Putting down a good book after finishing it can be an emotional experience. Having just spent hours or days immersed in a different world can make it feel shocking to come back to reality. A natural part of reading any book is to become swept away in trying to imagine it in one’s mind. It’s what makes movies based on books so divisive. Sometimes, people can picture it exactly as the filmmakers have, and the movie is a huge success. Other creative choices can divide audiences, fracturing how well it might be received.
Bringing books to the big screen is nothing new. But it doesn’t mean it’s not something that readers can be excited about. 2025 has been a big year for literary adaptations. Recently, The Long Walk and The Thursday Murder Club have kept audiences enjoying pages brought to life on screen. There are more literary adaptations to get excited about for the rest of the year as well.
Here are 7 book-to-movie adaptations to circle on your 2025 calendar.
7
‘The Woman in Cabin 10’
Coming out on October 10, The Woman in Cabin 10 is headed straight to Netflix. It stars Keira Knightley as a journalist covering the maiden voyage of a brand-new luxury cruise ship. While on the boat trip, she believes she sees a person being thrown overboard. What she finds during her investigation is that every crew member and passenger is accounted for on the ship. She must battle her own neuroses to see if she can believe what she thought she saw.
The film is from Simon Stone, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse. It’s adapted from the 2016 novel by Ruth Ware. The Woman in Cabin 10 also stars Guy Pearce, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Hannah Waddingham, Kaya Scodelario, David Morrissey, and Art Malik. The movie was filmed on a superyacht.
6
‘Regretting You’
For fans of Colleen Hoover, seeing her books brought to life on screen is a big plus. The world became acutely aware of her literary works being adapted to the big screen last year as the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni vehicle It Ends With Us became embroiled in controversy. Another one of Hoover’s novels, Regretting You, is getting a film release on October 24 in theaters.
The film stars Allison Williams as a mother who has to raise her daughter, played by McKenna Grace, alone after her husband (Scott Eastwood) is killed in a tragic accident. Also killed in that tragic accident is her sister, played by Willa Fitzgerald. This leaves Dave Franco’s character a widower. The former in-laws have to try and pick up the pieces of their new reality to help each other. It’s directed by Josh Boone with a screenplay from Susan McMartin. Hoover serves as an executive producer on the film.
5
‘The Running Man’
The Running Man, along with The Long Walk which was mentioned above, are just two of the Stephen King literary adaptations out in 2025. There was already a successful adaptation of The Running Man back in 1987, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. This new version of the film stars Glen Powell as Ben Richards, a man who joins a televised game show and must evade capture for 30 days from a group of hunters. If he can avoid capture and being killed within that time period, he wins $1 billion.
The remake is directed and co-written by Edgar Wright along with Michael Bacall also adapted the book, marking the second script collaboration between the two and the first since Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The movie also stars Josh Brolin as the show’s producer, Colman Domingo as the host, Emilia Jones as a woman Ben takes hostage, Jayme Lawson as his wife, as well as Michael Cera, Lee Pace, William H. Macy, Katy O’Brien and David Zayas. It’s set for release in theaters on November 14.
4
‘Hamnet’
Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao has adapted Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel Hamnet for a film set to be released on November 27. The book and film focus on Hamnet, the 11-year-old son of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, whose tragic death affects the couple immensely. It follows William and Agnes during their grief and shows how his death impacts their lives. Zhao and O’Farrell co-wrote the screenplay.
It stars Paul Mescal as William and Jessie Buckley as Agnes. The film also features Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson, David Wilmot, Jacobi Jupe, and Olivia Lynes. It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and then had a successful premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It currently has an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics have lauded Buckley and Mescal for their raw and emotional performances.
3
”The Housemaid’
The Housemaid was published in 2022 and was a massive hit with readers, spawning a series of novels from Freida McFadden. The film version of the breakout novel is set for release on Christmas Day. Directed by Paul Feig and written by Rebecca Sonnenshine, the movie features Sydney Sweeney as Millie, a young woman who gets a job as a housemaid for a rich couple, Nina and Andrew Winchester, played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Skelnar.
On the surface, it may seem like a bland premise. But as Millie works for the Winchesters, she starts to see some unnerving things about their relationship, particularly some strange things surrounding Nina, which make her question her safety. The provocative film also stars Elizabeth Perkins as Andrew’s mother, and Michele Morrone as Enzo, the groundskeeper of the estate.
2
‘Frankenstein’
Who better to adapt one of the most well-known literary works of horror than Guillermo del Toro? Frankenstein will have a limited theatrical run starting October 17 before a Netflix release on November 7. The film stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein with Jacob Elordi playing Frankenstein’s monster. Felix Kammerer plays William Frankenstein, Victor’s younger brother, and Mia Goth plays his fiancée, Elizabeth.
The movie also stars Christoph Waltz, Lars Mikkelsen, Charles Dance, Lauren Collins, David Bradley, Burn Gorman, Ralph Ineson, and Sofia Galasso. Del Toro wrote the screenplay and states that the film is not a horror film but focuses more on the emotions of Mary Shelley’s novel. It earned strong reviews at its premieres at the Venice Film Festival and TIFF. Fans won’t have to wait long for another story set in the same world, as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride is slated for March 2026.
1
‘Wicked: For Good’
It’s easy to forget that Wicked was actually a book before it was a smash Broadway musical. The novel by Gregory Maguire was adapted for the stage by Stephen Sondheim and Winnie Holzman. The second half of that musical is set to make up this sequel. Wicked: For Good picks up where the first film left off, as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is living as an animal activist and known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda (Ariana Grande) is now seen as the face of good for the public and is kept under a close eye by the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).
Can Elphaba and Glinda’s strong relationship last through the conflicts? The film brings back Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Bronwyn James as ShenShen, and Sharon D. Clarke as the voice of Dulcibear. The film will have original music, compared to the first one that only featured songs from the musical. Once again directed by Jon M. Chu, it is set for release on November 24. NBC will have a musical special airing before the release with performances by Erivo and Grande.
