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Hollywood's been using its library card this season — the fall movie line-up is packed with literary adaptations.

Transforming novels and nonfiction for the big screen can spark that familiar rallying cry: "The book was better!" But some books are well-suited for the cinema — this season's "The Martian" has earned rave reviews to date.

The good, the bad and the impossible

The next few months will bring us another spin on "Frankenstein," and the true story of the ship that inspired "Moby-Dick." 

Weir's science fiction novel (heavy on the science) is already orbiting theaters. Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, a botanist accidentally left behind on NASA's Mars mission. With no radio, no satellite and dwindling food, Watney has to figure out how to make a home on Mars and let the world know he's still alive.

'Martian' takes science seriously


The novel "Room" mesmerized readers when it debuted in 2010. It's told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, who is being held captive in a small room with his mother. He's never known any other world, but the truth of why they're in the room starts to unravel. The author, Donoghue, also wrote the screenplay.

Saoirse Ronan, who literary film fans will recognize as the all grown-up Briony from "Atonement," stars in the adaptation of Toibin's novel. The story follows a young Irish immigrant who lands in Brooklyn, falls in love and must decide between her homes, new and old. 

Nick Hornby, of "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy," wrote the screenplay, so it comes with additional literary cred.

"The Price of Salt," also published as "Carol," by Patricia Highsmith, Nov. 20

When Highsmith, best known for "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Strangers on a Train," wrote "The Price of Salt" in 1952, she released it under a pseudonym. The book, which centers on a lesbian relationship, was risqué for the day — its cover read "the novel of a love society forbids."
  
Highsmith's "hidden" novel will now get the Hollywood treatment, with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara playing the central the characters. 


Filmmakers splits the final "Hunger Games" novel in two (a la "Harry Potter), and now the final part of the series arrives. It picks up mid-revolution, when Katniss and her fellow former tributes must take on President Snow in the Capitol. 

"The Secret in Their Eyes" by Eduardo Sacheri, Nov. 20

This one is a movie based on a movie based on a book. The original material is Argentinian author Sacheri's novel of the same name, which was released in Spanish. In 2009, an Argentinian film adaptation was released, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. 

Now, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in the American version, about an unsolved murder that haunts everyone connected to it.


Shelley's masterpiece gets another take on the big screen with "Victor Frankenstein," a horror movie that takes a few liberties with Shelley's story. The film offers a new backstory for faithful lab assistant Igor — played by Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter — as he falls in with medical student Victor Frankenstein and the monstrous experiments begin.

"The Danish Girl" by David Ebershoff, Nov. 27

Ebershoff's novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe, who underwent one of the first recorded sex reassignment surgeries. Elbe was born Einar Wegener in 1882 in Denmark, and later married Gerda Gottlieb at art school. Elbe began dressing as a woman while modeling for Gottlieb's paintings, and later began living openly as a woman. "The Danish Girl" follows the story of the couple's relationship through the transformation and surgery. 

Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar last year for his performance as Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," stars as Elbe.

"In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick, Dec. 11

Did you know "Moby-Dick" was based on a true story? This is it: "Heart of the Sea" follows the crew of the whaling ship The Essex as it meets with a murderous whale in the Pacific in 1820. A sinking ship is only the beginning of the crew's ordeal. 
Ron Howard is at the helm for the film adaptation, and the cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy and more.


The film rights to "The Revenant" were sold even before the book was published. Punke's novel is based on the real life of Hugh Glass, a fur trapper left to die in the 1820 wilderness of what would become the Dakota Territory.

Leonardo DiCaprio takes the lead role as Glass in the adaptation, and Tom Hardy stars as Glass' target for revenge.

"Hologram for the King" by Dave Eggers, date to be announced

Eggers' novel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2012, follows a washed-up car salesman from the U.S. who travels to Saudi Arabia on a last-chance scheme to win some business. 

The film adaptation, which stars Tom Hanks, will 

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Tracy Mumford

Author

Hollywood's been using its library card this season -- the fall movie line-up is packed with literary adaptations.

Books on the big screen: Fall movies based on books

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