Poets & Writers Theater

This new Netflix miniseries about a woman growing up in a strict Hasidic Judaism sect in Brooklyn who flees her arranged marriage and cuts ties with the community is loosely based on Deborah Feldman’s 2012 memoir, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. The four-episode series is directed by Maria Schrader and stars Shira Haas, Amit Rahav, and Jeff Wilbusch.

Agatha Christie’s 1961 novel The Pale Horse has been adapted into a two-part television series written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Leonora Lonsdale. Starring Georgina Campbell, Kaya Scodelario, and Rufus Sewell, the story begins with the murder of a priest soon after hearing a woman’s deathbed confession, and leads to an old pub inhabited by a mysterious trio of women, rumored to be witches.

Sally Rooney’s second novel, Normal People (Hogarth, 2019), has been adapted into a Hulu and BBC television miniseries directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. The twelve-episode series stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal as two teenagers in Ireland from different backgrounds navigating friendship and romance through the years.

The Invisible Man is a new feature film loosely based on the classic science fiction novel of the same name by H. G. Wells, which has inspired a number of television and film adaptations since it was first published in 1897. Directed by Leigh Whannell, the new thriller stars Aldis Hodge, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Elisabeth Moss, and Storm Reid.

The Plot Against America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004), Philip Roth’s alternative history novel in which Charles Lindbergh wins the 1940 presidential election and fascist anti-Semitism is on the rise, has been adapted into an HBO television miniseries. The series, directed by Minkie Spiro and adapted by David Simon, stars Ben Cole, Winona Ryder, Morgan Spector, John Turturro, and Zoe Kazan.

Nick Hornby’s first novel, High Fidelity (Riverhead Books, 1995), whose 2000 film adaptation starred John Cusack and moved the story from London to Chicago, has been adapted into a Hulu television show. The series stars Zoë Kravitz as the neurotic owner of a local record store in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood who revisits former romantic partners after a recent breakup.

Little Fires Everywhere is a television adaptation of Celeste Ng’s 2017 novel of the same name about the tensions between two families in the Ohio suburbs during the 1990s. The eight-episode miniseries is directed by Lynn Shelton and stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Jordan Elsass, Joshua Jackson, Kerry Washington, and Reese Witherspoon.

Dracula is a new BBC/Netflix television adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 gothic horror novel. Created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the three-episode miniseries stars Claes Bang in the title role, along with Morfydd Clark, John Heffernan, and Dolly Wells.

The Rhythm Section (HarperCollins, 2000), Mark Burnell’s first novel in his series featuring international spy Stephanie Patrick, has been adapted into a film. Directed by Reed Morano, the thriller about a woman who goes undercover as an assassin after her entire family is killed in an orchestrated plane crash stars Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown.

The Personal History of David Copperfield is a film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s autobiographical novel, first published as a book in 1850. The comedic drama is directed by Armando Iannucci and stars Dev Patel as the titular character, and the cast includes Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie, Sophie McShera, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw.

Charles Dickens’s classic 1843 holiday novella, A Christmas Carol, has been adapted into a new BBC television drama. The three-part fantasy miniseries is directed by Nick Murphy, and stars Joe Alwyn as Bob Cratchit, Jason Flemyng as the Ghost of Christmas Future, Stephen Graham as Jacob Marley, Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge, Charlotte Riley as Lottie (the Ghost of Christmas Present), and Andy Serkis as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

The Call of the Wild is a new feature film adaptation of Jack London’s classic 1903 adventure novel about a dog named Buck who must struggle to survive in the Yukon wilderness during the 1890s gold rush. The live-action CGI-animated film is directed by Chris Sanders and stars Harrison Ford, Karen Gillan, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, and Bradley Whitford.

The Earthquake Bird (Picador, 2001), the debut mystery novel by British author Susanna Jones, has been adapted into a feature film directed by Wash Westmoreland. The psychological thriller follows a young expat in 1989 Tokyo who is accused of murder when her friend goes missing and stars Riley Keough, Naoki Kobayashi, Kenichi Masuda, Kiki Sukezane, and Alicia Vikander.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Spiegel & Grau, 2014) by Bryan Stevenson, a memoir recounting his experience as a young defense attorney fighting for a death row inmate wrongfully convicted of murder, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the legal drama stars Jamie Foxx, Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, and Rafe Spall.

Dublin Murders is a BBC television adaptation of the first two novels in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad mystery series, In the Woods (Viking, 2007) and The Likeness (Viking, 2008), which follows two detectives investigating homicides in contemporary Dublin. Adapted by Sarah Phelps, the eight-episode crime show stars Moe Dunford, Sarah Greene, Killian Scott, and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.

Mrs. Fletcher (Scribner, 2017) by Tom Perrotta—whose novels Election, Little Children, and The Leftovers have previously inspired screen adaptations—has been adapted into an HBO television series. The comedy series stars Kathryn Hahn as Eve Fletcher, a divorcée who has a midlife sexual awakening after her son leaves home for college.

Jojo Rabbit is a film adaptation of Christine Leunens’s novel Caging Skies (Overlook Press, 2019), a dark comic story set in 1940s Vienna about a ten-year-old boy in the Hitler Youth who discovers that his parents are hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Directed by Taika Waititi, who also costars as an imaginary Adolf Hitler, the satire stars Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Rebel Wilson.

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.

Dickinson is the first web television series from Apple TV Plus, a period piece about Emily Dickinson with a modern and comedic twist starring Hailee Steinfeld. Created by Alena Smith, the cast includes Jane Krakowski as Mrs. Dickinson, Zosia Mamet as Louisa May Alcott, John Mulaney as Henry David Thoreau, and Wiz Khalifa as Death.

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.