The rise of streaming services has meant a huge demand for creative content, making it a challenge to keep up with all the books being adapted for the screen. At the same time, the pandemic has disrupted production of several movies and series, giving everyone more time to read the books behind them. Check out this list of recent and upcoming book-to-screen adaptations, and be sure to check some out them out from your Laramie County Library System.
Available now:
The first season of Firefly Lane recently premiered on Netflix. Based on a book by Kristin Hannah, the series follows two women whose enduring and tumultuous friendship lasts from childhood into their 40s.
Also currently on Netflix is The Dig, a movie adapted from John Preston’s novel. The Dig fictionalizes the 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo treasure, a priceless collection of Anglo-Saxon artifacts discovered in the backyard of a widowed farmer in Suffolk, England.
Also debuting on Netflix is the series Behind Her Eyes, based on the psychological suspense thriller by Sarah Pinborough.
The movie production of Cherry, based on Nico Walker’s debut novel, just released on Apple TV+. The novel explores the eventful life of a young man from Ohio, following his journey from Iraq war vet to drug addict to bank robber.
Coming soon:
Chaos Walking, a movie based on the first book in Patrick Ness’s dystopian trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go, is scheduled for release in early March.
French Exit is a surreal comedy based on the novel by Patrick deWitt. The movie premiered at the New York City Film Festival last fall and is scheduled for worldwide release in April of this year.
Also coming to theaters this April is Without Remorse, an action thriller movie based on the Tom Clancy book.
Shadow and Bone, a fantasy-adventure series based on two books by YA author Leigh Bardugo, will debut on Netflix in April.
The first season of the series Pieces of Her, based on Karin Slaughter’s psychological thriller, is also coming to Netflix in April.
Fatherhood, a movie based on Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Matthew Logelin, is scheduled for release in April. The book was called “an unapologetic portrait of grief.”
Another Netflix series debuting in April is The Irregulars, based on the Baker Street Irregulars, characters in the original Arthur Conan Doyle books. Previews talk about the “dark, supernatural” aspects of this take on Doyle’s works.
After being delayed several times, the movie Finding You, based on the YA novel There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones, is now scheduled to premiere in May.
The film adaptation of Michael Koryta’s action thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead is also scheduled to hit theaters in May.
Mark Wahlberg stars in the movie Infinite, adapted from the novel The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz. Release of the sci-fi thriller has been rescheduled several times and is now set to open this May.
Also debuting in May is Cruella, an updated live action version of Dodie Smith’s classic, 101 Dalmatians, featuring Emma Stone in the title role.
Coming later this year:
The first part of the projected two-part sci-fi epic Dune, based on the Frank Herbert classic of the same title, was originally scheduled to be released last fall. It will now debut this upcoming October.
The film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller Deep Water was also originally slated to come out last year. Now it has a release 
date of August.
The Last Duel is a feature film based on the non-fiction book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager, and will debut in theaters in October.
The Nightingale, a World War II drama, is scheduled for theatrical release in December. The movie is based on the book of the same title by Kristin Hannah, who is also author of the Firefly Girls and the current bestseller The Four Winds.
A movie version of Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift will premiere later this year. Mothering Sunday references the UK version of Mother’s Day. The star-studded cast includes Colin Firth, Olivia Coleman and Odessa Young.
Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel The Power of the Dog is being made into Netflix movie that will come out later this year. The book explores the complex relationship between two Montana brothers.
Whether you decide to enjoy the book, the screen adaptation, or both, these stories are sure to entertain.
~Mary G.