11 Book-to-Screen Adaptations We Can’t Wait to Watch in 2021

Justin's Pick: When asked to name a favorite out of his vast bibliography, Stephen King often returns one answer: LISEY’S STORY. Luckily for us, it’s likely that affinity for Lisey Landon’s saga that led the prolific author to pen all eight episodes of Apple TV+’s new, chilling adaptation. As a Constant Reader myself, part of the fun I had reading LISEY’S STORY was never quite being able to nail it down, or describe it in one succinct sentence. One chapter it’s making your heart ache, and the next it’s sending a chill down your spine—and quite frequently it’s doing both at the same time. In the hands of acclaimed director Pablo Larraín, the small screen adaptation is an opportunity to experience the beautiful terror of one of King’s most personal novels all over again, with excellent performers (Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, and Dane DeHaan, to name a few) and beguiling visuals at its center.

Emily’s Pick #1: I love any book by Elena Ferrante, but the Neapolitan Novels will always hold a special place in my heart. She explores the fickleness of childhood friendships, the dueling forces of ambition and poverty, and the transforming towns of Italy with nuanced and authentic writing. Her characters live in their heads and have such resonant insights that it makes the film adaptations that much more interesting; you feel like you know what the character is thinking—at least I do! I’m excited to watch this newest adaptation about a beach vacation that takes a dark turn when Leda, a middle-age divorcée, ruminates on her past and begins to obsess over another young family on the beach. Plus, the movie is written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal!

Emily’s Pick #2: The premise is simple: Nine strangers all head to the same wellness resort for a ten-day retreat. But the ensuing narrative is anything but simple, as they deal with past traumas. Each character’s desires, fears, and idiosyncrasies are all boiled together in this fabulous Liane Moriarty book. If you like stories about big, dysfunctional families, and characters you love to hate, this one will intrigue you. A friend of mine who also read the book thought each of the nine characters could match with different enneagram types, which definitely makes you read this book with a sharp eye. The movie adaptation comes out on August 18, 2021 so read the book to join in on the conversation!

Sharon's Pick #1: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is David Grann’s journalistic investigation into the Osage murders of the 1920s in Osage County, Oklahoma, and the newly formed FBI’s role in investigating the murders. After oil was discovered under Osage land, members of the nation became the richest people per capita in the world. Then, under mysterious circumstances, the Osage began to be killed off, one by one, with those daring to investigate the murders encountering the same fate.

Production has finally kicked off on the film adaptation of David Grann’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON; with a $200 million dollar budget and Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro in starring roles, director Martin Scorsese’s first foray into the Western genre is already generating buzz as one of his most ambitious projects yet!

Allie's Pick: BEARTOWN is one of those stories that I hold deep in my heart. I love the little town that Fredrik Backman created almost as much as I love the people he filled it with. Despite not being a sports fan, I devoured this story of a small-town hockey team who have all the hopes and dreams of their community pinned to their success. It is a stunning novel that I am constantly recommending to friends, and everyone should watch it on HBO Max.

Heather's Pick #1: If you couldn’t already tell, I’m a bona fide TV addict. I pay for more streaming services than is healthy, and I still subscribe to the print editions of Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide for no good reason. So while the Freeform network’s adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO is still in the very early stages of development (the project was only announced in September 2019), I’m already following it closely. Details are thin on the ground at the moment, but so far we know that its producing team includes The L Word alumni Ilene Chaiken and Jennifer Beals, and that the story will unfold in parallel timelines—present day and the 1950s. The novel spins the tale of 20-something journalist Monique, who’s hired to pen the memoirs of Evelyn Hugo, a famous actress whose career stretches back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. The experience of collaborating on the book encourages them both to be a little braver and will most certainly make for memorable television.

Emily’s Pick #3: Based on THE WHITE TIGER, a novel by Aravind Adiga, this story follows a poor Bangalore driver and servant who longs to rise up through India’s impenetrable caste society to become a businessman. And he’ll do whatever it takes to get there, even if it means murder. With a darkly comic narrative voice, told against the backdrop of a fast-paced environment, it’s one I can’t wait to watch materialize on the screen.

Emily's Pick #4: Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley is behind Netflix’s upcoming six-part anthology series adapted from the gripping thriller ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL by Sarah Vaughan. As the title suggests, this book looks at the innards of a messy scandal within a wealthy British political family. When Sophie Whitehouse’s husband (who also happens to be a friend of the prime minister) reveals a horrible secret, their pasts, fears, and relationships are put on center stage in this #MeToo courtroom and domestic drama. With an added element of multiple POVs, this will be riveting to watch on the screen as the scandal reveals itself from all angles.

Heather’s Pick #2: The lovingly crafted movie adaptations of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys trilogy have been beams of sunlight piercing through an otherwise dark few years. Fans of the books and newcomers alike went crazy (understandably) over witnessing Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky’s fake-dating scheme evolve into a true-blue romance in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. A year later, we all came together again to paper the internet with hyperbolic reactions to the Peter/Lara Jean/John Ambrose love triangle in the highly anticipated sequel, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. Now, finally, we have the adaptation of the third and final installment, ALWAYS AND FOREVER, LARA JEAN, in which our heroine must balance her blossoming high school relationship with her college aspirations. The world may be a mess, but To All the Boys: Always and Forever will be a welcome respite

Heather’s Pick #3: Game of Thrones wasn’t a perfect book-to-screen adaptation by any means, but I miss the epic fantasy show’s cinematic action, thrilling plot twists, and sprawling cast of morally gray characters. Other shows have attempted to fill the void it left behind, yet it’s Shadow and Bone that I believe has the best chance of doing so. Based on two separate but interrelated YA fantasy book series by Leigh Bardugo—the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology—this Netflix adaptation has “massive hit” written all over it. Our entry into Bardugo’s Grishaverse is Alina Starkov, an unexceptional soldier who learns that she’s been unconsciously suppressing her once-in-a-generation magical Grisha abilities since childhood. This discovery then leads into a bigger, wholly addictive story about a lovable band of misfits determined to take down a power-hungry tyrant, the Darkling, before he destroys their vulnerable, war-torn country. And even that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing the unique appeal of these books and characters, which is why I've been rewatching Shadow and Bone ever since it premiered this April. 

Sharon’s Pick #2: Colson Whitehead’s stunningly original work of historical fiction follows Cora, an enslaved woman on a cotton plantation in Georgia. When Caesar, a new arrival from Virginia, urges Cora to join him on the Underground Railroad, Cora seizes the opportunity and escapes with him. In order to successfully claim her freedom, Cora must navigate a non-metaphorical Underground Railroad, complete with engineers and conductors. When Barry Jenkins, director of critically acclaimed films Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, read Colson Whitehead’s THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, he knew he had to make it into a series. This year, Jenkins’s adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel premiered on Amazon Prime Video to critical acclaim and it’s on my must-watch list for sure!