With Apple TV+ series Dark Matter—adapted from Blake Crouch’s best-selling novel—now streaming, it seemed like the perfect time to assemble a new list of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that have movies and TV series in the works. Add them to your summer reading list, and you’ll be an expert in the material by the time they hit screens!
Lindy Ryan’s debut novel was picked up in March with an eye toward developing it into a TV series. Set in 1999, the story follows a family of women who own the only funeral parlor in their small Texas town—a business that gets awfully complicated when (as the book’s vampiric cover art suggests) the dead start rising from their graves.
Victor LaValle’s The Changeling made for quite the fascinating Apple TV+ series last year, so we’re looking forward to this adaptation of one of his other novels—a thriller set in a psychiatric hospital haunted by a monster who might be the actual Devil. The author himself shared an update on X earlier this year, reporting he’d been at AMC’s New York offices “meeting with a lot of talented people about hiring for roles” for a Devil in Silver TV show. He added, “Early stages but it is happening.” (Now, someone do Lone Women next!)
Oscar winner Siân Heder (CODA) was recently tapped to direct Paramount Pictures’ anticipated big-screen adaptation of this 2022 best-seller. It spans decades in the lives of childhood friends who create a blockbuster video game together—a tale that will no doubt translate to a visually dynamic screen story.
Better start reading fast—the adaptation from writer-director Ishana Night Shyamalan (daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, who produces) opens June 7; it stars Dakota Fanning and you can watch the trailer here. The Watchers novel is described as a horror adventure set in a spooky forest where humans are held prisoner by mysterious creatures.
Let’s just let the official description do the talking for this one: “In this blazingly smart and voracious debut novel, an artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced she’s turning into a dog.” The movie comes out this December and stars Amy Adams; it’s adapted and directed by Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood).
Andy Weir’s The Martian was made into a successful 2015 Ridley Scott-directed movie, so it makes sense Hollywood would want to pick up another of his titles. Project Hail Mary is another space-set thriller, about a teacher turned astronaut who awakens in a far-flung region of the galaxy—at first unable to remember his mission, which could save the future of humanity. Last month, Deadline updated that the adaptation (and it’s a high-profile one, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and starring Ryan Gosling) has secured a release date of March 20, 2026.
This illustrated sci-fi saga from the creator of Tales From the Loop follows an orphaned teen who heads on a journey to find her missing brother, with the help of a robot companion and a drifter she meets along the way. The adaptation is due to hit Netflix sometime this year; it’s directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, and features a star-studded cast, with Millie Bobby Brown playing the main character alongside Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, Giancarlo Esposito, Ke Huy Quan, and Jason Alexander—plus Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, and Jenny Slate performing voice roles.
Hollywood never grows tired of Stephen King adaptations. The source material here is a short story first published in 1980, then revised and released as part of 1985 collection Skeleton Crew (which also features the already twice-adapted “The Mist”). Hollywood also loves tales of haunted toys, and The Monkey movie sounds like it will be a major horror release; according to Deadline, the Osgood Perkins-directed, James Wan-produced movie’s cast includes Theo James (playing the twin main characters), Tatiana Maslany, and Elijah Wood. It wrapped shooting in March but does not yet have a release date.
This 2023 novel follows a unique family relationship—mom’s a hungry vampire and her daughter’s spent her entire life keeping that uncomfortable fact a secret. As she grows into a young adult, she longs to be able to live her own life. Deadline reported last year that a Night’s Edge TV series was in early development at Freeform and 20th Television, and before you write it off after hearing “Freeform,” the talent working on it includes WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer and Star Wars: The Acolyte architect Leslye Headland.
Antoine Fuqua’s production company just picked up the rights to this first novel in a new dystopian YA series, hoping to make it into a film franchise. According to the official description, it follows an exiled teen on a mission of rescue and revenge, and is “set in a civilization of islands that float above toxic black clouds.”