2022 looks to be promising many new, exciting things this year, but what we are most looking forward to are these 5 book adaptations coming to our screens.
Book-to-screen adaptations have long been a beloved practice in the film and television industries. With so many great novels constantly being written, it is only natural to want to adapt them into television series and movies that are just as entertaining. Few feelings match that of watching our favorite stories come to life right before our eyes. For this reason, below is a list and information on some of the books we will see come to life in 2022 so you won't miss them:
1. Conversations With Friends
Release: May, 2022
Director: Lenny Abrahamson and Leanne Welham
Starring: Alison Oliver, Sasha Lane, Joe Alwyn, Jemima Kirke
Platform: Hulu
Conversations With Friends is a 2017 novel by Sally Rooney, the same person who wrote the critically acclaimed novel Normal People. It follows two 21-year-old Irish college students, Frances and Bobbi, as they navigate young adulthood. Frances and Bobbi used to be in a relationship, but they continue to be inseparable regardless of their break up.
One night when they are performing spoken word poetry together in Dublin, they meet an older writer named Melissa, who is instantly enthralled by the pair. Soon, she is inviting Frances and Bobbi to her apartment, where they meet her husband Nick. Eventually, after subtle flirtations and hints at attraction, Nick and Frances begin an illicit affair that consumes them, but also scares them if it were to be discovered. This secret relationship tests the strength of their bond and the bond they have with other people in their lives.
Conversations With Friends will be a Hulu 12-episode limited series spearheaded by the same team behind Normal People.
2. Where the Crawdads Sing
Release: July, 2022
Director: Olivia Newman
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Harris Dickinson, Taylor John Smith
Platform: Hello Sunshine Film
On the topic of Normal People, the series’ star Daisy Edgar-Jones returns for another coveted book adaptation: Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens. This story follows Kya Clark, a young girl who grows up by herself out in the marshes of a small fishing town after her family members leave her one by one. The town locals view her as an anomaly and a somewhat unfit creature for society, unknowing that she is actually a talented naturalist who has survived on her own for years.
Their prejudice alienates her from them, so much so that when golden boy Chase Andrews is found dead one day, the suspicion of the murder instantly falls on her. Where the Crawdads Sing chronicles Kya’s life out in the marshes as she encounters different people, notably Tate Walker, a young boy who later becomes a romantic partner, and Chase Andrews, the star athlete that stirs things up for Kya and the calm she had gotten used to up to that point in her life.
This coming-of-age mystery story is being produced by renowned actress Reese Witherspoon with her production company, Hello Sunshine.
3. Daisy Jones and The Six
Release: TBA, 2022
Director: James Ponsoldt
Starring: Sam Claflin, Riley Keough, Camila Morrone, Suki Waterhouse
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Daisy Jones and the Six is the television adaptation of the Taylor Jenkins Reid novel by the same name. It follows Daisy Jones, a young L.A. teenager being raised in the 1970’s by parents who don’t care about what she does. Daisy takes advantage of this and does basically whatever she wants— nightclubs, partying, and rock n’ roll. Daisy has a beautiful voice which gets her a record deal, but the studio has their own intentions for her career, including not letting her write her own songs.
At the same time, Billy Dunne and his brother have a band called The Six. This group of ambitious musicians are ready to make it big in the love and drugs environment of the 70s. The catapult for their making it big is Daisy Jones. A manager puts them together, and the rest becomes history.
Daisy Jones and the Six will be a 12 episode limited series on Amazon Prime Video. It is also being produced by Reese Witherspoon and her production company, Hello Sunshine.
4. Persuasion
Release: TBA, 2022
Director: Carrie Cracknell
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding, Nikki Amuka-Bird
Platform: Netflix
Jane Austen’s prized novel Persuasion is getting a new film adaptation set to come out this year on Netflix. The novel and film follow the witty and kind Anne Elliot and the rollercoaster of her relationship with ex-fiancé, naval officer Frederick Wentworth. Eight years prior to the time of the novel, Wentworth and Elliot fall in love and are betrothed, but unfortunately, Wentworth’s lack of financial resources and the pressure on women to marry rich at the time forces Anne to call off the wedding.
Wentworth goes off to sea, but when he returns he is Captain Frederick Wentworth, bringing with him the new fortune he has made since Anne left him. Anne is still unmarried at twenty-seven years old and her family finances have changed for the worse. With the return of her long-time love and his newly made fortune, their relationship might get the opportunity of a second chance.
This version of Persuasion will be a period piece with a modern twist. What exactly that means is not yet clear, as photographs revealed by Netflix show that the actors remain in period costumes. So, although the story will remain set in the traditional Austen time period, viewers can expect that some aspects, such as dialogue, might be adapted to fit that modern feel.
Let these exquisite photos of Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, and Henry Golding tide you over until PERSUASION, a most excitable new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel from director Carrie Cracknell, arrives on Netflix in 2022. pic.twitter.com/GSwzx8C2Y9
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) June 14, 2021
5. The Nightingale
Release: December, 2022
Director: Melanie Laurent
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning
Platform: TriStar Pictures film
The historical fiction novel of the same name by Kristin Hannah is getting a film adaptation set to be released in late 2022. The novel follows the lives of French sisters, Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac, as World War II takes hold of their lives. Isabelle, the rebellious younger sister, grows restless with the chaos around her and decides to join the French resistance against the Nazis alongside Gäetan, another young revolutionary.
Vianne, forced to see her husband head to the front lines, faces her own sum of danger as the Nazis invade her hometown and one officer takes up residence in her home. The sisters each embark on separate paths that will force them to examine what they are willing to do for others as well as for their own survival.
Real-life sisters, Dakota and Elle Fanning, will be playing sisters on screen for the first time. The Nightingale has faced several release date setbacks due to the pandemic, but hopefully, December 2022 will finally be when this story about female resilience hits the big screen.