As a way of choosing books, selecting those that are being made into movies should be a good way to go. Why spend millions bringing a book to the screen unless it has an unusually spellbinding plot or is a particularly wonderful evocation of a time and place? Below are some of the books film directors have seen worthy of turning into movies in 2025.
One of the greatest Italian novels of the 20th century is already available to watch as a historical drama on Netflix. The Leopard (1958) stars Italian actor and director Kim Rossi Stuart as the aging aristocrat, Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, as Sicily becomes part of Italy during the Risorgimento. This is the second time The Leopard has been adapted for the screen, and a comparison of the two screen versions can be found here.
The fabulous work of Gothic fiction, Frankenstein (1818), is also coming back to the screen in 2025, directed by award-wining filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro has called it his favorite novel and been quoting saying that the best moments in it have yet to be filmed—surprising, given the 100+ previous adaptations. We’re looking forward to seeing what he comes out with.
Recent years have seen quite a few nonfiction books being turned into movies. Now coming into production after a long delay is a movie version of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, about a serial killer at the 1893 World Fair.
Also in nonfiction, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books about growing up in the west of the United States in the 19th century are being adapted again. In contrast to the 1970s series, the 2025 Netflix series will follow the story told in the underlying books more closely.
Some of the best psychological thrillers ever to hit the screens have been based on books, and it’s no surprise that lots of crime novels continue to be adapted. These are not great works of literature, but fun to read if you’ve got a long journey or as an alternative to watching TV one night.
The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016), by British crime writer Ruth Ware, will star Keira Knightley as the main protagonist. If you don’t want the plot twist ruined, you could start with another of Ruth Ware’s books (my personal favourite is probably The Turn of the Key).
Also due out in 2025 are movies based on The Housemaid by American novelist Freida McFadden and Verity by Colleen Hoover. Both are twisty thrillers that have sold millions of copies.
If you’re into science fiction, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is the book to read. Ryan Gosling will star as the astronaut who wakes up in space with no memory of how he got there. The movie is not due out in 2026, so you’ve got a while to read the book.
Judging from the number of sequels, some of the most popular books to be adapted for the screen are seemingly romance novels. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding is well worth reading as possibly a lasting work of literature of the 20th century (some of her ‘diary’ entries have already made it into The New Yale Book of Quotations). The fourth movie is now out. Bridgerton, which follows the ups and downs of a Regency-era English family, is now in its 4th season.
It’s not out until 2026 but I couldn’t resist mentioning a new movie adaptation of the Odyssey, about Odysseus’s 10-year journey home from the Trojan War. The movie is being directed by Christopher Nolan and will star Matt Damon as the canny Odysseus. It’s testimony to the lasting power of the story that people are still finding new ways to adapt a text that dates to around 700 BCE.
March 16, 2025
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