6 classics sail to the screen

1. Wuthering Heights (Oct. 5, 2012)
Starring Kaya Scodelario

Director Andrea Arnold (2009’s terrific Fish Tank) and British Skins actress Kaya Scodelario bring a brooding indie vibe to Emily Brontë’s intense romance, which scandalized and riveted readers long before Twilight and Fifty Shades.

2. Anna Karenina (Nov. 9, 2012)
Starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law

All the world’s a stage in the umpteenth — but perhaps boldest — reimagining of Leo Tolstoy’s tale of adultery: It takes place mostly in a grand theater. The project reunites Knightley and director Joe Wright, with whom she made the ravishing Pride & Prejudice.

3. Les Misérables (Dec. 14, 2012)
Starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe

There have been big-screen incarnations of Victor Hugo’s sprawling 1862 war epic before, but never one featuring the songs of the Broadway smash. Fanatics of the musical have been ”dreaming a dream” about this for years. And don’t forget: Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean and Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert.

4. The Great Gatsby (Dec. 25, 2012)
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan

With Baz Luhrmann behind the camera, we’re expecting a stylized 3-D update that’s far more raucous and confetti-filled than the limp 1974 version with Robert Redford.

5. Rome and Juliet (Due out in 2013)
Starring Hailee Steinfeld

Luhrmann gave us an offbeat reinvention of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy in 1996. This adaptation, directed by Carlo Carlei and starring True Grit‘s Hailee Steinfeld, promises a more traditional take.

6. Great Expectations (Release date TBD)
Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes

Helena Bonham Carter as the spooky, spinsterly Miss Havisham? That’s all we need to be on board for this take on Dickens.