The best movies and tv shows of our time are based on books. When done faithfully, these adaptations have great success, drawing from an audience of millions. For this month I’ve highlighted five new adaptations coming to the big screen (or the little screen) based on some truly amazing books.
By Gemma Mathers
Dune
by Frank Herbert
On the inhabitable desert planet Arrakis, Melange or ‘spice’ is the most valuable element in the universe. Whoever controls Akkaris, controls the spice and in turn – the universe. For Paul Atreides, heir to Arrakis, this means certain death. For the former Steward of Arrakis is out for revenge and murdering Paul’s father is not enough.
In order to avenge his father and re-take control of Arrakis, Paul must rely on the help of the Fremen, the native people of Arrakis who control the desert sands. Thrown on a journey that will have irrevocable consequences for the universe, Paul undertakes a destiny far greater than he ever imagined. Now a major motion picture, Dune is an absolute must-read for fans of sci-fi and fantasy.
Fool Me Once
by Harlan Coben
Former special ops pilot Maya sees an unthinkable image on her two-year-old daughter’s nanny cam – her husband Joe who two weeks ago was brutally murdered. Thrown into a mystery Maya’s own eyes cannot explain, she is determined to unravel the truth of her husbands sudden re-apperance even if that means coming to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past.
A Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller turned Netflix success, Fool Me Once is an amazing page-turner. Fast paced and intensely capitvating, you’ll not only be enthralled by the mystery but by Maya herself who’s pure determination drives the novel.
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is a tale of triumph over the great oppression Celie faces at the hands of her father, husband and her own mind in order to reach fulfilment and independence.
Told through a series of letters spanning two decades, Celie faces a journey of pain, companionship and inexplicable growth. Separated as girls by their abusive father, Celie and her sister connect through these letters, maintaining loyalty and hope against all odds.
With the 1965 movie and the 2004 musical of the same name, The Color Purple returned to the big screen in 2023 with a brand new cast once more bringing this remarkable novel to life.
We Were the Lucky Ones
by Georgia Hunter
In the Spring of 1939 three generations of the Kurc family are living normally in the ever-looming shadow of war. The talk around the table is of budding romance and new babies, not of the hardships threatening Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland. But as the terror grows even the Kurc family cannot hide from the turmoil. Split across the world and powered by an unwavering determination to survive, the Kurc family must rely on their own strengths to survive and hope that one day they’ll be reunited.
Now a star-studded series on Hulu with Logan Lerman and Joey King, We Were the Lucky Ones is based on the remarkable true story of Georgia Hunter’s own family.
Wicked
by Gregory Maguire
The novel that inspired a Broadway legend: Wicked by Gregory Maguire tells the tale of Elphaba, the infamous Wicked Witch of the West before she earned the title; from early childhood, to the events that changed everything.
This astonishingly rich fantasy world encaptures an audience with this re-creation of the land we know from The Wizard of Oz. Elphaba, still decades from her wicked years, is a strange little green creature challenging the rules of good and evil. The Tin Man as we’ve never seen him before and the munchkins fighting for their own rights in an Oz overrun by strict class divides.
Maguire lays the groundwork for the hit musical coming to the big screen this November, starring broadway phenomenon Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and the incredible Ariana Grande as Glinda.