Books Becoming Movies in 2020
33 Books Becoming Movies in 2020
Image Source: STX Films
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Let's be real: it's pretty rare that a movie adaptation is better than the book. But it's still exciting to see your favorite characters and stories come to life on the big screen — especially when those characters are played by a cast of A-list actors. There were so many books made into movies in 2019 that it's hard to imagine 2020 will have last year beat, but already this year is looking pretty promising. From dramas to cartoons to fantasies, some beloved classics and runaway hits are getting the Hollywood treatment, so make sure to add these books to your 2020 reading list before they head to theaters.
Editor's Note: At the time of this article's latest publishing, all release dates are accurate. The Coronavirus may postpone some premieres, so we'll do our best to keep you updated.
1 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: An orphan is sent to live with her uncle on his remote country estate in the Yorkshire moors, where she discovers a magical garden on his property.
- Who's starring: Dixie Egerickx, Julie Walters, and Colin Firth
- Watch the trailer for The Secret Garden.
- Read The Secret Garden.
- Release date: April 17
2 The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: Four kids (Timothy, twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and their sister, Jane) are abandoned by their cruel parents and left in the care of their foul-mannered nanny.
- Who's starring: Ricky Gervais, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews, Will Forte, Martin Short, Alessia Cara, and Jane Krakowski
- Read The Willoughbys.
- Release date: April 22
3 David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A good-hearted man's life is chronicled from childhood to adulthood. The film version is titled The Personal History of David Copperfield.
- Who's starring: Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw
- Watch the trailer for The Personal History of David Copperfield.
- Read David Copperfield.
- Release date: May 8
4 The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A World War II Navy commander attempts to lead his Destroyer past a group of Germany U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. The film version is titled Greyhound.
- Who's starring: Tom Hanks, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Elisabeth Shue, Stephen Graham and Rob Morgan.
- Read The Good Shepherd.
- Release date: June 12
5 The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: An agoraphobic developmental psychologist accidentally witnesses a crime while spying on new neighbors, and she must decide whether or not to tell the police about what she saw.
- Who's starring: Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Brian Tyree Henry, Wyatt Russell, and Anthony Mackie
- Read The Woman in the Window.
- Release date: May 15
6 After We Collided by Anna Todd
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: The tumultuous love story of Tessa Young and Hardin Scott continues, and it becomes even more complicated when Tessa's new coworker is thrown into the mix.
- Who's starring: Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, and Dylan Sprouse
- Read After We Collided.
- Release date: May 28
7 Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A 12-year-old genius descended from a long line of criminal masterminds faces off against powerful underground fairies who may be responsible for his dad's disappearance.
- Who's starring: Nonso Anozie, Josh Gad, and Judi Dench
- Watch the trailer for Artemis Fowl.
- Read Artemis Fowl.
- Release date: May 29
8 Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A young boy named Ben helps a silver dragon named Firegaye search for a new home for the dragon and his family in a mythical part of the Himalayas known as the Rim of Heaven.
- Who's starring: Felicity Jones, Freddie Highmore, and Patrick Stewart
- Read Dragon Rider.
- Release date: Aug. 6
9 The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A man discovers that the mysterious visions he's been having are actually recollected memories from his own past lives. The film version is titled Infinite.
- Who's starring: Mark Wahlberg, Sophie Cookson, and Dylan O'Brien
- Read The Reincarnationist Papers.
- Release date: Aug. 7
10 The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A gorilla, a dog, and an aging elephant who live in a cage at a mall are joined by a abused baby elephant, and they — along with the janitor's daughter — take the elephant under their wing.
- Who's starring: Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, and Bryan Cranston
- Read The One and Only Ivan.
- Release date: Aug. 14
11 Without Remorse by Tom Clancy
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A former Navy SEAL-turned-CIA operative attempts to avenge the death of his girlfriend by finding the Baltimore drug lord who killed her.
- Who's starring: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Jodie Turner-Smith
- Read Without Remorse.
- Release date: Sept. 18
12 Death on the Nile by Agatha Cristie
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A young heiress is murdered aboard a cruise ship on the Nile River, and a renowned detective on holiday in Egypt must find the killer.
- Who's starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, and Rose Leslie
- Read Death on the Nile.
- Release date: Oct. 23
13 The Witches by Roald Dahl
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A young boy discovers a secret meeting of witches while staying with his grandmother at a hotel, and as a result, the witches turn him into a mouse.
- Who's starring: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock
- Read The Witches.
- Release date: Oct. 9
14 Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A man's wife dies shortly after childbirth, leaving him to raise their daughter Maddy on his own. The film version is titled Fatherhood.
- Who's starring: Kevin Hart, Alfre Woodard, Lil Rel Howery, Paul Reiser, and DeWanda Wise
- Read Two Kisses for Maddy.
- Release date: April 2, 2021
15 Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A husband-and-wife duo who've grown bored with their marriage decide to spice things up with dangerous (and eventually deadly) mind games.
- Who's starring: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, and Rachel Blanchard
- Read Deep Water.
- Release date: Nov. 13
16 Dune by Frank Herbert
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: In the far future, a drug is created that is said to extend human life and provide higher thinking.
- Who's starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, and Dave Bautista
- Read Dune.
- Release date: Dec. 18
17 News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A man traveling through the West comes to the rescue a young girl who has been kidnapped.
- Who's starring: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Fred Hechinger, Neil Sandilands, and Thomas Francis Murphy
- Read News of the World.
- Release date: Dec. 25
18 I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A young woman lets her boyfriend take her to see his parents on a remote farm, where things take a disastrous turn.
- Who's starring: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis
- Read I'm Thinking of Ending Things.
- Release date: TBA
19 Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: The second wife of a widow moves into his English country home, where she feels the threat of his late wife's presence.
- Who's starring: Lily James, Armie Hammer, and Kristin Scott Thomas
- Read Rebecca.
- Release date: TBA
20 Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A Yale Law School graduate returns to his poor Midwest hometown to reflect on his Appalachian upbringing, the opioid crisis, the white working class, and how he managed to escape from it all.
- Who's starring: Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Amy Adams, and Glenn Close.
- Read Hillbilly Elegy.
- Release date: TBA
21 Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A driven high school newspaper editor finds himself falling in love for the very first time with the new girl in school, who joins him on the newspaper staff.
- Who's starring: Austin Abrams and Lili Reinhart
- Read Our Chemical Hearts.
- Release date: TBA
22 The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A cast of strangers in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia attempt to carry on post-World War II, despite the many ways the war has affected their lives.
- Who's starring: Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Robert Pattinson, and Mia Wasikowska
- Read The Devil All the Time.
- Release date: TBA
23 The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A reclusive doctor with a bevy of animal companions is compelled to leave the confines of his English manor when young Queen Victoria falls ill, as he believes he can find a cure. The film version is titled Dolittle.
- Who's starring: Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, and Michael Sheen
- Watch the trailer for Doolittle.
- Read The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.
- Release date: Jan. 17
24 The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A nanny takes a new job at a creepy estate in the Maine countryside, where she must watch over two disturbed orphans. The film version is titled The Turning.
- Who's starring: Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, and Brooklynn Prince
- Watch the trailer for The Turning.
- Read The Turn of the Screw.
- Release date: Jan. 24
25 The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A journalist decides to step aside from covering the 1984 US presidential election in order to inherit her dying father's job as an arms dealer for a covert government agency.
- Who's starring: Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck, Toby Jones, and Rosie Perez
- Read The Last Thing He Wanted.
- Release date: Jan. 27
26 The Rhythm Section by Mark Burnell
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: After a tragic plane crash kills her family, a woman veers down a path to self-destruction — but after she learns the crash wasn't an accident, she sets down a new path for revenge.
- Who's starring: Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown
- Watch the trailer for The Rhythm Section.
- Read The Rhythm Section.
- Release date: Jan. 31
27 P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: Lara Jean finds herself in a love triangle between John Ambrose, her old Model UN crush whom she's recently reconnected with, and Peter Kavinsky, whom she's definitely falling for. The film version is titled To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
- Who's starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, and Jordan Fisher
- Read P.S. I Still Love You.
- Release date: Feb. 12
28 The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: During the 1890s Canada gold rush, a domesticated California dog named Buck is stolen and sold to freight haulers in Yukon, where he must learn to survive in the Alaskan wild.
- Who's starring: Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, and Bradley Whitford
- Watch the trailer for The Call of the Wild.
- Read The Call of the Wild.
- Release date: Feb. 21
29 The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A woman narrowly escapes from the clutches of her brilliant yet abusive husband, only to be plagued by a new threat: an invisible and foreboding presence that only she can detect.
- Who's starring: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, and Storm Reid
- Watch the trailer for The Invisible Man.
- Read The Invisible Man.
- Release date: Feb. 28
30 Emma by Jane Austen
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A young woman meddles in the lives of her friends and families, playing matchmaker with good intentions but bad instincts.
- Who's starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, and Bill Nighy
- Watch the trailer for Emma.
- Read Emma.
- Release date: Feb. 28
31 All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: Two small-town teenagers are brought together by fate when they both climb their school's bell tower at school at the same time, both with the intention of jumping off the ledge.
- Who's starring: Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Alexandra Shipp, Keegan-Michael Key, and Luke Wilson
- Read All the Bright Places.
- Release date: Feb. 28
32 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A shy teen finds himself falling for the strange, elusive new girl who moves to his small Arizona town after only ever having been homeschooled.
- Who's starring: Grace VanderWaal, Graham Verchere, and Giancarlo Esposito
- Read Stargirl.
- Release date: March 13
33 I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp
Image Source: amazon.com
- What it's about: A Christian music singer's wife is diagnosed with ovarian cancer shortly before they get married.
- Who's starring: KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Gary Sinise, and Shania Twain
- Watch the trailer for I Still Believe.
- Read I Still Believe.
- Release date: March 20
