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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.
| TWIGHLIGHT (2008) (Vampire, Highschool, Romance, Forbidden Fruit , Adaptation)
 
PLOT: A teenage girl, Bella (Kristen Stewart), moves to Forks Washington to live with her father when her mother gets remarried. Upon arriving in Forks, Bella learns about a mysterious family of very beautiful people. When she meets one of the five children, Edward (Robert Pattinson), she finds herself spinning into a mind boggling tale of one of the deepest and scariest kinds of love that she has ever known, particularly because Eddie is a vampire. AUTHOR:
Stephenie Meyer
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| TOWELHEAD (2008) (Race, Predator, Adolescence, Culture, Adaptation)
PLOT: A meditation on race, adolescence and alienation, the story offers an unflinching look at what happens as a young woman's sexuality blooms when only a predatory neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) is paying attention. After 13-year-old Jasira (Summer Bishil) is sent to live with her father in Houston, she finds herself coming of age in the shadow of his old world, authoritarian ideas, which includes his dissaproval of her friendship with a boy who's black. The real threat of course is the neighbor, who, in order to get close to Jasira, hires her to baby-sit his son. AUTHOR:
Alicia Erian
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| CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (2009) (Shopping, Debt, Romance, Adaptation)
PLOT: 25-year-old Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) has everything she wants, or does she? Rebecca is a shopaholic up to her heels in credit card debt. Ironically, she writes for a magazine called Successful Saving. Rebecca's "imaginative" solutions to her debt attract the attention of Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy), a multimillionaire PR representative for a finance group that is often featured in Successful Saving. AUTHOR:
Sophie Kinsella
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| SPIRIT, THE (2009) (action, vigilante, crime, comic book, detective, Adaptation)
PLOT: Based on the 1940s comic book created by the legendary Will Eisner, The Spirit tells the story of detective Denny Colt, who returns from a coma-like state of suspended animation. He comes back as a masked vigilante, who fights crime with the blessing of the city's police commissioner. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, and Jaime King. Graphic novelist Frank Miller directs. AUTHOR:
Will Eisner
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| MY SISTER'S KEEPER (2009) (Family, Sisters, Illness, Courtroom, Transplant, Adaptation)
PLOT: Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna (Abigail Breslin) hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out. Cameron Diaz stars as Sara Fitzgerald, the mother of the children. AUTHOR:
Jodi Picoult
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| WOLVERINE (2009) (Comic Book, X-Men, Action, Adaptation)
PLOT: Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) lives a mutant life, seeks revenge against Victor Creed (who will later become Sabertooth) for the death of his girlfriend, and ultimately ends up going through the mutant Weapon X program. The movie, a comic book adaptation, also stars Liev Schreiber and Dominic Monaghan. AUTHOR:
Len Wein
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| JOHN ADAMS (2008) (Historic, Founding Fathers, Drama, George Washington, Adaptation)
PLOT: Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, John Adams emerges from David McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath. HBO films adapted the novel into a miniseries starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John and Abigail Adams. AUTHOR:
David McCullough
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| DARK FIELDS (2010) (Sci-Fi, Techno, Thriller, Drugs, Intelligence, Adaptation)
PLOT: Eddie Spinola (Shia LaBeouf) is hooked on MDT-48. It's Viagra for the brain-a designer drug that's redesigning his life. But while MDT is helping Eddie achieve the kind of success he's only dreamed about, it's also chipping away at his sanity-splitting headaches, spontaneous blackouts, violent outbursts. And now that he's hooked and his supply is running low, Eddie must venture into the drug's dark past to feed his habit. AUTHOR:
Alan Glynn
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| KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL (2008) (Children, Great Depression, Boarding House, Friends, Family, Adaptation)
PLOT: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl centers around a young girl (Abigail Breslin) living in the struggles of the Great Depression. 10-year-old Kit lives in a boarding house her parents own in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a passion for writing, and dreams of having something of hers published in the local paper someday. With the help of her friends, Sterling and Ruthie, will her dream finally come true? The movie also stars Joan Cusack, Chris O'Donnell, and Julia Ormond. AUTHOR:
Valerie Tripp
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| 21 (2008) (Casino, Counting Cards, MIT, Black Jack, Teacher, Student, Gambling, Adaptation)
PLOT: Six MIT students, with the help of their professor, take Las Vegas casinos for nearly $4 million. They employ card counting techniques that allow them to exploit the statistical nature of blackjack. Eventually, the casinos begin to catch on and the pressure starts to mount. Both the book and the movie are based on a true story. The film stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne. AUTHOR:
Ben Mezrich
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| MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (2008) (Comedy, Romance, First Love, Actress, Women, Adaptation)
PLOT: An American actress, Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), employs the frumpy ex-governess Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) as her social secretary. Over the span of the next twenty-four hours, the two women empower each other to discover their romantic destinies during a whirlwind day in London. AUTHOR:
Winifred Watson
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| MARRIED LIFE (2008) (Marriage, Murder, Adultery, Adaptation)
PLOT: A 1940s-set drama where an adulterous man (Chris Cooper) plots his wife's death instead of putting her through the humiliation of a divorce. Also starring Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, and Patricia Clarkson. The movie is based on the book (a '50s pulp novel) by John Bingham. AUTHOR:
John Bingham
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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.
| ON THE BEACH (1959) (Nuclear War, Fallout, Drama, Adaptation)
PLOT: In 1964, nuclear war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual is filled with growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Commander Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson (Ava Gardner), who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other? AUTHOR:
Nevil Shute
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| BEOWULF (2007) (Viking, Monster, Poem, Literary, Adventure, Adaptation)
PLOT: The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge. Robert Zemeckis directed this adaptation, which he admits has very little to do with the original poem. The movie features life-like computer animation that uses live performances blended with computer graphics. Starring Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, and Ray Winstone as the fabled hero. AUTHOR:
Anonymous
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| TONTO WOMAN, THE (2007) (Indians, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Husband Wife, Society, Adaptation)
PLOT: A white woman is kidnapped from her home by Apache Indians. Traded to the Mojave Indians, she lives as a squaw for 11 years until she is found by her husband. Unfit for society he keeps her in a shack in the desert. Her solitary existence is transformed with the arrival of a Mexican (Francesco Quinn), who re-introduces her to her husband and leaves, only to be ambushed by her husband's men as he exits the town. AUTHOR:
Elmore Leonard
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| MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, THE (1942) (Drama, High Society, Family, Fortune, Romance, Sabatoge, Adaptation)
PLOT: The 1919 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel portrays the decline of the wealthy Amberson family, who act as a metaphor for the old society that crumbled after the Industrial Revolution. The story revolves around the spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune, who comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved, Eugene Morgan (Joseph Cotten). AUTHOR:
Booth Tarkington
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| TRACEY FRAGMENTS, THE (2007) (Drama, Teenage, Catcher in the Rye, Brother Sister, Personality Disorder, Adaptation)
PLOT: 15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz (Ellen Page) is naked under a shower curtain at the back of a bus, recounting her search for her little brother Sonny, who thinks he's a dog. As time passes, Tracey's stories begin to twist the truth and entwine it with lies, at once captivating and unsettling the reader. AUTHOR:
Maureen Medved
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| ILLUSIONIST, THE (2006) (Magic, Romance, Drama, Turn of the Century, Adaptation)
PLOT: Steven Millhauser's short story Eisenheim the Illusionist inspired the Jessica Biel, Edward Norton film The Illusionist. The movie tells the story of a magician (Norton), who uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman (Biel) far above his social standing. Also starring Paul Giamatti. AUTHOR:
Steven Millhauser
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| MY BOY JACK (2007) (WWI, Tragedy, Drama, Adaptation)
PLOT: Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe takes the lead in this made for TV movie. When noted English author Rudyard Kipling pulled strings at the beginning of World War I to get his son a commission in the Irish Guards, he little realized that he was sending the young man to his death. John Kipling's death was made even more tragic by the fact that his burial place could not be identified. Rudyard Kipling's life-long quest to find his son's resting place had not been achieved by the time of his death and John Kipling's grave was not positively identified until 1992. AUTHOR:
T Holt
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| BECOMING JANE (2007) (Jane Austen, Romance, Biographical, Adaptation)
PLOT: Becoming Jane was adapted from author Jon Spence's biographical portrait of the English author. The movie deals with a pre-fame Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) and her romance with a young Irishman (James McAvoy). The book further explores how personal events in the author's life may have helped to shape her as a writer. Spence even suggests that there seems to be a connection, for example, between the family background of Tom Lefroy, whom it seemed for a time that Jane might marry, and the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice. AUTHOR:
Jon Spence
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| JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, THE (2007) (Jane Austen, Book Club, Romance, Drama, Adaptation)
PLOT: Modern day Californians escape their troubles by reading a different Jane Austen story each month. The members of the book club each face their own romantic dilemmas, including Prudie Drummond (Emily Blunt), a depressed French teacher on the verge of leaving her lug of a husband (Marc Blucas). AUTHOR:
Karen Joy Fowler
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| SEX AND THE CITY (1998) (Women, Sex, New York City, Relationships, HBO, Adaptation)
PLOT: Adapted from the Candace Bushnell novel, the HBO Sex and the City TV series aired from 1998 - 2004. It dealt with four beautiful female New Yorkers, who gossip about their sex-lives (or lack thereof) and find new ways to deal with being a woman in the 90's. The stars of the TV show included Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon. The women reunited to film a 2008 feature film titled Sex and the City: The Movie. AUTHOR:
Candace Bushnell
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A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.
~Martin Farquhar Tupper
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