With the Oscars over, we head into a new movie season. As has been the trend for the last several years, many of the upcoming releases are adapted from books, books that you can check out from the Laramie County Library System!
Out Now
Already in theaters is the horror film Wounds, based on the short story Visible Filth by Nathan Ballingrud. In Wounds, a New Orleans bartender starts to experience strange things after he picks up a lost phone. Another recent release is All The Bright Places. This movie, adapted from a YA novel by Jennifer Niven, uses humor to deal with the difficult issues of suicide and mental illness.
March movie debuts included Five Feet Apart, a YA romance by Rachael Lippincott about two teens who literally can’t get close to each other.
Coming out in April is a remake of the Stephen King thriller Pet Semetary. Also debuting this month is After, a new adult romance from a book by Anna Todd, and Best of Enemies, in which a civil rights activist faces off against a Ku Klux Klan member. Best of Enemies is based on a non-fiction book of the same title by Osha Gray Davidson. May brings us the highly anticipated YA bestseller The Sun Is Also A Star. The novel by Nicola Yoon is about a pair of mismatched immigrant teens.
August
August brings the debut of children’s fantasy favorite Artemis Fowl. The first book in the seven-book series by Eoin Colfer was published in 2001, and Hollywood legend Judi Dench stars as the fairy leader Commander Root. This is an interesting twist since in the books the head fairy is male. Another August release is The Informer, based on the Roslund & Hellström book Three Seconds. The Swedish thriller features an ex-convict who intentionally gets himself incarcerated in order to infiltrate a prison mob. A much lighter release coming out in August is the film version of Where’d You Go Bernadette, adapted from the comic novel by Maria Semple about a runaway mom.
Another noteworthy August release is The Kitchen, based on a DC Comics miniseries. In The Kitchen, a group of gangsters’ wives take over their family businesses when their husbands go to prison. The movie is set in Hell’s Kitchen in the 1970’s and features Melissa McCarthy and Elizabeth Moss.
September
September is a big month for new releases. IT: Chapter Two brings us James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain as grown-up versions of the kids who were terrorized by the creepy clown Pennywise in the 1990’s TV miniseries. Also out in September is the film adaptation of The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. This sprawling coming-of-age tale tells the story of a 13-year-old whose life is turned upside down when a terrorist bomb kills his mother. Taking place over fourteen years, The Goldfinch chronicles the youth’s adventures in an array of far-flung settings.
September also brings us high-powered stars Kevin Costner and Milo Ventimiglia (This is Us) in an adaptation of The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The movie gives us a glimpse at life through the eyes of a dog. And finally, September brings the release of How To Build a Girl, based on an autobiographical novel by Caitlin Moran. This witty tale chronicles a young woman’s coming of age during the 80’s punk music scene in London.
October
October marks the debut of the movie version of The Woman in the Window. The screen adaptation of the twisty thriller by A.J. Finn features Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman. Another thriller premiering in November is The Good Liar, from a book by Nicholas Searle. Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen star in this tale about a con man and a well-to-do widow.
November
November brings us The Rhythm Section, adapted from a book by Mark Burnell. In this thriller a woman seeks revenge against those who orchestrated the death of her family. Also premiering in November is Motherless Brooklyn, adapted from a book by Jonathan Lethem. Bruce Willis, William Dafoe, Alec Baldwin and Edward Norton star in this crime drama about a detective afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome.
December
As usual, December brings lots of movie premieres, including the Louisa May Alcott classic Little Women with a cast that includes Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, and Laura Dern. Another classic, the Call of the Wild by Jack London, features Harrison Ford as the gold prospector who bonds with the hero dog Buck, in this brutal wilderness tale. And finally, the movie version of the hugely popular musical Cats, based on the T.S. Eliot book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats will be released. The musical version premiered in 1992 and is the fourth longest running show in Broadway history.
-Mary G.