5 Biggest Book-to-Film Adaptations in 2016

Book to film adaptations have been the subject of controversy over the years from fans of the books becoming angry at those who haven’t read them before watching the film, to the film just not going by the book and missing out crucial details. And so, this is a list of a few of the books I think you should read before the film comes to a cinema near you in 2016.

5. ‘The 5th Wave’ by Rick Yancey

‘The 5th Wave’ is at the top of my list and should be at the top of yours too if you haven’t already read it. It has all you could wish for; aliens, adventure, tension, plot twists and more aliens for good measure. I read this book the day I got it, not daring to put it down, completely hooked.

It follows 16 year old Cassie Sullivan attempting to survive the alien apocalypse, which has sent the human race back to the Stone Age. The aliens brought with them four waves; the first was ‘lights out’, the second ‘surfs up’, the third was the pestilence and the fourth brought the silencers, each wave whittling down the remaining human population. The question is, what will the next wave be, and how many more will die?

Cassie goes through a lot in this book and therefore we see her go through a lot of character development. There is a second book in the series called The Infinite Sea, which shifts the narration to other characters. The upcoming movie stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson and Liev Schreiber to name a few. The film is to be released on the January 22, 2016 in the UK with the third book The Last Star scheduled to come out May 24, 2016.

 

4. ‘Allegiant‘ By Veronica Roth

‘Allegiant’ is the third book in the Divergent series that follows the divergent Tris Prior and a dystopian future in Chicago where you are defined by society’s five factions, which you fit into according to your personality. However, the ‘Divergent’, who fit into multiple factions, are considered dangerous.

In this book we find out that the faction system was a test and the Divergent are needed outside the city fences. The book covers both Tris and her boyfriend Tobias/Four perspectives’ through war, uncovering truths and many, many plot twists. Like many final book-to-film adaptations, they are splitting Allegiant into two parts, with the first being released March 18, 2016. Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet all reprise their roles in this third instalment. Be sure to read the books beforehand and watch the previous two films too!

 

3. ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies‘ by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen, obviously!)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a mashup of the classic novel and modern zombie fiction. In this parody, women are taught to wield swords rather than sewing needles and the Bennet girls are taught a mix of martial arts and weapon training by their father, whilst their irrational mother Mrs Bennet still wants to marry them off to wealthy suitors. Mr Darcy is a high class monster hunter, who is still as haughty as ever.

It seems normal became zombies roaming the countryside in this novel, with the occasional messenger going ‘missing’, and for girls to debate the advantages and disadvantages of carrying weapons (they provide safety, but are sooo unladylike). This movie is released February 11, 2016 (UK) and stars Lena Headey, Lily James, Douglas Booth and Matt Smith.

 

2. ‘Fallen‘ by Lauren Kate

I first heard about ‘Fallen‘ some years before I ever finally got round to reading it, and then I understood what all the buzz around it was about. It features a young girl named Lucinda ‘Luce’ Price who, after being accused of murdering a boy whom she had a crush on, is sent to a reform school. There, she meets two boys: Cam, who seems likeable, light and the epitome of all things good, and Daniel, a handsome but mysterious and confusing boy.

The three become entangled in a love triangle, and unbeknown to her, a war as old as time. The film hasn’t unveiled a release day yet, but is scheduled to be out sometime in 2016, with Addison Timlin taking lead role as Luce, Jeremy Irvine as Daniel and Harrison Gilberton as Cam. The book was on The New York Times bestseller list for one year and four months, and is followed by four more books, so plenty of reading to catch upon before the film is released!

 

1. ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them‘ by J. K. Rowling

This book is written under the pseudonym “Newt Scamander”, who, if you are a super Harry Potter fan, you will already know of, and is about all the magical creatures in the Harry Potter world. Its featured in the first Harry Potter book on Harry’s reading list for his first year at Hogwarts, and it contains notes written inside it by Harry and Ron about things they did in the book.

The film based upon the book, will focus on Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, as the main character, and will be set 70 years before Harry Potter’s story began, in New York. Other stars to feature in this movie are, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight. ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them‘ is set to be released on November 18, 2016 in the USA.