Far from the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy
I already listed this as one of my most anticipated films of 2014 as Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt) brings Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge and Juno Temple along to adapt this literary classic. Best thing about it, click the link below and you can get it for your Kindle for free. I mean, that’s pretty cheap right?
Here’s the book synopsis:
Hardy’s passionate tale of the beautiful, headstrong farmer Bathsheba Everdene and her three suitors, firmly established the thirty-four-year-old writer as a popular novelist. According to Virginia Woolf, “The subject was right; the method was right; the poet and the countryman, the sensual man, the sombre reflective man, the man of learning, all enlisted to produce a book which . . . must hold its place among the great English novels.” Introducing the fictional name of “Wessex” to describe Hardy’s legendary countryside, this early masterpiece draws a vivid picture of rural life in southwest England.
The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
The Fault in Our Stars hits theaters in June and stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in the lead roles and the story sounds like it could be a great one for the big screen if they play it straight and don’t get too melodramatic.
Here’s the book synopsis:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy
by Stanislaw Lem
I previewed this one last year and have since seen Ari Folman‘s adaptation (read my review here) and while Drafthouse Films and Films We Like will distribute the film this year a confirmed release date has not yet been announced.
The story is a loose adaptation of Stanislaw Lem‘s “The Futurological Congress,” a 1971 black humour science fiction detailing the exploits of the hero of a number of his books, Ijon Tichy, as he visits the Eighth World Futurological Congress at the Costa Rica Hilton. The book is Lem’s take on the common sci-fi trope of an apparently Utopian future that turns out to be an illusion.
Here’s the book synopsis:
Bringing his twin gifts of scientific speculation and scathing satire to bear on that hapless planet, Earth, Lem sends his unlucky cosmonaut, Ijon Tichy, to the Eighth Futurological Congress. Caught up in local revolution, Tichy is shot and so critically wounded that he is flashfrozen to await a future cure. Translated by Michael Kandel.
The Giver
by Lois Lowry
With Philip Noyce directing and Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges among the cast this could be a strong adaptation of Lois Lowry‘s much-loved novel that has taken a long time to get to the big screen.
Here’s the book synopsis:
When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver–who alone holds memories of pain and pleasure in life. Now there can be no turning back from the truth.
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn
David Fincher directs the second of two Gillian Flynn novels headed to the big screen and this one Flynn herself wrote the screenplay and on top of that, has already confirmed she wrote a new ending for the film. Flynn told Entertainment Weekly, “Ben [Affleck] was so shocked by it. He would say, ‘This is a whole new third act! She literally threw that third act out and started from scratch.’… There was something thrilling about taking this piece of work that I’d spent about two years painstakingly putting together with all its eight million LEGO pieces and take a hammer to it and bash it apart and reassemble it into a movie.”
The film stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike and hits theaters on October 3.
Here’s the book synopsis:
Marriage can be a real killer.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media–as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents–the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter–but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
Guardians of the Galaxy
by Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven, Yves Bigerel and Michael Avon Oeming
I doubt James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy will follow any one issue of the comic series, but it’s worth noting it is an adaptation for anyone that may be interested in checking the comic out before the film hits theaters this summer.
Here’s the book synopsis:
The Guardians of the Galaxy are imposing a new rule: Earth is off limits! What has made this world so important? Join Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Man and more as they fight the foes no single planet’s heroes could withstand!
