Poets & Writers Theater

Stephen King’s novel Doctor Sleep (Scribner, 2013), the sequel to his 1977 classic The Shining, has been adapted into a feature film directed by Mike Flanagan. The movie picks up the story several decades later as a grown-up Danny Torrance, played by Ewan McGregor, meets a young girl with psychic powers similar to his own that he tries to protect from a supernatural cult of murderous nomads.

A Million Little Pieces (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2003), the controversial and fabricated best-selling memoir by James Frey, has been adapted into a feature film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Odessa Young, the film focuses on the life of a young writer seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

Malina, the 1971 novel by Austrian author Ingeborg Bachmann, was rereleased by New Directions in May with a revised translation from the German by Philip Boehm and an introduction by Rachel Kushner. A screening of the 1991 film adaptation of the novel, directed by Werner Schroeter, was recently presented in celebration of the book.

Motherless Brooklyn, a film adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel of the same name, stars Edward Norton as Lionel Essrog, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome who attempts to solve the murder of his friend and mentor. Directed by Norton, the film’s cast includes Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Bruce Willis.

The King is a film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s history plays known as the Henriad: Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, and Henry V. Directed by David Michôd, the film stars Ben Mendelsohn as King Henry IV, Timothée Chalamet as King Henry V, and Joel Edgerton as Falstaff. Michôd and Edgerton cowrote the screenplay.

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age novel, has been adapted into a feature film directed by Greta Gerwig. The story takes place in the years following the American Civil War and revolves around the March sisters played by Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, and Emma Watson.

The Kitchen is a film adaptation of the DC Comics graphic novel of the same name written by Ollie Masters and illustrated by Ming Doyle. Directed by Andrea Berloff and starring Tiffany Haddish, Melissa McCarthy, and Elisabeth Moss, the film set in the 1970s follows three women in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen who take over organized crime operations after their husbands are sent to prison.

The Good Liar (HarperCollins, 2016), the debut novel by Nicholas Searle about a wealthy widow who crosses paths with a seasoned con artist, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Bill Condon, the film stars Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, and Russell Tovey.

Vita & Virginia is a film adaptation of Eileen Atkins’s 1992 play of the same name, based on love letters Virginia Woolf exchanged over the course of a decade-long affair with Vita Sackville-West, the inspiration behind Woolf’s 1928 novel, Orlando: A Biography. Directed by Chanya Button, the biopic stars Gemma Arterton as West, Elizabeth Debicki as Woolf, and Isabella Rossellini as Baroness Sackville.

The Goldfinch, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Donna Tartt, follows a young man who turns to the world of art forgery after the loss of his mother. Directed by John Crowley, with a screenplay by Peter Straughan, the film stars Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, and Jeffrey Wright.

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.

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.
 

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.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web is a film adaptation of David Lagercrantz’s crime novel, translated from the Swedish by George Goulding, which continues the Millennium series originated by the late Stieg Larsson. Directed by Fede Alvarez, the film sees the return of the two primary characters in the series: computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, played by Claire Foy, and journalist Mikael Blomkvist, played by Sverrir Gudnason.

William Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear has been adapted into a made-for-television film set in a highly militarized version of present-day London. Directed by Richard Eyre, the film stars Anthony Hopkins as the titular character, and Florence Pugh, Emma Thompson, and Emily Watson as his three daughters.

Burning is a mystery thriller about a lonely aspiring writer whose life changes suddenly when he bumps into a childhood acquaintance and she introduces a suave stranger into their lives. Adapted from the short story “Barn Burning” by Haruki Murakami, the film is directed by South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong and stars Yoo Ah-in, Jeon Jong-seo, and Steven Yeun.

The Hate U Give (Balzer + Bray, 2017), the best-selling debut novel by Angie Thomas about a Black high school student who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend by a police officer and is subsequently drawn into activism, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by George Tillman Jr., the film stars Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, and Amandla Stenberg.