If The Shining hadn’t been taken to the screen in 1980 and if Jack Nicholson had never played Jack Torrance in it, there is a slight chance that the definition of fear as we know now may have been a little different. Not to mention witnessing the magical world of elves, dwarfs and dragons in The Lord of the Rings. And how Meryl Streep portrayed quite the devil in The Devil Wears Prada.
Adaptation is quite an intense work of art; for the writers and the directors of the movies have quite the competition—they have to make sure that their creation is on par with what the reader had imagined while reading the book.
Here’s a list of adaptations releasing this year that you should definitely look out for:
1.The Goldfinch
Adapted from the book by the same name, the movie is set to have an international release on September 12. The book by Donna Tartt had won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014. Published in 2013, the book was selected by Amazon as the 2013 Best Book of the Year.
The movie, directed by John Crowley, features Ansel Elgort and Nicole Kidman. With the cinematography by the Oscar-winning Roger Deakins, the movie seems to be heading straight to the Academy Awards. The trailer, released a few days ago, seemed just as promising.
2. Little Women
A great classic by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, the book, was originally published in two volumes—in 1868 and 1869. One of the most popular to date, the book is believed to be semi-autobiographical.
Directed by Greta Gerwig, an Oscar Nominee for Direction and Original Screenplay, the movie is to be released on December 25. The movie is majorly star-studded, with Emma Watson playing Meg, Saoirse Ronan playing Jo, Timothee Chalamet playing Laurie and Meryl Streep herself as aunt March. Much awaited and anticipated not to fall short of the expectations, Little Women is a prominent one in our watchlist.
3. Where’d you go Bernadette
A 2012 comedy novel written by Maria Semple, the book remained on the New York Times Bestseller List for a year. The movie is to hit theatres on August 6 and stars Cate Blanchett. An American comedy-mystery-drama film, the movie has the tagline that “Appearances can be deceptive”.
4. The Woman in the Window
A thriller novel by author A. J. Finn, published in 2018, The Woman in the Window, is a smart book which was published in 41 languages around the globe. A well written ‘crowd pleaser’, it might be the first of its kind since Gone Girl.
With Amy Adams playing the agoraphobic cat-lady who spies on her neighbours, the standard for the movie has been set very, very high. Gary Oldman and Julianne Moore also have important roles to play in the movie. Joe Wright is at direction—his other works include The Darkest Hour, Hanna and Atonement. He is also the director of the adapted classics Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina. Well, with this kind of ensemble, it is guaranteed that the movie is going to epic! The Woman in the Window is to hit theatres on October 4.
5. Cats
T. S Eliot’s Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, is a collection of his poems which was published in 1939. A sung-through musical, Cats, was made from the collection, which became an award-winning family-favourite.
Cats, the movie, set to release on December 20 will be a musical-fantasy-comedy-drama based on the musical. The cast for the movie includes Taylor Swift, James Corden, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba and Kate Hudson. The movie will be directed by Tim Hooper, whose last work was Les Miserables of 2012. There is much anticipation about how the movie is going to be since Scott Wampler, an online film blogger had tweeted long ago that the behind the scenes footage of the movie revealed that over-sized furniture was used in the filming to—as Idris Elba put it —to get a “cat perspective”.
We suggest that you start reading today, right in time to catch the movie when it releases.
