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Movies Based on Books 
Read the Book Before You See the Movie. Which is better? You decide. Start browsing our year-by-year lists of movie adaptations of classic novels. See the menu on the right.
Upcoming Movies Based on Books
What Should I be Reading?
Each year an average of thirty novels are made into movies for the big screen. Authors watch tensely as their stories are filtered through the hands of screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, and studio chiefs. If they're lucky, these film adaptations do the original story justice. However,
it is often the case that the book is significantly better than the movie. Here, we present upcoming movie adaptions of classic novels to keep you up-to-date on what books are being adapted for the big screen. See the right column for yearly movie and a novel listings.
 (Buy Book)
| CHARLIE ST. CLOUD (2010) (Sailing, Young Adult, Death, Love, Brothers, Adaptation)
 
PLOT: Not everyone enjoys the company of their sibling like Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) does. After a car accident leaves his younger brother Sam dead, Charlie is wracked with guilt and refuses to move on. He spends time every day with the ghost of his brother until a girl who wants to sail around the world named Tess Carroll catches his eye. When it appears that she is lost at sea, he fears losing another person he cares about and takes action. AUTHOR:
Ben Sherwood
|  (Buy Book)
| RESTREPO (2010) (War, Afghanistan, Military, Adaptation)
PLOT: Beginning in spring 2007, author Sebastian Junger spent 14 months with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Junger experiences everything the soldiers surrounding him experience from patrols and bombings to the death of friends. AUTHOR:
Sebastian Junger
|  (Buy Book)
| LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE (2010) (Children's Book, Animals, Determination, Adaptation)
PLOT: Soren dreams of being a member of The Guardians of Ga’Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who save owls from the evil Pure Ones. While owls like his older brother Kludd make fun of him, it is Soren who ultimately has to save them from the Pure Ones. AUTHOR:
Kathryn Lasky
|  (Buy Book)
| THE AMERICAN (2010) (Thriller, Weapons, Assassin, Adaptation)
PLOT: People are not as one sided as they may appear. A quiet artist (George Clooney) seems self explantory until you point out that he is also a master gun maker for assassins. As he is trying to finish his final order and retire, things start to exciting. AUTHOR:
Martin Booth
|  (Buy Book)
| NEVER LET ME GO (2010) (Science Fiction, School, Mystery, Adaptation)
PLOT: Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) spent their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. Here they are like everyone else but in the real world they are treated as abnormal. It is not until the students are released that they come to learn why they are not treated as equals. AUTHOR:
Kazuo Ishiguro
|  (Buy Book)
| IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY (2010) (Hospital, Young Adult, Recovery, Adaptation)
PLOT: Craig Gilner (Keir Gilchrist) is accepted by a prestigious Manhattan high school but the pressure gets to him. Soon he finds himself battling depression and calling a suicide prevention hotline, leading him to check into a hospital for help. In his five day stay, the quirky members of his psychiatric wing help him find himself, find hope and find happiness especially Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) and Noelle (Emma Roberts). AUTHOR:
Ned Vizzini
|  (Buy Book)
| TOWN, THE (2010) (Thriller, Heist, Robbery, Romance, Adaptation)
PLOT: Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is a bank robber with no regard for others, until he robs the wrong bank that is. During the heist he takes bank manager Claire Keesey hostage but after letting her go, he can't get her out of his mind. He works his way into her life and she falls for him, not realizing that he is the robber she continues to fear. Their twisted romance is a dangerous one and there is no way to tell how it will end. AUTHOR:
Chuck Hogan
|  (Buy Book)
| SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (2010) (Comics, Youth, Gamer, Love, Adaptation)
PLOT: The comic series follows Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), the ultimate twenty something slacker who can't seem to grow up. Soon he starts dating a delivery woman named Ramona Flowers and everything seems fine until he finds out he has to fight and defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Ramona's exes aren't the only problem though. Scott also has a few exes that need to be dealt with including Knives Chau. Will the obstacles stand in their way or were they meant to be? Find out in Scott Pilgrim books. AUTHOR:
Bryan Lee O'Malley
|  (Buy Book)
| FLIPPED (2010) (Young Adult, Love, Growing Up, Adaptation)
PLOT: When Juli Baker and Bryce Loski meet in elementary school, Juli thinks she has found the guy for her. Unfortunately, Bryce doesn't feel the same way. After years of waiting around for his feelings to change, Juli finally decides that it just wasn't meant to be. Soon Bryce sees the light and has a change of heart. Will it be too late? AUTHOR:
Wendelin Van Draanen
|  (Buy Book)
| RAMONA AND BEEZUS (2010) (Children's Book, Siblings, Youth, Adaptation)
PLOT: Ramona Quimby (Joey King) is one of the most creative, energetic children you'd ever come across. Unfortunately, this makes her a handful for her big sister Beezus (Selena Gomez). While Beezus enjoys her sister's company, she is often embarassed by Ramona's uncontrollable shenanigans. AUTHOR:
Beverly Cleary
|  (Buy Book)
| GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, THE (2010) (Mystery, Murder, Thriller, Adaptation)
PLOT: Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander are back together again but this time it is Salander who is accused of murder. Freelance journalist, Dag Svensson, and his researcher girlfriend, Mia Johansson, are killed in their apartment a few weeks before they plan to publish a story about Sweden's sex trafficking business and the high power people involved. As Blomkvist works to clear Salander, he learns that her past is lined with problems that make her seem like the perfect suspect. Can he do it or is she not who he thinks she is? AUTHOR:
Stieg Larsson
|  (Buy Book)
| HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (2011) (Wizards, Witches, Fantasy, Magic, School, Dark Arts, Adaptation)
PLOT: The Ministry of Magic has been taken over by Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) putting Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), his friends and the entire wizarding world in more danger than ever. His effort to find all the Horcruxes is a long path that gets sidetracked by seeing the Dark Lord's thoughts. In the end, he will have to decide what path to take that is best for all worlds but it won't be one without tragedy. AUTHOR:
J.K. Rowling
| (Buy Book)
| HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (2010) (Wizards, Witches, Fantasy, Magic, School, Dark Arts, Adaptation)
PLOT: The Ministry of Magic has been taken over by Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) putting Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), his friends and the entire wizarding world in more danger than ever. His effort to find all the Horcruxes is a long path that gets sidetracked by seeing the Dark Lord's thoughts. In the end, he will have to decide what path to take that is best for all worlds but it won't be one without tragedy. AUTHOR:
J.K. Rowling
|  (Buy Book)
| LETTERS TO JULIET (2010) (Love, Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Advice, Italy, Adaptation)
PLOT: People have been writing letters to Juliet in Verona, Italy for decades seeking advice on love and love lost. A group has been answering these letters for nearly as long and are now known as the Juliet Club. This book details a few of the numerous letters answered in the past. The movie follows a fictional American tourist named Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who finds one of these letters dated fifty years prior and the journey she makes trying to reunite letter writer Claire to her lost love Lorenzo. AUTHOR:
Lise Friedman
|  (Buy Book)
| GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE (2011) (Mystery, Murder, Thriller, Adaptation)
PLOT: A disgraced journalist named Mikael Blomkvist and a tattooed computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander are hired by the great-uncle of Harriet Vanger to investigate her forty year old disappearance. As he suspected, the event is linked to their crooked family and a past slew of murders. What will the family do to keep this information a secret for another forty years? AUTHOR:
Stieg Larsson
|  (Buy Book)
| RUNAWAYS, THE (2010) (Rock and Roll, Runaway, Music, True Story, Adaptation)
PLOT: In 1975, two teenage girls named Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) decide to take on the world by creating an all girl rock band called The Runaways. After a lot of rejection and obstacles, they rise to the top and remain a legend to this day. AUTHOR:
Cherie Currie
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Classic Movies Based on Books
Past Film Adaptations of Classic Novels
Books Just Added - Our archive of movie adaptations is always growing. Here,
we present memorable movies from the past that have recently been added to our database of movies based on novels. Whether you are familiar with the film version or not, experience the story
in it's most classic form, and then enjoy the filmmaker's vision of the author's work.
(Buy Book)
| GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE (2009) (Mystery, Murder, Thriller, Foreign, Adaptation)
PLOT: A disgraced journalist named Mikael Blomkvist and a tattooed computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander are hired by the great-uncle of Harriet Vanger to investigate her forty year old disappearance. As he suspected, the event is linked to their crooked family and a past slew of murders. What will the family do to keep this information a secret for another forty years? AUTHOR:
Stieg Larsson
|  (Buy Book)
| CHRISTMAS HOPE, THE (2009) (Christmas, Fate, Hope, Parent Child, Adaptation)
PLOT: After suffering a personal tragedy, Patricia Addison (Madeleine Stowe), throws herself into finding homes for needy children. Despite Patty and Mark's (James Remar) rocky marriage, they decide to take in Emily, a child who has just lost her single mother in a car accident. As they begin to bond, it is revealed that their teenage son, Sean, had died in a car accident two years earlier. At the same time, in the same town, Dr. Nathan Andrews (Ian Ziering), struggles to find the parents of a young man who died in his ER. In a twist of fate, all is almost lost when Emily runs away. Ultimately they all come together, to heal and find the true meaning of faith. AUTHOR:
Donna VanLiere
|  (Buy Book)
| FLASHFORWARD (2009) (Free Will, Future, Science Fiction, Fate, Adaptation)
PLOT: Some irresponsible physicists conduct an unimaginably high-energy experiment that accidentally induces a global consciousness shift. Everyone on Earth is "flashed forward" into seeing several minutes of their own future. After people wake and begin to realize that they experienced a real vision of the future, they make decisions based solely on them. What would you do if you thought you knew you future was bleak? Would you try to change the future? Can you change the future? AUTHOR:
Robert Sawyer
|  (Buy Book)
| PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE, THE (2009) (Betrayal, Aging, Self Discovery, Adaptation)
PLOT: Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) is the devoted wife of a publisher 30 years her senior, the proud mother of two grown children and a trusted friend. But as Pippa dutifully follows her husband to a new life in a retirement community, her idyllic world and the persona she has built over the course of her marriage will be put to the test. Pippa must confront both her volatile past and present including a cheating husband to find her true sense of self. AUTHOR:
Rebecca Miller
|  (Buy Book)
| ME AND ORSON WELLES (2009) (Theatre, Love, Man Woman, Adaptation)
PLOT: Set in 1937, the story centers on high school student Richard Samuels (Zac Efron) who, while strolling the streets of New York, happens upon the Mercury Theatre and is noticed by its founder, Orson Welles. Richard lands a part in "Julius Caesar", the production that catapulted Welles to the top, and spends the next week learning about life and love with an older woman (Claire Danes). AUTHOR:
Robert Kaplow
|  (Buy Book)
| BOX, THE (2009) (Money, Greed, Death, Morals, Adaptation)
PLOT: What if someone gave you a box containing a button that, if pushed, would bring you lots of money but simultaneously take the life of someone you don't know? In the short story "Button, Button", this is the moral dilemma Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) face. They soon discover that the consequences of this decision are beyond their control and extend far beyond their own fortune and fate. AUTHOR:
Richard Matheson
|  (Buy Book)
| BLIND SIDE, THE (2009) (Football, School, Struggle, Sports, Adaptation)
PLOT: Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is a poor, undereducated African-American teenager in Memphis, whose father was murdered and whose mother was a crack addict. He is shuffled through the public school system, despite his low grade point average and absenteeism. His living situation is noticed by the wealthy white Tuohy family. Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) take him in and he succeeds both athletically and academically, becoming one of the top high school football prospects in the country. AUTHOR:
Michael Lewis
|  (Buy Book)
| BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN (2009) (Man Woman, Interviews, Adaptation)
PLOT: Sara Quinn (Julianne Nicholson) conducts a series of interviews with men in an effort to uncover the secret thoughts that drive their behavior for her anthropological dissertation. As she records the astonishing and often repulsive experiences of various subjects, Sara discovers much more about men and herself than she bargained for. AUTHOR:
David Foster Wallace
|  (Buy Book)
| TAKING WOODSTOCK (2009) (Woodstock, Hippies, Peace, Music, Concerts, Adaptation)
PLOT: The true story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the historical Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. With the bank about to foreclose on the family's dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco, Elliot tries to reel in business from an upcoming local hippie music festival. Ultimately, half a million people are on their way to his neighbors farm in White Lake, NY, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience. AUTHOR:
Elliot Tiber
|  (Buy Book)
| CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT (2009) (Vampires, Fantasy, Sideshow, Adaptation)
PLOT: The Vampire’s Assistant, based on the popular Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan, is a fantasy-adventure about a teenager (Chris Massoglia) who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares. AUTHOR:
Darren Shan
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A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.
~Martin Farquhar Tupper
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