Category: Movie adaptations

Movie adaptation: ‘It’ by Stephen King

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The feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘It’ opens in theaters on Friday September 8, 2017.

The last time audiences experienced Stephen King’s “It” was in 1990 by way of a television mini-series starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown. The latest adaptation of the best-selling horror novel opens in theaters on Friday September 8, 2017. It is also known as It Part 1 The Losers Club because it is intended to be the first installment in a planned duology. The supernatural horror movie tells the story of seven children in Derry, Maine who are terrorized by a shapeshifting supernatural being while facing their own personal demons. This time around it is Bill Skarsgård’s turn to give life to Pennywise.

In “It,” Seven adults return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first live through as teenagers and it is an evil without a name so they call it ‘It.’ They are now grown men and women who have moved on with their lives and achieved success and happiness. Twenty-eight years ago, they promised to return if it ever resurfaced. Now that children are being murdered again they are back and so are their repressed memories of a terrifying summer when they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. The creature appears in the form of a clown to attract its preferred prey of young children, but it also exploits the fears and phobias of its victims to disguise itself. The story is told through alternating narratives between two time periods and recurring themes include the power of memory, childhood trauma and overcoming evil through mutual trust and sacrifice.

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and many of them have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows and comic books. He is best known for “Carrie,” “It,” “The Green Mile” and the Dark Tower series.

Movie adaptation: ‘The Glass Castle’ by Jeannette Walls

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The movie adaptation of “The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls opens in theaters on Friday August 11, 2017.

Jeannette Walls is an American author and journalist best known as former gossip columnist for msnbc.com. Her memoir, “The Glass Castle,” tells the story of her childhood nomadic family and spent years on The New York Times best seller list. It sold over 2.7 million copies and has been translated into multiple languages. The movie adaptation starring Brie Larson, Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson opens in theaters on Friday August 11, 2017.

According to Amazon, in “The Glass Castle” Walls recounts the unconventional, poverty-stricken upbringing she and her siblings had at the hands of their dysfunctional parents. When sober, her brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination while teaching them physics, geology and how to embrace life fearlessly. As a drunk, he was dishonest and destructive. Their mother was a free spirit who disliked the idea of domesticity. Because she did not like the responsibility of raising a family, the Walls children learned to take care of themselves and eventually moved to New York. Their parents followed them but even as their children prospered, they were often homeless. It is a story of resilience, redemption and a family whose life was both dysfunctional and vibrant.

Movie adaptation: The Dark Tower series by Stephen King

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The movie adaptation of The Dark Tower opens in theaters this Friday August 3, 2017.

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and many of them have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows and comic books. He is best known for “Carrie,” “It,” “The Green Mile” and the Dark Tower series. The movie adaptation of the Dark Tower series is set to be released on Friday August 4 and stars Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, a gunslinger on a quest to protect the Dark Tower, and Matthew McConaughey as his nemesis, Walter o’Dim, the ‘Man in Black.’

According to Wikipedia, the Dark Tower is a series of eight books that combines multiple genres including dark fantasy, science fantasy, horror and Western. It expands on King’s multiverse and links together many of his other novels. The story centers on a “gunslinger” and his quest to protect the Dark Tower, a mythical structure which supports all realties. The inspirations for the series includes the poem “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” by Robert Browning as well as The Lord of the Rings, Arthurian Legend and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The movie is a continuation of the series and takes place in both modern-day New York City and Mid-World, Roland’s Old West-style parallel universe. Roland is on a quest to reach the Dark Tower in End-World and reach the nexus point between time and space that he hopes will save humanity from extinction. It is a sequel to the events that take place in the books.

Movie adaptation: Valerian and Laureline

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is the movie adaptation of the French comic book series Valerian and Laureline.  It opens in theaters on Friday July 21, 2017.

Pierre Christin is a French comics creator and writer and he, along with Jean-Claude Mézières, a French comic strip artist and illustrator created the French comic book series Valérian and Laureline. First published in 1967, it is also known as Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent, or simply as Valérian, and it recounts the adventures of the dark-haired Valérian, a spatio-temporal agent and his redheaded female colleague Laureline as they travel the universe through space and time. The movie adaptation, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, will be released in theaters on Friday July 21, 2017. It stars Dane DeHaan as Major Valerian, Clara Delevingne as Sergeant Laureline, Clive Owen as Arün Filitt, their commander and Rihanna as Bubble, a shapeshifting entertainer.

According to Wikipedia, Valérian and Laureline, Valérian is a classical hero who is kind, strong, brave and follows the orders of his superiors even if he does not always agree with them. His partner Laureline is intelligent, determined, independent and good looking. The comic series combines space opera with time travel. Christin’s writing style contains humor, complexity and strongly humanist and left-wing liberal political ideas while Mézières’ art is best known for its vivid depictions of the alien worlds and species that they encounter along the way. It is considered innovative in European comics and pop culture and its influence can be seen in films such as Star Wars and The Fifth Element. Many of the stories have been translated into several languages.

Movie adaptation: ‘My Cousin Rachel’ by Daphne du Maurier

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The movie adaptation of ‘My Cousin Rachel’ by Daphne du Maurier is now in theaters.

Daphne du Maurier was an English author and playwright whose works are described as nonconventional and moody with overtones of the paranormal despite being classified as a romantic novelist. Her works include the novels “Rebecca,” “My Cousin Rachel” and “Jamaica Inn” and the short stories “The Birds” and “Don’t Look Now/Not After Midnight.” The newest movie adaptation of “My Cousin Rachel” is now in limited release and stars Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Iain Glen and Holliday Grainger. It tells the story of a young man in Cornwall who meets the wife of his older cousin and suspects her of having been responsible for his death.

According to Amazon, “My Cousin Rachel” is set in 19th century England where Philip Ashley was orphaned at a young age and is raised by his older cousin Ambrose. Ambrose is single and loves Philip as his own and considers him his heir. Their perfect world is turned upside down when Ambrose goes on a trip to Florence where he falls in love, gets married and just as suddenly dies. The new widow, Rachel, turns up in England shortly after that. She is beautiful, sophisticated and mysterious and even though she may have had something to do with Ambrose’s death, Philip is drawn to her.

Movie adaptation: Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

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The movie adaptation of the children’s book series Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey opens in theaters on Friday June 2, 2017.  Photo: Barnes & Noble

David Murray “Dav” Pilkey Jr is an American author and illustrator of children’s literature. He is best known for the children’s book series Captain Underpants and Dumb Bunnies. His first book “World War Won” won a national competition for student authors and was published in 1987. He is considered one of the most popular contemporary authors for elementary school aged students and a subtle moralist because even underneath some of the most outrageous stories, the good guy always wins and his philosophy emphasizes friendship, tolerance and generosity. Dav Pilkey created the Captain Underpants character while still in elementary school. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is the animated movie based on the children’s novel series of the same name and opens in theaters on Friday June 2, 2017. It stars the voices of Ed Helms, Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll, Jordan Peele and Kristen Schaal.

According to Wikipedia, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is set in Ohio where George Beard and Harold Hutchins are fourth-grade friends and the school’s biggest pranksters. Their pranking days are over when they mess with the toilet invention of Melvin the school nerd and Principal Krupp decides to separate them and end their friendship. To get back at him they decide to hypnotize him using a 3D Hypno Ring they got from a cereal box and make him believe he is Captain Underpants. When a new teacher, Professor P, becomes determined to get rid of laughter in the school, he schemes with Melvin to turn all the students to zombies. George and Harold set out to stop him by feeding Captain Underpants, who has no real powers, mutated food from the cafeteria that give him superpowers and allows him to defeat Professor P.

Movie adaptation: ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon

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The movie adaptation of ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon opens in theaters on Friday May 19. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Nicola Yoon is The New York Times best-selling author of “Everything, Everything” and “The Sun is Also a Star,” a Michael L Printz Honor book and a National Book Award finalist. “Everything, Everything” is her debut novel for young adults and the movie adaptation will open in theaters on Friday May 19, 2017. It stars Amanda Stenberg as Maddy and Nick Robinson as Olly and is the story of 17-year-old Madeline Whittier, who has “bubble baby disease.”

According to Wikipedia, in “Everything, Everything,” Madeline is a girl who suffers from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and cannot leave her house or interact with anyone who has not been “sanitized.” The only people she interacts with are her mother and Carla, the nurse who takes care of her. After a new family moves in next door, she meets and befriends their son Olly. They decide to go to Hawaii together because Maddy claims it was the last place she believes she had a ‘normal’ family. Once there she ends up getting sick and is taken to the hospital after which her mother shows up and takes her back home. Eventually, the truth comes out that her mother lied about her being sick because after her father and brother died, Maddy became seriously ill and she was afraid of losing her too. Olly, his mother and sister move out but he and Maddy reunite in New York.

Movie adaptation: ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul’ by Jeff Kinney

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The movie adaptation of ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul’ by Jeff Kinney will open on Friday May 19, 2017. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Jeff Kinney is an American game designer, cartoonist, producer, actor, movie director and The New York Times best-selling author of children’s book. He is a six-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite book and is best known for the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ book series. He was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and he is the creator of the child-oriented website Poptropica, one of Time magazine’s 50 Best Websites. The movie adaptation of ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul’ will open in theaters on Friday May 19 and stars Jason Drucker as Greg, Alicia Silverstone as Susan Heffley and Tom Everett Scott as Frank Heffley.

According to Amazon, ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul’ is book nine in the series and has Greg and his family on a road trip. The trip includes a pacifier-stealing pig, hungry seagulls and a broken-down car until they end up stranded miles from home without any money. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series began in 1998 when he came up with the idea of a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley, who writes illustrated stories about his personal life. Kinney released an online version of these stories on the website FunBrain where he made daily entries until June 2005. An online book version was created in 2006 and it became such a hit that he eventually released a printed version. There are twelve books in the series.

The Graduate back in theaters this month

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To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the movie adaptation of ‘The Graduate’ by Charles Webb returns to theaters on April 23 and 26. Photo: Rialto Pictures, used with permission.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1967 comedy-drama The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols and starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross. It is the movie adaptation of the novel of the same name by Charles Webb who wrote it shortly after graduating from college. Dustin Hoffman stars as 21 year-old Benjamin Braddock, an aimless recent college graduate who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson, then falls in love with her daughter. Through TCM/Fathom Events, on April 23 and 26 the nationwide theatrical premiere of the new 4K digital restoration will be out in theaters. This restoration had its World Premiere earlier this month at the TCL Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood during this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival. It will play in over 700 theaters nationwide as part of TCM and Fathom Events’ monthly “TCM Big Screen Classics” series. The Graduate was the biggest box office surprise of the decade and was nominated for seven Oscars and the Top 40 Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack paved the way for a new youthful trend in soundtrack music. (Rialto Pictures, 2017)

Charles Webb is an American novelist best known for his debut novel ‘The Graduate.’ After Benjamin Braddock graduates from a small Eastern college he moves back home with his parents and suddenly everyone wants to know what his future plans are. Disappointed by his prospects for a career, he has an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the seductive wife of his father’s business partner. When her daughter Elaine comes to visit her parents, Benjamin falls for her and has an epiphany about the direction of his life. Unfortunately, Mrs. Robinson is also a protective mother and so a battle of wits takes place with love and idealism overtaking the forces of corruption and conformity.

Movie adaptation: ‘The Circle’ by Dave Eggers

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The movie adaptation of ‘The Circle’ by Dave Eggers hits movie theaters on Friday April 28, 2017. Photo: Barnes & Noble

 

Dave Eggers is an American author, editor and publisher whose work includes “Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?” “Heroes of the Frontier” and “The Circle.” He is the founder of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing company in San Francisco that publishes books, a quarterly journal of new writing and a monthly magazine. The movie adaptation of “The Circle” starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson will be out on theaters on Friday April 28, 2017. It is the bestselling dystopian novel about surveillance, privacy and the growing intrusions of technology in everyday life.

According to Amazon, “The Circle” tells the story of tech worker Mae Holland who after college starts a new job at a powerful internet company called The Circle. The Circle’s work links users’ personal emails, social media, banking and purchasing with their universal operating system resulting in one online identity. Employees enjoy open plan office spaces, impressive glass dining facilities, dorm rooms for those who spend nights at work, parties and other ammenities. Soon her life beyond the job gets smaller and her experiences at work get weirder by the day as she must deal with questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy and the limits of the human knowledge. At first, she sees it as the opportunity of a lifetime but the longer she works there the more things start to fall apart.