Seven Books To Read Before The Movie Comes Out This Autumn
The one problem with book-to-movie adaptations is that if you watch the film before you read the book - you will forever visualise the characters as the actors cast in the films, instead of actually imagining them like the author intended.
Which means that once you’ve seen the film, the book will never quite be the same - so it goes without saying that if there’s a book/film you’re excited about, read the book first. So, here are seven of the best films coming out this autumn, and the book they’re based on, so now you have no excuse not to read them before you see them on the big screen.
Check them out:
A Monster Calls
Premiering at film festivals across the world this autumn, Patrick Ness’ award winning novel will be making its debut on the silver screen at last. A Monster Calls was first published in 2011, with the original idea conceived by author Siobhan Dawn who came up with it during her own battle with terminal illness.
It follows 13-year-old Conor O’Malley as he tries to come to terms with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) terminal illness and ruthless bullying from his classmates. He falls headfirst into an awe inspiring world of monsters and fairy tales that explores loss and courage, and with the help of one particular monster the young boy is able to accept his dear mother’s imminent death.
Film: ‘A Monster Calls’ (January 2017) | Book: ‘A Monster Calls‘ - Patrick Ness
Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk
Two time Academy Award winning director Ang Lee uses his extraordinary vision to bring Ben Fountain’s 2012 novel to life.
The film follows 19-year-old Private Billy Lynn who is briefly brought home to the U.S for a victory tour following a particularly nasty battle in Iraq. He and his fellow soldiers are hailed as heroes and paraded around the country to inspire citizens, but through flashbacks the true horror of their time spent in Iraq is revealed - in stark contrast with American perceptions.
During filming, Lee used new technology to shoot at an ultra-high frame rate for the first time in film history, to create an immersive digital experience helping him dramatize war in a way never seen before.
Film: ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk’ (US: Nov. 2016 /UK: Jan.2017) | Book: ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk‘ - Ben Fountain
Girl On The Train
Easily one of the most highly anticipated book-t0-movie adaptations this year, Paula Hawkins’ best selling novel will be getting a cinematic remake and is sure to be a hit. It has sold over 11 million copies worldwide, and is sure to grip viewers like it has gripped readers.
The thriller, featuring Emily Blunt, follows a divorced woman who looks out of the train window on her daily commute and fantasizes about one particular couple, making them out to be the perfect pair - until one morning she witnesses something shocking, and suddenly the perfect world comes tumbling down.
Film: ‘Girl On The Train’ (October 2016) | Book: ‘Girl On The Train‘ - Paula Hawkins
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
It’s been five years since we were last transported into the wizarding world of Harry Potter, but this autumn we’ll get to pop back in for a prequel to the much loved Harry Potter films.
It’s not actually about Harry Potter, but it’s set in the same world - about seventy years before Harry Potter discovered Hogwarts. It follows an eccentric Londoner called Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) who is tasked with travelling the world and documenting magical beasts, and ends up writing the textbook Harry and his friends would later use at Hogwarts titled ‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’.
The film allegedly covers a fateful trip by the wizard to New York, in which a muggle opens his magical expanding suitcase and releases the beasts to wreak havoc upon the city. This disturbance causes further strain on already laboured magical and non-magical relations - unsteady following the emergence of an extremist organisation dedicated to the eradication of wizard-kind.
Though, let’s be honest: regardless of the plot and impressive casting, it was always sure to be snapped up by Potter fans across the world.
Film: ‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’ (November 2016) Book: ‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’ - ‘Newt Scamander’ (AKA J.K Rowling)
Snowden
Directed by Acadamy Award winning Oliver Stone, who was responsible for Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street and JFK, Snowden is almost guaranteed to be a gripping watch.
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, the film claims to reveal the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, who famously exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world.
No matter whether you’re for or against him, the epic story of why he did it, who he left behind, and how he exactly he pulled it often is being pegged as one of the most compelling movies of 2016.
Film: Snowden (USA: Sept. 2016 / UK: Oct. 2016) | Book(s): ‘The Snowden Files: …‘ - Luke Harding / ‘Time of the Octopus’ - Anatoly Kucheren (Only available in Russia)
The Light Between Oceans
Based on the bestselling 2012 novel by M.L Steadman, A Light Between Oceans stars Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in the powerful story of a couple who find a baby who has washed ashore on a boat. The film follows their decision to raise the child as their own, and the implications of that choice when they venture from their secluded lighthouse home.
I have a feeling we’re going to need tissues for this one.
Film: ‘A Light Between Oceans’ ( UK: Nov. 2016 / US: Sept 2016) | Book: ‘A Light Between Oceans‘ - M.L Steadman
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs was a vintage photograph collector before he became an author, and ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children‘ was initially intended to just be a picture book, but an editor at Quirk books suggested that Riggs come up with a narrative to go alongside his eerie old photographs.
The result is a story about a young boy whose grandfather told tales of an orphanage full of peculiar children with strange talents. The boy, using his father’s old photographs as clues, goes in search of the mysterious orphanage and finds himself submerged in a world he never knew existed. Directed by the legendary Tim Burton and starring Eva Green, Samuel L Jackson and Judi Dench, this New York Times best seller is set to be a hit when it makes it to the silver screen this autumn.
And as much as everyone loves a Tim Burton movie, you can’t beat reading the book - which includes haunting vintage photographs from collections across the world. Buy it in paperback, though, don’t download it.
Film: ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’ (30th September) | Book: ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children‘ - Ransom Riggs
Which book-to-movie adaptation are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments
Image Credits: Entertainment One, Open Road Films