There’s been so much book to movie adaptation news recently that I couldn’t help but make a list of some that I’m incredibly excited for.
1. Moxie by Jennifer Matthieu
About the Movie: Moxie by Jennifer Matthieu was recently Paper Kite, a production company owned by both Amy Poehler and Brooke Posch. To get familiar with the production company, try watching Broad Girls on Hulu. It’s the best. Right now, the movie stands in the pre-production stage and it hasn’t been shared who is writing the screenplay. The release date is unknown.
To learn a little more about Moxie, here’s the book description:
“Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.
Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.”
2. On the Come Up By Angie Thomas
About the Movie: As you might already know, The Hate U Give was released in 2018 and raised 34.9 million USD in the box office. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas was picked up Fox who also adapted the Hate U Give. George Tillman Jr. is directing On the Come Up but there’s obviously no set release date yet.
To learn a little more about On the Come Up, here’s a description:
“Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families”
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
About the Show: Looking for Alaska was picked up by Hulu to be adapted into a mini-series. The main characters including side characters have already been cast. John Green has even made a video about them and with them on their Youtube channel, the Vlog Brothers. I’ll link them here. Miles is set to be played by Charlie Plummer and Alaska to be played by Kristine Froseth. Looking for Alaska had been owned by Paramount but they were apparently terrible towards John Green so now it’s not being made into a movie. It’s now being done by Hulu and I couldn’t be more happier. As for a release date, there isn’t one yet.
To learn a little more about the book, here’s a description:
“Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.”
4. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
About the Show: Amazon has picked up Daisy Jones & the Six to be a limited series on their streaming service, Amazon Prime TV. It has plans to be a 13 episode series made by both Amazon studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine banner. To get a feel of Reese Witherspoon’s production, watch Big Little Lies. As for the music, it’ll be made exclusively through Amazon Music. I can’t wait to hear Daisy Jones & the Six! This was recently announced so there’s no casting yet or release date.
Here’s a little bit more about the book:
“Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.”
5. Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
About the Show: The Grisha trilogy is coming to Netflix! This was announced earlier this year. The two books that were mentioned specifically are both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. I’m not sure how they will connect but they plan to have a series set in the “Grisha-verse.” As far as I’m concerned, the series will be around eight episodes. It’s being produced by Eric Heisserer, Shawn Levy, and Pouya Shahbazian. There’s no release date or no set cast yet.
Here’s the book description:
“Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.”
6. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
About the Movie: I’ve been following this movie announcement for so long. I read this book whenever it had come out in 2014 and I was so nervous when I heard the movie was going to be released. It’s currently in post-production but has a cast, director, etc. It’s being produced by Echo Lake Entertainment and FilmNation entertainment but is to be distributed by Netflix. Elle Fanning was cast to play the main character back in 2014 but recently, Justice Smith was cast to play Theodore Finch. Jennifer is co-writing the screenplay with Liz Hannah. There isn’t a set release date but I’m guessing sometime this year or 2020?
Here’s a little more about the book: “The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.”
7. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
About the Movie: Fox announced they own the rights to Turtles in December of last year. This is John Green’s most recent book release and apparently, his most personal. I read this book and loved it dearly so I can’t wait to see how it’s done in movie format. Hannah Marks, the youngest studio director in history, is directing this film. She’s 25. This is very early in the process so there is no set cast or release date!
If you haven’t read Turtles, here’s the description: “It all begins with a fugitive billionaire and the promise of a cash reward. Turtles All the Way Down is about lifelong friendship, the intimacy of an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and tuatara. But at its heart is Aza Holmes, a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
In his long-awaited return, John Green shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity.”
Now, movies are always uncertain so some of these projects could fall through. I have faith in them, though! I also want to note that there’s obviously so many more adaptations coming out but I’m most excited about these ones. I might end up making another post to share the rest.
Have you read any of these books? Are you more excited or nervous about the movie adaptations?
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