Who says IP is only reserved for comic book movies?
The top films of 2023 (so far) include Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which was adapted from “American Prometheus,” a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Fellow auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Sofia Coppola continue to mine books, from David Grann’s non-fiction epic “The Killers of the Flower Moon” about the Osage Nation murders amid the birth of the FBI, and Coppola returning to her adaptation roots with “Priscilla” based on Priscilla Presley’s own 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me.”
Outside of the 2023 fall festival season, viral romance novels “It Ends With Us” and “The Idea of You” are also already creating casting controversies with Blake Lively and Anne Hathaway leading the respective features, both slated for 2024 releases.
Check out the full list of books cinephiles should read ASAP to be ready for the films of fall 2023 and early 2024, below.
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“Foe” by Iain Reid
Image Credit: Amazon “Lion” director Garth Davis adapts Iain Reid’s dystopian novel “Foe” for the big screen. Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan portray a married couple living 40 years in the future where an environmental crisis has made their farmland almost uninhabitable. Yet when a stranger (Aaron Pierre) proposes that Mescal leave his home for a space program, a dark twist takes place. Author Reid co-wrote the screenplay with director Davis. The film made its world premiere at NYFF and debuts in theaters and on Prime Video October 6.
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“Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann
Image Credit: screenshot/Apple Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone lead “Killers of the Flower Moon,” directed by Martin Scorsese. The film adapts David Grann’s non-fiction book, with Grann spending time on set. His previous book “The Lost City of Z” was adapted by James Gray in 2017. Grann and Scorsese (and DiCaprio) are also set to collaborate once more with Apple TV+ film “The Wager.”
“The Killers of the Flower Moon” opens October 20 in theaters.
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“The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup” by Evan Hughes
Image Credit: Netflix “The Hard Sell,” about the real-life opioid crisis, is transformed into Netflix film “Pain Hustlers,” streaming October 27. The film follows composite character Lizzy Drake (Emily Blunt) who becomes part of a pharmaceutical conspiracy. Chris Evans and Andy Garcia also star.
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“Elvis and Me” by Priscilla Presley
Image Credit: A24 Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi are American royalty Priscilla and Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” which is based on Priscilla’s 1985 autobiography “Elvis and Me.” The film launched at Venice and will screen at NYFF.
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“Leonard Bernstein: A Life” by Meryle Secrest
Image Credit: Netflix While “Maestro” is an original film (and decidedly not a biopic), composer Leonard Bernstein’s life has been charted in a series of biographies, with “Leonard Bernstein: A Life” ranked among the top selections of bestsellers. Bradley Cooper writes, directs, produces, and stars in “Maestro,” which premiered at Venice before screening stateside at NYFF and later debuting on Netflix.
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“The Killer” by Matz
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Graphic novel “The Killer” is brought to the big screen in David Fincher’s film of the same name, starring Michael Fassbender as a world-weary assassin. The film, which also stars Tilda Swinton, is penned by “Seven” and “Fight Club” screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker. “The Killer” debuts on Neflix November 10.
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“Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins
Image Credit: Murray Close/Lionsgate “Hunger Games” prequel film “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is, well, based on the prequel YA novel in the franchise created by Suzanne Collins. Yet instead of Katniss, fans follow Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler), who commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony. Meanwhile, post-war disgraced Snow family member Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” premieres November 17.
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“Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam
Image Credit: Netflix “Leave the World Behind” opens the 2023 AFI Fest, with “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail helming the adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s thrilling 2020 pandemic novel.
The official synopsis reads: Amanda (Julia Roberts) and her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke), rent a luxurious home for the weekend with their kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie). Their vacation is soon upended when two strangers — G.H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold) — arrive in the night, bearing news of a mysterious cyberattack and seeking refuge in the house they claim is theirs. The two families reckon with a looming disaster that grows more terrifying by the minute, forcing everyone to come to terms with their places in a collapsing world.
“Leave the World Behind” premieres December 8 on Netflix.
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“Eileen” by Ottessa Moshfegh
Image Credit: Neon Sundance breakout film “Eileen” will screen at this year’s Newfest before launching December 8 in theaters from Neon. Anne Hathaway stars as a mysterious prison counselor who captivates a young colleague, played by Thomasin McKenzie. The queer thriller is set in 1960s New England and is adapted from the 2015 novel.
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“Poor Things” by Alasdair Gray
Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures A female-led “Frankenstein” is reimagined for Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” which premiered at Venice and won the festival’s top prize of the Golden Lion. Emma Stone is the novel’s heroine, Bella Baxter, a woman brought back to life by a crazed scientist (Willem Dafoe). Mark Ruffalo also stars in the film, which debuts December 8 in theaters.
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“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
Image Credit: screenshot/Warner Bros. Sure, we all know the adaptations of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” but director Paul King takes the story a wee bit further with prequel “Wonka” starring Timothée Chalamet as the singing and dancing chocolatier. The film debuts December 15 in theaters.
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“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
Image Credit: screenshot/Warner Bros. Famed novel “The Color Purple” receives a new adaptation via Warner Bros. and courtesy of original star Oprah Winfrey. The upcoming “Color Purple” is based on both the novel and its Broadway muscial counterpart, which hit the stage in 2005. Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, H.E.R., Colman Domingo, and Corey Hawkins star in the film out December 25.
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“Mickey7” by Edward Ashton
Image Credit: screenshot/Warner Bros With the titled changed to “Mickey 17” for the film version, “Parasite” Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho collaborates with Robert Pattinson for the sci-fi adaptation of Edward Ashton’s novel. Pattinson stars as the titular Mickey, who is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever a mission is too dangerous — even suicidal — the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Naomi Ackie co-star.
“Mickey17” premieres March 29, 2024, in theaters.
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“Here” by Richard McGuire
Image Credit: FilmMagic Graphic novel “Here” may soon be best known as what became the film with a de-aged Tom Hanks, thanks to director Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth. Hanks reunites with “Forrest Gump” co-star Robin Wright for the sci-fi movie about the events of a single room and its inhabitants spanning from the past well into the future. Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, and Michelle Dockery also star. Sony is set to release “Here” some time in 2024.
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“Derrière la Haine” by Barbara Abel
Image Credit: screenshot/Neon “Mothers’ Instinct” centers on two best friends and neighbors Alice (Chastain) and Celine (Anne Hathaway), who live in a 1960s suburban paradise. Both are mothers to two sons of the same age, and their idyllic domestic happiness is shattered after a tragic accident. Guilt, suspicion, and paranoia bleed into their friendship as a psychological battle of wills gives way to a darker side of the maternal instinct, adapted from Barbara Abel’s novel “Derrière la Haine.” Director Olivier Masset-Depasse originally brought the novel to the big screen in Belgium with 2017 film “Duelles”; this version is directed by Benoît Delhomme.
