Entertainment has always been a big part of our lives, but in the past year the situation has gotten a little...extra. While the pandemic has disrupted the TV and film slate, it's also curtailed other cultural activities, making our questions about upcoming releases all the more urgent. How closely will blockbusters like Dune and Death on the Nile hew to the books? Will the headlining stars match the dream casting in our heads, and could they give our favorite narrators a run for their money? How good will the '80s fashion be in Gucci, and how bad do we want Henry Cavill and Joe Goldberg to come back to our screens this year? This 2021 preview offers reason to hope!
It might also offer a surprise in terms of just how many movies and TV shows were adapted from excellent audiobooks. Get ready to dig in, because this covers just about every great adaptation for 2021, and then some. Whether you want to listen before you watch or take a deep dive after the credits roll, chances are good you'll find something great in this guide to the year's buzziest literary adaptations.
Page to Screen Adaptations
The Dig
Netflix, January 1; starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James
Based on John Preston's 2007 novel of the same name, The Dig is a pre-WWII British drama that reimagines one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time, the treasure-filled "Sutton Hoo find."
Passing
Sundance, January 30; starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård
This classic Harlem Renaissance novel, first published in 1929, finds two old friends reuniting to discover their lives have taken different paths, with light-skinned Clare living as a white woman married to a racist man. The recently released audiobook is narrated by Tessa Thompson, who also stars in the film. ( with Thompson and Brit Bennett!)
Firefly Lane
Netflix, February 3; starring Katherine Heigl, Sarah Chalke, Ben Lawson
Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke exude chemistry in Netflix's drama about two unlikely best friends and their ups and downs through the decades, based on Kristin Hannah's beloved Girls of Firefly Lane series.
Light-skinned Black woman Irene Redfield encounters an old childhood friend - Clare - who is now "passing" as a White woman. Clare is married to a racist White man, who doesn't know she has African American blood....
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend....
Director Kevin Macdonald's legal drama is based on Mohamedou Ould Slahi's groundbreaking memoir Guantánamo Diary, written while the author was imprisoned in the notorious detention camp, where he was held without charge for more than 14 years.
To All the Boys: Always and Forever
Netflix, February 12; starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish
If anything is more beloved than Netflix's teen rom-com trilogy To All the Boys, it's the original audiobooks penned by Jenny Han and voiced by narrator Ali Ahn. The books and films follow 16-year-old Lara Jean Song, whose secret stash of love letters to different boys are—the horror!—actually mailed out and delivered.
Behind Her Eyes
Netflix, February 17; starring Simona Brown, Eve Hewson, Tom Bateman
One of our favorite thrillers with a truly bonkers twist, Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes had the whole office talking when it came out in audio, and again when it became a Netflix series—it's just that good.
Cherry
Apple TV+, February 26; starring Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Jack Reynor
Author Nico Walker's unforgettable prose has been compared to the likes of Hemingway and Salinger, but his story about a soldier and heroin addict turned bank robber has contemporary urgency.
Moxie
Netflix, March 3; starring Hadley Robinson, Lauren Tsai, Patrick Schwarzenegger
Amy Poehler directed the Netflix film adaptation of Jennifer Mathieu's teen novel about high schooler Viv, who takes a page from her former Riot Grrrl mom's playbook and distributes a feminist zine in her small Texas town. Girl power ensues!
Chaos Walking
Lionsgate, March 5; starring Daisy Ridley, Tom Holland, Mads Mikkelsen
This star-studded action film is based on the first novel in Patrick Ness's best-selling YA science-fiction series. It takes place in a dystopian world where all living creatures hear each other's thoughts in a constant stream called Noise.
City of Lies
Saban Films, March 19; starring Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker
Randall Sullivan’s 2002 true crime book about the investigation into the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. got a splashy audio release—with narration from Hall of Fame performer Prentice Onayemi—before becoming a Johnny Depp-fronted film.
Exterminate All the Brutes
HBO Max, April 7; starring Raoul Peck, Josh Hartnett
Though the title of this often shocking but wholly necessary HBO docuseries comes from Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the latest effort from director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) is based on An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Michel-Rolph Trouillot's Silencing the Past, and a book by Sven Lindqvist that shares its name with the series. Like Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's acclaimed work, the series is a necessary corrective to the racist and powerful myths at the foundation of much American history.
Shadow and Bone
Netflix, April 23; starring Jessie Mei Li, Ben Barnes, Freddy Carter, Archie Renaux
Netflix's latest fantasy epic is based on Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, set in Ravka, a fictionalized version of imperial Russia with a supernatural twist. The series follows orphan Alina Starkov, whose powers could save the world from The Fold, a dark region filled with monsters.
Without Remorse
Prime Video, April 30; starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith
Based on Tom Clancy's 1993 novel of the same name, this hotly anticipated spy thriller is part of the Jack Ryanverse and stars Michael B. Jordan as the once-ordinary John Kelly, who evolves into the remorseless warrior John Clark.
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Theaters and HBO Max, May 14; starring Angelina Jolie, Jon Bernthal, Nicholas Hoult
Based on Michael Koryta’s Audie-winning suspense novel, the film stars Angelina Jolie as firefighter Hannah Faber. When a teenager witnesses a murder and is pursued by two assassins, Faber must protect him as a forest fire threatens to destroy them all.
Finding You
Roadside Attractions, May 14; starring Rose Reid, Jedidiah Goodacre, Katherine McNamara
This coming-of-age dramedy—based on Jenny B. Jones's teen novel There You'll Find Me—follows budding violinist Finley on a life-changing trip to Ireland, where a celebrity romance collides with grief from her brother's recent passing. Have tissues ready!
The Underground Railroad
Prime Video, May 14; starring Thuso Mbedu, Joel Edgerton, Chase W. Dillon, Aaron Pierre
At press time, there's still time to listen to Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel, narrated by the one and only Bahni Turpin, before the Barry Jenkins-directed adaptation drops on Amazon Prime. The 10-episode series follows young slave Cora, played by rising South African star Thuso Mbedu, who escapes a Georgia plantation and finds a literal train system to freedom underground.
The Woman in the Window
Netflix, May 14; starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie
We can't wait to see one of the buzziest psych thrillers in audio—A. J. Finn's 2018 novel about an agoraphobic woman who thinks she witnesses a nefarious crime from her New York City apartment—become a Hitchcockian, Amy Adams-helmed film.
Cruella
Disney+, May 28; starring Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
Dodie Smith's 1954 classic, The 101 Dalmatians, is charmingly read by British performer Martin Jarvis. We can't wait to see what dotty new twist Emma Stone will bring to one of Disney's most famous villains in this tale inspired by the beloved novel.
Infinite
Paramount Pictures, May 28; starring Mark Wahlberg, Dylan O’Brien, Chiwetel Ejiofor
We've been semi-patiently rolling with the COVID delays for this sci-fi action film, because it just sounds that good. Based on The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz, the story follows a man struggling with hallucinatory memories of his past lives.
Theaters and HBO Max, June 4; starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O'Connor
The Conjuring Universe will expand this year—as will our fears—with the release of the franchise's eighth installment. The director of the first film, James Wan, once said that paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren have enough stories for plenty of Conjuring films, many of them straight from Gerald Brittle's The Demonologist and the Warrenses's own series of terrifying tales. Listen with the lights on!
Fatherhood
Netflix, June 18; starring Kevin Hart, Alfre Woodard, Anthony Carrigan
We predict ugly-cries ahead. Based on Matthew Logelin's best-selling memoir Two Kisses for Maddy, it follows a brand-new dad who must go it alone when his wife dies a day after giving birth. The source material is heartbreaking and surprisingly funny, so we think Kevin Hart's casting is particularly apt.
Deep Water
20th Century Studios, August 13; starring Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas
A film adaptation of one of Patricia Highsmith's lesser-known works, focused on a suburban couple who attempts a polyamorous arrangement with deadly results and starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas? Sign us up immediately.
Death on the Nile
20th Century Studios,September 17; starring Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer
The long-awaited sequel to Murder on the Orient Express is finally set to come out this year. Follow impeccable Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot—and a plethora of clues and red herrings—in Agatha Christie's Egyptian mystery, which stars Kenneth Branagh both on screen and in the positively sumptuous audiobook.
Dune
Warner Bros. Pictures, October 1; starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa
What can we say about Dune that hasn't been said already? Frank Herbert's 1965 novel is one of the greatest sci-fi epics ever. The Audie-winning audiobook, which features a stellar cast of narrators, is one of the greatest listens ever. The film has a lot to live up to, but based on the cast, trailer, and hype, it's well on its way to G.O.A.T. status too.
The Last Duel
20th Century Studios, October 15; starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer
We can't wait to see what Ridley Scott's atmospheric visual style and a chef's-kiss cast will bring to this under-the-radar nonfiction book about a 1386 rape accusation and the ensuing duel. Medieval revenge sagas, so hot right now!
Gucci
MGM, November 24; starring Lady Gaga, Jeremy Irons, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino
Sara Gay Forden's fascinating nonfiction book explores the 1995 murder-by-hitman of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of the founder of Italy's famed Gucci fashion house. This heavy-hitter film adaptation is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jeremy Irons, and a cornucopia of eye-popping fashion.
The Nightingale
Sony Pictures, December 22; starring Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning
Real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning play fictional sisters in the French Resistance in this adaptation of Kristin Hannah's mega best-selling 2015 novel, set during WWII.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
A24, TBD; starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Sean Patrick Thomas
Take one part cursed Shakespearean tragedy, add Joel Coen and A24, mix in Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in the lead roles, and what do you get? Us on the edge of our seats, waiting on pins and needles for this film to drop already.
Pinocchio
Netflix, TBD; starring Ron Perlman, Cate Blanchett, Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard
While details are still scant about Guillermo del Toro’s first animated feature—a stop-motion musical adaptation of Carlo Collodi's 1883 The Adventures of Pinocchio—we invite you to gaze at that cast list and imagine what dark spell we're about to fall under.
Blonde
Netflix, TBD; starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale
We can't wait to see Knives Out's Ana de Armas transform into Marilyn Monroe in this film adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's 2000 book, Blonde. The historical novel delves into Norma Jeane's inner life and marriages to Arthur Miller and Joe DiMaggio, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
Thomas Savage's complex psychological drama will find new fans when Jane Campion's film adaptation hits screens. Set in 1920s Montana, this compelling domestic Western has LGBTQIA+ themes in the vein of Brokeback Mountain.
You, season three
Netflix, TBD; starring Penn Badgley, Victoria Pedretti
Netflix's bonkers TV series may have made Caroline Kepnes's You series a household name, but insiders know that the audiobooks, voiced with seductive creepiness by Hall of Fame narrator Santino Fontana, are the version to beat. The new season will be based on the latest installment, You Love Me.
The Witcher, season two
Netflix, TBD; starring Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra
It's happening! Netflix has confirmed that we're getting a second season of the blockbuster TV series, based on Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher Saga, in 2021. Henry Cavill's Geralt, Feya Allan's Ciri, and Anya Chalotra's Yennefer are all set to return in the eight-episode season, which is expected to air in the back half of this year.
Mothering Sunday
Lionsgate/Sony Pictures Classics, TBD; starring Odessa Young, John O’Connor, Olivia Colman, Colin Firth
Based on Graham Swift’s 2016 novel, this incredible-sounding film adaptation stars a divine cast in the tale of a day in the life (March 30, 1924, to be exact) of orphan and housemaid Jane Fairchild on her own motherless "Mothering Sunday."
Dopesick
Hulu, TBD; starring Michael Keaton, Peter Sarsgaard, Kaitlyn Denver, Will Poulter, John Hoogenakker, Rosario Dawson
Director Danny Strong gives Beth Macy’s groundbreaking, award-winning account of the American opioid epidemic, Dopesick, the miniseries treatment. If it's anything like the book, it won't be easy to consume, but it will be gripping and utterly necessary.
Foundation
Apple TV+, TBD; starring Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, Leah Harvey, Laura Birn
We’ve been waiting a long time for this adaptation of Isaac Asimov's science-fiction classic, but here's hoping it actually comes out this year. While you wait, check out the original series, with stellar narration from Scott Brick and Larry McKeever.
Audio Companions to New Releases
Clarice
CBS, February 11; starring Rebecca Breeds, Michael Cudlitz, Lucca De Oliveira, Kal Penn
Thomas Harris's Red Dragon series continues to evolve on screen. After the blockbuster success of Silence of the Lambs and NBC's Hannibal, the latest adaptation tells the untold personal story of Clarice Starling. While the show doesn't mention baddie Hannibal Lecter by name, its mix of psychological horror and police procedural is a female-centered return to the same world.
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Hulu, February 26; starring Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund
In this companion podcast to the film The United States vs. Billie Holiday, writer, creator, and host Rebecca Carroll digs deeper into the jazz legend’s complex legacy and ongoing impact on Black artists and Black womanhood. Guests include Laverne Cox, Mariah Carey, Dr. Angela Davis, and Andra Day, who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Holiday in the movie.
Disney+, March 19; starring Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is both a fascinating glimpse into life after the events of Avengers: Endgame and a deep meditation on humanity, race, belonging, and what it means to be a hero. So there’s no pairing more apt than Marvel legend Stan Lee’s final project, an audio adventure narrated by grown-ish star Yara Shahidi. Like TFATWS, Alliances: A Trick of Light is as much about out-of-this-world superheroism as it is the need for human connection.
Godzilla vs. Kong
HBO Max, March 31; starring Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall
Stay a little longer in the Monsterverse in this fan-approved novelization of one of the year's biggest blockbuster films. When kaiju icons Godzilla and Kong embark on a path of destruction, nothing less is at stake than the future of humanity and the planet itself.
Hemingway
PBS, April 5; starring Peter Coyote, Jeff Daniels, Michael Kitakis
This six-hour documentary from Lynn Novick and Ken Burns takes on the tumultuous life of monumental American author Ernest Hemingway. Featuring readings from actors including Jeff Daniels and Meryl Streep, the film is officially paired with this new release of Papa's best-known stories, featuring the voices of actor Stacey Keach and author Tobias Wolff, among others.
No Time to Die
Eon Productions, October 8; starring Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux
The final Bond film to star Daniel Craig, director Cary Joji Fukunaga's upcoming movie features a brand-new espionage adventure but will contain material from Ian Fleming's best-selling novels. Stay up to date on insider info and interviews with the official podcast companion to the film.
Eon Productions, December 22; starring Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter
Fancy a holiday in Yorkshire this Christmas? We'll meet you at Lord and Lady Grantham's country estate on December 22, when the sequel to the Downton Abbey film (based on the beloved PBS series) hits screens. Until then, catch up on this Audie-nominated memoir by Lady Almina, fifth Countess of Carnarvon and resident of Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes's Emmy Award-winning series.
Even More Adaptations Ahead
Finally, keep these upcoming screen adaptations on your radar—release dates have yet to be announced, but (fingers crossed) we'll see some of them in 2021!
Lara Jean's having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad's finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot's coming home for the summer for the wedding. But change is looming....
Narrated by Anna Bentinck, Josie Dunn, Bea Holland, Huw Parmenter
0:00:
Behind Her Eyes
Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar, and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she's thrilled....
When Viv witnesses a series of sexist incidents at her high school, she takes a page from her mom's past and makes a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates....
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks....
Acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan follows Russell Poole, a highly decorated LAPD detective who in 1997 was called to investigate a controversial cop-on-cop shooting, eventually to discover that the officer killed was tied to Marion “Suge” Knight’s Death Row Records....
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories....
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh....
In a harrowing tour de force, Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed the lines of justice and morality to become a CIA legend....
When 13-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he's plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens....
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but Cora has it worse than most; she is an outcast even among her fellow Africans, and she is approaching womanhood, where it is clear even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a slave recently arrived from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they take the perilous decision to escape to the North.
In Whitehead's razor-sharp imagining of the antebellum South, the Underground Railroad has assumed a physical form: a dilapidated boxcar pulled along subterranean tracks by a steam locomotive, picking up fugitives wherever it can. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But its placid surface masks an infernal scheme designed for its unknowing black inhabitants. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher sent to find Cora, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom. At each stop on her journey, Cora encounters a different world.
As Whitehead brilliantly recreates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America, from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once the story of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shatteringly powerful meditation on history.
2016, National Book Awards, Winner
2017, Books Are My Bag Readers Awards novel category, Winner
2017, Arthur C. Clarke Award, Short-listed
2017, Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, Long-listed
2018, International Dublin Literary Award, Nominated
2017, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, Short-listed
Matt and Liz Logelin had it all. But just 27 hours after they welcomed baby Madeline into the world, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and instantly died....
The great revival of interest in Patricia Highsmith continues with this work that reveals the chilling reality behind the idyllic facade of American suburban life....
Narrated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin, Byron Jennings, David R. Gordon, Jason Culp, Kent Broadhurst, Oliver Wyman, Patricia Kilgarriff, Scott Sowers
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Dune
Set on a desert planet, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious Maud'dib, avenge a plot against his family, and bring to fruition humankind's most ancient dream....
The gripping true story of the “duel to end all duels” in medieval France that pits a knight against a squire accused of violating the knight’s beautiful young wife....
The Adventures of Pinocchio (AmazonClassics Edition)
Once upon a time, there was a talking, walking, dancing piece of wood. His name was Pinocchio, the marionette created from an enchanted log by Tuscan woodcarver Geppetto....
Set in 1920s Montana, this compelling domestic drama tells the story of two brothers - and of the woman and young boy, mother and son, whose arrival on the brothers' ranch shatters an already tenuous peace....
The highly anticipated new thriller in Caroline Kepnes’ hit You series, now a blockbuster Netflix show - a compulsively listenable trip into the deviant mind of the uniquely antisocial, savvy book seller Joe Goldberg....
The Witcher is a sprawling enterprise at this point, generating novels, comic books, television shows, and even various iterations as video, tabletop, and board games. It all originates from the mind of one writer: Andrzej Sapkowski. The Polish author has written many books—including another trilogy and a standalone novel set during the Soviet-Afghan War—but the Witcher is where gold was struck. It's among the most well-known fantasy franchises out there, and that alone makes Sapkowski one of the most significant fantasy authors working right now.
Beginning with an intimate assignation and opening to embrace decades, Mothering Sunday has at its heart both the story of a life and the life that stories can magically contain....
In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows that one thing uniting Americans across geographic, partisan, and class lines is opioid drug abuse....
A serial murderer known only by a grotesquely apt nickname - Buffalo Bill - is stalking women. He has a purpose, but no one can fathom it, for the bodies are discovered in different states....
Legendary creator, master storyteller, and cultural icon Stan Lee sets off into a new universe in search of answers to some of the most pressing questions of our time....
Humanity fights for its future as Godzilla and Kong embark on a path of destruction that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in an all-out war....
Narrated by Stacy Keach, John Bedford Lloyd, Tobias Wolff
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The Hemingway Stories
Showcasing the best of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories including his well-known classics - as featured in the magnificent three-part, six-hour PBS documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick - this new collection is introduced by award-winning author Tobias Wolff....
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes's Emmy Award-winning PBS series....
