The media has been giving attention to the books that are about to become movies, from Oprah.com, to CNN, to the Today Show, which featured BuzzFeed’s 16 Books to read before their films open, a story that got over a million hits before the show.

You can also capitalize on the interest — use our lists of  books to movies in various states of production, Upcoming, In Production or those that are  still In Development to create real and virtual displays. Also don’t forget the highly anticipated TV shows based on books, such as Outlander, The Leftovers, Olive Kitteridge and The Strain.

Below are the titles that are getting media attention. Links are to trailers (after all, it is your professional duty to watch them) or to their listing on IMDB:

Labor Day, Joyce Maynard — in theaters now — CNN; Oprah.com

The Monuments Men, Robert M. Edsel, 2/7/14  — Today Show; Oprah.com

Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead, 2/7/14 — CNN

In Secret, 2/21/14, based on Thérèse Raquin, Émile Zola —  Oprah.com

Endless Love, Scott Spencer, 2/14/14 —  Oprah.com

Winter’s Tale, Mark Helprin, 2/14/14 — CNN; Oprah.com

(more…)

Several years after it was first announced, a TV series based on Neil Gaiman’s award-winning novel, American Gods, (HarperCollins) may be moving forward. Originally set as an HBO series to be produced by Tom Hanks’ Playtone company, the rights have just been picked up by FremantleMedia. On his blog, Gaiman says, “As to where you will be able to see it, who is going to be in it, who will be writing or show-running, none of these things have yet been settled. But it already looks like it’s going to be a smoother run developing it than it had at HBO, so I am very pleased.”

Gaiman also announces that a separate project, based on the American Gods followup, Anansi Boys (HarperCollins), is set to be made into a TV miniseries in the UK for the BBC.

There is also movement on another title in the “long awaited Gaiman adaptations” category. Last month, it was announced that a film version of the Sandman graphic novel series (Vertigo) will be directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who may also star. In an interview, however, Levitt warns it is still “Very, very early days.”

Last year, it was announced that Ron Howard had signed on to direct The Graveyard Book as had Joe Wright for an adaptation of Gaiman’s adult novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Howard is currently filming another adaptation, Heart of the Sea, based on Nathaniel Philbrick‘s In The Heart of the Sea, scheduled for release on March 13, 2015. Wright is in pre-productionan on Pan, a original prequel to Peter Pan, with Hugh Jackman starring as Blackbeard, now set for release in July, 2015

As  book people know, it’s important tune in to major cultural events to see what book information they may convey.

What did yesterday’s Superbowl broadcast tell us about forthcoming books?

Unsurprisingly, books got scant attention on the field, so we had to turn to the commercials. At $4 million per 30-second spot, we didn’t expect an actual book ad, but there were a few for book adaptations, including the usual comics-based movie teaser; this time for two Marvel productions, Captain America: Winder Solder, coming April 4th, and  Amazing Spider-Man 2, which releases on May 2nd. Several children’s tie-ins are coming for each, which are listed on our Upcoming Movies Based on Book, with Tie-ins.

Also featured, a trailer for the already heavily-promoted FX TV series based on Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s vampire trilogy, The Strain, (HarperCollins/Morrow, 2009). This one has already appeared on the Web, so no surprises. The moody trailer seems to have mystified some and it still only gives “Summer” as the release date.

We did learn that Fox, in partnership with National Geographic, is putting marketing bucks behind their reboot of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, hosted by the world’s best-known astrophysicist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, with the tagline, “14 billions years in 13 episodes.” It begins airing on March 9.

Tie-in:

Cosmos by Carl Sagan, Foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson

RH/Ballantine
December 10, 2013

9780345539434, 0345539435 $15.00

The star of several films based on books, actor Philip Symour Hoffman was found dead in his apartment yesterday,

His received strong reviews for his portrayal of a German spy in A Most Wanted Man, based on the 2008 novel by John LeCarre, which was shown at the recent Sundance Film Festival.

His most amazing transformation was as the author Truman Capote, in the film Capote, for which he won an Oscar. One of our favorites was his supporting role as the conniving Freddie Miles in The Talented Mr. Ripley (based on the book by Patricia Highsmith). He recently shot scenes in Atlanta for the the two upcoming Mockingjay movies, in which he plays Plutarch Heavensbee (news sources say this will not cause a delay. Hoffman’s scenes for Part One are said to have been completed, but there is no information on how the studio will handle Part Two).

There’s no exact U.S. release date yet for A Most Wanted Man but it is expected later this year.

Photos from the set of the BBC production of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, based on Susanna Clarke’s 2004 best seller, are available via The Daily Mail.

The 7-part series, which Time magazine’s critic calls “Possibly my most-anticipated new TV show of the year” will air in the U.S. on BBC America, but no dates have been announced.

In its day, the book was also eagerly anticipated, as Michael Dirda’s Washington Post review makes clear. Although Clarke said in a 2004 interview that she plans to continue the story, the only book she has published since is a collection of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, (Macmillan/Bloomsbury, 2006).

The book is still in print. Media tie-in editions have not yet been announced.

A sneak peek of the trailer legions have been waiting for aired yesterday on The Today Show (the full trailer is below).

Thanks to the snow in many parts of the country, lots of kids got to see it. For those in school, some sympathetic teachers let them watch.

The original tagline, “One Sick Love Story” was controversial. It seems the producers are now going with the far less interesting, “Bring on the Feelies.”

The movie opens June 6.

Released yesterday, Esther Earl’s book, This Star Won’t Go Out, (Penguin/Dutton Juvenile), published after the authors death at 16, is rising on Amazon sales rankings.

Esther was the inspiration for John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Her fictional counterpart, Hazel, is portrayed by actress Shailene Woodley in the film version, coming to theaters June 6, 2014.

USA Today covered the story yesterday. The following video is included in the online version:

It’s going to be a long marketing campaign. The first poster for Fifty Shades of Grey, the movie, debuted on oversized billboards in several cities this weekend, even getting coverage on TV news programs.

Appropriately, it is in black and white (the movie will be color), with the tagline, “Mr. Grey will see you now.” Well, not exactly “now” — the movie arrives in a year, on Valentine’s Day, 2015.

The film is currently shooting in Vancouver,  Canada (which is standing in for the Seattle of the book); see images here. British singer Rita Ora, who plays Christian Grey’s adopted sister Mia, told MTV News at the Grammy’s that the movie will be an “amazing shock.”

She seems to mean that in a good way.

The Sundance Film Festival ends this weekend and many of you may have figured out that the unifying theme of our book display challenge is “Books at Sundance,” the movies based on books that premiered at the festival.

Apparently, our contest was too obscure; nobody came up with the correct answer by Monday’s deadline. Many were partially right, that all the books are the basis for movies, but nobody caught the crucial timely element, that they will all be shown at Sundance. We are awarding some winners, nonetheless, who will receive copies of the coveted print galley of Rainbow Rowell’s forthcoming book, Landline (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press). If you didn’t win, you can comfort yourself by downloading the egalley.

How are the films doing with critics? Jamie Marks is Dead, based on One for Sorrow received a mixed review from Variety; Life Itself, based on Roger Ebert’s memoir, is called “enthralling” by Entertainment Weekly; Low Down, about a noted jazz pianist, fared well with Variety‘s reviewer, but less so with The Hollywood Reporter‘s; White Bird in a Blizzard is called a “sci-fi sex romp” by The Guardian; garnering the most attention is Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of a spy in A Most Wanted Man.

U. S. theatrical releases dates have not been announced for any of the films.

Titles (links are to WorldCat)

Life Itself, Roger Ebert, Hachette/Grand Central, 2011

One for Sorrow, Christopher Barzak, Bantam Books, 2007

Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales From Childhood, A.J. Albany, Bloomsbury/Tin House, 2003

A Most Wanted Man, John le Carré, S&S/Scribner, 2008

White Bird in a Blizzard, Laura Kasischke, Hyperion, 1999

The first two images from the upcoming adaptation of Lois Lowry’s beloved book The Giver, (HMH), which recently recently wrapped in Cape Town, South Africa, are featured today on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Inside Movies” blog,

Jeff Bridges, who plays The Giver is pictured above, with Brenton Thwaites as Jonas. As fans of the book will note, this Jonas is much older, a decision that has been controversial. Bridges, who has shepherded this project for nearly 20 years, originally balked at the idea. He has since come around and now says “We were so lucky to have Thwaites play this role. He does a beautiful job.”  Entertainment Weekly notes that author Lowry is also on board and has worked closely with Bridges and Noyce, even costuming extras on the set.

The movie is set to arrive in theaters on August 15.

Two upcoming films are each based on best selling memoirs about hiking, but their settings and tone are miles apart.

Robert Redford notes, in this week’s The Hollywood Reporter cover story, that shooting will begin in March on the long-gestating adaptation of Bill Bryson’s memoir, A Walk in the Woods, (RH/Broadway; RH Audio, 1998). About the author’s quixotic attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail with his old pal Katz, a man even more ill-prepared for the adventure than he is, it stars Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as Katz (in a role originally planned for Redford’s late friend Paul Newman). Larry Charles. who wrote for Seinfeld and directed Borat as well as episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, is set to direct.

Different Coast, Different Tone

Shooting has just wrapped on Wild, based on Cheryl Strayed’s memoir (RH/Knopf; RH Audio; Thorndike; 2012) about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in an effort to resolve some deep personal issues, including drug use. Set to arrive in theaters later this year, Reese Witherspoon is both star and producer.The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, whose Dallas Buyers Club received multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

In prep for tomorrow night’s debut of the Lifetime adaptation of the 1979 novel, Flowers in the Attic, on track to become a camp classic, you must read the New Yorker‘s TV critic Emily Nussbaum’s analysis that the original, “isn’t really a book about incest after all, or even bad moms. It’s the written analogue of an after-school special about the dangers of reading.”

The Oscar nominees have been announced. You can make your picks on ballots from several sources, including the NYT ballot.

Book adaptations made a strong showing in the major categories (we’re including August: Osage County, which is adapted from a play).

Oscar Nominees Based on Books — Major Categories

Best Picture — 5 of 9
Director — 3 of 5
Actor in a Leading Role — 3 of 5
Actress in a Leading Role — 2 of 5
Actor in a Supporting Role — 4 of 5
Actress in a Supporting Role — 3 of 5

Total — 20 of 34

The Leaders

The leading adaptations  are American Hustle (10 nominations, based on The Sting Man), 12 Years a Slave (9), Captain Phillips (6), The Wolf of Wall Street (5) and Philomena (4). For more on the books, see our list of Books to Movies and TV — Released in 2013.

Trailing Behind

Meanwhile, several other adaptations came up short, only getting nominations in the more technical categories, despite early predictions:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Sounding Mixing

Lone Survivor —  Sound Editing, Sound Mixing

The Great Gatsby — Production Design, Costume Design

Inside Llewyn Davis — Cinematography, Sound Mixing

The Book Thief — Original Score

Saving Mr. Banks  — Original Score

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom — Original Song

Invisible Woman  — Costume Design

The film adaptation of Gayle Forman’s 2009 best selling YA title, If I Stay, (Penguin), is now set for release on August 22.

Actress Chole Moretz stars as Mia, a 17 year-old who, while in a coma after a car accident, must choose whether to live or die; Jamie Blackley (Snow White And The Huntsman, The Fifth Estate) as her boyfriend Adam; Mirella Enos and Denny Hall,  as her parents and Stacy Keach as Gramps. Director R. J Cutler is known for his documentaries, including the Emmy-award-winning American High.

The first trailer for the STARZ adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series is now available, with the tagline: “What if Your Future Was Your Past?”

There’s no specific release date yet, beyond “Summer 2014.”

Entertainment Weekly interviewed the director Ron Moore recently, asking a crucial question; “how much sex will the show have?” Moore responded, “There is a fair amount. We don’t really have to add very much; there’s a lot of sex in the book.”

Asked if the success of Game of Thrones has influenced him, Moore said, “It’s definitely opened that door and showed that fantasy and genre material has a strong audience on premium cable. They also showed you can take an existing readership and turn it into an audience and then broaden that audience.”

No tie-ins have been announced yet.