TikTok favourites. Literary heavyweights. Starry casts and stories already loved by millions. From the dream-team casting of The Thursday Murder Club to Jacob Elordi’s monster glow-up in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, we look at the adaptations already making noise… with plenty of time to read up before they hit your screens.
The Thursday Murder Club: Murder, they read
When Richard Osman wrote about retirees solving murders in their spare time, he couldn’t have predicted the star power the film version would later attract: Helen Mirren, David Tennant and Pierce Brosnan starring; Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Home Alone) directing; Steven Spielberg producing. One of the year’s most eagerly awaited projects, it promises a crowd-pleasing blend of mystery and mild peril. Expect it to clean up on release – and not just with the over-60s demographic. Coming: August
Goth mode activated: Oscar Isaac’s Doctor Frankenstein
Ken Woroner / Netflix
Frankenstein: The creature gets a leading man upgrade
If cosy crime isn’t your caper, how about reanimated corpses and existential dread? Mary Shelley’s much-adapted Frankenstein gets another outing this year – and this one’s going to tear up your GCSE set text. Jacob Elordi is bringing next-level energy to the monster, with Oscar Isaac as his tormented creator. Director Guillermo del Toro – who says Shelley’s novel is his favourite book –promises a faithful yet fresh take on the 1818 smash hit. So lashings of gothic, beautifully bleak metaphors and possibly the hottest Creature to ever terrorise torch-wielding villagers. Coming: November
Wicked: Part Two – For Good: the finale we’ve been waiting for
Witches, sequins and hopefully some internet-worthy junket moments will be swishing back into town in Wicked: Part Two – For Good. Loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, it continues the glittering, green-tinted origin story of Oz’s most famous frenemies: Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Jonathan Bailey round out a cast ready to deliver the key-change-packed conclusion to a tale that began as a clever literary reimagining, became a Broadway sensation, and now reaches its cinematic climax. Let’s hold space! Coming: November
The Running Man: Cardio meets carnage
The 1982 thriller from Stephen King – king of the book-to-screen – is sprinting back to cinemas. Set in a world where state control and media manipulation have run amok (not ours, then), Glen Powell is Ben Richards, a man forced to compete in a high-stakes televised spectacle where contestants are hunted down. Originally published under King’s Richard Bachman pseudonym, this reboot promises to stick closer to the book than the 1987 Schwarzenegger version, with plenty of pacey action thrills and a sizzle of social commentary. Coming: November
Feeling her way through it: Jenna Ortega as Klara
Getty images
Klara and the Sun: AI with heart
Another story that might feel more non-fic than sci-fi comes from Nobel Prize-winning Kazuo Ishiguro. The author of the emotionally devastating Never Let Me Go returns with Klara and the Sun, starring Jenna Ortega as Klara, an artificial friend bought to keep a sick child company. With AI dominating cultural conversations, Ishiguro’s questions about what it means to be human couldn’t be more timely. Directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and co-starring Amy Adams, Natasha Lyonne and Steve Buscemi, this one is already sparking serious chatter. Coming: October
People We Meet on Vacation: Summer romance
Pack your bags, because summer’s here and Poppy and Alex are about to set off on a trip to remember. In the adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation (You and Me on Vacation in the UK), Tom Blyth and Emily Bader play the estranged friends hoping to fix what’s broken on one last holiday. Expect summer vibes, sexual tension, and scenery that’ll have you booking your next getaway before the credits roll. Coming: TBC 2025
The Housemaid: Don’t open the door
Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid is also getting the big-screen treatment. Sydney Sweeney stars as a woman who takes a seemingly perfect housekeeping job, only to discover that her employers (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar) might not be quite what they seem. With 3.6 million copies sold, this psychological thriller is set to be this year’s Gone Girl. Coming: December
Evelyn Hugo is coming: Lights, camera, chaos
Then there’s the really big one: Taylor Jenkins Reid’s viral juggernaut, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It follows Evelyn – a reclusive, scandal-riddled screen legend – who picks an unknown journalist to reveal the truth about her seven marriages, rise to fame, and the love story that changed everything. Casting is still under wraps, but the internet has thoughts on who’ll play the glamorous, complicated Evelyn. This TikTok-fuelled adaptation promises old-Hollywood glamour with a modern, inclusive twist. Coming: TBC, rumoured December
OAP and sleuthing hard: Celia Imrie, Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan in The Thursday Murder Club
Giles Keyte/Netflix
5 reasons books are Hollywood’s easiest win
Big budgets and bigger explosions aside, Hollywood knows the best stories begin quietly, inside a writer’s imagination. Books give studios characters we believe in, worlds that feel real, and endings that stay with us. The hardest part is done – they’ve already made us care.
1. Built-in audience: Bestsellers come pre-loaded with fans, plus free promo as fans light up BookTok, Instagram and those 3am threads.
2. Pre-tested plots: No messy rewrites or panic endings. These stories come road-tested.
3. Cultural clout: Booker longlists, cult followings and GCSE favourites bring instant prestige.
4. Ready-made worlds: From magical kingdoms to suburban marriages, books come with the world-building all worked out.
5. Emotional investment: The story’s already under our skin, which means louder hype, more re-watches and very strong feelings about casting.
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