Books turning into movies are always a hot market, but particularly now as the attention economy is so competitive. The film industry runs on IP, and IP usually comes with a built in audience or at least some degree of recognition. That is why original scripts are so few and far between, because audiences like to know what they are getting before going in. Let’s take a look at all the books that have been picked up and are set to hit the big screen in 2026.
Wuthering Heights – 13th February
This is a biggie. The classic gets the Emerald Fennell experience on Valentines Day weekend this year. Emerald Fennell, the millennial mastermind behind hot original scripts Saltburn and Promising Young Woman is taking on her first adaptation. The marketing is already stand out, and there is absolutely no doubt that the film itself will have a shock factor despite the known IP. Key stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are huge draws for the audience. Positioned well on the 50 Shades of Grey Valentines release date, this will be for the grown up Barbie fans.
Project Hail Mary – 20th March
The author of The Martian examines the human condition again with a monster of a book, Project Hail Mary which was released over COVID in 2021. Ryan Gosling is set to star as the unsuspecting primary school teacher roped in to save the future of civilisation. It’s set to hit screens the week of St Patricks Day.
The Odyssey – 17th July
Christopher Nolan is like Oasis; he can sell out a stadium (the BFI IMAX Waterloo) a year in advance to die hard fans. Tickets for The Odyssey, the adaptation of the epic poem, were put on sale on 17th July 2025, and the tickets sold out in minutes, such is the experiential power he holds. It will be another mass market event cinema like Oppenheimer was, and it set to reach similar heights.
Verity – 2nd October
Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett all star in Verity, the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation hot on the heels of It Ends With Us. The book follows a struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh, hired by Jeremy Crawford to finish his bestselling author wife Verity’s book series after an accident incapacitates her. While staying at the Crawford home, Lowen discovers a shocking, unfinished autobiography revealing Verity’s dark secrets, including abuse and the deaths of her twin daughters, leading to a complex romance with Jeremy and an ethical dilemma about exposing the manuscript.
FILM FOR THOUGHT 