Tag Archives: books-to-film

Even more books-to-film 2014

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To follow on from last week’s post about books making the transition to film in late 2014 here’s a few further titles coming to the big screen.

Mockingjay-Bird1The Hunger Games has become a phenomena (and money spinner), based on Suzanne Collins’ saga set in the dystopian future of totalitarian Panem. Katniss Everdeen is now the reluctant hero of the revolution against the Capital. The film’s production team have followed the style of Harry Potter and Twilight franchises by splitting the final novel into two films. Mockingjay Part 1 is due for release November 20, with the second film slated for release in late 2015.

 

paddingtonThere’s a couple for the kids coming too. Paddington,  the ageless classic series by Michael Bond, featuring the Peruvian teddy bear lost in urban London will hit screens in a CGI & live action film on December 11. It stars the new Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi, with Paddington’s voice supplied by Ben Whishaw. Judith Viort’s Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day has been produced by Disney and starring Steve Carrell. Alexander’s bad day begins with gum in his hair, and progressively gets worse by the time he gets to bed he’s fed up and wants to move to Timbuktu. Look out for this one in mid October.

 

maze runnerThe Maze Runner, by James Dashner is another 2009 novel, this time a young adult sci-fi about Thomas who wakes up in ‘The Glade’ with no memory and must find his way through a maze picking up clues along the way. The book spawned two sequels and a prequel.  The film is released on September 18.

 

 

 

Finally the infamous graphic novel series by Frank Miller,  Sin City will see a sequel to 2005’s film released called Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Loosely based on some of the Sin City stories, this film reunites Marv, Hartigan, Nancy and crew for another artistic noir outing which is sure to become a cult classic.

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There are loads more books being made into film this year and the list for 2015 is already pretty long. What are you most looking forward to, or what titles do you think I should have included in this list?

More books-to-film 2014

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2014 is shaping up to be a huge year for books that have transitioned to film. In January I wrote about a few that were due early in the piece, most have since been released, but there’s still over 20 more that are scheduled for the next few months.

The-Hobbit-The-Battle-Of-The-Five-Armies-Movie-Poster-Wallpaper-1024x768[1]Arguably the most popularly awaited is the final installment of the adventures of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, titled The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.  Acclaimed director Peter Jackson’s expanded story is bound to culminate in some fantastic imagery and character fun, it’s grown much larger and somewhat darker than the children’s book upon which it was based. It’ll be interesting to see if any further fan service occurs in the form of LOTR characters who appear who are not actually present in the book. The changes made by Jackson and his crew usually do add value however, and it should be an action packed and emotional finale. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is due for release on December 26.

dark-places-book-coverGillian Flynn has had a massive year, with both of her popular books Dark Places (2009) and Gone Girl (2012) due for release in coming months. Charlize Theron and Christina Hendricks star in Dark Places, the 1980’s set story about the survivor of a massacre in a small US rural town, thought to be perpetrated by a Satanic cult. The bestseller Gone Girl, about a dysfunctional family, narrated by unreliable accounts is due for release on October 2 starring Ben Affleck and Rosamunde Pike.

If-I-StayAnother 2009 novel to hit the big screen is Gaye Forman’s If I Stay, a young adult novel that deals with some difficult themes. The main character Mia, played by Chloe Grace Mortiz (a significant change from her previous character of Hit Girl!) is comatose after a near fatal accident, reliving her life and possible future life depending on whether she chooses to live or to let go. If I Stay is due out in a couple of weeks on August 28.

Stay tuned for more books-to-film next week!

 

This year’s books-to-film

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Vampire_AcademyEvery year many popular books make their transition to the big screen. You’re probably familiar with some of the really major ones of late; The Hobbit films, Life of Pi, The Hunger Games, The Silver Linings Playbook just to name a few.

The BuzzFeed news website has released their list of the top 16 books to read before the film versions are released this year, some that seem to have missed out on the media hype, and several that come from the non-fiction collection.

This year features  entries based on real-life stories from World War 2, including Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken featuring some relative unknown actors, but directed by Angelina Jolie and The Monuments Men, featuring an all-star cast.

wildThe hugely popular teen series Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, will screen in February, and Reese Witherspoon plays the protagonist in the journey of self-discovery title, Wild.

You can see the full list from BuzzFeed here.

 

There are plenty of others due out this year that have not made this list, what are you looking forward to seeing this year?