between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff that turns destructive.

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story (Leonie Swann)

Leonie Swann’s novel, Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story was published in 2005. The detective story about a flock of anthropomorphic Irish sheep out to solve the murder of their shepherd became an international bestseller after originally being written in German. Amazon is set to release a movie version starring Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galizine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall and Patrick Stewart.

The Cat In The Hat (Dr. Seuss)

Dr. Seuss’ beloved 1957 children’s book, The Cat In The Hat, is about a tall cat who pays a girl and her brother a visit on a rainy day when her mother is away to entertain them as his friends Thing One and Thing Two wreck the house. It was previously adapted for live action in 2003, but this time it will be an animated movie starring Bill Hader as the cat along with Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang and Xochitl Gomez also among the voice cast. But, we’ll have to wait given The Cat in the Hat release date isn’t until 2026.

Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir)

One popular science fiction bestseller in recent years has been Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, which is now getting a movie adaptation. The book comes from the same author who previously wrote The Martian, which was adapted into a blockbuster by Ridley Scott and starred Matt Damon. Project Hail Mary follows the journey of a school teacher who becomes an astronaut, with the story picking up as he comes out of a coma while in space. The movie version will star Ryan Gosling as the protagonist, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller of the Spider-Verse movies signed on to direct. CinemaBlend got a chance to see a first look at CinemaCon, and now we can’t wait!

Verity (Colleen Hoover)

Another one of Colleen Hoover’s top sellers on the way to becoming a movie is Verity. The movie will star Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett, Dakota Johnson and Ismael Cruz Córdova. The title is the name of the character, Verity Crawford, who is a bestselling author herself who has been having trouble finishing her book series. Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer with financial issues who strikes gold when she’s hired by Verity’s husband to help complete the remaining books. While attempting to work on it, Lowen finds a manuscript for her autobiography that brings to attention a terrifying secret she’s hiding.

The Odyssey (Homer)

After Christopher Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer, became a box office success and the 2024 Best Picture winner, his next movie is reportedly adapting Homer’s The Odyssey next with Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron. The source material is one of two Ancient Greek epic poems from Homer (the other is The Iliad) that follows the king of Ithaca and Greek hero Odysseus and his journey home after the Trojan war. A first look at Matt Damon as Odysseus was shared in February as the movie films.

Sunrise On The Reaping (Suzanne Collins)

After the success of the first Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, both as a novel in 2020 and movie in 2023, Suzanne Collins and Lionsgate are diving back into Panem to tell another story from the dystopia. As announced over the summer, a novel called Sunrise on the Reaping will tell the backstory of Haymitch Abernathy’s Hunger Games. The book was just released on March 18, 2025, about a year and half before the movie’s planned release date. The cast that has been announced for the production is already making fans’ dreams come true.

The Magician’s Nephew (C.S. Lewis)

After Greta Gerwig brought back Barbie in a big way with 2023’s smash hit, her next passion project is adapting the Narnia books for Netflix. She’s reportedly starting with a novel from C.S. Lewis’s series that has never become a movie before, The Magician’s Nephew. While the 1955 book is technically the sixth Narnia book that was published, it’s often thought of as the first in the series due to the timeline it's set in, and how it explains the origins of many of the world’s characters and elements. So far, Meryl Streep, Daniel Craig and Emma Mackey have all been rumored to be part of the cast.

Dune Messiah (Frank Herbert)

After Denis Villeneuve adapted the first Dune book across two films, the filmmaker is getting ready to continue the saga with book 2, Dune Messiah. The sci-fi sequel book continues the story of Paul Atreides 12 years after his rise to power. He’s emperor, but the weight of the war he has caused begins to weigh on him. Recently the Avengers: Doomsday release date was moved to be on the same day as Messiah, so it could be a huge weekend for movies.

The Children of Blood and Bone (Tomi Adeyemi)

In January 2025, it was announced that Paramount is adapting Tom Adeyami’s beloved YA novel, The Children of Blood and Bone, and the cast is stacked. Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Chiwetel Ejifor and Amandla Stenberg are among the stars in the fantasy film that blends West African mythology and the Yoruba culture with fantastical elements inspired by the likes of Harry Potter. The director of The Old Guard and The Woman King, Gina Prince-Bythewood is set to write and direct the adaptation.

Upcoming Book Adaptations Without A Release Date

• All Her Fault TV show (by Andrea Mara)
• Book Lovers movie (by Emily Henry)
• Bridgerton Season 4 (based on An Offer From A Gentleman by Julia Quinn)
• A Court Of Thorns And Roses TV show (by Sarah J. Mass)
• Cold Storage movie (by David Koepp)
• Dark Matter Season 2 (by Blake Crouch)
• Fairy Tale TV show (by Stephen King)
• Fourth Wing TV show (by Rebecca Yarros)
• Funny Story movie (by Emily Henry)
• Harry Potter TV show (by J.K. Rowling)
• The Institute TV show (Stephen King)
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight TV show (by George R. R. Martin)
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles TV Show (by Rufi Thorpe)
• The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo movie (by Taylor Jenkins Reid)
• Recursion movie and TV series (by Blake Crouch)
• Welcome To Derry TV show (by Stephen King)
• Whalefall movie (by Daniel Kraus)

Anyone else ready to head to the library and the bookstore to get caught up on these? There are so many upcoming book-to-screen adaptations on the way, and following along with what's next via your reading list is a great way to enjoy these movies and TV shows even more!