Grab your audiobooks or hit the shelves! Whichever suits your fancy. Book lovers everywhere, critical though we may be, live for new book-to-screen adaptations to bring our favorite pages to life. There is nothing like seeing characters that have only ever been in your head, appear on the big screen.
Successful adaptations are tough to execute perfectly, but there is also something special about talented directors who can put just the right spin on a script to give even the most epic of stories a modern revival; i.e. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which was skillfully delivered by Guillermo del Toro in 2025. Check out this list of books that will hit theaters — and streaming apps — near you this year (in order of their release)!
1. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
The Game of Thrones prequel will cover the story of Dunk and Egg, more formally known as Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg. The timeline is roughly 90 years before the Game of Thrones storyline and is expected to closely follow the Tales of Dunk and Egg novels by author George R.R. Martin. In the tales, an amateur knight meets a young boy who just wants to be recognized, challenged, and molded into the king he’s meant to be. Together, they venture through Westeros, fight for justice, and learn how to be noble warriors, bravely united against danger.
A recent post on Instagram, by the Game of Thrones official page, features interviews with some of the actors and producers involved in the process, who speak fondly of how Martin plans to honor the original storyline for fans. The HBO series could even be a great place to start for someone who has never seen Game of Thrones and is curious about the hype.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on HBO on Sunday, Jan. 18.
2. Wuthering Heights
"Drive me mad" is the line that gothic romance fans know all too well from the classic novel, Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. The novel is not brand new to the film industry, however, as there have been several film and TV adaptations, the most recent of which was released in 2011, scoring a sub-par 69% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Regardless of how successful previous renditions of the melancholic love story have been, it seems that every new generation needs to see some classic remakes (we’ll see a few more in this list as well) to keep the legacy of these trailblazing authors alive. For fans who are ready to give director, Emerald Fennell, a shot at a modern take on Wuthering Heights, save the date for the movie premiere on Friday, Feb. 13, only in theaters. Let the yearning begin…
3. Love Me, Love Me (Cuori Magnetici)
Book lovers may not be as familiar with this title, since the English translation only just released on Tuesday, Jan. 6. If the international popularity of the book is of any indication, Love Me Love Me will be the next YA romance craze to hit North America, too.
The tetralogy and Italian bestseller, originally titled Cuori magnetici by Stefania S., has dominated the charts internationally, based on tens of millions of reads on Wattpad. While the English book translation novel varies slightly from the original — such as the switch from a school in Italy to a school in Laguna Beach, California — the movie will follow the Italian setting. As an American, this is a refreshing decision, because I think the uber-westernization of foreign stories is often unnecessary.
However, readers beware: Deadline reported, after the movie premiere announcement, that Prime Video tends to drift from source material and “tune-in to what the fans are saying." Since Love Me Love Me is such a young novel — the original is only three years old — I can’t imagine that the YA appeal would be drastically different, so there may not be a ton of changes, but don’t be too surprised if the story deviates from Stefania’s writing.
There is still time to get your hands on one of the novels before the movie premieres on Prime Video this February (no specific date has been announced yet).
4. Reminders of Him
Popular romance novelist, Colleen Hoover (It Ends With Us), is on a roll when it comes to movie adaptations of her books. Despite the controversy between actress Blake Lively and actor Justin Baldoni, It Ends With Us did a fair job bringing the novel to life, though it is disappointing that fans likely won’t get to see the sequel, which was written by Hoover after the first book’s success.
Reminders of Him, written several years after It Ends With Us, is another sad, but hopeful romance, following the story of a young mother, Kenna, who tries to connect with her daughter after her release from prison. No one wants to help Kenna, save for her love interest, Ledger Ward.
Will the pair power through mass scrutiny to help Kenna and her daughter reconnect — and will they be able to sustain a romantic connection themselves? Find out on Friday, March 13, only in theaters.
5. The Odyssey
Some readers may not have heard this title since their high school World Lit class, but it is a legendary title, nonetheless. Written by Greek poet, Homer, The Odyssey compares to stories like Troy and Gladiator, and the last TV adaptation released in 1997.
If you’re a Greek mythology fanatic, sheer curiosity alone will drive you to the theater this summer, to see how the modern cinematic adaptation compares with the classic series. Watch Odysseus encounter the impossible on his long trek home, after a heroic triumph, on Friday, July 17, only in theaters.
6. Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen turned 250 in December 2025, leading to lots of celebration and recognition of her literary impact within the book universe. Austen has two of her most famous works on the list of book-to-screen adaptations to premiere this year, and this is more proof of the idea that each generation should get to see these classics in a new cinematic light.
Sense and Sensibility follows Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who face an impossible fate in the late 1700s, after the death of their father. They have to endure intense struggle, desperation, and societal pressure to find love and happiness, but in the face of poverty rather than wealth, and scrutiny rather than esteem.
For our younger readers, Jane Austen was a huge inspiration for the author of the Bridgerton series, Julia Quinn. If you have recently fallen in love with the historical romance genre, you’ll be even more taken aback by Jane Austen’s authentic vantage point, as someone who lived in the very time period she wrote about.
Before the 2026 release, you can also watch the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility for purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV, but it is also coming to Netflix soon. Sense and Sensibility, directed by Georgia Oakley, will premiere on Friday, Sept. 11, only in theaters.
7. Verity
As mentioned earlier, Hoover is dominating the charts for romance, but not the pretty kind. Rather than focusing on her characters getting a "happily ever after," Hoover’s themes tend to be dark and melancholy, and her protagonists are often victims of abuse or deep grief. The story of Verity is no different; I personally had to stop reading the book for a few weeks because the book got that dark.
In the book, the main character, Verity Crawford, has it all until a tragedy leaves her debilitated. Only, Verity's ghostwriter, Lowen, seems to think otherwise, upon reading some of Verity's deeply personal diary entries.
The ending was one that leaves you second-guessing what you just read, but I won’t spoil the ending here! Think of it as a romance-turned-psychological-thriller, though I wonder if the movie will be portrayed in the same way. Watch Verity, starring Anne Hathaway, on Friday, Oct. 2, only in theaters.
8. Remain
Where have the Nicholas Sparks adaptations been? It seems like they were on a roll in the early 2000s, with A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, The Last Song, Safe Haven, and The Best of Me, but it’s been almost a decade now with no new movie in sight — that is, until this year! Sparks newest novel, Remain, co-authored by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), was released in Oct. 2025, and it already has a movie in the works, set to release on Friday, Oct. 23.
The release comes just in time for the novel’s anniversary and is set to star Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler). If you’re familiar with Gyllenhaal’s works, that should let you know that this will be no ordinary romance story; he takes on difficult roles, portraying characters that need a good deal of mental strength.
The book highlights the romantic and spiritual quest of Tate Donovan, grieving the loss of his sister, and he is forced to challenge everything he believes about life, love, and the afterlife. Prepare to be wowed by the Sparks and Shyamalan collab in theaters this fall.
9. Pride and Prejudice
Though Sense and Sensibility is set to hit theaters this year, we also have one of Austen’s most popular novels available for streaming later this year (an exact release date has not yet been announced).
What we do know is that production has wrapped, and a list of the full cast is available. According to Tudum, it was writer and director, Dolly Alderton, who stated that every generation gets a retelling of the Austen classic, and she is honored to be able to tell one.
10. The Love Hypothesis
Ending with a young, romantic comedy, Ali Hazelwood gets a screen adaptation sometime this year, of her novel, The Love Hypothesis. According to Amazon, the novel received the BuzzFeed Best Summer Read of 2021, and became an instant New York Times Bestseller and went viral on booktok (a very modern way to get your book release knowledge!)
The romance novel features Olive Smith, a girl who struggles to believe in the concept of soulmates, until she gets to know Adam Carlsen. The official movie release date hasn’t been announced, but leading actress, Lili Reinhart, posted the end of production on her TikTok account in late 2025. I’m certain we can expect the movie before the end of 2026, and likely a lot sooner. The Love Hypothesis will be available for streaming on Prime Video.
What a mixture of great novels on this list, some heavy, some light, and we can’t wait to see how the screen adaptations turn out this year!