10 More Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Books to Read Before They're Adapted (2024)

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If you’re not already backlogged on reading all the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that are in line to be adapted (past io9 lists here, here, here, and here), get ready: we’re about to add to the pile. Here are 10 more genre books coming to screens soon, a mix of familiar classics and recent best-sellers.

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Deadline reports Amazon MGM Studios company Gato Grande is working on an adaptation of Emma Törzs’ 2023 debut fantasy novel, the tale of “two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family’s library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection.” It will be retitled Ink and is being shepherded into a series by writer and executive producer Bronwyn Garrity (The Peripheral, Outlander).

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Described as “a gender-bending, body-switching novel that explores marriage, identity, and sex, and raises profound questions about the nature of true partnership,” this 2023 release caught the eye of Abbi Jacobson (Broad City, A League of Their Own), who according to Deadline will write and showrun the series. No word if she’ll also act in the project, which has the backing of Universal Studio Group’s UCP and Killer Films.

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You’ve seen the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, sure, but the latest take on Stephen King’s dystopian novel—to be directed by Edgar Wright and star Glen Powell—is said to be even truer to the source material. Read up now and be ready when the movie arrives in the next few years.

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Here’s another King entry—also, another title originally penned as the author’s alter ego Richard Bachman. Based on the 1979 novel, The Long Walk is long-gestating project that got a fresh update in November when Lionsgate stepped in, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The Hunger Games stalwart Francis Lawrence—who’s no stranger to dystopian stories involving kids fighting against all odds to survive—is aboard to direct.

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Earlier this year, MGM+ ordered a six-episode series based on George R. Stewart’s 1949 post-apocalyptic sci-fi classic of the same title, according to Deadline, and it’s due before 2024 is out. It’s set to star Vikings’ Alexander Ludwig.

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Earlier this month, Michael Crichton-James Patterson publishing juggernaut about a killer Hawaiian volcano—ideal fodder for a disaster movie, and a project Crichton was working on before his death in 2008—attracted the interest of directing duo Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, according to Deadline. They previously won an Oscar for climbing documentary Free Solo and also made the Oscar-nominated Nyad.

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Last week, Deadline reported that this 2020 fantasy best-seller by the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell had been tapped for big-screen treatment by animation studio Laika, with Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) aboard to direct. In a statement to the trade, author Clarke expressed her excitement: “Animation is one of my favorite things ... [and] Laika has produced such extraordinary work. I’m thrilled that Piranesi has found a home with them and I can’t wait to see what they do.”

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A killer cast (Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Michael Palin, Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan, Sweet Tooth’s Nonso Anozie, Baby Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning, and more) is aboard this big-screen adaptation of the popular 1940s British children’s book series, as reported by Variety. Simon Farnaby (Wonka) is doing the adaptation, and Ben Gregor is directing; it’s set to begin filming this year.

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An adaptation of the YA dystopian novel—about a world where a teenager rebels against getting a forced, conformist makeover when she turns 16—has been in the works for awhile; star and producer Joey King was talking it up to Deadline in 2022. McG is directing and it should one day arrive on Netflix, though no release date has been given.

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Now that he’s taking a break from Dune’s Arrakis, Denis Villeneuve is turning his attention back to Earth. In April, it was reported that he’s circling an adaptation of this alt-reality book—non-fiction, but with all the elements of a thriller—that draws on real-world experts to imagine what a world devastated by nuclear war might be like.