This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
2012 has been a great year for adaptations – with everything from classics like Great Expectations to Young Adult hits The Hunger Games and Breaking Dawn and modern favourites Silver Linings Playbook and The Lucky One.
It certainly looks like 2013 will be continuing the Young Adult theme, with the second Hunger Games book 'Catching Fire' reaching cinemas at the end of the year and a few potential new favourites heading for the big screen. There's still plenty in there for adults too with the new brilliantly dark take on Stephen King's Carrie and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
This year has begun with an adaptation of epic proportions. Already adapted from the original Victor Hugo book into the longest running musical in the world, Les Misérables is an incredibly beloved story. However, the musical side to it has never been adapted into a film – until now. Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) has brought together an insanely talented cast which includes Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried and Russell Crowe. The songs are sung live as the cast shoot their scenes and all the drama, action and emotion required from the production is evident. Hathaway and Jackman are likely to clean up come award season…
Les Misérables was released in the UK on 11th January. Check out my film review here.
Seeking to capitalise on the success of YA hits, Twilight and The Hunger Games, two new teen films arrive in February. First off, Beautiful Creatures brings something gothic and magical. The first in a series written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the story follows a boy in a small American town who begins a relationship with the new girl in town, only to find that her sixteenth birthday is set to decide her fate in a way neither can predict. Taking a slightly more bizarre and hilarious look at the end of the world, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion follows a zombie who begins to get more 'human' after meeting a woman and falling for her. The book is thought-provoking but hilarious and romantic. The adapted rom-com-(zom?) stars Nicholas Hoult and looks to be great fun!
Also out in February is the massively ambitious Cloud Atlas, based on the book by David Mitchell, which follows six stories through time and across the world. There is an all star cast including Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Grant and the film sees each of the cast list play numerous roles.
Check out trailers for Beautiful Creatures and Warm Bodies and Cloud Atlas.
The teen-based cinema takes a darker turn in March as Stephenie Meyer's other book (she wrote a little something called Twilight – you may have heard of it) The Host arrives. The story sees an alien race inhabit the minds of their human submissives – except for one girl who struggles to keep her own mind.
Check out the trailer for The Host.
Fans of the classics have not been ignored in 2013, with the long-awaited Baz Luhrmann adaptation of The Great Gatsby finally arriving in May. This take on Fitzgerald's most well-known tale, set in 1920s New York, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan.
Check out the trailer for The Great Gatsby.
After an incredibly promising start to the franchise earlier this year with the release of The Hunger Games, hopes are high for the second film from the Suzanne Collins novels, Catching Fire. Fans will have to wait until November sadly but hopefully the film – which sees Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) return home to begin her winner's tour of the districts under the watchful eye of the capitol – will not disappoint. Also in November (sadly delayed from its original April release), the mind games are set to continue as Chloe Moretz takes on the infamous role of Carrie in a new adaptation that looks like it might just be a closer adaptation to the King text than the De Palma adaptation from 1976. The story of the teenage girl just trying to fit in, while she battles with her misunderstood powers and her religious fanatic mother, is one of King's finest works of fiction and the film certainly seems to bring the blood you might expect from such a grim tale.
Check out my book review for Catching Fire and the creepy trailer for Carrie.
Which films are you looking forward to this year? Let us know in the comments below…