USA TODAY International Edition
17 books to read before they become films in 2021
Need a good read for your next beach trip? See these titles before they hit the screen.
If you’re looking for your next beach read, you’ve come to the right place. ● Every year, tons of books are adapted for the big and small screen. And if you’re anything like us, you often prefer to read them first so you can moan about how the book was better. ( Unless it’s Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl,” our go- to comfort movie and the rare film that improved on its source material.) ● Some of this year’s most hotly anticipated TV series are based on novels – Amazon’s “The Underground Railroad” and Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers,” among them – as are many of 2022’ s potential Oscar contenders, including new dramas starring Lady Gaga, Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett. ● Here are 17 upcoming adaptations that you can read right now:
1. ‘ Things Heard & Seen’
Newly minted Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) stars with James Norton (“Little Women”) in this supernatural horror thriller, about a couple whose marriage unravels when they move into a haunted house in upstate New York. The movie, which also stars Natalia Dyer (“Stranger Things”), is based on Elizabeth Brundage’s 2017 novel “All Things Cease to Appear.”
● Streaming on Netflix now.
2. ‘ Without Remorse’
Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther,” “Creed”) goes full action hero as John Clark, an ex- Navy SEAL out for revenge, in this adaptation of Tom Clancy’s 1993 novel. The movie is a spinoff of the Jack Ryan film series focusing on Clark’s character, who has been played by Willem Dafoe ( 1994’ s “Clear and Present Danger”) and Liev Schreiber ( 2002’ s “The Sum of All Fears”).
● Streaming on Amazon Prime Friday.
3. ‘ Monster’
Three years after its premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, “Monster” is finally arriving on Netflix. The legal drama is based on Walter Dean Myers’ 1999 young adult novel about a high school honor student ( Kelvin Harrison Jr.) whose life is turned upside down when he’s accused of murder. Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Wright and John David Washington co- star.
● Streaming on Netflix May 7.
4. ‘ Finding You’
An aspiring violinist ( Rose Reid)
studying abroad in Ireland falls in love with a heartthrob movie star in this adaptation of Jenny B. Jones’ 2011 young adult romance novel “There You’ll Find Me.”
● In theaters May 14.
5. ‘ Those Who Wish Me Dead’
Angelina Jolie plays a smokejumper tasked with protecting a young boy from assassins in this wilderness survival thriller, based on Michael Koryta’s 2016 novel and directed by Taylor Sheridan ( Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone”).
● In theaters and streaming on HBO Max May 14.
6. ‘ The Woman in the Window’
Originally scheduled for a theatrical release in fall 2019, the long- delayed “Woman” is, at last, seeing the light of day on Netflix. Directed by Joe Wright (“Atonement”) and based on A. J. Finn’s 2018 bestseller, the pulpy thriller follows a recluse ( Amy Adams) who thinks she witnesses a murder. Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman and Jennifer Jason Leigh round out the all- star cast.
● Streaming on Netflix May 14.
7. ‘ The Dry’
A federal agent ( Eric Bana) returns to his hometown to investigate a murdersuicide and is forced to confront his past in this Australian crime drama, based on Jane Harper’s 2017 novel.
● In theaters and on demand May 21.
8. ‘ Fatherhood’
Kevin Hart gets serious as a single dad raising his baby girl after his wife’s unexpected death. Backed by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions, the drama is based on Matthew Logelin’s 2011 book “Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love.”
● Streaming on Netflix June 18.
9. ‘ The Last Letter From Your Lover’
The latest screen adaptation of a 2012 romance novel by Jojo Moyes (“Me Before You”), this time stars Felicity Jones as a young journalist who uncovers old love letters between a star- crossed pair ( Shailene Woodley and Callum Turner) and becomes obsessed with finding the couple.
● Streaming on Netflix July 23.
10. ‘ Dune’
“Arrival” filmmaker Denis Villeneuve takes on Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci- fi classic, long- deemed an “impossible” novel to adapt for the big screen. Timothée Chalamet plays a brooding space prince caught between warring families, leading an Alist cast including Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa and Rebecca Ferguson.
● In theaters and streaming on HBO Max Oct. 1.
11. ‘ The Last Duel’
Oscar- winning screenwriting duo Ben Affleck and Damon (“Good Will Hunting”) reunite to script this adaptation of Eric Jager’s 2004 book, about two best friends ( Damon and Adam Driver) in 14th- century France who face off after one man is accused of rape. Ridley Scott directs and Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”) co- stars.
● In theaters Oct. 15.
12. ‘ House of Gucci’
Lady Gaga is back on screen after 2018’ s “A Star Is Born” in another awards- friendly drama, based on Sara Gay Forden’s 2001 book and directed by Ridley Scott. The pop star plays the reallife Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of plotting the 1995 murder of her exhusband, Gucci fashion house head Maurizio Gucci ( Adam Driver).
● In theaters Nov. 24.
13. ‘ Nightmare Alley’
“Carol” co- stars Blanchett and Rooney Mara reunite for this thriller set against the backdrop of traveling carnivals in the 1920s and ’ 30s. Adapted from William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel and directed by Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), the film’s starstudded ensemble including Bradley Cooper, Dafoe and Toni Collette.
● In theaters Dec. 3.
14. ‘ Blonde’
“Knives Out” breakout Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe in this adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel, which takes a fictionalized look at the Hollywood icon’s inner life.
● Streaming on Netflix later this year.
15. ‘ Nightbooks’
Krysten Ritter plays an evil witch who imprisons a young boy in her New York apartment in this adaptation of J. A. White’s horror- fantasy children’s book.
● Streaming on Netflix later this year.
16. ‘ The Power of the Dog’
Oscar- winning writer/ director Jane Campion (“The Piano”) returns with a drama based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel, about a woman who comes between two ranch- owning brothers. Benedict Cumberbatch and real- life couple Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons star.
● Streaming on Netflix later this year.
17. ‘ Worth’
A lawyer ( Michael Keaton) allocates funds to 9/ 11 victims’ families in this legal drama, adapted from Kenneth Feinberg’s 2006 memoir. The movie, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, features Stanley Tucci, Amy Ryan and Laura Benanti.
● Streaming on Netflix later this year.
ALABAMA Montgomery: After COVID- 19 disrupted two school years, lawmakers are weighing a pause in an upcoming state requirement for third graders to pass a reading test before moving up to the fourth grade.
ALASKA Anchorage: The Anchorage Assembly has voted to revoke pandemic- related restrictions on businesses and gatherings and to make them recommendations instead.
ARIZONA Vail: A school board ended a study session and canceled a meeting after dozens of parents protested the district’s refusal to lift its mask mandate aimed at curbing the spread of COVID- 19. The parents, many not wearing masks, pushed their way into the board room for Vail Unified School District, KGUN- TV reports.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday signed into law measures preventing state and local governments from requiring COVID- 19 vaccines or proof of vaccination in order to access services.
CALIFORNIA Anaheim: Populous counties are advertising that anyone can walk in for a COVID- 19 shot, and the state is texting reminders that plenty of appointments are available. But doctors and advocates say scoring a vaccine is still tough for some older residents, the homebound, and people struggling with technology.
COLORADO Denver: The state’s biggest public universities will require students, faculty and staff to receive COVID- 19 vaccinations before the beginning of the fall semester, school leaders announced Wednesday.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: The state will no longer allow a religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities, becoming the sixth state to end that policy. Gov. Ned Lamont signed the legislation into law Wednesday.
DELAWARE Wilmington: With a steady supply of doses and vaccination rates slowing in the First State, officials have established walk- in hours for vaccination clinics at state service centers. All are within a 10 minute walk from a DART bus stop.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Patrons can’t get into many clubs without an ID. Now, some business owners want to ask to see a vaccine card too, WUSA- TV reports. Bill Duggan, owner of Madam’s Organ, said more than 90 venue owners and musicians have now signed on to the concept as a way to reopen more quickly and encourage vaccination.
FLORIDA Fort Myers: The state is trailing the national average for adults fully vaccinated against COVID- 19 and is behind 36 other states and D. C. in getting people their full course of shots, federal data shows.
GEORGIA Athens: University of Georgia graduates will get a spring commencement with COVID- 19 modifications. UGA President Jere W. Morehead said the university will have not one but four ceremonies for the spring 2021 graduates – three for undergrads and one for the master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees.
HAWAII Honolulu: The state House on Tuesday killed a bill that would have curtailed the governor’s emergency powers, a measure that was introduced after Gov. David Ige issued 19 emergency proclamations to suspend laws, impose travel quarantines and take other steps to address the coronavirus public health crisis.
IDAHO Boise: Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday signed into law legislation that would outlaw nearly all abortions by banning them once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
ILLINOIS Springfield: Overcrowding at some nursing homes caused a disproportionate number of preventable deaths among Black and Latino residents, state officials said Wednesday. The Department of Healthcare and Family Services is proposing $ 300 million in new funding for nursing homes that hire more workers.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra said Thursday that it will resume in- person performances in May after not playing for live audiences for more than a year due to the pandemic.
IOWA Des Moines: With interest in COVID- 19 vaccines lagging, Gov. Kim Reynolds said public health officials plan to make shots available at farmers markets and sports events.
KANSAS Overland Park: Doctors are reporting that more parents are refusing to have their sick children tested for the coronavirus because they don’t want to deal with the hassle if the result is positive. Pediatric Partners in Overland Park recently posted an alert on its Facebook page exhorting parents to stay vigilant because so many weren’t following testing advice, The Kansas City Star reports.
KENTUCKY Lexington: The Railbird Music Festival, canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, plans to return live outdoor music to Keeneland Racetrack on Aug. 28- 29.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Officials announced Thursday that restaurants, bars and other businesses in the hospitality- driven city can operate at 100% capacity, up from 75%.
MAINE Portland: The director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said outdoor graduation ceremonies can be safely held this year, guided by common sense.
MARYLAND Annapolis: The state is lifting its outdoor mask requirement, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday. Face coverings will still be required at large ticketed venues.
MASSACHUSETTS Agawam: The Six Flags New England amusement park announced Wednesday that it plans to reopen its rides in mid- May adding coronavirus safety protocols.
MICHIGAN Lansing: The state’s former health director said Thursday that he resigned in January after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told him it was “time to go in a new direction,” telling lawmakers he was comfortable signing an order to relax COVID- 19 restrictions despite a difference of opinion with the governor. Robert Gordon said he was serving as an appointee, and “it’s important that the governor is comfortable with you in that role.”
MINNESOTA St. Cloud: Residents can now schedule appointments for COVID- 19 shots at community vaccination sites around the state using VaccineConnector.mn.gov.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Almost twothirds of residents 65 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID- 19 vaccine, state health officials said Wednesday. Still, overall numbers of inoculations are lagging in recent weeks – a reflection of a lack of buy- in on the vaccine from young people.
MISSOURI St. Louis: Washington University in St. Louis has announced plans to require students to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus this fall. The school said it would allow some religious and medical exemptions.
MONTANA Helena: Gov. Greg Gianforte has proposed amendments to a bill that seeks to prevent discrimination based on vaccine status that appear to try to address concerns raised by health care organizations. The Montana Hospital Association and other groups argued the bill could leave them unable to screen potential employees and prohibit them from requiring vaccines of employees who have direct contact with patients and the public.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Clark County will assume control of COVID- 19 mitigation efforts Saturday, increasing capacity limits to 80% and reducing social distancing to 3 feet.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state has scheduled 10 virtual job fairs next month. Starting May 23, New Hampshire is once again requiring people receiving unemployment benefits to be looking for work. That was waived last year during the coronavirus pandemic.
NEW JERSEY Jersey City: Students in the state’s two largest cities have begun making their return to classrooms. On Thursday, students in Jersey City began returning to school, just days after Newark officials said they were expanding inperson instruction to four days a week, up from two. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday that nearly 86% of students in the state are back in person in some format.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The state Capitol has reopened to the public as the pandemic eases. It was closed to the general public for four consecutive legislative sessions.
NEW YORK Albany: People will no longer have to buy a jelly sandwich, chips or other snack with their beer under an executive order that state lawmakers repealed Wednesday. Last summer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo required food to be sold with alcoholic beverages at bars and restaurants, a rule restaurant owners have blasted for months as nonsensical.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Residents may now assemble in larger groups and gather outdoors without masks. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that the state was lifting the outdoor mask mandate and boosting gathering limits to 100 people indoors and 200 outdoors, a doubling from the current levels.
NORTH DAKOTA Minot: The pandemic has taken down one of the state’s most popular festivals for a second year. The Norsk Hostfest bills itself as North America’s largest Scandinavian festival and usually draws about 60,000 visitors.
OHIO Columbus: Ohioans working from home can pay income taxes to the cities where their companies are located, according to a Wednesday ruling from a Franklin County judge. The ruling, which dismissed a July 2020 lawsuit with prejudice, upheld a law passed during last year’s shutdown that let cities keep collecting municipal income taxes from commuters whose companies temporarily closed their downtown offices.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: A new poll shows Republican voters in the state are far more likely than Democrats to believe it is already safe to gather in groups of 10 or more. The poll also shows GOP voters are more likely to believe the bigger risk from the pandemic now is to the economy rather than to health.
OREGON Salem: Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday extended Oregon’s state of emergency for COVID- 19 to June 28, saying a fourth surge of the pandemic driven by variants of the coronavirus is causing increased cases and hospitalizations.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Employees of a vendor paid to conduct coronavirus contact tracing in the state may have compromised the private information of at least 72,000 people, including their exposure status and sexual orientation, the state Health Department said Thursday.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is getting more than $ 750,000 in federal coronavirus relief funding to help arts- related small businesses, artists, and arts and culture organizations recover from the pandemic, officials said Thursday.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: The one- dose COVID- 19 vaccine is back in use in the state, and leaders said they are considering setting up vaccination clinics this summer in places such as beaches and festivals.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Most colleges and universities in the state are bringing commencement back in person this year. The University of South Dakota’s ceremony will be held at the DakotaDome, with space for up to four guests per graduate but masks required. South Dakota State University hasn’t pinned down a venue but is giving each student a six- ticket seating pod. Dakota State University will allow two guests each at the Fieldhouse ceremony and two more tickets for a second location where the event will be livestreamed.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Bars and restaurants could keep up the coronavirus- era offering of to- go alcoholic drinks for two years under a bill now awaiting action from Republican Gov. Bill Lee. The GOP- supermajority Legislature finished work on the to- go drinks legislation with the Senate’s passage Wednesday.
TEXAS Dallas: The state has topped 50,000 COVID- 19 deaths during the pandemic, Johns Hopkins University researchers reported Wednesday.
UTAH St. George: So far, 40% of the state’s residents have received at least one dose of a COVID- 19 vaccine, including 53.8% of people 16 and up.
VERMONT Montpelier: A program started during the pandemic to provide restaurant meals to residents experiencing food insecurity has served 1 million meals, Gov. Phil Scott said Thursday. Since Vermont Everyone Eats kicked off in August 2020, more than 200 restaurants have contributed to the meals that included nearly $ 1 million of Vermont- produced ingredients, the governor’s office said.
VIRGINIA Richmond: More universities are returning to in- person graduation ceremonies. Virginia Commonwealth University will hold a universitywide commencement online May 15. Individual departments can decide whether to hold in- person graduation. Virginia Tech will have 16 in- person ceremonies by college from May 10 to May 16 with up to four guests allowed per graduate. The school will also hold a virtual ceremony May 14. The University of Virginia will hold its commencement outdoors May 21- 23, and each student can have two guests.
WASHINGTON Edmonds: Two fraudulent coronavirus testing sites appeared north of Seattle in downtown Edmonds on Tuesday, and local police are warning people to be alert. Edmonds police Sgt. Josh McClure said one phony testing site was in front of a Starbucks, and the other was near the ferry terminal, The Daily Herald reports. The sites have since been removed.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: State officials are still working to hammer out details of how to send $ 100 savings bonds to residents ages 16 to 35 who get a COVID- 19 shot. Republican Gov. Jim Justice said the incentive program to immunize young people will also apply retroactively for anyone in the age range who already received a vaccine.
WISCONSIN Madison: State health officials say only 0.03% of people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID- 19 have tested positive for the coronavirus.
WYOMING Cheyenne: The University of Wyoming and Laramie County Community College say they will not require students and employees to receive COVID- 19 shots before returning to campus next school year.