We’re no strangers to grabbing a bucket of popcorn and sitting down to watch a movie to bring our favorite books to life, from Twilight to Crazy Rich Asians and everything in between. Film adaptations of books are commonplace in the film industry—and there are a few to add to your bookshelves before they hit the big screen at the end of 2024!
Do You Have to Read the Book Before Watching the Movie?
Ah, yes, the long-debated question for fans of book-to-movie adaptations. When it comes down to it, you never have to read the book before seeing the movie—but it certainly adds to the experience! On the flip side, sometimes you like a movie so much that you don’t want it to end—and picking up the book or audiobook it’s based on can help you continue to enjoy the material.
Good Book-to-Movie Adaptations Typically:
- Stay true to the original source material
- Develop strong characters and relationships
- Understand the tone of the world
- Hire actors who accurately embody the characters
- Consult the author (if able to)
Feel Positively Green with Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Everyone’s heard Dorothy’s side of the story in the wonderful Land of Oz—but what about her green-skinned, “evil” arch nemesis? In Wicked, you get a stark and realistic glimpse into the Wicked Witch of the West’s life—far before she ever got the title. Follow Elphaba as she heads to Shiz University, meets a cast of familiar characters (including her social climber frenemy Glinda), and is faced with radicalization, social ostracism, classism, and much more leading up to the untimely end we know so well from The Wizard of Oz movie (which was also adapted from books).
Wicked was published over 20 years ago, and since then, it has become a smash hit on Broadway as one of the longest-running musicals. Wicked The Musical takes a more positive spin on some of the darker elements of Maguire’s book, so be warned that it will definitely be more family-friendly than the original novel. The first book-to-movie adaptation in a two-part series will be released on November 22nd in theaters near you.
Read the Whole Wicked Series:
Let Your Inner Dog Out with Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
MLMs, feminine rage, doubts about motherhood—Nightbitch has it all. An ambitious mother decides to put her successful art career on hold in order to care for her newborn son—but when she finds an extremely hairy patch of fur on the back of her neck and notices her canines suddenly look a lot sharper than she remembers, her life begins to spiral out of control. As her symptoms intensify, the new dog-like impulses demand more and more of her, and her husband casually dismisses her fears, she decides to seek a cure at the local library. There, she comes across A Field Guide to Magical Women: a Mythical Ethnography, which introduces her to a group of multilevel marketing scheme mommies who may share the same kind of secret.
Rachel Yoder’s debut novel has been raved about online for the last couple of years, so it only makes sense to turn the riveting story about power and womanhood into a grim fairytale book-to-movie! Nightbitch, starring Amy Adams, will roll out in cinemas on December 6th.
Find Yourself Moved with What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez before it hits the screens as The Room Next Door
When it comes to searching for books that became movies, you’ll often be met with a lot of massive blockbusters or CGI-filled series—but The Room Next Door is the opposite. This feature film, based on best-selling author Nunez’s What Are You Going Through, is slow-moving and explores the meaning of life and death through the lens of companionship. The narrator, a woman, describes a series of random yet meaningful encounters she had with various people in the course of her life: an ex, an Airbnb owner, a stranger who needs help with his aging mother, a friend from her youth recently hospitalized with terminal cancer. In each of these people, she finds one thing in common: the urge to have an audience listen to their experience. But when one makes an extraordinary request, she’s drawn into a life-changing experience of her very own.
The Room Next Door has already been described as “intensely moving” and “thoughtful, vital, even radiant”—and with powerhouses Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, it’s sure to be a book-to-movie adaptation hit. Catch it at your local movie theater on December 20th—and bring the tissues!
Reread a Gothic Horror Classic to Prepare for Nosferatu
Nosferatu is a well-known name for people who love all things vampire, but did you know it’s actually inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula? When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help his client, Count Dracula, purchase a home in London, he soon discovers horrifying truths around the castle. Soon after, a series of disturbing incidents unfold in the city—vanishing crews from ships, the beautiful Lucy Westenra wasting away with a blood-draining illness, and a lunatic named Renfield raving about the arrival of his “master.” When Abraham Van Helsing and his fellow vampire hunters take it upon themselves to destroy Dracula and protect the city, what can only be described as masterful horror ensues.
If you’ve never read it before, you’re in for a treat—and what better way to prepare for the extremely dark and sinister movie coming to the screens at the end of the year? The new 2024 Nosferatu movie is a remake of a 1922 German expressionist film—both of which were unauthorized adaptations of the original vampire star, Dracula. Listen to the audiobook, have yourself a scary little Christmas, and buy tickets to opening day on December 25th!
How to Read These Books About to Become Movies
If you’re a fast reader, you’ll have no problem picking up any of the above book-to-movie titles and powering through them before the release date. Support local businesses by picking up a copy at an indie bookstore!
If it takes you a bit longer to get through a book these days (and believe us, no judgment there!), you may want to consider signing up for an audiobook service. The trained voice actors will help you immerse yourself in the world of the book and prepare you to see the movie in no time. Sign up using our Libro.fm affiliate link and get to listening today!
The only thing we love more than finding a book we love is discovering that it’s about to be made into a movie—especially when we remember that any book genre can work on the big screen. Add these book-to-movie titles to your To Be Read list to prepare for their releases before the year is up!
