Book-to-Movie Adaptions: 2017's 23 Most Anticipated

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2017's Biggest Adaptations

Aidan Monaghan; Ilze Kitshoff; Doane Gregory

Tender YA novels, astonishing spy thrillers, and spooky classics are about to get the Hollywood treatment when they hit the big screen this year. Here are the 23 most anticipated book-to-movie adaptions of 2017.

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Live by Night, Jan. 13

Ben Affleck goes full-on gangster in the big-screen adaption of Dennis Lehane's novel about Boston (and Tampa!) in the roaring '20s. Speakeasies and mob bosses abound, Live By Night also stars Chris Messina, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Chris Cooper, and Elle Fanning.

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Fifty Shades Darker, Feb. 10

Doane Gregory

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan reprise their Fifty Shades of Grey roles for the second film based on EL James’ erotic series. In this one, Anastasia (Johnson) redefines her relationship with Christian (Dornan) — but unwelcome figures from his past threaten their domestic bliss.

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Before I Fall, April 7

Awesonemess Films

Based on Lauren Oliver’s 2010 YA novel, Before I Fall follows a popular teen (Zoey Deutch) who gets killed in a car accident, then is forced to live the last day of her life over and over again until she rights her former mean girl ways.

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The Sense of an Ending, March 10

Barnes' concise 2011 novel follows Tony Webster, a content middle-aged man whose old lover comes to haunt his exceedingly normal life. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, The Sense of an Ending will hit the big screen with stars like Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer, Jim Broadbent, and Charlotte Rampling.

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The Zookeeper's Wife, March 31

Diane Ackerman’s stunning 2007 book, which tells the real story of what happens when Nazis bomb the Warsaw Zoo in 1930s Poland, is getting an adaption starring Jessica Chastain as zookeeper Antonina Zabinski. She and her husband embark on an extraordinary journey, sheltering 300 Jews in animal cages throughout the war.

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Wonder, April 7

From Room to school. Jacob Tremblay takes on the role of August "Auggie" Pullman, a young boy born with a facial deformity who makes the transition from being homeschooled to attending a private school. Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson will play Auggie’s parents, Isabel and Nate. Mandy Patinkin and Daveed Diggs also star in this film adaptation of R.J. Palacio's best-selling (and heartstrings-tugging) 2012 novel.

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The Lost City of Z, April 14

Aidan Monaghan/Amazon Studios & Bleecker Street

New Yorker writer David Grann’s bestselling real-life account of doomed explorer Percy Fawcett’s search for a mythical ancient city in the Amazon rainforest gets a sun-drenched adaptation courtesy of director James Gray and star Charlie Hunnam. The nature of Fawcett’s death and what exactly he did or didn’t find in the jungle remains mysterious to this day, so this unholy combination of Into the Wild and Heart of Darkness should make for a potent big-screen brew.

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The Circle, April 28

EuropaCorp

Emma Watson and Tom Hanks lead this adaption of Dave Eggers’ novel, which centers on a young woman who gets a job at a renowned but mysterious tech company that encourages its employees — like its users — to share a disturbing amount of personal information.

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The Dinner, May 5

Starring Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Rebecca Hall, Chloe Sevigny, and Charlie Plummer, The Dinner follows two adult brothers (Coogan and Gere) and their wives (Linney and Hall) who meet for a meal to discuss a dark secret involving their children. After the first plot twist is revealed, it's no wonder the Dutch thriller was deemed "an extraordinarily provocative, conscience-bending ride."

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Everything, Everything, May 19

Activist and all-around cool girl Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games) has the starring role in this adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s 2015 YA novel, which follows a teen confined to her home because of a debilitating disease, who falls in love with her neighbor after they begin exchanging emails.

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The Death Cure, May 27

The final film in the Maze Runner franchise picks up where The Scorch Trials left off: Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and the Gladers have one last face-off with WCKD as they battle the Flare once and for all.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, May 19

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul is the fourth film adaptation culled from Jeff Kinney’s best-selling middle grade series. In this one, Greg (Jason Drucker) urges his family to take a road trip — ostensibly for his grandfather’s 90th birthday, but actually because he hopes to get into the gamer convention taking place nearby.

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Captain Underpants, June 2

DreamWorks Animation

A star-studded cast of comedians — including Kevin Hart, Nick Kroll, Ed Helms, Jordan Peele, and Kristen Schaal — voice the animated characters in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, based on Dav Pilkey’s series about two kids who turn their cruel principal into their own comic book hero.

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My Cousin Rachel, July 14

Nicola Dove

Based on Daphne du Maurier's 1951 novel, My Cousin Rachel will star Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin as Rachel and Philip, respectively. Passions burn and family ties are tested as Rachel and Philip explore their relationship in Cornwall.

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The Dark Tower, July 28

Columbia Pictures

For a long time, Stephen King’s seven-book magnum opus seemed impossible to adapt. But thanks to some sterling casting choices (Idris Elba as the restless gunslinger Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey as his evasive quarry, The Man in Black), director Nikolaj Arcel’s film finally has fans excited to see the saga come alive. Further fan fuel comes from King’s hints that the movie will not be a straight adaptation so much as a quasi-continuation of the book series. Readers who made it through all seven books (and the maddening final line) were sent aflutter when King teased that this story would be the “Last Time Around.”

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It, Sept. 8

Brooke Palmer

When the creepy clown plague of 2016 began, many people assumed it was viral marketing for the film adaptation of Stephen King’s chill-inducing novel. Which makes sense as the film centers on an ancient and evil clown named Pennywise, who abducts and terrifies the kids of a town in Derry, Maine — until a group of them (nicknamed the “Losers’ Club”) decides to fight back. Bill Skarsgård will play Pennywise and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard also stars. For more It coverage, see EW’s first look.

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The Mountain Between Us, Oct. 20

Kate Winslet and Idris Elba star in a tale of romance, survival, and disaster. Based on Charles Martin's 2011 novel about a plane that goes down in the High Uintas Wilderness, The Mountain Between Us is a brutal thriller that tests the resilience in us all.

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Let It Snow, Nov. 2017

This adaptation of a Christmas-set, love story anthology by John Green (Paper Towns), Maureen Johnson (The Name of the Star), and Lauren Myracle (The Internet Girls series) will roll into theaters just before the holidays.

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Red Sparrow, Nov. 10

Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, and Jeremy Irons team up for the Russian spy thriller based on Jason Matthews' novel by the same name. Directed by Hunger Games helmer, Frances Lawrence, Red Sparrow follows Lawrence as a young woman drafted to be a honey pot against a U.S. CIA officer. Illustrious, dangerous affairs ensue.

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Murder on the Orient Express, Nov. 22

For the second film adaptation of what is possibly Christie's most popular book, director Kenneth Branagh steps into the shoes (and little gray cells) of beloved Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. Also hopping on board this mystery is a star-studded cast including Dame Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr., Josh Gad, Michelle Pfieffer, Olivia Colman and Johnny Depp, among others.

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Jumanji, Christmas 2017

Instagram.com/The Rock

The 1995 Jumanji film permanently scarred an entire generation of kids with its horrific quicksand and terrifying hunters. Dwayne Johnson has promised that the new movie, in which he stars alongside Kevin Hart and Jack Black, will be a "continuation" of the iconic Robin Williams original, but plot details are still few and far between – though the character do come equipped with some awesome-sounding names, like Johnson’s Dr. Smolder Bravestone and Hart’s Moose Finbar.

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Our Souls At Night, TBD 2017

Kerry Brown/Netflix

The film version of Kent Haruf’s final novel is a who’s who of the over-65 set: Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and Bruce Dern appear in this drama about the relationship that quietly grows between widow and a widower who live next door to each other.

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The House of Tomorrow, TBD 2017

Peter Bognanni's award-winning 2011 novel makes its leap to the big screen with a star-studded cast including Ellen Burstyn, Nick Offerman, Maude Apatow, and Michaela Watkins. Helmed by Peter Livolsi, the director promises an "incredible story [of] two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school."

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2017's 23 Most Anticipated Book-to-Movie Adaptions

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2017's Biggest Adaptations

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Live by Night, Jan. 13

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Fifty Shades Darker, Feb. 10

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Before I Fall, April 7

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The Sense of an Ending, March 10

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The Zookeeper's Wife, March 31

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Wonder, April 7

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The Lost City of Z, April 14

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The Circle, April 28

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The Dinner, May 5

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Everything, Everything, May 19

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The Death Cure, May 27

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, May 19

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Captain Underpants, June 2

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My Cousin Rachel, July 14

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The Dark Tower, July 28

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It, Sept. 8

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The Mountain Between Us, Oct. 20

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Let It Snow, Nov. 2017

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Red Sparrow, Nov. 10

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Murder on the Orient Express, Nov. 22

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Jumanji, Christmas 2017

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Our Souls At Night, TBD 2017

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The House of Tomorrow, TBD 2017

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