A new film version of Stephen King’s Carrie is in the works, starring Chloe Moetz in the title role. News this week that Julianne Moore is in talks to play her crazed  religious fanatic mother (Piper Laurie had the role in the Brian de Palma 1976 version) has changed reactions from “There they go again,” to “Intriguing.”

The movie is now set for release on March 15, 2013.

This version will be directed by Kimberley Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry). How will she approach it? On her Facebook page, she says she’s going back to the original material:

… I have gone back to the wonderful STEPHEN KING Book CARRIE; I am also modernizing the story as one has to in order to bring any great piece of work written in one era into the next and especially given how very relevant this material is right now.

Lois Duncan has a powerful fan. Variety announced yesterday that Stephenie Meyer’s production company, Fickle Fish, has acquired the film rights to Duncan’s 1974 novel Down a Dark Hall (Hachette/Little, Brown).

Meyer confirms the story on her Web site, commenting, “I grew up reading and loving Lois Duncan novels, and I can’t believe my good luck that I get to be involved with this project. Down a Dark Hall was my favorite of her novels (though it’s a very close race with Summer of Fear and Stranger with My Face) and it gave me some serious nightmares when I was nine.”

She also notes that filming of her own novel, The Host, is almost finished. It’s scheduled for release on March 29.

The trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, the third movie in the series, has just been released. It lands in theaters on August 3.

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Yes, lead actor Zachary Gordon has done a bit of growing. Earlier this month, he told USA Today, “I’ve grown 13 inches since the first movie and my voice is really deep now. People will be surprised. But then they’ll see it is Greg. He’s still the same kid.”

The tie-in is the an expanded edition of the earlier The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary, with updates from the new movie. It arrives July 1.

If schedules hold, next year will be crowded with movies vying to follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter, Twilight or The Hunger Games. Release dates have been set for six new films (with a possible seventh, based on Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now) plus three sequels to established series, all based on books.

The early spring is particularly crowded, which may be the reason that Summit just moved Ender’s Game, based on the Orson Scott Card book, from March 15 to Nov. 1, 2013, putting it just a few weeks ahead of Catching Fire, the second in The Hunger Games franchise. As Entertainment Weekly comments, the studios apparently “think there’s room in the same month for two dystopian literary adaptations about a group of adolescent children rounded up by a totalitarian government to do battle with each other.”

After the jump, the schedule at this point (for a list of at all the upcoming movies based on books, click on Upcoming Movies Based on Books— with Tie-ins) :

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Hollywood is abuzz over news that Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games, has bowed out of the sequel, Catching Fire, scheduled for release in November of 2013. In a statement, he says, “As a writer and a director, I simply don’t have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule.”

The Hollywood Reporter speculated earlier that contract negotiations were not going well.

No replacement has been announced. Stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth will return for the sequel.

Filming for the second Percy Jackson movie, Sea of Monsters, based on Rick Riordan’s middle grade novel (Hyperion), will begin next week in Vancouver, Canada. It’s scheduled for release March 27, 2013.

Hunger Games actress, Leven Rambin, has just been tapped for the role of Clarisse, the daughter of Ares. Logan Lerman will return as Percy, Brandon Jackson as Grover,  and Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth. The director has changed, however. Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hotel for Dogs) is in that role this time, replacing Chris Columbus, who is one of the producers.

A graphic novel version is coming in January.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters, The: The Graphic Novel Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH – (2013-01-08) ISBN / EAN: 1423145291 / 9781423145295

It’s been on-again, off-again for the movie of City of Bones, the first book in YA series, Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. A release date of Aug, 23, 2013 was just announced, signaling that the project is finally moving forward.

Lily Collins (daughter of singer Phil Collins and now starring in Mirror Mirror) has signed to play teenager Clary Fray, directed by Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid).

William Joyce won an Oscar this year for his animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Next up is a Dreamworks holiday feature, Rise of the Guardians, opening November 21. The trailer has just been released:

Official Movie Site: RiseOfTheGuardians.com

The project also involves an extensive book publishing program, including picture books and chapter books about the characters.

The second title in the chapter book series was published last month:

E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core! (Guardians of Childhood Chapter Books) William Joyce Retail Price: $14.99 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers – (2012-02-21) ISBN / EAN: 1442430508 / 9781442430501

Featured n the movie’s Facebook page is this image of Santa’s tattooed forearms.

Now that it’s a bona fide hit, speculation is rife on what will be the “next Hunger Games.”

The Playlist examines fifteen properties that could fill the bill, with pros and cons for each. Three are scheduled for release next spring:

Beautiful Creatures (based on the first in a series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, published by Hachette/LBYR, 2009) — Feb. 1

The Seventh Son (based on the middle-grade title, Revenge of the Witch, the first in The Last Apprentice series, Joseph Delaney, published by HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2005. In the UK, the book is titled The Spook’s Apprentice and the series is called The Wardstone Chronicles) — Feb 15

Ender’s Game (based on the sci fi novel by Orson Scott Card, Macmillan/Tor, 1991) — March 15

Hollywood enjoys playing with numbers.

Deadline reports that, as of Friday night, Hunger Games brought in $68.25 million at North American box offices.

That puts the film on track for a $140 million opening weekend. While many thought it would have the highest opening weekend ever, that number puts it behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 3 and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. [UPDATE: The movie actually took in $155 million, putting it behind just the first two movies]

However, it is set to achieve several other milestones:

• Highest non-sequel opening weekend ever
• Highest debut single day for a non-sequel ever
• Highest March opening ever
• 5th highest opening day ever

Deadline also reports that, “Between the release of the first Hunger Games trailer in November 2011 and January 2012, the number of Collins’ books sold nearly doubled”

Jennifer Lawrence, once considered an imperfect fit for the role of Katniss (so much so that author Suzanne Collins felt the need to publicly defend the choice), is now being hailed for carrying the movie.

Lawrence is scheduled to appear in two more movies this year, including the horror movie, The House as the End of the Street, in September. She switches to an older role for a film based on The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (Macmillan/FSG/SarahCrichton, 2008), playing a widow in her 30s’s, obsessed by the character played by Bradley Cooper. It is scheduled for release on Nov. 21 of this year.The book is a favorite of Nancy Pearl’s.

She has also signed to play the title role in the movie Serena, based on the acclaimed novel by Ron Rash (HarperCollins/Ecco; 2009). It is currently in pre-production.

With the launch of The Hunger Games movie this week, Hollywood is in full publicity mode to remind viewers that more dystopian sci-fi is coming their way. The production blog for the film adaptation of  Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game launched this week. It hits screens next year, on March 15, starring Hailee Steinfeld, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis and Abigail Breslin. The publicity is already giving a sales boost to the book, which moved up the Amazon’s rankings, from #351 to #199.

Also released this week, the teaser trailer for Stephenie Meyer’s adult sci-fi title, The Host (with Meyer in the production role); it will be shown before screenings of The Hunger Games this weekend. Audiences may be baffled by it. In terms of how little it gives away about the movie, it rivals the first John Carter trailers.

It’s scheduled to open two weeks after Ender’s Game, on March 29, 2013. Stills of the movie, starring Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) and Max Irons (Red Riding Hood), are featured in the new issue of People.

Hunger Games is already expected to be a huge success when it opens tomorrow.The Hollywood Reporter says it “has the potential to score one of the top debuts of all time at the domestic box office.”  Rotten Tomatoes shows a 90% approval rating from critics — holdouts include Time magazine and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

 Slate jumps ahead to the final book in the trilogy, Mockingjay, warning it will “force filmmakers to turn massacre and despair into blockbuster entertainment.”

That trouble could be double; the third book in the series may be split in to two films. No release dates have been announced, but the second in the series, Catching Fire, is scheduled for Nov. 23, 2013.

MTV’s “Inside Movies” blog tells Twilight fans to mark their calendars for the release of Bel Ami, a “sexy period piece” starring Twilight heart throb Robert Pattinson on June 8th (ahead of Breaking Dawn, the final movie of the series, which opens in Nov). Based on a novel by Guy de Maupassant, Pattison plays a young social climber who seduces, blackmails & charms his way to the top in 19th century Paris. The film also stars Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci.

The movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Reviews have not been strong (Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating of just 45%). The Times of London said,

A cornucopia of cleavages and lingering close-ups of Robert Pattinson’s trouser department. For some readers, that may be a strong recommendation. Others may find this version of Guy de Maupassant’s 19th-century novel unintentionally hilarious.

The Twilight stars are sticking with literary adaptations. Pattison stars in the forthcoming Cosmopolis, based on the book book by Don DeLillo. Kristen Stewart (Bella) appears next in Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1), and On the Road, based on the book by Jack Kerouac (no date set).

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Bel Ami (Vintage Classics) Guy De Maupassant Retail Price: $14.00 Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: RH/Vintage – (2010-10-05) ISBN / EAN: 0307740889 / 9780307740885

The trailer for the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s seminal Beat Generation book, On the Road, is finally here.

Francis Ford Coppola bought the rights over 30 years ago. After several attempts to bring it to the screen, he hired  Brazilian filmmaker, Walter Salles to direct. As the director of another road trip movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, Salles is seen as the ideal choice.

Star power comes from Kristen Stewart (who plays Bella in the Twilight saga) in a supporting role as Dean Moriarity’s 16-year-old bride. She has also starred in indie movies and was particularly powerful portraying Joan Jett in The Runaways.

No US date has been scheduled yet, but, according to reports, it is likely to premiere at Cannes, followed by a release in the fall.

Penguin has published several editions of the book, including Kerouac’s original manuscript, which the author typed onto a continuous scroll, so he could work faster.

Many libraries own ebook editions of both versions, and downloadable audio editions (those libraries that haven’t already purchased the digital editions are out of luck, since Penguin stopped selling digital editions to libraries last fall).

Penguin made a stir when they published an “amplified edition” of On the Road as an app  in June, which became one of Apple’s top-grossing book apps.

For the book’s 50th anniversary in 2008, NYPL, which owns the Kerouac archives, held an exhibit, Included in the display was the original scroll, now in the collection of James Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts. The library published a companion volume to the exhibit, Beatific Soul (not listed on wholesaler sites, but still available through the library shop).

Beatific soul: Jack Kerouac on the road Isaac Gewirtz Retail Price:  $15 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: New York Public Library; In association with Scala Publishers, London – (2007) ISBN / EAN: 1857594975 / 9781857594973

Entertainment Weekly‘s “Inside Movies” blog just released a clip from the forthcoming The Trouble with Bliss, in which Michael C. Hall’s character explains how he chose the places he dreams of visiting. Turns out they are all based on books; something every book lover would find perfectly logical, but “Inside Movies” labels as “pathetic” (we’re betting their tone would different if the choices had been based on movies).

We can’t show you the scene, because it’s an Entertainment Weekly “exclusive,” but a portion of it appears in the beginning of the trailer.

After appearing at several film festivals last year, it will be in limited release (NYC and LA only) as well as VOD, beginning March 23rd.

It’s adapted from the book East Fifth Street Bliss by Douglas Light, (Behler Publ., 2006), which was reviewed by Library Journal and is currently owned by many libraries. It’s no longer in print, but Dreamscape is releasing an audio version, using the film’s title, that is available both as a CD and downloadable via OverDrive