The book is set around an old Hollywood star, Evelyn Hugo, and her life working as an actress. Both a moving and hilarious book, prefaced by Amazon Prime’s adaptation of its sister Daisy Jones and the Six, it is already a highly-anticipated film release. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book was an instant bestseller and continues to make international sales; if there was ever a book that would make an instant box-office success, it would be this one.
While Netflix brought the rights to the book back in March 2022, with actresses such as Camilla Cabello and Ana de Armas rumoured to take on the role of Evelyn, not much has been done to organise a release date- or even the beginning of filming. It’s a waste of such an incredible potential film to have it be locked behind closed doors, but at least Netflix has a great reputation for making book adaptations. Right?
Everyone’s favourite dark academia book. Donna Tartt’s award winning first book is set around a Vermont university in the 1980s. The book begins innocently enough, but takes on a much darker storyline when a group of students decides to form a ‘Greek Classics Cult’ and murders one of their peers.
There are so many directions you could take this book as a film: it’s certainly scary enough to be a horror, but the murder-mystery element of the book could also turn a film in a more Whodunnit direction. The students are likeable enough to capture an audience, but also insane enough to commit a murder. The book is enough to keep you up all night- imagine what a good director and an A-star cast could do.
Coco Mellors’ second book, released in 2024, was an incredible modern-day adaptation of Little Women- a book which has already had numerous successful film adaptations. The book explores relevant, 21st century themes such as addiction, sex, grieving and sisterhood and would be a perfect adaptation for the big screen.
With an all-female main cast, the film would also be a great opportunity to show female talent on-screen; something which is often missing in cinema. Coco Mellors is sure to be this generations’ Sally Rooney, which means that film companies should be looking to claim the rights for her books as soon as possible. After all, there’s nothing that gets me to buy a ticket quicker than the promise of misunderstood women and the occasional screaming match.
Everyone’s heard of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. But what about her next novel?
Circe focuses around Circe the sea-monster, and her unheard-of perspective of how she became so well-known as a monster in the Odyssey. A tale of love and revenge, Miller’s second novel is a heartfelt feminist version of the story that portrays her as a villain. Not only does this promise a good script and adaptation of a critically-acclaimed story, but also opens up the opportunity for incredible CGI, costume and makeup to be explored. Action films are always centered around superheroes and Marvel adaptations, but what about a sea monster? Villain origin stories such as Joker and the prequel Star Wars movies have proven to be popular, and could be a great stepping-stone for Circe.
While Greek mythology films, such as Percy Jackson and Odyssey, have been less popular to produce recently- and yet mythology books have sparked readers’ interest in the past few years. Perhaps it’s time to put them back on the market?
Now this would be a tear-jerker. While A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara has received international acclaim and been adapted to theatre, there has never been talk of a film. However, Yanagihara has been reported as saying that she rejected several offers after being asked to adapt the script to be more like Sex and the City. If anyone has read A Little Life (and if so, are you okay?), they will know that this is like comparing a cold-blooded murder to squishing a bug.
So while it may not happen for a while yet, the premise of the book is still enough to bring audiences in. The book focuses around the lives of four men who grow up with challenging and life-altering life events. The book is a masterpiece in emotion and suffering, and- despite disastrous previous attempts- deserves a try at cinema. Directors, I’ll be waiting.