Coming soon: 17 book-to-movie adaptations to watch for in the second half of 2017
Break out the popcorn! Film versions of the 17 books below are hitting the big screen in the second half of 2017.
1. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Based on: Valérian and Laureline, a French science fiction comics series created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières.
Release date: July 20, 2017
What it's about: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as 28th-century special operatives tasked with saving the universe. Bonus: Rihanna plays a shape-shifting entertainer.
2. Atomic Blonde
Based on: The Coldest City, a graphic novel written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart
Release date: July 28, 2017
What it's about: This hotly anticipated thriller stars Charlize Theron as an MI-6 spy who's sent to Berlin to investigate the murder of an undercover agent. Violence ensues.
3. The Dark Tower
Based on: The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Release date: Aug. 4, 2017
What it's about: Stephen King fans rejoice: The Dark Tower, starring Idris Elba as the Gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black, picks up after the events of King's eight-volume, genre-bending series. If you want to catch up on the books before you see the movie, you better get reading — you've got 4,250 pages to get through by August.
4. The Glass Castle
Based on: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Release date: Aug. 11, 2017
What it's about: Jeannette Walls' memoir about her unconventional upbringing was a publishing sensation that spent over 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Brie Larson stars as the adult Jeannette in this big-screen adaptation, with Woody Harrelson playing her alcoholic father and Naomi Watts tackling the role of her eccentric mother.
5. Tulip Fever
Based on: Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
Release date: Aug. 25, 2017
What it's about: This period romance, set in 17th-century Amsterdam, stars Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander as a married woman who begins a passionate affair with the artist commissioned to paint her portrait. Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay based on Moggach's novel.
6. Death Note
Based on: Death Note, a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Release date: Aug. 25, 2017 (on Netflix)
What it's about: A high school student finds a magical notebook that allows him to kill people by writing their names in it. He decides to use his newfound power to rid the world of evil-doers, but presumably that doesn't turn out quite as well as he'd hoped.
7. It
Based on: It by Stephen King
Release date: Sept. 8, 2017
What it's about: Stephen King's supernatural horror story about a killer clown comes to life (shudder) this fall. The movie was filmed in Ontario, so if you're able to keep your eyes open, watch for locations including Toronto, Port Hope and Oshawa.
8. American Assassin
Based on: American Assassin by Vince Flynn
Release date: Sept. 15, 2017
What it's about: After suffering a tragic loss, a CIA recruit (The Maze Runner's Dylan O'Brien) finds himself learning the black ops ropes from none other than Michael Keaton. Vince Flynn's novel is one of 14 featuring the same characters, so if this film does well, we predict we'll have a new series on our hands.
9. Victoria & Abdul
Based on: Victoria & Abdul by Shrabani Basu
Release date: Sept. 22, 2017
What it's about: Judy Dench is Queen Victoria in this adaptation of the true story of the monarch's unexpected friendship with a young Indian clerk. Bollywood star Ali Fazal plays the clerk, Abdul, and Stephen Frears directs. Dench received her first Academy Award nomination for playing Victoria in 1997's Mrs. Brown, and her previous two collaborations with Callow (Mrs. Henderson Presents and Philomena) netted her nominations as well.
10. Stronger
Based on: Stronger by Jeff Bauman and Bret Witter
Release date: Sept. 22, 2017
What it's about: Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany star in this drama about a man who loses his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing. It's based on the memoir of Jeff Bauman, who was cheering on his girlfriend at the marathon's finish line when the bombs went off.
11. The Mountain Between Us
Based on: The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin
Release date: Oct. 6, 2017
What it's about: Two busy professionals (Idris Elba and Kate Winslet) decide to charter a small plane together when their flight is cancelled. When their plane crashes on top of a remote mountain, the two must battle injuries and the elements as they make their way towards safety. The spectacular scenery is courtesy of Invermere, B.C.
12. The Foreigner
Based on: The Chinaman by Stephen Leather
Release date: Oct. 13, 2017
What it's about: Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan go head-to-head in this thriller about a man on a mission to avenge his daughter's violent death. Casino Royale helmer Martin Campbell directs.
13. Thank You for Your Service
Based on: Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel
Release date: Oct. 27, 2017
What it's about: Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist David Finkel wrote the nonfiction book about soldiers and PTSD that serves as the basis for this war drama. Miles Teller stars as a soldier who struggles to adjust to civilian life after his return from active service in Iraq.
14. Murder on the Orient Express
Based on: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Release date: Nov. 10, 2017
What it's about: A luxurious train trip through Europe is interrupted by a murder, and the murderer has to be one of the passengers on the train. Was it the professor? The governess? The princess? The butler? This lavish adaptation of Agatha Christie's beloved mystery features an all-star cast led by Kenneth Branaugh (who also directs) playing the iconic role of Hercule Poirot.
15. Wonder
Based on: Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Release date: Nov. 17, 2017
What it's about: Room's young Canadian star Jacob Tremblay plays Auggie Pullman, a child whose unusual appearance prevents him from blending in. With the support of his parents (played by Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson), Auggie starts going to a mainstream school, where he sets out to show his classmates and teachers that he's just an ordinary kid. R.J. Palacio's bestselling middle-grade novel was filmed in and around Vancouver.
16. Ferdinand
Based on: The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
Release date: Dec. 15, 2017
What it's about: Based on the beloved 1936 children's book, Ferdinand tells the story of a Spanish bull who would rather smell flowers than fight.
17. The Breadwinner
Based on: The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Release date: TBA
What it's about: Angelina Jolie is an executive producer on this animated adaptation of Deborah Ellis's celebrated novel about a a young girl in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan who must pretend to be a boy to support her family after her father is arrested.