It always gets very exciting when it’s announced that a book is going to be turned in to a film. There’s so much anticipation and excitement and anxiety and so many other feelings. You need to keep up to date with casting, filming locations, which parts of the book are going to be included and which parts are not. Fast forward and teaser trailers are being released, film posters are going up left, right and centre and it’s all very exciting. Here are some of the most anticipated book to film adaptations that you will most definitely want to read first.
Written by James Dashner, The Maze Runner is probably one of the best dystopian series out there at the moment (and I do love a good dystopian, just putting that out there). The story follows a teenage boy called Thomas, which is a refreshing change to the usual female narrative that surrounds dystopian books these days. Thomas is deposited in a community of boys (known as the Glade) after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape. When Teresa (the only girl) shows up, she comes with the message that she will be the last person sent in to the community and the Glade begins to crumble. Thomas will be played by Teen Wolf star, Dylan O’Brien (*swoons*), and you can expect the film to hit UK cinemas in October.
How could this not be included!? Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years, we all know that The Hunger Games is one of the biggest book/film franchises in the world right now. After the incredible adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire, the second novel in the trilogy, every Hunger Games fan has high hopes of what the director, Francis Lawrence, is going to pull out of the hat this time. After escaping the horrid Arena for the second time, Katniss Everdeen is transported to the underground, forgotten District 13 where she reluctantly accepts to be the face of the rebellion against the Capitol. Personally, I am extremely excited to see this but I don’t think I am going to be emotionally prepared enough when I watch it. The penultimate instalment to The Hunger Games film franchise is set to hit cinemas this November. You’ve been warned.
Tolkien fans, rejoice! The third and final instalment based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is coming. Even though there has been some debate among Tolkien fans about dividing the stand alone prequel book in to three films, it is still eagerly awaited by many. The Company of Thorin has unleashed the dragon Smaug upon Laketown. A battle will ensue between five armies that will change the face of middle-earth forever. The teaser trailer was released at this year’s San Diego Comic Con and it was announced that The Hobbit will be ending its
three part series in December. In all honesty, I have not watched the other two Hobbit films that precedes The Battle of Five Armies and I am yet to read The Hobbit but I am ready to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else by the time December comes.
Tris and Tobias (Four, like the number) are back and on the run. Tris and Four will race against time as they try to figure out what Abnegation sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Haunted by her past choices but desperate to protect the ones she loves, Tris faces one impossible challenge after another as she unlocks the truth about the past and ultimately the future of her world. Whilst reading Insurgent, I felt that it was a bit of a filler book and out of the three, it is probably my least favourite of the trilogy but I’m still looking forward to the film. What I’m most looking forward to is seeing what they do with most of the characters after finding out what happens in Allegiant. It has been announced that the final book in the series, Allegiant, is going to be made in to two films. Is this going to be a continuous trend now for film series adaptations? Even if final instalments could easily be done in one film like Allegiant could? Anyway, before we start worrying our heads over Allegiant, Insurgent is heading to cinemas in March 2015.
I know, I’m getting ahead of myself here seeing as the Harry Potter spin off isn’t due to hit cinemas until some point in 2016, but being the Potterhead that I am, I couldn’t help but just remind you all of what is to come. J. K. Rowling released the spin off in 2001 and 80% of the proceeds went to Comic Relief (an operating UK charity). During September 2013, Rowling and Warner Bros. decided that this film will be the first in a brand new trilogy. The story will not feature any Potter adventures but the narrative will be 70 years before Harry Potter’s story. Fantastic Beasts is the textbook of Harry Potter and is written by Newt Scamander, a Magizoologist. The book contains the history of Magizoology and describes 75 magical species and, obviously, where to find them. It doesn’t take much to imagine the excitement Harry Potter fans felt when Rowling made this announcement and, even though there is still a long wait until 2016, the excitement is already brewing. No potions pun intended.