There’s something almost electric about watching a book you love leap off the page and onto the screen. The anticipation, the nervous energy wondering if they’ll capture that one perfect scene just right. Will the characters match your imagination? Classic novels, in particular, carry an extra weight when adapted because generations of readers have already formed their own vivid mental pictures. Some adaptations soar beyond our wildest dreams, while others fall disappointingly flat.
Still, every announcement of a new literary adaptation sparks fresh hope. Throughout 2025, filmmakers are revisiting beloved classics and reimagining them with modern sensibilities and stellar casts. Whether you’re a purist who believes the book is always better or someone who enjoys both mediums equally, this year’s slate of adaptations promises visual spectacle, emotional depth, and fresh interpretations of stories we thought we knew by heart.
Wicked: For Good Brings Gregory Maguire’s Vision Full Circle
Following the first installment’s release in 2024, audiences will see Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba return in Wicked: For Good. Loosely based on author Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked tells the story of The Wizard of Oz’s characters before Dorothy’s arrival. The story reimagines the green-skinned Elphaba not as a villain but as a misunderstood heroine.
The Jon M. Chu-directed film based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book, which was conceived as a renowned stage musical, saw its first part released last year, with Marc Platt and David Stone, who produce the film, having brought Wicked to the stage when it debuted in 2003. Wicked has become the No. 2 highest-grossing Broadway show of all time, behind The Lion King. The theatrical heritage clearly influences the film’s dramatic scope and musical numbers.
Honestly, the second part has enormous shoes to fill after the first film’s massive success. The continuation promises to resolve Elphaba’s arc while deepening our understanding of how she became the figure history remembers as wicked.
Frankenstein Gets the Guillermo del Toro Treatment
Jacob Elordi stars in Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein adaption at Netflix based on Mary Shelley’s classic, with Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac, Christopher Waltz and Felix Kammerer also starring. Mary Shelley’s English Gothic classic is set to receive its latest adaptation in the coming year, directed by Oscar-winning Guillermo Del Toro, and with rising stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Mia Goth, the film brings a fresh take to the timeless tale: while striving to bring life back from the dead, Victor Frankenstein creates a horrifying creature in the process.
The casting alone signals something special here. Del Toro’s reputation for crafting visually stunning Gothic narratives makes him the perfect director for Shelley’s masterwork. This marks del Toro’s second feature with Netflix, following his Oscar-winning Pinocchio, which earned Best Animated Feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Here’s the thing: Frankenstein has been adapted countless times, yet each generation seems to need its own version. Del Toro’s distinct visual style and deep understanding of monsters as metaphors could finally give us the adaptation Shelley’s complex novel deserves. The November release on Netflix ensures maximum accessibility for viewers worldwide.
The Running Man Returns to Dystopian Reality
Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Josh Brolin, Katy O’Brian, Lee Pace, Michael Cera and Emilia Jones star in Paramount’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 story with Edgar Wright directing. The novel, which was written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman at the time, is coincidentally set in 2025 but in an America that’s under a totalitarian regime where violent game shows are used to placate the disenfranchised masses, centering on Ben Richards (to be played by Powell) who joins the most popular show, The Running Man, in which teams of killers hunt down contestants.
This adaptation arrives at a strangely prescient moment. Stephen King’s 1982 thriller is set in a dystopian 2025, where the United States’ economy is in shambles, following Ben Richards, who participates in a reality show where contestants must evade a team of hitmen in order to win money, with the film adaptation produced and directed by Edgar Wright, and starring Glen Powell, Katy O’Brian, Daniel Ezra, and Michael Cera.
Let’s be real, the themes of media manipulation and economic desperation feel uncomfortably relevant. Wright’s signature kinetic style combined with Powell’s action star charisma should deliver something far more faithful to King’s dark vision than the 1987 Schwarzenegger version. The November release positions it perfectly for awards consideration.
Animal Farm Comes to Life Under Andy Serkis
George Orwell’s satirical allegorical classic novella follows a group of farm animals as they rebel against their farmers, in hopes of creating a society where all animals are equal, with the film adaptation set to be released on July 11, with Andy Serkis as its director. The phrase “some animals are more equal than others” has echoed through political discourse for decades.
Serkis, master of motion-capture performance and director with a keen eye for character, brings unique qualifications to Orwell’s barnyard allegory. The timing couldn’t be more relevant as political divisions deepen globally.
Orwell’s 1945 novella remains as sharp and cutting today as when first published. The challenge lies in making the familiar story feel urgent rather than didactic. Serkis’s experience bringing non-human characters to vivid life through technology might be exactly what this adaptation needs to resonate with contemporary audiences who’ve grown up on CGI spectacle.
Klara and the Sun Explores AI Through Kazuo Ishiguro’s Lens
Longlisted for the Booker Prize and the Carnegie Medal in Fiction, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun follows the solar-powered Klara, an Artificial Friend that carefully watches over Josie, a sickly child that chooses her to be her companion, directed by Taika Waititi, and starring Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, and Aran Murphy, with the film slated for a 2025 release.
Ishiguro’s meditation on consciousness, love, and what makes us human arrives at a moment when artificial intelligence dominates cultural conversation. Waititi’s quirky sensibility might seem an odd match for Ishiguro’s restrained prose, yet his ability to find warmth in unusual places could work beautifully. Ortega continues building an impressive resume of genre-defying roles.
The novel asks profound questions about observation, devotion, and whether machines can truly feel. Translating Klara’s unique perspective to film presents fascinating challenges. How do you show an AI character’s inner life visually without resorting to tired sci-fi tropes?
Bonjour Tristesse Captures French Literary Sophistication
When Bonjour Tristesse, the debut novel by then 18-year-old first-time author Françoise Sagan, was first published in 1954, it became nothing short of a literary sensation, as the book follows main character Cécile on a formative summer vacation shared with her father Raymond, his younger lover Elsa, and Anne, a longtime family friend, with the novel capturing global attention upon its release due to its frank and unapologetic commentary around cross-generational promiscuity, and was first adapted into a film in 1958 by German director Otto Preminger.
After an acclaimed premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024, Bonjour Tristesse, directed by Durga Chew Bose, will be released in May 2025, with a refined cast and sensitive direction revisiting Françoise Sagan’s masterpiece. The film brings together an eclectic and inspired cast with Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang, Aliocha Schneider and Lily McInerny.
For writer-director Durga Chew-Bose’s feature debut, tackling Sagan’s sophisticated coming-of-age story demonstrates serious ambition. The sun-drenched French Riviera setting provides visual splendor, while the psychological complexity of teenage manipulation offers dramatic meat. This isn’t your typical breezy summer film despite the coastal backdrop.
Hamnet Brings Shakespearean Tragedy Home
Hamnet is a 2025 historical tragedy film directed by Chloé Zhao, who co-wrote the screenplay with Maggie O’Farrell, based on the 2020 novel by O’Farrell, dramatising the family life of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway as they cope with the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as Agnes and William, alongside Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, and Noah Jupe.
Hamnet had its world premiere at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival on 29 August 2025 and received a limited theatrical release by Focus Features in the United States and Canada on 26 November, with a wide theatrical release on 5 December and released by Universal Pictures in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2026. The film received critical acclaim, with the performances of Buckley and Mescal receiving particular praise.
Richard Lawson in The Guardian gave it four stars, calling it a poignant adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel with a stirring tearjerker ending, while BBC film critics Nicholas Barber and Caryn James deemed the movie to be the best of 2025 thanks to its rich and emotionally touching characters, its themes and its imagery. Zhao’s return to intimate character drama after the sprawling Eternals feels like a homecoming to her strengths.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy Tackles Modern Dating
Bridget Jones returns in the fourth film, based on the book of the same name by Helen Fielding, after three previous installments: Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016), with Leo Woodall (The White Lotus, One Day) and Chiwetel Eijofor (Rob Peace, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) starring as newcomers to the franchise, while Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers), Josette Simon (Anatomy of a Scandal), Nico Parker (Suncoast, How to Train Your Dragon) and Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie) also appear.
A national bestseller and the third chapter in the Bridget Jones series, Mad About the Boy follows Bridget Jones as she confronts single-parenthood and the dating scene four years after the death of her husband, with sexting, social media, and online dating now the new norm, and Jones’s new endeavors proving both hilarious and endearing, with the film adaptation scheduled to be released on Peacock on February 13, with Renée Zellweger reprising her role as Bridget Jones.
Fielding’s beloved character navigating widowhood and modern romance offers both humor and heartbreak. Zellweger slipping back into Bridget’s neurotic charm after nearly a decade feels like reuniting with an old friend. The shift to streaming rather than theatrical release reflects changing audience habits, though devoted fans will show up regardless of platform.
The Housemaid Promises Psychological Thrills
Paul Feig’s latest film is a psychological thriller based on the 2022 novel of the same name by Freida McFadden, with Sydney Sweeney starring as a struggling woman who finds work as a housemaid for an affluent couple (Amanda Seyfried and It Ends with Us’ Brandon Sklenar), only to discover her new employers may harbor some dark secrets.
The bestselling thriller The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden is set to make its way to the screen in 2025, bringing its intense suspense and shocking twists to a whole new medium, with the novel following the story of Millie, a down-on-her-luck woman who becomes a housemaid for a wealthy family, only to uncover dark secrets that put her in a dangerous position.
BookTok sensations translating to screen can go either way. McFadden’s twisty thriller built a devoted following through word-of-mouth and social media buzz. Sweeney’s star power combined with Seyfried’s capacity for playing complex women creates intriguing chemistry. The December release date positions it as holiday counterprogramming for thriller fans tired of feel-good family fare.
The Woman in Cabin 10 Takes Suspense to Sea
A journalist stumbles upon a gruesome secret while traveling aboard a luxury cruise ship, directed by Simon Stone and starring Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, and David Ajala, based on the novel by Ruth Ware, coming to Netflix on October 10, 2025. Ware’s bestselling mystery delivers claustrophobic tension on the high seas as journalist Lo Blacklock witnesses something impossible on a luxury cruise.
If you put a much darker tone onto an Agatha Christie mystery, you get The Woman in Cabin 10, with the film rightly claustrophobic despite the luxury yacht that dreams are made of. Knightley brings gravitas to pulpy material, potentially elevating genre conventions.
The isolated setting creates natural dramatic tension. Where can you run when surrounded by ocean? Ware’s skill at psychological suspense combined with Netflix’s reach should introduce her work to viewers who haven’t yet discovered her novels. The streamer continues dominating the thriller adaptation space.
These ten adaptations represent diverse approaches to bringing classic and contemporary novels to screen. Some stay faithful to beloved source material while others take bold creative liberties. Whether they succeed or disappoint, each offers a unique lens on stories that have already captured millions of readers’ imaginations. The real magic happens when film and literature complement rather than compete with each other, creating something greater than either medium alone. Which of these will you watch first?
