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All Is True is a biopic depicting the last three years of William Shakespeare’s life, after the original Globe Theatre in London burned down during a performance of Henry VIII in 1613 and he returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the film stars Branagh as Shakespeare, Judi Dench as his wife Anne Hathaway, and Ian McKellen as the Earl of Southampton.
JT LeRoy is a biopic based on the book Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy (Seven Stories Press, 2008), Savannah Knoop’s memoir about her experience spending six years impersonating the celebrated author and literary persona of her sister-in-law Laura Albert. Directed by Justin Kelly, the film stars Laura Dern, Diane Kruger, Courtney Love, Kristen Stewart, and Jim Sturgess.
Shirley Jackson’s final novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Viking Press, 1962), has been adapted into a feature film for the first time. Directed by Stacie Passon and starring Alexandra Daddario, Taissa Farmiga, Crispin Glover, and Sebastian Stan, the mystery thriller follows a family whose dark past resurfaces upon the arrival of an estranged cousin.
“It’s a story about journeys. The journeys we take to prove ourselves.” Tolkien is a biopic exploring acclaimed author J. R. R. Tolkien’s teenage years, as he navigates friendship and love while in school, leading up to World War I. Directed by Dome Karukoski, the film stars Nicholas Hoult as Tolkien and Lily Collins as Edith Bratt—his muse and later wife.
Wild Nights With Emily is a comedic biopic about Emily Dickinson focusing on her irreverent sense of humor and inspired by love letters she penned to her brother’s wife. Directed by Madeleine Olnek, the film stars Molly Shannon as Emily Dickinson and Susan Ziegler as her sister-in-law Susan Gilbert Dickinson.
Native Son, Richard Wright’s 1940 novel about a young African American man living in poverty in Chicago, has been adapted into a feature film for the third time. The movie is directed by visual artist Rashid Johnson, with a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, and stars Sanaa Lathan, KiKi Layne, Elizabeth Marvel, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, and Ashton Sanders.
Ophelia is a retelling of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet from the perspective of the Prince of Denmark’s love interest. Directed by Claire McCarthy, the feature film stars Daisy Ridley in the title role, Tom Felton as Laertes, George MacKay as Hamlet, Clive Owen as Claudius, and Naomi Watts as Gertrude.
James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk has been adapted into a feature film directed by Barry Jenkins. Starring Stephan James, Regina King, and KiKi Layne, the film follows a young woman in 1970s Harlem attempting to prove her fiancé’s innocence when he is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.
Bird Box (Ecco, 2014), the debut novel by Josh Malerman has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Susanne Bier, the psychological thriller film stars Sandra Bullock, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, and Trevante Rhodes and follows a woman and her two children as they traverse a post-apocalyptic landscape while blindfolded to escape an unseen, supernatural adversary.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Little, Brown, 2012), Maria Semple’s comedic novel narrated by a teenage girl searching for her agoraphobic architect mother who has gone missing, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Richard Linklater, the movie stars Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne, Judy Greer, and Kristen Wiig.
![Bird Box | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix](https://www.pw.org/files/styles/video_thumb_medium/public/media-oembed/i.ytimg.com/vi/o2AsIXSh2xo/hqdefault.jpg?itok=7rovav10)
