Typically, though not always, good books make for good films. In 2017, that certainly proved to be the case. Some of the best films of the year, including Wonder, The Lost City of Z, and Mudbound, were based on books. Those of us who read Call Me By Your Name before seeing the film couldn't help but compare every beautiful, minute detail between the works.
Based on this roundup, 2018 will prove no exception to the rule. Some of the most highly anticipated film projects of 2018 are based on previously written books, and we are officially amped. This year, we'll travel through tesseracts with the help of Mrs. Whosit, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which. We'll cut through the ever-growing, sentient landscape of Area X. We'll meet the super-rich of Singapore. And it's all thanks to books.
The best part? If you're aching to know the films' stories in advance, you can just read the books first. You won't be spoiling the film by reading the book – you'll be enhancing it. Our "To Read" list has never been so lengthy.
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12 Strong
Released 19th January
Based On: Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
What It's About: In the days immediately following the 9/11 attacks, a team of U.S. Special Forces go to Afghanistan on a mission to develop a partnership with the Northern Alliance military front in order to fight the Taliban together.
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Elsa Pataky, Michael Shannon
The Death Cure
Released 26th January
Based on: The Death Cure by James Dashner
What It's About: The Maze Runner trilogy comes to a close with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) taking down the entire rotten organisation creating the mazes, WCKD.
Starring: Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario, Dylan O'Brien, Aidan Gillan
Fifty Shades Freed
Released on 9th February
Based On: Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James
What It's About: After getting married, Christian (Jamie Dornan) and Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) attempt domestic bliss, but are pursued by Anastasia's scorned boss, among other obstructions to happiness.
Starring: Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Kim Basinger
Annihilation
Released on 23rd February
Based On: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
What It's About: An assortment of four women professionals — a biologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, and an anthropologist — set out into a treacherous landscape cordoned off from society. One, the biologist, is determined to find what killed her husband on his own mission to the region.
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Every Day
Released 23rd February
Based On: Every Day by David Levithan
What It's About: A girl falls in love with a shape-shifting spirit, who awakens every day in a new body.
Starring: Angourie Rice, Mario Bello, and Justice Smith
Red Sparrow
Released 2nd March
Based On: Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
What It's About: Some famous pop culture academies train people to be wizards. Others, like the one ballerina Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is in, train the most brilliant young people to become dangerous, self-sacrificing spies called Sparrows.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling
A Wrinkle in Time
Released March 9
Based On: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
What It's About: Decades after its publication, A Wrinkle in Time is finally getting the film adaptation it deserves, thanks to Ava Duvernay. Meg Murray's (Storm Reid) father goes missing somewhere in space. She, her genius younger brother, and her neighbour are led on a cosmic journey to him, guided by the three Mrs. — Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey).
Starring: Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Love, Simon
Released 16th March
Based On: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
What It's About: No one knows high school junior Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) is gay, except for him. Well, and the anonymous classmate that he's developed a crush while chatting online. Then, someone gets ahold of Simon's emails and threatens to reveal his sexuality publicly.
Starring: Katharine Langford, Miles Heizer, Nick Robinson
Ready Player One
Released 30th March
Based On: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
What It's About: This movie will make the Oculus Rift look juvenile. Wade Watts' video game is an actual 3D universe — one he eventually gets sucked into.
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg, Ben Mendelsohn
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Released 11th May
Based On: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
What It's About: After Bernadette (Cate Blanchett) runs away from her Seattle home, her 15-year-old daughter sifts through her belongings and paper trail to find where she went. The movie will be a comedy romp, like the book.
Starring: Kristin Wiig, Billy Crudup, Judy Greer, and Cate Blanchett as Bernadette
Crazy Rich Asians
Released 17th August
Based On: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
What It's About: Rachel has no idea that her boyfriend, Nick, is from an extremely wealthy family until she goes to Singapore to meet his parents. She finds herself in a world she couldn't have ever fathomed, populated by extreme and memorable characters.
Starring: Constance Wu, Ken Jeong, Henry Golding
The Little Stranger
Released 31st August
Based On: The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
What It's About: Another too big, too haunted English manor. A doctor visits an ailing patient at Hundreds Hall, where he finds something worse than illness lurking.
Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, Charlotte Rampling
The Darkest Minds
Out 14th September
Based On: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
What It's About: Hollywood will never run out of YA dystopias to turn into fast-paced movies. In this version of America, 98% of the population has been wiped out from illness. The remaining population has developed powers, and is controlled by the government. Ruby, a 16-year-old, escapes from the internment camp and goes rogue.
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Gwendoline Christie, Mandy Moore
Boy Erased
Out 28th September
Based On: The memoir Boy Erased by Garrard Conley
What It's About: A 19-year-old son of a Baptist preacher is outed as gay to his parents. They give him a choice: Attend conversion therapy camp to "cure" him of his gayness, or be exiled from his family forever.
Starring: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton
The Girl in the Spider's Web
Out 19th October
Based On: The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz, who took over the Millennium trilogy after Stieg Larsson's passing
What It's About: Lisbeth Salander's next hacking escapade, involving the NSA and Russian criminals.
Starring: Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salander, Sverrir Gudnason, Sylvia Hoeks
Bel Canto
Out 2018
Based On: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
What It's About: Numerous elite people gather at a private concert held in the vice president's house of an unnamed South American country. Then, the party is taken over by terrorist forces. The partygoers are held hostage for weeks, and inevitably develop relationships while waiting to be rescued.
Starring: Julianne Moore, Ken Watanabe, Demian Bichir
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Out 2018
Based On: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by mother-daughter team Mary Ann Shaffer and Ann Barrows
What It's About: During WWII, Nazi forces occupied the small island of Guernsey, which lies between the U.K. and France. In 1946, after corresponding with one of the Guernsey natives, a writer visits the island with the intention of discovering the subject of her next book.
Starring: Lily James, Michiel Huisman
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