Poets & Writers Theater

In this film adaptation of Lee Israel’s memoir of the same name, Melissa McCarthy plays Israel who has made a living as a celebrity biographer but turns to forgery when her career takes a downturn. Directed by Marielle Heller, the film also stars Jane Curtin, Richard E. Grant, and Dolly Wells.

Beautiful Boy is adapted from the memoirs Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction (Houghton Mifflin, 2008) by David Sheff and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines (Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008) by Nic Sheff, and chronicles a family coping with addiction over many years. Starring Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Amy Ryan, and Maura Tierney, the film is directed by Felix Van Groeningen.

William Giraldi’s 2014 novel, Hold the Dark, has been adapted into a film for Netflix. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier, the film stars Riley Keough, Alexander Skarsgård, and Jeffrey Wright. Giraldi is a frequent contributor to Poets & Writers Magazine, most recently with “The Art of Reading James Baldwin” in the November/December 2017 issue.

Bel Canto, the award-winning novel by Ann Patchett, has been adapted into a feature film directed by Paul Weitz. Julianne Moore stars as Roxanne Coss, an opera singer who is held hostage after she performs a private concert at a birthday party for a wealthy Japanese businessman, played by Ken Watanabe.

The Wife (Scribner, 2003), Meg Wolitzer’s novel about a devoted wife looking back on life choices and sacrifices as her husband is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Björn Runge, the film stars Glenn Close, Max Irons, Elizabeth McGovern, Jonathan Pryce, and Christian Slater.

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness (Free Press, 2012), Susannah Cahalan’s memoir about her experience as a young journalist struggling with the diagnosis of a rare and mysterious neurological disease, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Gerard Barrett, the film stars Richard Armitage, Thomas Mann, Chloë Grace Moretz, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tyler Perry, and Jenny Slate.

Nick Hornby’s Juliet, Naked (Riverhead Books, 2009), a novel about a couple whose relationship is altered by a reclusive singer-songwriter’s album, has been adapted into a film. Directed by Jesse Peretz, the film stars Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, and Chris O’Dowd.

Boy Erased is a film based on Garrard Conley’s 2016 coming-of-age memoir of the same name. Lucas Hedges stars as a young man who is forced by his fundamental Baptist parents, played by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, to attend a gay conversion therapy program. The film is written and directed by Joel Edgerton, who also costars as the program’s head therapist.

Adapted from the 1978 novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop is set in 1959 England and follows a free-spirited widow who opens a bookshop in a conservative coastal town and is met with opposition by a local grand dame. Directed by Isabel Coixet, the film stars Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, and Bill Nighy.

“If you’ve got a better plan for me, tell me. I’ll try it.” Paul Dano makes his directorial debut with this film adaptation of Richard Ford’s novel Wildlife (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990) about a teenager in 1960 witnessing his parents and their marriage falling apart. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, and Ed Oxenbould, the screenplay was cowritten by Dano and Zoe Kazan.

“Look at us growing up. Who will we be?” We the Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), Justin Torres’s debut novel, has been adapted into a film directed and cowritten by Jeremiah Zagar. Starring Raúl Castillo, Sheila Vand, and Evan Rosado, the film follows Jonah, growing up with his brothers and escaping into a fantasy world to cope with his volatile home life.

“I’m always too busy, the law can take over your life.” Emma Thompson plays eminent High Court judge Fiona Maye in the film adaptation of The Children Act (Nan A. Talese, 2014) by Ian McEwan, who also wrote the screenplay. Directed by Richard Eyre, the film also stars Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead.

The Sisters Brothers (Ecco, 2011), Patrick deWitt’s Booker-nominated picaresque western novel about two assassin brothers during the California Gold Rush, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Jacques Audiard, the film stars Riz Ahmed, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rutger Hauer, Carol Kane, Joaquin Phoenix, and John C. Reilly.

On Chesil Beach is a film adaptation of a 2007 novel by Ian McEwan, who also wrote the screenplay. Directed by Dominic Cooke, the movie explores the relationship of a young couple, played by Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, on the day they are wed.

Crazy Rich Asians (Doubleday, 2013), Kevin Kwan’s debut novel about a Chinese American woman’s introduction to her boyfriend’s wealthy family in Singapore, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by John M. Chu, the romantic comedy stars Awkwafina, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong, Constance Wu, and Michelle Yeoh.

In 1964, the memoirist, novelist, and biographer James Lord sat for a portrait for the artist Alberto Giacometti. The painting session was intended to take only a few hours, but lasted weeks and became the inspiration for Lord’s book A Giacometti Portrait (Doubleday, 1965). In this film adaptation of the book, The Final Portrait, written and directed by Stanley Tucci, Armie Hammer stars as Lord with Geoffrey Rush as Giacometti.

Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 (Ballantine Books, 1953), has been adapted into a feature film for HBO. Directed by Ramin Bahrani, the film stars Michael B. Jordan as Guy Montag and Michael Shannon as Captain Beatty.

You Were Never Really Here, Jonathan Ames’s crime thriller about a tormented gunman hired to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a senator, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Lynne Ramsay, the film stars Alessandro Nivola, Joaquin Phoenix, and Ekaterina Samsonov.

Ernest Cline’s debut novel, Ready Player One (Crown, 2011), a dystopian science fiction adventure following a teenager’s quest for fortune through a virtual reality game, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Steven Spielberg with a screenplay by Cline and Zak Penn, the film stars Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Tye Sheridan.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (Crown, 2008), a biography by Les Standiford focusing on the events in 1843 that inspired Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Bharat Nalluri, the film stars Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce, and Dan Stevens.