From ‘The Perfect Couple’ to ‘Uglies’: The Best Book-to-Screen Adaptations to Read This Year
by Anna Tingley · VarietyIf you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
Book lovers are in for a treat this year, with a jam-packed slate of movies and T.V series based on bestselling books.
The most recent books to be adapted to the screen are Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us,” starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, Elin Hilderbrand’s “The Perfect Couple,” now streaming on Netflix, and “The Wild Robot,” Peter Brown’s bestselling graphic novel whose adaptation hits theaters this Friday.
These are just a few of many books on a growing list of bestsellers to be adapted to shows and movies. Up next is “Nightbitch,” the upcoming horror comedy starring Amy Adams based on Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel, which weirded critics out at its TIFF premiere.
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Here are the best books adapted for the screen to dig into right now:
The Perfect Couple
$8.59 $19.99 57% off
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Elin Hilderbrand’s “The Perfect Couple” is back on bestseller lists following the Netflix adaptation, starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning and Meghann Fahy. Developed for the screen by showrunner Jenna Lamia, the show follows Amelia Sacks whose upcoming marriage to Benji Winbury is derailed after the death, and supposed murder, of her maid of honor Merritt Monaco.
It Ends With Us
$10.80 $16.99 36% off
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Starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, “It Ends With Us” tells the story of Lily Bloom and follows her loving yet tumultuous relationship with husband Ryle Kincaid. The film is based on Colleen Hoover’s 384-page novel, which was originally published in August 2016 and quickly became a “New York Times” bestseller.
The Wild Robot
$8.99 $9.99 10% off
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Based on Peter Brown’s book, “The Wild Robot” follows the journey of Roz, a robot who finds themselves shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. Roz soon learns to adjust to their new surroundings and finds friendship through the animals on the island. The film’s voice cast includes Lupita Nyong’o as Roz, Pedro Pascal as the fox Fink, Catherine O’Hara as the opossum Pinktail, Bill Nighy as the goose Longneck and Mark Hamill.
Nightbitch
$15.75 $18.00 13% off
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The upcoming horror comedy starring Amy Adams is based on Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel, a fantastical tale following a stay-at-home mom who sometimes turns into a dog.
Turtles All the Way Down
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John Green’s beloved “Turtles All the Way Down” was adapted into a TV series now streaming on Max. The story focuses on a teenage girl named Aza struggling with crippling OCD and anxiety. With her best friend Daisy, she begins to investigate the disappearance of a local billionaire — while also beginning a tentative romantic relationship with his son David.
‘People We Meet on Vacation’
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Emily Henry’s “People We Meet on Vacation” is getting the adaptation treatment next year. Tom Blyth and Emily Bader star in the Netflix and 3000 Pictures movie, which follows routine-loving Alex and free-spirited Poppy who have been unlikely best friends for a decade, living in different cities but spending every summer vacation together.
The Bikeriders
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Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (adapted from Danny Lyon’s 1968 book “The Bikeriders” takes place in the ’60s and follows the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a gathering of outsiders from Chicago, led by Johnny (Tom Hardy). Under his leadership, the motorcycle club turns into a life of crime as a biker gang throughout the decade.
The Crow
In the second adaptation of the 1989 comic book Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and his fiancée Shelly (FKA Twigs) are murdered by crime boss Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston). Yet Eric is offered the chance to walk the earth again as a powerful, dark vigilante known as The Crow and take revenge by killing everyone in Roeg’s organization.
Uglies
$10.39 $13.99 26% off
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Scott Westerfeld’s coming-of-age novel is now streaming on Netflix, starring Joey King as Tally in a dystopian world where everyone is considered an “Ugly” until they undergo mandatory cosmetic surgery at age 16.
The Sympathizer
The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the novel follows a narrator that’s a communist double agent, a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon. While building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles, he secretly reports back to his communist superiors in Vietnam.
The series starring Robert Downey Jr. is now streaming on Max.
Apples Never Fall
Liane Moriarty’s most recent thriller, adapted into a 7-episode limited series on Peacock, revolves around the tennis-obsessed Delaneys, whose lives unravel after a troubled young woman named Savannah shows up at their door, and the family matriarch Joy later disappears. When her husband Stan becomes a prime suspect in the investigation, their children are forced to reexamine everything they know about their parents’ marriage.
The Idea of You
The Anne Hathaway-led rom-com is based on the bestselling novel of the same name from Robinne Lee. The plot kicks off with Solène’s husband, choosing to end their marriage — which means canceling his Coachella trip with their 16-year-old daughter Izzy. At the festival, Solène crosses paths with Hayes Campbell, the frontman of popular band August Moon, who is said to be based on Harry Styles. As an unexpected romance begins between the two, Solène must balance her career, her obligations to her teenage daughter and the 24-hour news cycle surrounding her relationship.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Rick Riordan’s beloved young-adult fantasy book series consists of five novels, starting with “The Lightning Thief,” which follows Percy as he finds out his father is a Greek god, making him a demigod. He and his friends are given the task of finding and returning Zeus’s lightning bolt as monsters from the Underworld attempt to stop them.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
Eileen: A Novel
“Eileen” centers on a young secretary Eileen who becomes close to a new colleague, a confident counselor to the troubled teenagers at the prison where they work. Their friendship takes an unexpected turn, changing both their lives.
The film adaptation, starring Anne Hathaway, is available to rent/buy on Prime Video and Apple TV+.
Killers of the Flower Moon
David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is still on the bestseller lists following Martin Scorsese‘s film adaptation, starring Leonardio DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.
The 2017 non-fiction book depicts a series of murders in the Native American Osage Nation in the 1920s and the investigation into the string of brutal crimes by the FBI.
Stream “Killers of the Flower Moon” on Apple TV+
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
This “Hunger Games” prequel, which was adapted into a star-studded film that came out last month, takes place in the dystopian world of Panem, during the tenth annual Hunger Games. It follows the story of Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes the tyrannical President Snow depicted in the original series.
“The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes” is available to rent/buy on Prime Video and Apple TV+.
American Prometheus
Christopher Nolan’s” “Oppenheimer” starring Cillian Murphy as the eponymous scientist, pulls straight from this 700-page biography, which traces Oppenheimer’s life starting with his time at Cambridge, where he earned a reputation as an intellectual prodigy, to his role in developing the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 200,000 Japanese people.
“Oppenheimer” will stream on Peacock starting Feb. 16.
Lessons in Chemistry
This period drama by Bonnie Garmus follows Elizabeth Zott, an extraordinary chemist in 1960 who’s constantly overlooked because of her sex. But things take a turn when she meets a famous male scientist and he actually takes her research seriously.
The book was adapted into a TV series for Apple TV+, starring Brie Larson and Lewis Pullman.
Stream “Lessons in Chemistry” on Apple TV+.
Poor Things
The film is a story of “love, discovery and scientific daring” set in the Victorian era, based on an adaptation of Alasdair Grey’s novel of the same name. It follows Belle Baxter (Stone), a Frankenstein-like woman who is brought back to life after her brain is replaced with that of her unborn child. Stone stars opposite Willem Dafoe, who plays the brilliant, yet unorthodox, scientist who resurrects Belle from the dead.
“Poor Things” is now streaming on Hulu.
Elvis and Me
Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” starring Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny, is based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir detailing her tumultuous relationship with the rock-and-roll legend.
“Priscilla” is available to rent/buy on Prime Video and Apple TV+.
Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine
Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” starring Adam Driver, is based on Brock Yates’ definitive biography on the man behind the motor-sports empire, which digs beneath the surface of his elaborately constructed veneer and uncovers the truth behind his bizarre relationships, his work with Mussolini’s fascists and his fanatical obsession with speed.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
In “Wonka,” Timothee Chalamet plays the younger version of the titular chocolatier, tracking how he came to to create the fantastical factory at the center of Roald Dahl’s 1964 book.
“Wonka” is not available to stream online quite YET but the 1971 film is streaming on Max.
Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir
Selena Gomez is reported to play Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic on the iconic singer In this memoir, iconic singer Linda Ronstadt weaves together a captivating story of her origins in Tucson, Arizona, and her rise to stardom in the Southern California music scene of the 1960s
The Shards
From the bestselling author of “Less Than Zero” and “American Pyscho,” Bret Easton Ellis’s newest novel follows a group of affluent Los Angeles teens in the early 1980s as a serial killer strikes across their hometown and becomes eerily close to their tight knit group.
“The Shards” is reportedly currently in development as a TV series for HBO.
Crying in H Mart
In her debut memoir, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner delves into the experience of finding her identity while growing up Korean American in a majority-white town, falling in love with music and then the man who would become her husband and bandmate and finally, dealing with the grief of her mother’s death.
The memoir is set to be adapted into a feature film, with “The White Lotus” star Will Thorne set to direct.
Daisy Jones & The Six
Prime Video’s rollicking, drama-filled show about the epic rise and fall of an iconic 1970s rock band, loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, is based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling “Daisy Jones & The Six.”
Stream “Daisy Jones & The Six” on Prime Video.
The Sandman
In Neil Gaiman’s seminal comic book series “The Sandman,” a wizard attempts to capture Death to bargain for eternal life only to unwittingly trap her younger brother Dream, also known as Morpheus, in the process. In order to keep him safe, the wizard keeps Dream encased in a glass bottle for decades until he finally makes an escape on a quest to to seek vengeance on his captors and fix the chaos caused in his absence. The series is one of the first graphic novels to make it onto “The New York Times” Best Seller List and has now been released as a Netflix series starring Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie and Taron Egerton.
Eragon (Inheritance)
“Eragon” is the first of four books in Christopher Paolini’s best-selling series “The Inheritence Cycle,” which is now a live action TV series at Disney+. In the series, a young farmboy named Eragon befriends a dragon named Saphira, who he teams up with to defeat the evil king Galbatorix and free the land of Alagaësia from his tyranny.
Stream “Eragon” on Disney+.
Blonde: A Novel
Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe in this powerful tale that offers a tantalizing glimpse into the life of one of pop-culture’s most renowned icons. Andrew Dominik adapted Joyce Carol Oates’s fictionalized story to Netflix, starring Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson. Check out more Marilyn Monroe books here.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Based on Delia Owens’ best-selling novel, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine-produced adaptation came out in July, 2022. The crime drama follows the wild and unkempt Kye, suspected of a mysterious murder in a quiet fishing village. Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kye, alongside Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson.
Red, White & Royal Blue
The Amazon Studios production is an adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s 2019 best-seller which centers on a star-crossed power couple — the Latiné character of Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the president of the United States, and his relationship with Prince Henry, grandson of the Queen of England. Matthew López is set to direct the film starring Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine.
Stream “Red, White & Royal Blue” on Prime Video.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
This bestseller is being adapted into a movie for Netflix by “Little Fires Everywhere” creator Liz Tigelaar. The book tells the secret story of the reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo as told to an unknown, young magazine reporter Monique Grant. Hugo’s stories of Tinseltown in the 50s, 60s and 80s change Grant’s perspective.
Wool
Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Robbins are set to star in Apple’s series adaptation of Hugh Howey’s beloved sci-fi trilogy. In “Wool,” all of humanity (the remnants that exist of it anyway) lives underground in a single silo. The story follows Juliette, a woman from the underground who struggles with her newfound power after being inexplicably promoted to the head of law enforcement.
The Lord of the Rings
Amazon Prime’s television adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s renown series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” developed by J.D Payne and Parick McCay, is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth as a prequel to the events in the original novels and films. Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo and Joseph Mawle star in the epic show.
Stream “The Rings of Power” on Prime Video.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett’s “The Vanishing Half” was one of the biggest books of 2020, and is now coming to the screen with Aziza Barnes set to write and produce the HBO adaptation. It tells the story of two identical twin sisters growing up in the Jim Crow South before escaping at 16 and pursuing divergent life paths. There have been no casting announcements for the highly-anticipated series yet.
Paper Girls
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“Paper Girls” centers around four young girls who, while out delivering papers on the morning after Halloween in 1988, become unwittingly caught in a conflict between warring factions of time-travelers, sending them on an adventure through time that will save the world. “Toy Story 4” writer Stephany Folsom adapted the popular sci-fi comic book series as an Amazon original series.
Stream “Paper Girls” on Prime Video.
The Power
The adaptation of Alderman’s story, directed by “The Handmaid’s Tale’s” Reed Moreno, imagines a world in which women are physically stronger than men, by way of a magical electric current that rises through their body. Alice Eve, John Leguizamo and Auli’i Cravalho are set to star in the 10-episode series.
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s recently released novel is being developed as a TV series for Hulu, helmed by “Little Fires Everywhere” creator, show runner and executive producer Liz Tigelaar. The best-selling novel, which follows Reid’s first successful book “Daisy Jones & the Six,” centers on the famous Rivas siblings whose lives take a dramatic turn after their annual end-of-summer blowout in 1983.