Books have often served as great sources of adaptation for film. Some of the most iconic early films, like Dracula and Gone with the Wind, were adapted from beloved books. In an age of intellectual franchises, the right book series can launch a multimedia franchise ranging from fantasy stories like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings to romance novels like To All The Boys I Loved Before and After.
Update September 18, 2023: This article has been updated by Rafa Boladeras with some even more great modern books that would make for great adaptations.
While most of the attention is normally put on adaptations of classics, there are plenty of great contemporary novels released daily by incredible writers. One walk around your local bookstore, and there are plenty of great stories that are waiting for the feature film or television series adaptation. This is just a small sample of some recent books that deserve an on-screen adaptation.
10 The Girls by Emma Cline
Inspired by the Manson family gang that killed Sharon Tate, The Girls is all about a fourteen-year-old girl who starts spending more and more time on a ranch with many girls and one charismatic leader, as she feels seen there, has friends and also has a crush on another of the girls that live there. The book is very interested in the feelings of this teenage girl, who feels unloved and looks like the other girls there with a certain female gaze, as she starts falling in love with the place, the aura, and a beautiful girl named Suzanne.
This could be a great female film about discovering oneself and understanding who you are and could make a star of a young teenage actress, as the lead character, Evie has a rollercoaster of emotions during this story, and a talented actress could make a name for herself in Hollywood if she was able to convey all that turmoil, lust, love, and confusion.
9 This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
Similar to the novel The Hate U Give, written by Angie Thomas, This Is Where It Ends, deals with tragedy and real-life issues. With today’s climate and gun violence that terrorizes schools all over the country, This Is Where It Ends would be a major wake-up call for many people. The plot follows a school shooting and the several points-of-view from different students who are trapped inside, their terror and fear haunting, and if translated well on screen, it could change a lot of perspectives. With the right filmmaker involved and not afraid to tackle difficult subjects, it would be a knockout and a huge success.
8 A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
A Brief History of Seven Killings was awarded the 2015 Booker Price, as it’s a book like no other. The story is told in five different sections covering one day, with events that go from 1976 Jamaica (the day they shot Bob Marley) to 1991 New York, transforming throughout between genres, from historical story to gang thriller, action story, and even spy novel. One of the things critics loved most about the book was the different genres, characterizations, and tones from it, making for very tempting roles for African-American actors.
HBO optioned the novel, and announced a TV series adaptation, but there has not been news about the show for a while. This could be a new The Wirefor the channel, telling compelling Black stories, and with the book’s structure, it could run for a while, as every section could be a whole season. After seeing Steve McQueen’s miniseries Small Axe, he looks like the perfect director and writer to handle the project.
7 Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Less won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2018 and tells the story of an aging gay writer who had some success at the start of his career but is mostly known for dating an older Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. As his 50th birthday is coming, and trying to avoid the wedding of an ex, he decides to travel the world, accepting all kinds of literary invitations he can get and having many fun adventures along the way, from New York to Mexico City, Turin, Morocco, and Japan.
This book is all about the story that is not usually told in movies and shows: being gay in middle age and how that affects your life. The story is full of funny situations and moments that could make for a hilarious film, one with an actor that can handle both drama and humor and is queer himself.
6 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
There have been whispers throughout the film industry that this novel is already in talks for being developed as a film under either Blueprint Pictures or StudioCanal, but as of right now, nothing is in true development. The Midnight Library is a novel about a woman named Nora who wants to die, and after successfully doing so, she’s stuck in a purgatory of sorts, known as the Midnight Library.
While she’s there, Nora gets to test out different possible lives that she could have had if she made the smallest decision in her everyday life. The Midnight Library is an important story about finding reasons to live and making the most out of your everyday life. A film like this would be beneficial and ultimately moving for the right person.
5 The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Max has hinted at picking up this novel for a television series, even though the book was published two years ago, making it still relatively new. Grady Hendrix is known for writing about horror and gore, and The Final Girl Support Group sits right in the middle of that. The story follows six women who were real-life “final girls” as they are hunted by an unknown killer. Charlize Theron has been speculated to play the lead role, Lynette Tarkington. The story could tap into the Halloween season and fanbase for classic horror films.
4 Educated by Tara Westover
Educated is a memoir and non-fiction book that should’ve already been adapted, as it’s an incredible story that writes itself. Tara Westover spent his childhood in a survivalist Mormon family, being homeschooled and isolated from pretty much everyone and everything before going to BYU and Cambridge for college. Her family situation is always a problem as her brothers keep bringing her back to the family, even if it’s with bad news.
This is a story of alienation, education, and understanding that sometimes, being away from your family is the best you can do for you and them. The memoir spans decades, so it should be performed by two different actresses, to show her growing up, and also her time at college, to show the evolution of the lead character, and how she changes her way of thinking once she’s in college.
3 Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
In 2020, there were murmurings about this novel being turned into a movie, the author stating that it had film-like qualities, says the Bibliophile, but two years later there has been no development. Such a Fun Age was published in 2018 and made Reece Witherspoon’s book club, and from there, it has gained high praise and reviews.
The plot follows Emira, a nanny who gets racially profiled at a grocery store with the child she babysits, and things start to spiral out of control from there. It would be interesting to see if Witherspoon decided to be involved with the movie since she enjoyed the novel so much and where she would take production. Keke Palmer, who wowed in Jordan Peele’s most recent film, Nope, would do fantastic as Emira and take her character to the next level.
2 Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney’s other books, Normal People and Conversations with Friends, have already been adapted successfully as Hulu TV series, so it makes perfect sense to think that Beautiful World Where Are You should be the next. This time, the story is about two friends: Alice Kelleher, a successful writer who is living in a small town trying to write her next book when she meets Felix, and her best friend, Eileen Lydon, who lives in the city as an editor at a literary magazine and has an enormous crush on her friend Simon.
As with every Rooney book, there’s a lot of love, sex, longing, doubts, discussions, and friendship, and this story is no different. Lennie Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald adapted the other two books, so it makes sense they should also adapt this one, getting some new British actresses a meaty role, as both friends could not be more different, and yet it makes perfect sense they’re best friends.
1 The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
This hefty novel would be the perfect Blumhouse production, a mix of supernatural elements and horror, giving room to be the perfect film for fall. The Book of Accidents follows a family who moves back to Nate’s childhood home, and they quickly come to realize there’s something other-worldly happening around them. When Nate goes missing, slipping through different dimensions, they band together and fight the evil that’s surrounding the house and their family.
Even though it has family dynamics in the writing, this film would absolutely be R-rated due to the horror and explicit language showcased. Still, it would be beloved by horror fans who don’t want to read over 500 pages in a novel.
