What's the one guaranteed way to discuss a show or movie in advance without having to issue a spoiler warning? Easy. Fill your watchlist with adaptations.
2022 has already produced A wealth of page-to-screen titles has arrived in 2022 already – Anatomy of a Scandal, Under the Banner of Heaven, Heartstopper, and Where the Crawdads Sing to name a handful – with many still to come.
Whether you're partial to a thrilling period piece, sprawling fantasy worlds or sci-fi time-traveling exploits, there's bound to be something in this batch of 2022 adaptations to keep on your radar. And if you want to get ahead of the game? You've lots of time to work your way through the books and graphic novels listed here. Enjoy.
Paper Girls
Feeling the Hawkins-shaped hole in your life? Paper Girls is here to uhh, plug it up? Based on the popular Image Comics series by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, this show basks in a familiar supernatural glow. It's 1988 and four pre-teen pals get caught in the crossfire of a time war during their Halloween paper round.
Imagine a gender-flipped version of Stranger Things with a dash of Yellowjackets and you're somewhere in the vicinity. Multiple timelines means we're treated to a stellar young cast leading the main roles alongside their adult counterparts led by Tuca and Bertie's Ali Wong. The series hails from Stephanie Folsom, who penned Toy Story 4 and episodes of the upcoming Lord of the Rings series.
Where can I watch?
It's streaming now on Prime Video.
The Sandman
Neil Gaiman fans, it's finally happening. The Sandman adaptation emerges after decades of development hell. How many years? Plans to adapt Gaiman's classic DC comic series began in 1991 with various film scripts doing the rounds until Netflix scooped up the TV rights in 2019. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached to produce and star but dropped out due to creative differences. He passes the leading torch to Tom Sturridge who tackles the role of Dream, aka the Sandman and the King of Dreams.
A mash-up of fantasy, mythology, and horror, the first season adapts Gaiman's first two graphic novels following Dream after he's incarcerated and sets about escaping to restore order to his kingdom. Warner Bros. produces the series which boasts a phenomenal cast including Gwendoline Christie, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, David Thewlis and Stephen Fry.
Where can I watch?
The Sandman season one drops on Netflix on August 5.
Bullet Train
If Brad Pitt's antics in the trailer and on the press circuit are any indication, then Bullet Train is gonna rip. Based on the novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka, the story unfolds entirely on a… yep, you guessed it, bullet train.
Lifelong assassin Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is coerced by his handler (Sandra Bullock) to collect a briefcase despite his desire to quit the lifestyle. His journey turns into a frenzy once he learns many of his fellow passengers are hitmen out for the same.
Atomic Blonde director Chad Leitch helms this kinetic actioner which adopts a comedic approach to the material, thanks to Fear Street scribe Zak Olkewicz. Joining Pitt for this mad dash across Japan are Hiroyuki Sanada, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, and Bad Bunny.
Where can I watch?
Bullet Train opens in UK theaters on August 3 and in US theaters on August 5.
White Noise
Noah Baumbach explores the vagaries of modern life in his first movie not based on an original story. Baumbach writes and directs this adaptation of Don DeLillo's 1985 novel White Noise, a postmodern black comedy centring on Jack Gladney (frequent collaborator, Adam Driver) a liberal arts college professor who teaches Hitler Studies.
Living with his fourth wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) and their sizable brood, his life takes a turn when an airborne toxic event threatens his small town. Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, André L. Benjamin and Lars Edinger flesh out the supporting cast for this Oscar-bait Netflix Original.
Where can I watch?
White Noise debuts at the Venice Film Festival on August 31 with a Netflix release announcement expected shortly after.
Dark Harvest
Originally scheduled for release in 2021, 30 Days Of Night director David Slade’s adaptation of the Norman Partridge novel arrives this fall. The film stars Twilight royalty Elizabeth Reaser, The Black Phone's Jeremy Davies, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Luke Kirby.
The story unfolds in a small Midwestern town where every year on Halloween, a creature known as Sawtooth Jack emerges from the cornfields and lurches towards the local church. Here, locals wait to take on the supernatural spectre in an annual harvest ritual. For such a dynamite premise, this horror fantasy remains buzz-free which might be down to its repeated release shuffles due to the COVID-19 pandemic? In any case, we'll be there for the harvest…
Where can I watch?
Dark Harvest arrives in theaters on September 9.
Vampire Academy
Once a failed movie, Richelle Mead's best-selling YA book series returns for another adaptation, but this time Vampire Academy is bound for a ten-episode run on Peacock. Producers Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre – whose experience on Vampire Diaries and its spin-offs The Originals and Legacies speaks for itself – adapt the novels for the small-screen.
The story follows two best friends, Rose Hathaway, a half-vampire guardian-in-training, and Lissa Dragomir, a Royal vampire princess as they navigate life at St. Vladimir's Academy. Dubbed by Peacock as a "sexy drama" combining the "elegance of aristocratic romance and the supernatural thrills of the vampire genre," if you like paranormal teen drama, add it to your watchlist.
Where can I watch?
Vampire Academy arrives on Peacock on September 15.
Blonde
Another adaptation that spent decades in development, Blonde is the first NC-17 movie released by a streamer. Yep, this might not be the Marilyn movie you were expecting – if the Blonde trailer hadn't already given that impression.
Ana de Armas follows Hulu thriller Deep Water with the starring role in this pseudo-biopic on Marilyn Monroe. Killing Me Softly's Andrew Dominik writes and directs the film based on Joyce Carol Oates' 2000 fictional memoir about the actress which follows her life story from an unknown named Norma Jeane to a successful member of the Hollywood elite.
Given its plans to explore her private life in new ways, Monroe's paramours are also present: Adrien Brody appears as Arthur Miller and Bobby Cannavale as Joe DiMaggio.
Where can I watch?
Blonde premieres at the Venice International Film Festival, followed by its Netflix debut on September 23.
Interview with the Vampire
AMC secured the rights to 18 of Anne Rice's novels back in 2020 and this year audiences will see the first adaptation developed by Breaking Bad producer Mark Johnson. Interview with the Vampire was made popular by the 1994 movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and returns in serial form with Jacob Anderson in the role of Louis de Pointe du Lac and Sam Reid as his sire, Lestat de Lioncourt.
This eight-episode season follows the tale of Louis's transformation from French nobility to vampire as he recounts his 200-year existence to a journalist. This is merely the beginning of AMC's plans to kickstart an Ann Rice streaming TV universe, so expect hints throughout the show to the author's other tomes including Queen of the Damned and The Vampire Lestat.
Where can I watch?
Interview with the Vampire premieres on AMC on October 2 with streaming details to follow.
The Midnight Club
The success of 2021's Fear Street, Netflix's trilogy of feature-length YA horror adaptations, led many to wonder what other classic teen tales could make the leap from page to screen. Well, Christopher Pike's beloved 1999 book The Midnight Club is next up for the streamer. It follows seven terminally-ill teens at a hospice who tell each other scary stories at night, inspiring a pact that whoever dies first will come back to haunt the group.
This adaptation is packin' Netflix clout – Mike Flanagan is writing and directing the eight-episode series. The horror maestro's impeccable knack for crafting empathetic stories based around well-developed characters bodes well for the show. Flanagan's regulars Samantha Sloyan and Zach Gilford appear alongside horror veteran Heather Langenkamp who stars as a counselor at the hospice, in a nice flashback to her Nancy Thompson role in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
Where can I watch?
The Midnight Club drops on Netflix on October 7.
My Policeman
Proving his stint in Dunkirk wasn't a one-off, Harry Styles headlines this British-set drama about Tom Burgess, a gay policeman living in Brighton during the 1950s.
While in a straight-presenting relationship with teacher Marion, played by The Crown's Emma Corrin, his secret paramour is museum curator Patrick. Based on the 2012 novel by Bethan Roberts, the movie looks poised to maintain the multiple timeline device that's popular of late with the story hopping between the 1990s and the 1950s as Patrick visits Tom and Marion's abode, kickstarting memories of their lives decades earlier. Rupert Everett, Gina McKee, and Linus Roache round out the "older versions" of the cast.
Where can I watch?
My Policeman has a limited theatrical release in the US and UK on October 21 before it drops on Prime Video on November 4.
The School for Good and Evil
The School for Good and Evil movie adaptation first entered development in 2013, but didn't move until 2017 when Bridesmaids' Paul Feig signed on to co-write and direct. The movie is based on the first book in the series by Soman Chainani. The story follows best friends Sophie and Agatha who live in a village where every four years two children are kidnapped and taken to the School for Good or the School for Evil.
Both institutions educate and train youngsters to become fairytale heroes or fairytale villains. Based on the first teaser which dropped summer 2021 it promises to be a fun, albeit dark, family fantasy. Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington ham it up as teachers alongside Michelle Yeoh and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles.
Where can I watch?
The School for Good and Evil drops on Netflix on October 22.
Killers of the Flower Moon
While other studios balked at the skyrocketing budget, Apple coughed up $200 million to finance Martin Scorsese's The Irishman follow-up, true crime adaptation Killers of the Flower Moon. Based on David Grann's best-seller, the movie follows the F.B.I. investigation into the serial murders of Osage Nation members in 1920s Oklahoma following the discovery of oil on their land.
Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, who produces and stars, worked closely with the Osage Nation to accurately represent what was dubbed the Osage "Reign of Terror." DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart, a callow ranch hand, alongside Robert DeNiro as his uncle, William Hale, a powerful rancher who is the lead suspect in the FBI's case. Jesse Plemons appears as federal agent Tom White. Ah, smell that awards buzz…
Where can I watch?
Killers of the Flower Moon drops on Apple TV in November.
Matilda the Musical
In case the title didn't give it away: this is not your typical Matilda movie. Unlike the 1996 film starring Danny DeVito and Mara Wilson which adapted Roald Dahl's beloved novel, this upcoming Netflix feature adapts the popular West End musical inspired by the same book.
That's right; Matilda with songs. Youngster Alisha Weir snags the titular role opposite Emma Thompson as tyrannical headmistress Mrs. Trunchbull. Captain Marvel and No Time to Die's Lashana Lynch is tackling the role of Miss Honey, the object of countless adolescent crushes. While packing in the song and dance numbers, the story hews closely to Dahl's original vision, following Matilda Wormwood's journey as a precocious child with a grand imagination.
Where can I watch?
Matilda premieres at the BFI London Film Festival on October 5 with a UK theatrical release to follow on December 2. S audiences can watch it on Netflix from December 16.
Luckiest Girl Alive
Luckiest Girl Alive is based on the 2012 New York Times-bestselling novel by Jessica Knoll which received favourable comparisons to modern mystery lit classics Gone Girl and Girl on the Train.
Mila Kunis stars as Ani, a magazine editor who seemingly has the perfect life hinted at in the title. Secrets from her past are soon revealed, leading Ani to question her idyllic lifestyle. Alongside Kunis are Connie Britton, Jennifer Beals, Finn Wittrock, and Scoot McNairy. Mike Barker, who also directs the first episode of the Sandman adaptation, is at the helm working from a script penned by Knoll. Could this be the year’s biggest watercooler drama?
Where can I watch?
Luckiest Girl Alive drops on Netflix in late 2022.
Daisy Jones and the Six
One of the most highly-anticipated series of recent years adapts Taylor Jenkins Reid's 2019 bestseller. The story is loosely inspired by the lives of Fleetwood Mac and follows Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) as she joins an L.A.-based rock band fronted by Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin).
The novel unspools via interviews in an oral history format, tracing The Six from their early years in the 1970s to global superstardom with the main players looking back on the band's rise to fame. Reese Witherspoon's production company is behind the Amazon Prime series which includes Suki Waterhouse and Timothy Olyphant to round out its supporting cast. If the series is as compelling as the novel, this ten-episode season will be the binge of 2022.
Where can I watch?
Daisy Jones and the Six drops on Prime Video in late 2022.
Let The Right One In
This fall even more undead action hits the small-screen. John Ajvide Lindqvist’s vampire novel Let the Right One In receives its third adaptation in a Showtime limited series, although this time it will explore a different aspect of the book. Showrunner Andrew Hinderaker says the show centers on a family dynamic, not the friendship between two kids which was the novel's main focus.
The story follows the parent-child relationship between Mark (Demian Bichir) and his daughter, Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez), a 12-year old who's spent the last ten years the same age. That shifting premise bears potential, as Mark must take care of his daughter by acquiring human blood and keeping the law off their scent. Might we get a Dexter-esque vampire tale?
Where can I watch?
Let The Right One In arrives on Showtime in late 2022.
The Wonder
Everyone's favourite Instagram star Florence Pugh heads up Netflix's adaptation of Emma Donoghue's 2016 novel The Wonder. Written and directed by Disobedience helmer Sebastian Lelio, the movie takes place in 1860s Ireland.
The story follows a religious young girl, Anna O'Donnell (Kila Lord Cassidy), who seemingly survives without food or water and begins to draw attention including that of English nurse Lib Wright (Pugh) who vows to uncover the truth. Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Niamh Algar, and Elaine Cassidy round out the supporting cast for what's described as a psychological thriller.
Where can I watch?
Production wrapped in 2021 with a release expected in late 2022.
