Just as temperatures are dropping and the allure of staying in to read or watch a movie or TV show is on the rise, Hollywood is offering plenty of new book-to-screen adaptations. From classics like Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal published in 1971 to recent award winners like Charles Yu's 2020 Interior Chinatown, there's something for every kind of reader and viewer.
Conclave (in theaters)
Cast includes: Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz
Based on Conclave by Robert Harris
The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, 118 cardinals from all over the globe will gather to cast their votes in the world's most secretive election. They are holy men. But they are not immune to the human temptations of power and glory. And they are not above the tribalism and factionalism that consumes humanity. When all is said and done, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth.
White Bird (in theaters)
Cast includes: Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, Helen Mirren
Based on White Bird the graphic novel by R.J. Palacio
Tells the story of Julian's Grandmâere's childhood as she, a Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II and how the boy she once shunned became her savior and best friend.
The Marlow Murder Club series (PBS)
Cast includes: Samantha Bond, Jo Martin, Cara Horgan, Natalie Dew
Based on The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
After witnessing a murder while out for a swim in the Thames river, 77-year-old Judith Potts, when the police don’t believe her story, investigates for herself with the help of a salt-of-the-earth dog walker and the prim and proper wife of the local vicar, forming the Marlow Murder Club.
Like Water for Chocolate series (Max)
Cast includes: Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Regina Torné, Mario Iván Martínez, Yareli Arizmendi
Despite the fact that she has fallen in love with a young man, Tita, the youngest of three daughters born to a tyrannical rancher, must obey tradition and remain single and at home to care for her mother.
Small Things Like These (November 8, in theaters)
Cast includes: Cillian Murphy, Michelle Fairley, Helen Behan, Eileen Walsh, Clare Dunn, Emily Watson
Based on Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
In a small Irish town in 1985, coal merchant and family man, Bill Furlong, while delivering an order to the local convent, makes a discovery that forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Say Nothing series (November 14, Hulu)
Cast includes: Lola Petticrew, ,Hazel Doupe Anthony Boyle, ,Josh Finan Maxine Peake
Based on Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the notorious abduction and murder of I.R.A. Troubles victim Jean McConville as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with.
The Piano Lesson (November 8, in theaters and November 22, on Netflix)
Cast includes: John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler
Based on The Piano Lesson, a play by August Wilson
When Boy Willie wants to sell the family's prized upright piano to purchase some land, the family must re-evaluate the piano's true worth.
The Day of the Jackal series (November 14, Peacock)
Cast includes: Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, Úrsula Corberó
Based on The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
A killer at the top of his profession, unknown to any secret service in the world, has a contract to kill French president Charles DeGaulle, one of the world's most heavily guarded men.
Interior Chinatown series (November 19, Hulu)
Cast includes: Jimmy O. Yang, Ronnie Chieng, Chloe Bennett, Lisa Gilroy, Sullivan Jones
Based on Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
A stereotyped character actor stumbles into the spotlight before uncovering surprising links between his family and the secret history of Chinatown.
The Nickel Boys (December 13, in theaters)
Cast includes: Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Based on The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Based on the real story of a reform school that operated for 111 years and warped the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys follows the experiences of two African American teenagers at an abusive reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.