The first teaser debuted today for the final movie in the series based on the YA titles by Suzanne Collins. The movie arrives November 20.

Also just released, a trailer for another post-apocalyptic science-fiction movie based on a YA novel often suggested as a readalike for Hunger Games, Z for Zachariah, the 1974 book by Robert C. O’Brien. The movie, a hit at the Sundance film Festival, arrives August 21.

Our Books to Movies & TV listing has updated information on over 400 adaptations in the works (for tie-ins, check our Edelweiss collection).

Joining the short list of Caldecott Medalists that have become full-length movies, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Hachette/Little, Brown Young Readers) is set to be adapted as an animated feature film.

DreamWorks has just announced Jason Reitman as the director. Although Reitman has never directed an animated feature, he has had experience with adaptations. His Up In The Air, based on the Walter Kirn novel, was nominated for an Oscar. He also adapted Joyce Maynard’s Labor Day and Christopher Buckley’s Thank You For Not Smoking.

At just 40 pages, however, Beekle is much shorter than the books Reitman has previously adapted and will present a challenge, requiring more story lines to fill ninety minutes.

If Beekle makes it to the screen, it’s likely to be a different Beekle.

The first trailer has been released for Robert Redford’s movie based on Bill Bryson’s hilarious account of an attempt to hike the Appalachian trail despite “years of waddlesome sloth,” A Walk in the Woods, (RH/Broadway; RH Audio, 1998). The movie debuts Sept. 9.

Bryson is played by Redford. Joining him in the adventure is his old pal Katz, a man even more ill-prepared for the effort than Bryson, played by Nick Nolte (in a role originally intended for Redford’s late friend Paul Newman).

A Walk in the Woods (Movie Tie-In): Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, Bill Bryson
RH/Broadway, July 28, 2015
Trade Paperback; 9781101905494, 1101905492;  $15.99 USD
Mass Market Pbk; 9781101970881, 110197088X; $7.99 USD

Our Books to Movies & TV listing has updated information on over 400 adaptations in the works (for tie-ins, check our Edelweiss collection).

UPDATE: Deadline reports (11/9/15) “Clan of the Cave Bear’ Not Going Forward At Lifetime, Pilot Being Shopped”

The  pilot for a Lifetime series, The Clan Of The Cave Bear, based on Jean M. Auel’s 1980’s books, has behind it high-profile executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. The cast is now taking shape, indicating that filming may begin soon.

Set 25,000 years ago, Auel’s Earth Children series, the first of which is The Clan Of The Cave Bear (RH/Crown), imagines a clan of Neanderthals adopting an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl Ayla, who, as she grows up, demonstrates superior intellect and eventually breaks free of the restrictions imposed on the female members of  the Clan. The book was a New York Times best seller for five months.

The lead role of the adult Ayla went to British actress-model Millie Brady in January. Since then, other major roles have been filled. Johnny Ward will play Broud, the future clan leader. Hal Ozsan will play Brun, the current Clan leader. Charlene McKenna has just joined the cast in the role of  Brun’s sister Iza, the Clan’s medicine woman and Ayla’s mentor.

The book was made into a disastrous movie in 1986, starring Daryl Hannah as Ayla.

The first look at stills from the film adaptation of The Martian by Andy Weir, (RH/Crown) are now on People.com.

Starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Donald Glover, and scheduled for release in November, it is directed by Ridley Scott.

The book began as a self-published science fiction title, later picked up by Random House’s Crown imprint. It appeared on multiple best books lists and was a Feb. 2014 LibraryReads pick, the 2014 RUSA Reading List selection for  Science Fiction, as well as an Alex Award winner.

The Girl on the Train is now one major step closer to the screen. Deadline reports that DreamWorks has hired Tate Taylor to direct. Taylor’s had experience with best selling novel adaptations, having directed the movie based on his childhood friend, Kathryn Stockett‘s novel, The Help.

Deadline also reports that GOTT is “the fastest selling adult novel in history with over two million copies sold in the United States alone.” but that story, recently reported by the Wall Street Journal now has a correction which reads, “In an earlier version of this article, the book’s publisher incorrectly said it was likely the fastest ever to reach that sales figure. Books that have sold faster include Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which sold 2 million hardcovers in just over a month, not including ebooks.”

Director Todd Haynes is currently the toast of Cannes, where the director’s movie Carol, based on the book by Patricia Highsmith, is expected to win the Palme d”Or.

So attention is turning to his next projects. Screen Daily reports that, for one of them, he will again turn to books, a childrens book this time, Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck (Scholastic, 2011).

If it comes to pass, this will be Selznick’s second book to be adapted by a celebrated director, after Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning Hugo, based on The Invention Of Hugo Cabret.

Don’t hold your breath though, Haynes has some other projects on his plate, including a biopic about Peggy Lee starring Reese Witherspoon as well as a new TV series (he directed the 2011 HBO series Mildred Pierce).

Closer on the horizon is Selznick’s next book, The Marvels (Scholastic), set for publication on 9/15/15. There are no reviews yet. The following is from the publishers’ description:

Two seemingly unrelated stories — one in words, the other in pictures — come together … The illustrated story begins in 1766 with Billy Marvel, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, and charts the adventures of his family of actors over five generations. The prose story opens in 1990 and follows Joseph, who has run away from school to an estranged uncle’s puzzling house in London, where he, along with the reader, must piece together many mysteries.

The first trailer for the second in the Maze Runner series, based James Dasher’s The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, (RH/Delaccorte) has just been released.

MTV is excited. So is New York magazine. As is Entertainment Weekly.

The movie is set for release on Sept., 18, the tie-in for August in  hardcover and in trade pbk.

Even before a single frame of the movie was released, Carol, based on Patricia Highsmith’s The Price Of Salt, 1952 (available in trade paperback from Norton, 2004; movie tie-in coming in Sept.) was considered a strong Oscar contender.

In Cannes, where it premiered over the weekend, Deadline characterized the reception as “euphoric.”  It is considered the front rummer to win the Palme d’Or.

A December 18 release date was recently announced, prime time for Oscar contenders. The movie’s also received a news boost from Cate Blanchett. She plays the lead character who embarks on a lesbian affair with Roony Mara. When Variety asked if she has had personal experience in this realm, she replied, “Yes, many times” (she has since denied that statement, saying the quote was incomplete).

Reminder to readers advisors, Highsmith was writing “domestic noir” long before the current crop of best sellers. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, was adapted as a film by Alfred Hitchcock. David Fincher,  Gillian Flynn and Ben Affleck have teamed up to do their own version. Highsmith also wrote the Ripley series, which has been adapted into several films, most recently The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Unlike her other books, The Price of Salt, which she wrote under a psuedonymn in 1952. is not a psychological thriller. Vilified in the ’50’s for portraying a lesbian affair with a relatively happy ending, it went out of print and was brought back by feminist presses in the 1970’s and most recently by Norton.

Reviewing a 2009 biography of Highsmith, Jonathan Lethem recommended a “core curriculum” of the author’s novels. Publisher Norton has created a clever recommendation web site, Choose Your Highsmith, which also features a video of several authors, including Alison Bechdel, expressing their enthusiasm for The Price of Salt.

The film trailer has not been released yet. Below is a clip:

Tie-in, with movie cover art,  coming in Sept:

Carol
Patricia Highsmith

• Trade Paperback; $14.95
• ISBN 978-0-393-35268-9

The film adaptation of the 2012 best seller by Jo Jo Moyes, Me Before You (Penguin/Pamela Dorman) is has been rescheduled for release on June 3, 2016, moved nearly a year from its original  Aug. 21, 2015 date.

Starring Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games), it is directed by Thea Sharrock. This will be her first feature film, after directing the BBC miniseries The Hollow Crown and Call The Midwife. as well as several theatrical productions.

The book’s sequel After You, (Penguin/Pamela Dorman; Penguin Audio) has been announced for September (DRC’s are not available yet, but look for galleys at ALA).

The Daily Mail publishes scenes from the the movie set in Wales,

The movie Steve Jobs has a multitude of high-profile names attached to it, including director Danny Boyle, screen writer Aaron Sorkin, lead actor, Michael Fassbender and the author of the bio it’s based on, Walter Isaacson. It was teased in appropriate fashion with a spot on last night’s high-profile final episode (the “final episode EVER” as we were continually reminded) of AMC’s Mad Men.

The trailer is less than a minute long, but that gave critics enough to work with, from the New York Times (“seems to be courting Oscars right out of the gate”) to the L.A. Times  (“As befits the legacy of Jobs — an inveterate showman who whipped the Apple faithful into a frenzy by keeping the company’s creations secret until just the right moment — the teaser is enigmatic and intriguing”).

The movie arrives Oct. 9. A tie-in has not been announced.

The Lost Generation will be back on the big screen this year. The film adaptation of A. Scott Berg’s National Book Award winning bio, Max Perkins: Editor Of Genius, (Dutton, 1978; available in trade pbk. from Penguin Berkley), has been acquired for distribution by Lionsgate.

Colin Firth plays the legendary Scribner editor, with Jude Law as Thomas Wolfe, Dominic West as Ernest Hemingway and Guy Pearce as
F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Also in the cast are Laura Linney as Perkins’ wife Louise Saunders, and Nicole Kidman as Aline Bernstein, who was romantically involved with Wolfe.

To be released some time this year, the film has already generated Oscar buzz (which means it’s likely to be released towards the end of the year).

No trailer is available yet, but the Daily Mail gives glimpses of the actors during production last fall.

Our Books to Movies & TV listing has updated information on over 400 adaptations in the works (for tie-ins, check our Edelweiss collection).

Recent news:

The Circle, adapted from Dave Eggers’ book of the same title (RH/Knopf, 2013), starring Tom Hanks and Alicia Vikander is set  to begin filming in California, Aug, 2015

Queen of the South, based on the novel by Arturo Perez-Reverte, (RH/Alfaguara, 2010), already adapted as a hit show by Telemundo, has been ordered as a series by USA Network, to be released some time in 2016.

The Sense of an Ending, based on Julian Barnes’ Booker award winner, (RH/Alfred A. Knopf, 2011), produced by BBC Films, has signed Jim Broadbent to star.

A Dog’s Purpose, based on the 2010 best seller by Bruce Cameron (Macmillan/Forge), is in development with Lasse Hallstrom to direct

American Crime Story: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, a series for FX, based on the book by Jeffrey Toobin, (Random House, 1996) is ramping up. Selma Blair just joined the cast to play Kris Jenner, the ex-wife of Simpson’s attorney, Robert Kardashian, to be played by David Schwimmer. Also in the cast are Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson and John Travolta as Simpson’s co-counsel Robert Shapiro. No boadcast date yet, but the tie-in is scheduled for 9/29/15.

As season one of the Outlander series winds down on Starz (the finale airs May 30), shooting has begun on the next season.

Based on the second novel in the book series, Dragonfly In Amber (RH/Delta; 2001; Recorded Books; OverDrive Sample), it follows Jamie and Claire as they escape to France and try to stop the Jacobite rising.

Once again, it spans multiple time periods and also introduces new characters, including Jamie and Claire’s adult daughter Brianna, Fergus, Jamie’s spy and one-day-adopted son, and a young Lord John Grey.

According to the website zap2it, author Diana Gabaldon is pleased with the plans for season 2, saying:

The Parisian stuff is very good, and in fact I’m deeply impressed by the outlines I’ve seen of those scripts … I think they’ve done a wonderful job of pulling out the most important plot elements and arranging them in a convincing way …

Season two is slated to air in the spring of 2016, so fans will have to endure a year-long wait, or as they call it, #Droughtlander.

Calling it the “next True Detective,”  the Hollywood trades announce that HBO is set to adapt Liane Moriarty’s best seller Big Little Lies (Penguin/Putnam/Einhorn), winning it away from Netflix in a competitive auction. Niclole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon are producing and plan to star. They originally acquired the rights to the book, planning to adapt it as a feature film.

Like True Detective, which burnished the careers of its two stars, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, Hollywood watchers think this may do the same for Witherspoon and Kidman.

Both actress/producers have developed a taste for domestic thrillers. Kidman starred in Before I Go to Sleep, based on the novel by S.J. Watson (Harper, 2011). She’s also bought the rights to The Silent Wife, by A. S. A. Harrison (Penguin original trade pbk, 2013).

Reese Witherspoon recently optioned Watson’s upcoming mystery thriller Second Life (Harper; HarperAudio; HarperLuxe) and was a producer for Gone Girl, based on the novel by Gillian Flynn (RH/Crown, 2012).

After a long hiatus, the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s second novel Dark Places has quietly been added to the domestic movie schedule, with a release date of August 8th.

Premiering in France earlier this year, it has a lot going for it, including the major success of the author’s previous adaptation, Gone Girl, and an A-list cast featuring Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, and Chloe Grace Moretz.

Theron worked to promote it, telling interviewers that she suffered a trauma similar to the one portrayed in the film, but trade reviews were not appreciative (The Hollywood Reporter was mixed but Variety was not).

Meanwhile, as we noted earlier, Flynn’s first novel, Sharp Objects, is being adapted as a TV series.

Flynn, who has a developing career in Hollywood, is now at work on an original script with 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen.

Tie-in:

Dark Places (Movie Tie-In Edition)
Gillian Flynn
RH/Broadway: June 2, 2015
9780553418484, 0553418483
Trade Paperback
$14.00 USD, $17.00 CAD