Book to Film Adaptations in 2012

Once upon a time book fans dreaded the movie franchise; knowing that their favourite book would likely be slaughtered, pulled to pieces, destroyed and misrepresented on the big screen. Screenwriters turned stories around completely in order to make them more 'cinematic'. But book to film adaptations are different now. Directors work hard to stay true to the original text, often managing to create movies that are almost exactly as you imagined it when you read it.

So, what do we have to look forward to in 2012? Here is just a taste of the huge number of book to film adaptations coming this year:

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (from the book by Jonathan Safran Foer)

Adapted for screen by Eric Roth 

Starring Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock

After his father dies in the World Trade Center on September 11, nine-year-old amateur inventor and pacifist, Oskar, searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key he finds in his father's bedroom.

The Woman in Black (from the book by Susan Hill

Adapted for screen by Jane Goldman

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer and Ciarán Hinds

This gothic horror follows Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer, as he travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.

The Hunger Games (from the book by Suzanne Collins)

Adapted for screen by Billy Ray and Gary Ross
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth

Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place for the latest match. 

The Hobbit (from the book by JRR Tolkien)
Adapted for screen by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro
Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage

Peter Jackson returns to direct this first installment of the book in which Bilbo Baggins journeys to the Lonely Mountain with a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.


Other upcoming book to film adaptations include Dr Seuss' The Lorax, The Life of Pi (Yann Martel), Odd Thomas (Dean R. Koontz), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath), The Tiger (John Vaillant) and World War Z (Max Brooks).