Thanks to the landscape-shifting success of properties like Game of Thrones and Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, we’ve entered a golden age of sci-fi and fantasy being developed for film and television. It seems that nearly every network and studio has snatched up the rights to old and new classics, with a bevy of projects in production or premiering in the coming months. To keep you on top of the latest news, we’ve updated our master list of every SFF adaptation currently in the works, from The Batman to Y: The Last Man.

Check out this list and get your DVRs and Netflix queues ready, because you’re going to be wonderfully busy for the foreseeable future.

COMING SOON

Harley Quinn (November 29, 2019)

Adapted from: Various Harley Quinn comics (character created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, 1992)

Optioned for: Television (DC Universe)

What it’s about: Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) breaks up with the Joker and strikes out with her bestie/soulmate Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) in her quest to become the “queenpin” of Gotham.

Status: Harley Quinn is expected to premiere on November 29, 2019. Watch the trailer here!

V-Wars (December 5, 2019)

Adapted from: V-Wars by Jonathan Maberry (writer) and Alan Robinson (artist)

Originally published: 2012, IDW Publishing

Optioned for: Television (Netflix/IDW Entertainment)

What it’s about: “After a mysterious disease begins transforming people into vampires, Dr. Luther Swann (The Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder) is pitted against his best friend, now a powerful vampire leader.”

Status: The cast includes Ian Somerhalder, Adrian Holmes, Jacky Lai, Peter Outerbridge, Laura Vandervoort, Kyle Breitkopf, and Kimberly-Sue Murray. Watch the trailer here.

The Witcher (December 20, 2019)

Adapted from: The Witcher Saga by Andrzej Sapkowski

Originally published: 2008, Orbit Books

Optioned for: Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: From Netflix: “Based on the best-selling fantasy series, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.” The series also stars Anya Chalotra as enigmatic sorceress Yennefer and Freya Allan as pivotal princess Ciri.

Status: Sapkowski is a creative consultant on the TV series, along with executive producers Jason Brown and Sean Daniel. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (Daredevil, The Defenders, The West Wing) is serving as showrunner/EP. Netflix announced the show will premiere on December 20th—watch the trailer here and ponder the meaning of the episode titles. Season 2 has already received a green light.

The Outsider (January 12, 2020)

Adapted from: The Outsider by Stephen King

Originally published: 2018, Scribner

Optioned for: Television (HBO)

What it’s about: When a young boy’s corpse is found, beloved Little League coach/teacher/husband/father Terry Maitland is the immediate suspect. Is this a grave mistake, Detective Ralph Anderson must find out, or is Terry hiding a secret darkness?

Status: Executive producer Jason Bateman will direct the first two episodes and star as Terry Maitland, alongside Ben Mendelsohn as Detective Ralph Anderson and Cynthia Erivo as Holly Gibney. You can watch a teaser here!

The Turning (January 24, 2020)

Adapted from: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Originally published: 1898, Collier’s Weekly Magazine; 1898, Macmillan

Optioned for: Film (Universal Pictures)

What it’s about: The Turn of the Screw was published in 1898, and follows a governess who takes an assignment to care for a pair of orphans at a large countr estate. She soon comes to believe that either the manor is haunted, or humans (possibly the children) are playing some severe psychological tricks. The novella has been adapted several times, most notably by Truman Capote and William Archibald into the 1961 film The Innocents, which won an Edgar Award for Best Screenplay. In this update, the setting has been moved to 1990s Maine, and, at least given the trailers, the kids seem much more aggressive than in previous iterations? We’re hoping someone calls the nanny a “slacker” at least once.

Status: This gothic fantasia is being directed by Floria Sigismondi, late of The Runaways and episodes of American Gods and The Handmaid’s Tale. It stars Mackenzie Davis (from Halt and Catch Fire and Terminator: Dark Fate), Finn Wolfhard (who is rapidly becoming the next generation’s Jamie Lee Curtis), and The Florida Project’s Brooklynn Prince.



Color Out of Space (January 24, 2020)

Adapted from: “The Color Out of Space” by H.P. Lovecraft

Originally published: 1927, Amazing Stories

Optioned for: Film (SpectreVision)

What it’s about: Nicolas Cage plays the father of a family that moves to rural New England for a slower life. But after a meteorite crashes into their front yard, bringing a strange alien force, they “discover that this alien force is gradually mutating every life form that it touches… including them.”

Status: Visionary director Richard Stanley (The Island of Dr. Moreau) returns at last, with much of the Mandy production team in tow. The cast includes Cage, Joely Richardson, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tommy Chong, Elliot Knight, and Julian Hilliard. RLJE Films bought the film in a seven figure deal shortly before its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2019. You can watch a trailer here! And while you wait for madness to descend upon you, contemplate the fact that the actor/producer who gave us Frodo also wants to give us a Lovecraft Cinematic Universe.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (February 7, 2020)

Adapted from: Birds of Prey created by Chuck Dixon (writer), Jordan B. Gorfinkel (writer), and Gary Frank (artist)

Originally published: 1995, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (DC Films/Warner Bros.)

What it’s about: The name for several comic book series (one written by Gail Simone) since its creation in 1995, Birds of Prey was originally built on the premise of Barbara Gordon and Black Canary teaming up. Later iterations have included Harley Quinn, which seems to be the direction this adaptation is heading in. It is currently unclear which arc or specific series is being adapted.

Status: Birds of Prey beat out Margot Robbie’s other DCEU girl gang project Gotham City Sirens, which now appears to be not be happening. Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) is Warner Bros’ top choice to direct, from a screenplay by Christina Hodson, who is also scripting the Batgirl movie. Cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Huntress) and Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Black Canary), and you can check out a trailer here!

Bloodshot (February 21, 2020)

Adapted from: Bloodshot by Kevin VanHook (writer), Don Perlin (writer/artist), and Bob Layton (artist)

Originally published: 1992, Valiant Comics

Optioned for: Film (Sony Pictures)

What its’ about: A former soldier is given the power to regenerate. After having his memory wiped multiple times, he sets out to enact vengeance on the people who did this to him.

Status: The film stars Vin Diesel, Michael Sheen, Sam Heughan, and more, and it’ll hit theater February 21, 2020. Check out the first trailer!

The New Mutants (April 3, 2020)

Adapted from: New Mutants by Chris Claremont (writer) and Bob McLeod (artist)

Originally published: 1982, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: We don’t know much, but judging from the title, it’s likely about a team of young mutants fighting to protect themselves in a world that hates them.

Status: Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) will direct from a script by him and writing partner Knate Lee. Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who) will play Wolfsbane, while Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split) will play Magik; Alice Braga has replaced Rosario Dawson in the role of Dr. Cecilia Reyes. Also, it’s going to be a “full-fledged horror movie”! Watch the first trailer. With the Disney/Fox merger, according to THR, the movie’s fate is somewhat up in the air, with the possibility that it could be released on Disney+ or Hulu instead of in theaters.

Black Widow (May 1, 2020)

Adapted from: Various Black Widow comics (character created by Stan Lee, Don Rico, and Don Heck, 1964)

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios)

What it’s about: The film will deal with the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War.

Status: In July 2019 it was announced that award-winning Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (Somersault, Lore and Berlin Syndrome) would direct the long-anticipated film, working from a script by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson. Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, with David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle, and Rachel Weisz rounding out the cast.

Artemis Fowl (May 29, 2020)

Adapted from: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Originally published: 2001, Viking Press

Optioned for: Film (Walt Disney Company)

What it’s about: Colfer’s beloved series follows teenage genius Artemis Fowl, who in the first book kidnaps LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Recon) captain Holly Short in order to ransom her to the Fairy People.

Status: Kenneth Branagh directs the film, which wrapped production in 2018. Check out the first trailer!

Wonder Woman 1984 (June 5, 2020)

By now you’ve heard: WB isn’t going to Hall H this year. We’re so sad to miss you there! And waiting until Dec. to start our official #WW84 campaign in full– But the truth is… we can just… barely… wait… pic.twitter.com/QllFzhYRA6 — Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) June 5, 2019

Adapted from: various Wonder Woman comics (character created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, 1941)

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Films)

What it’s about: Set during the Cold War, Wonder Woman comes into conflict with a new villain, Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).

Status: Originally slated for a November 2019 release, the film was pushed back to June 2020. Director Patty Jenkins returns to helm the sequel. Gal Gadot returns as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, and Chris Pine as Steve Trevor (somehow). Kristen Wiig plays new villain Cheetah, and Pedro Pascal has joined the cast as Maxwell Lord.

Morbius (July 31, 2020)

Adapted from: Morbius by Roy Thomas (writer) and Gil Kane (artist)

Originally published: 1971, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (Sony Pictures)

What it’s about: A scientist (Jared Leto) who attempts to cure himself of a blood disease winds up transforming himself into a vampiric creature, with fangs and bloodlust. It’s unclear what iteration of the comics the movie might adapt.

Status: The film is being directed by Daniel Espinosa, with Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama penning the script. Leto will be joined by Tyrese Gibson, Adria Arjona, former Doctor Matt Smith (!!!) and Jared Harris (!!!!!).

Death on the Nile (October 9, 2020)

Adapted from: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Originally published: 1937, Collins Crime Club

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: On a tranquil cruise down the Nile River, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) must determine who shot a beautiful young passenger.

Status: 20th Century Fox announced the sequel to Murder on the Orient Express in late 2017. Screenwriter Michael Green will adapt this novel, as he did the prior, with director Kenneth Branagh expected to return. As of October 2019, the cast is officially BONKERS, and includes Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, and Letitia Wright with Tom Bateman back as Bouc, baby. Plus Branagh is planning to shoot in 65 mm!

The Witches (October 9, 2020)

Adapted from: The Witches by Roald Dahl

Originally published: 1983, Jonathan Cape

Optioned for: Film (ImageMovers)

What it’s about: “Would you know a real witch if you saw one? They don’t ride on broomsticks. They don’t wear black capes or pointy hats. In fact, they don’t look like witches at all. But one thing is certain: A real witch is the most dangerous of all living creatures. So you’d better learn to know one when you see one! The young hero of this award-winning story learns that lesson in a hurry when he encounters a whole gruesome gang of them. He’ll need all his wits about him to foil their wicked scheme—a dastardly plot to rid the world of children forever!” The latest version will take place in 1960s Alabama rather than 1980s England, and the main character will be a Black American child instead of a white British boy.

Status: The film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis, from a script by Zemeckis and Kenya Barris, and will star Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock.

The Eternals (November 6, 2020)

Adapted from: The Eternals by Jack Kirby / Eternals by Neil Gaiman (writer) and John Romita (artist)

Originally published: 1976, Marvel Comics / 2006, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios)

What it’s about: The Eternals are a race of humans created through experimentation by the alien Celestials, intended to be defenders of Earth against the unstable Deviants (also experiments). Plot details for the film are unclear, but there is some suggestion it may follow the Gaiman miniseries.

Status: Chloe Zhao (The Rider) will direct a cast including Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan and Kit Harington.

Dune (December 18, 2020)

Adapted from: Dune by Frank Herbert

Originally published: 1965, Chilton Books

Optioned for: Film and Television (Legendary Entertainment)

What it’s about: Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, whose family accepts stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the coveted “spice” in the universe. After a betrayal, Paul leads a rebellion to restore his family’s control over Arrakis.

Status: Legendary Entertainment has reached an agreement with the Frank Herbert estate in which it has acquired the film and television rights to Dune. The agreement calls for the development and production of possible film and TV projects for a global audience. Brian Herbert has confirmed that Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve will helm the project. In an early 2018 interview, he said that he was planning at least two films, the first of which is scheduled for November, 2020. The cast is RIDICULOUS, and includes: Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, Zendaya as Chani, David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries, Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, and Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh. Let’s just hope there’s a role left for Sting.

Chaos Walking (2020)

Adapted from: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Originally published: 2008, Walker Books

Optioned for: Film (Lionsgate)

What it’s about: In a dystopian future where all living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts, the sole boy in a town of men flees with his dog after discovering an awful secret, and comes upon a strangely silent girl.

Status: Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) will direct; both Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Jamie Linden (Money Monster) have taken stabs at adapting the book. The cast includes Tom Holland (Todd Hewitt), Daisy Ridley (Viola Eade), Nick Jonas (Davy Prentiss Jr.), and Mads Mikkelsen (Mayor Prentiss). The film’s release date has been pushed back from March 1, with the new date yet to be announced.

Cursed (2020)

Adapted from: Cursed by Thomas Wheeler (writer) and Frank Miller (artist)

Originally published: 2019, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Optioned for: Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: The YA fantasy reimagines the King Arthur legend from the perspective of 16-year-old Nimue, who originally wielded the sword Excalibur and would go on to become the Lady of the Lake.

Status: The novel was published in October, 2019, and 10-episode Netflix series, helmed by Zetna Fuentes (Jessica Jones) is expected to premiere sometime in 2020. 13 Reasons Why’s Katherine Langford will star as Nimue alongside Devon Terrell’s Arthur…and in the ever-expanding Skarsgård Extended Universe, Gustaf Skarsgård (late of Vikings) is on board to play Merlin.

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier (2020)

Adapted from: various Marvel Comics (The Falcon created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, 1969; Bucky Barnes created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, 1941, and introduced as Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, 2005)

Optioned for: Television (Disney+)

What it’s about: The further adventures of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).

Status: Premiering sometime in 2020 on Disney’s streaming service, the six-episode series will be released weekly.

Invincible (2020)

Adapted from: Invincible by Robert Kirkman (writer), Ryan Ottley (artist), and Cory Walker (artist)

Originally published: 2002, Image Comics

Optioned for: Television (Amazon Studios)

What it’s about: Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), the teenage son of extraterrestrial superhero Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), grapples with his manifesting powers. The animated series cast also includes Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, and Mae Whitman, among others.

Status: Shortly after the comic book series’ conclusion, Amazon issued a straight-to-series order. The series is expected to premiere in 2020.

Stargirl (2020)

Adapted from: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. by Geoff Johns (writer) and Lee Moder (artist)

Originally published: 1999, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (DC Universe)

What it’s about: High schooler Courtney Whitmore bands together with the Justice Society of America to fight villains, past and present.

Status: Announced at SDCC 2018. Brec Bassinger will play Courtney Whitmore, with Luke Wilson as her step-dad Pat Dugan (a former superhero sidekick who comes out of retirement to pilot a giant STRIPE robot and assist Stargirl), and Amy Smart as her mother, Barbara Whitmore. Premieres sometime in early 2020, on DC’s streaming service.

Y (2020)

Adapted from: Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn (writer) and Pia Guerra (artist)

Originally published: 2002, Vertigo

Optioned for: Television (FX)

What it’s about: Brian K. Vaughan’s landmark comic book series examines the fallout of a worldwide plague that wipes out everyone with a Y chromosome, except for aspiring escape artist Yorick and his monkey Ampersand. While the female survivors struggle to rebuild society, several groups target the last man and chase him across the Earth.

Status: Per The Hollywood Reporter, the show has gained a new showrunner in Eliza Clark (Animal Kingdom, The Killing, Extant) who will replace the original team of Aida Croal and Michael Green, who announced their departure on April 15, 2019. Clark has stated her enthusiasm for the project, saying” “A decade ago I devoured the complete Y: The Last Man series cover to cover, imagining how it might take shape on screen…[I]t introduced me to the amazing work of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra and the complex, fascinating world of Y. I’m thrilled to tell this story and to be working with this immensely talented cast.” The show has already been picked up by FX. Cast includes Barry Keoghan (Yorick), Lashana Lynch (355), Juliana Canfield (Beth), Imogen Poots (Hero), Amber Tamblyn (Mariette Callows), Diane Lane (Jennifer Brown), Marin Ireland (Nora), Timothy Hutton (President Callows), and a CGI Ampersand. During a panel at New York Comic-Con in October 2019, Vaughn referred to the show as “the version that you guys deserve.” Y is expected to premiere in 2020.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings (February 12, 2021)

Adapted from: Various Marvel comics (character created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, 1973)

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios)

What it’s about: Shang-Chi, the son of a humanitarian-who-might-actually-be-evil, is raised and trained in martial arts inside a secret compound in China. When his father sends him into the outside world to do his bidding, Shang-Chi confronts the fact that his beloved dad is also known as The Devil’s Doctor. (Deadline points out that the script will be modernized to avoid stereotypes associated with the character.)

Status: Dave Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2) will write the script, to be directed by Destin Daniel Crettin (Short Term 12). During Marvel’s 2019 San Diego Comic-Con appearance, Simu Liu was announced for the titular role, with Tony Leung as the Mandarin.Production is scheduled for early 2020.

Marvel’s What If? (2021)

Adapted from: What If…? comics series (various writers/artists)

Originally published: 1977, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Television (Disney+)

What it’s about: Alternate-universe stories from the MCU, narrated by The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright). The first episoe poses the question: what if Peggy Carter took the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers?

Status: The animated anthology series is is expected to premiere in mid-2021 on Disney’s streaming service, with 23 episodes that will be released on a weekly schedule. Many MCU actors are expected to reprise their roles in the series; confirmed guests include Hayley Atwell, Chadwick Boseman, Michael Douglas, Karen Gillan, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael B. Jordan, Natalie Portman, Michael Rooker, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Sebastian Stan, and Taika Waititi.

Nimona (March 5, 2021)

Adapted from: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (writer/artist)

Originally published: 2015, HarperCollins

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox Animation)

What it’s about: “Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.”

Status: The animated film’s release date was pushed back following the Disney/Fox merger.

The Batman (June 25, 2021)

Adapted from: Various Batman comics (character created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, 1939)

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Films)

What it’s about: The project has been described as an emotional Batman film while still “noir-driven in which Batman is investigating a particular case that takes us out into the world of Gotham.”

Status: Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, War for the Planet of the Apes) took over directing and writing from Affleck. In mid-2018, he gave an update that the script was still in the works. On May 31, 2019, Variety announced that Robert Pattinson would be taking on the role of Batman, with pre-production scheduled for summer 2019. More of the cast came together over fall 2019, with Jeffrey Wright joining as Commissioner Gordon, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, and Paul Dano as The Riddler.

The Suicide Squad (August 6, 2021)

Adapted from: Various DC Comics (Originally appeared in The Brave and the Bold #25, 1959; revived in Legends #3, 1987)

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Films)

What it’s about: No word yet on plot, but Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, and Viola Davis are returning, while Will Smith and Jared Leto are not.

Status: James Gunn was hired to write and direct a follow-up to Suicide Squad in October 2018. The film has since been re-titled The Suicide Squad, and is explicitly not a sequel to the first film. The cast was finalized in September 2019, and includes: Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Pete Davidson, Storm Reid, Taika Waititi, David Dastmalchian, Peter Capaldi, Steve Agee, and Viola Davis, alont with usual-James-Gunn-suspects Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, and Sean Gunn. Idris Elba was initially rumored to be replacing Will Smith, but he will instead be playing a new character, thus leaving the door open for Smith’s Deadshot to return in a later installment. Filming began on September 20, 2019.

Thor: Love and Thunder (November 5, 2021)

Adapted from: Various Thor comics (character created by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, and Jack Kirby, 1962)

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios)

What it’s about: No specific plot details available yet, but Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) will be taking over the role of Thor, weilding Mjolnir and everything. This may suggest an adaptation of the recent Thor comics run by Jason Aaron and artist Russell Dauterman.

Status: Taika Waititi is back to direct. Waititi will also reprise his role as Korg, starring alongside Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie). Producer Kevin Feige confirmed that Valkyrie will be the MCU’s first openly queer superhero. The film is slated for release on November 5, 2021.

Fantastic Beasts 3 (November 12, 2021)

Adapted from: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling

Originally published: 2001, Bloomsbury (UK) / Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic (U.S.)

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros.)

What it’s about: The next installment in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, following 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Status: Production is expected to begin in spring 2020.

Wicked (December 22, 2021)

Adapted from: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Originally published: 1996, HarperCollins

Optioned for: Film (Universal Pictures)

What it’s about: Maguire’s political and ethical commentary is a revisionist take on the Wicked Witch’s life—reimagining her as Elphaba, the misunderstood, green-skinned girl who befriends another witch-to-be, Galinda, at Shiz University and stumbles upon corruption in the Emerald City.

Status: Technically, the movie is adapting the beloved Broadway musical Wicked, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holtzmann. But since their show was inspired by Maguire’s book, we’re counting it. The two are working on a screenplay, with Schwartz teasing at least two new songs. Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) will direct, with Marc Platt (Into the Woods) producing.

Loki (2021)

Adapted from: various Marvel Comics (character created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby, 1962)

Optioned for: Television (Disney+)

What it’s about: The further misadventures of Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Status: Premiering sometime in spring 2021 on Disney’s streaming service. Rick & Morty writer Michael Waldron has come onboard to write and executive produce.

WandaVision (2021)

Adapted from: various Marvel Comics (Scarlet Witch created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, 1964; The Vision created by Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, and John Buscema, 1968)

Optioned for: Television (Disney+)

What it’s about: The further adventures, romantic and otherwise, of Wanda/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). According to Olsen, the series seems to be set in the 1950s.

Status: Jac Schaeffer (Captain Marvel, TiMER) will serve as showrunner. Premiering sometime in 2021 on Disney’s streaming service. And if IMDB is to be believed, the cast includes a fascinating grab bag of supporting characters, including Emily Van Camp’s Sharon Carter, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, and our actual low-key favorite Marvel character, Kat Dennings’ Darcy Lewis.

Hawkeye (2021)



Adapted from: various Marvel Comics (Clint Barton created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, 1964; Kate Bishop created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, 2005)

Optioned for: Television (Disney+)

What it’s about: No specific plot details available, but rumor has it the series is about Clint passing on the torch, er, bow to other Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. The series logo and title sequence suggest ties to the Hawkeye comic series run by Matt Fraction and David Aja.

Status: Jeremy Renner is currently confirmed to repise the role of Clint Barton. Hailee Steinfeld is reportedly in talks to play Kate Bishop, but as of November 2019, the casting is still uncomfirmed. The series is expected to premiere in the Fall of 2021.

Black Panther 2 (May 6, 2022)



Adapted from: various Marvel comics (character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, 1966)

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios)

What it’s about: “We have ideas and a pretty solid direction on where we want to head with the second one,” Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly when confirming the sequel in early 2018.

Status: Writer-director Ryan Coogler has signed on to return for the sequel. Actors Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Danai Gurira (Okoye), and martin Freeman (Everett Ross) are expected to return. Freeman revealed that filming is expected to begin in 2021, and the studio announced a release date of May 6, 2022.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBD)



Adapted from: various Marvel comics (series created by Stan Lee, Arnold Drake, and Roy Thomas, 1969)

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios)

What it’s about: The further adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy, although it’s unclear how the movie would fit in with the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

Status: James Gunn was re-hired to the project in March 2019, but now the Guardians will have to wait for Gunn to finish The Suicide Squad before they return. Gunn has confirmed that GOTG3 will take place after Thor: Love and Thunder.

New Warriors (TBD)

Adapted from: New Warriors by Tom DeFalco (writer) and Ron Frenz (artist)

Originally published: 1989, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Television (Marvel Television/TBD)

What it’s about: “New Warriors centers around six young people struggling to make a difference and learn how to harness their powers … Not quite super, not yet heroes, Marvel’s New Warriors is about that time in your life when you first enter adulthood and feel like you can do everything and nothing at once—except in this world, bad guys can be as terrifying as bad dates.”

Status: Kevin Biegel (Cougar Town, Enlisted) will serve as showrunner and lead writer. Milana Vayntrub will play Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! The series was expected to premiere sometime in 2018, but it’s been looking for a network since Freeform passed on it, and as it has not been added to the Disney+ lineup, things are not looking too good for the show. However, there hasn’t been an official cancellation, so it’s staying on this list until we have to remove it.

October Faction (TBD)

Adapted from: October Faction by Steve Niles (writer) and Damien Worm (artist)

Originally published: 2014, IDW Publishing

Optioned for: Television (Netflix/IDW Entertainment)

What it’s about: “Meet the Allan family: Fredrick, his wife Deloris, and their two children Geoff and Vivian. As Fredrick works to put his monster hunting days behind him, his two kids insist on joining the family business. But ghosts from the past refuse to stay dead and conspiring forces lurk in the shadows.”

Status: Damian Kindler (Sleepy Hollow, Krypton) is creator, executive producer, and showrunner. Netflix has ordered 10 episodes, but no official word on the premiere date.

The Three-Body Problem: I (TBD)

Adapted from: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu)

Originally published: 2006, Chongqing Press

Optioned for: Television (Youzu Pictures)

What it’s about: During China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military program sends signals into space to initiate first contact with aliens. Years later, a physicist uses the virtual reality video game Three-Body to discover a secret organization and uncover what the aliens might actually want from Earth.

Status: Per CX Live, Yoozu Pictures, is developing a 24-episode animated adaptation of his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, titled The Three-Body Problem after the first book, with production set to begin in September 2019. This comes after the attempted film adaptation (which Amazon was interested in picking up at one point) didn’t live up to expectations. While we wait for it, check out the stunning stage adaptation of the novel!

The Wheel of Time (TBD)

Adapted from: The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

Originally published: 1990, Tor Books

Optioned for: Television (Amazon Studios/Sony Pictures Television)

What it’s about: The Hollywood Reporter describes the series: “Set in a sprawling world where magic exists but can only be used by women, the story follows Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization the Aes Sedai, as she embarks on a dangerous journey with five young men and women. Moiraine’s interest in these five lies in the fact that she believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual who prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it.”

Status: In early 2015, a baffling Wheel of Time “pilot” appeared online. Harriet McDougal, the late author’s wife and CEO of the Bandersnatch Group (to whom the movie and TV rights reverted back to in February 2015), released a statement clarifying that the pilot was neither seen nor approved by the Jordan estate. In April 2016, McDougal announced that legal issues had been resolved and “WoT will become a cutting edge TV Series.” A year later came the announcement that Sony Pictures Television would adapt the epic fantasy series alongside Red Eagle Entertainment and Radar Pictures, with Rafe Judkins (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hemlock Grove, Chuck) serving as showrunner. In mid-2018, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke confirmed that the streaming service was developing the TV series; later that year, Amazon gave a full series order. Rosamund Pike’s casting as Moiraine was announced on June 19, 2019. More of the cast was announced later in the summer, and since then they’ve shared a group photo and short video of a table read! No word on an official premiere date, but Judkins indicated that the writers are already working on season two. While we wait for the series, jump in with our read-along of the books!

IN THE WORKS

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello (writer) and Eduardo Risso (artist)



Originally published: 1999-2009, Vertigo Comics

Optioned for: Film (New Line Cinema)

What it’s about: In Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s noiry, pulpy comic book series, the mysterious Agent Graves approaches people with a gun, the identity of the person who ruined their lives, and a hundred rounds of untraceable ammunition.

Status: Tom Hardy is on board to produce and potentially star in the movie adaptation.

143, from Uncanny X-Men #143 by Chris Claremont (writer) and John Byrne (artist)

Originally published: 1981, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: The project’s current code name is a nod to one of the first issues in which Kitty Pryde appeared, leading many to believe that even if the spinoff doesn’t specifically adapt that comic, it will nonetheless focus on the young, wall-phasing mutant.

Status: Deadpool director Tim Miller and X-Men comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis are teaming up for the spinoff. Fate unclear following the Disney/Fox merger.

3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Originally published: 1997, Del Rey

Optioned for: Television (Syfy)

What it’s about: In 2014, Syfy announced that it would develop a miniseries based on Clarke’s fourth and final Odyssey book, which wraps up the loose ends from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Status: No update since 3001 was included ona 2016 list of in-production shows, and Syfy seems concerned with plenty of other projects (many of which are adaptations).

Aleister Arcane by Steve Niles (writer) and Breehn Burns (artist)

Originally published: 2004, IDW Publishing

Optioned for: Film (Amblin Entertainment)

What it’s about: Weatherman-turned-late-night TV horror show host Aleister Arcane (a.k.a. Green) gets a kick out of airing gory little skits, until the local sponsors in his hometown of Jackson, OK, shut him down. But when a tragic incident gets him taken off the air and forced into early retirement, the local kids realize that Aleister Arcane has laid a curse upon their town.

Status: As of summer 2016, Eli Roth was set to team with Jim Carrey (who will star and produce) to adapt Niles’ series. Jon Croker (The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death) will write the screenplay with David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

Originally published: 2017, Penguin Publishing Group

Optioned for: Film (Paramount/Pascal Pictures)

What it’s about: Mastai pitched the alternate-universe novel as Kurt Vonnegut trying to tell The Time Traveler’s Wife with the narrative voice of Jonathan Tropper: A man from a utopian AU falls into the very real 2015 and must decide whether he wants to return to his time or try to establish a life in this new reality.

Status: Amy Pascal nabbed the film rights at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair. Mastai will write the script for the adaptation and executive produce. As of May, 2019, Pascal Pictures’ has moved from Sony to Universal, but there have been no updates on the status of this project.

Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi

Originally published: 2008, Scholastic

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: Kibuishi’s ongoing graphic novel series (which won the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults in 2008) follows siblings Emily and Navin through a portal into a fantasy world filled with giant robots and man-eating demons. Led by the talking rabbit Miskit, Em (wearing the eponymous amulet) and Navin search for their missing mother.

Status: 20th Century Fox is looking to develop the series into a potential film franchise. Aron Coleite (co-executive producer of the Star Trek TV series) will write the screenplay.

Analog by Gerry Duggan (writer) and David O’Sullivan (artist)

Originally published: 2018, Image Comics

Optioned for: Film (Lionsgate)

What it’s about: Five years from now, security on the Internet is a thing of the past. Instead, “Ledger Men” like Jack McGinnis carry secrets around in bloody briefcases, putting their lives on the line. But Gerry had something to do with the crisis that brought the Internet down in the first place…

Status: John Wick director Chad Stahelski and Colony co-creator Ryan Condal will adapt the comic.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Originally published: 2011, Tor Teen

Optioned for: Film (Fickle Fish Productions)

What it’s about: Ghost hunter Cas (Cameron Monaghan) is surprised when Anna Dressed in Blood (Maddie Hasson), a ghost known for killing anyone who sets foot in the abandoned Victorian she calls home, decides to spare his life. As he investigates her curse, these opposites grow closer.

Status: Twilight author Stephenie Meyer will produce, with music video director Trish Sie helming a script from Allison Wood. Maddie Hasson (Twisted) and Cameron Monaghan (Shameless) have signed on to lead the cast.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie



Originally published: 2014, Orbit Books

Optioned for: TBD

What it’s about: Breq used to be the spaceship Justice of Toren, controlling countless ancillary soldiers, before an accident fragmented her. Now, in a single form, she is returning to the Imperial Radch to confront its ruler, Anaander Mianaai.

Status: In 2014, Ann Leckie shared the exciting news that Ancillary Justice had been optioned for television. Fabrik and Fox Television Studios (who have between them worked on The Killing, Burn Notice, and The Americans, among other series) are interested, especially in terms of dealing with the series’ depictions of gender and race. At NYCC 2017, when asked about the possibility of the book being adapted to other mediums, Leckie mentioned that the first TV option had lapsed but that “[t]here is currently another option on the table, and I can’t say anything more about that, but it’s very exciting. […] While the option persists, I can’t pursue things like audio dramas or board games.” As of November, 2019, there had been no further announcements.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Originally published: 1945, Secker and Warburg

Optioned for: Film (Netflix)

What it’s about: The animal inhabitants of a farm revolt against their human owners, but a pig named Napoleon twists the rebellion to his own purposes.

Status: Andy Serkis will direct the motion-capture adaptation, with Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes) among the producers.

Anyone by Charles Soule

Originally published: 2019, Harper Perennial

Optioned for: Television (NBCUniversal’s Carnival Films)

What it’s about: A scientist who is researching a treatment for Alzheimer’s inadvertently inhabits her husband’s body during an experiement, which leads to new technology which is quickly exploited on the black market.

Status: Soule will adapt his own novel for TV, along with Carnival Films’ Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant, and Joanna Strevens.

Armada by Ernest Cline

Originally published: 2015, Crown/Archetype

Optioned for: Film (Universal Pictures)

What it’s about: Dreaming of a major event to change his humdrum life, Zack Lightman escapes into Armada, a flight simulator video game. Then one day, the flying saucers appear… as if straight out of Armada itself.

Status: Universal had optioned the rights in 2012, with Cline writing a screenplay. Following the release of the Ready Player One movie in 2018, Universal has moved forward on the adaptation, hiring Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans, Van Helsing) to write a new draft. Cline will remain a collaborator.

Artemis by Andy Weir

Originally published: 2017, Crown

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: Jasmine Bashara is an occasional smuggler on Artemis, the first and only city on the Moon. But when Jazz gets the chance to commit the perfect crime, she instead stumbles into the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis.

Status: 20th Century Fox acquired the movie rights to the novel months before publication. The Martian producers Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood are onboard for the adaptation, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller directing. A script has been written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (late of Captain Marvel and Tomb Raider), and in April 2019 The Observer quoted a casting notice for main character Jazz Bashara that was rumored to be circulating.

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Originally published: 2018, Disney Press

Optioned for: Film (Paramount Pictures)

What it’s about: Twelve-year-old Aru Shah regularly makes up lies to brighten her mundane life, but she never imagines that when she lights the supposedly cursed Lamp of Bharata, that she’ll freeze everyone she loves in time and unleash the Sleeper demon. To save the day, she’ll have to find the reincarnations of the five Pandava brothers from the epic poem the Mahabharata and journey through the Kingdom of Death.

Status: Paramount won the bidding rights to create a movie franchise that Deadline describes as “a cross between Wizard of Oz and Coco, with a touch of Night at the Museum.” Karen Rosenfelt (Twilight Saga; Percy Jackson) will produce.

Astro City by Kurt Busiek (writer), Brent Anderson (artist), and Alex Ross (artist)

Originally published: 1995, Image Comics

Optioned for: Television (Fremantle Media)

What it’s about: The series includes at least 16 standalone story arcs featuring over 2,000 original characters—the residents of Astro City, a mid-sized American city that boasts the largest number of superheroes and villains of any one place on the planet. Both regular people and “all-too-human superhumans” grapple with crime, justice, and life-altering events.

Status: Fremantle Media, the producers behind American Gods, will bring this adaptation to television. While DC Comics currently publishes the series, Busiek retains the rights (as Deadline points out), so don’t expect this series to be part of the DCEU.

Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman

Originally published: 2011, First Second Books

Optioned for: Film and Television (TBD)

What it’s about: Short version: “Harry Potter in space.” Long version: Hakata Soy, along with his friends and crushes Miyumi San and Maribelle Melonbelly, split time at Astronaut Academy between pop quizzes and Fireball Championships and saving the galaxy from threats that adults just can’t handle.

Status: Writer/producer Vivek J. Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle) has optioned the film and TV rights; he is currently in talks with studios, networks, and other creatives.

Austral by Paul McAuley

Originally published: 2018, Orion Publishing Group

Optioned for: Television (Big Talk Productions)

What it’s about: This near-future cli-fi tale takes place on the Antarctic Peninsula, home to Earth’s newest nation. One of the last generation of ecopoets, Austral is a husky, an edited person who can adapt to the extreme cold. Following a checkered criminal past, Austral has committed the kidnapping of the century—but rather than just collect the ransom and use it to fund a new life as planned, she must instead hide out in the peninsula’s forests from a criminal gang with other plans for her teenage hostage.

Status: McAuley tweeted in 2018 that Austral and “associated short stories” had been optioned by Big Talk Productions, the company behind Hot Fuzz, Attack the Block, and Baby Driver.

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

Originally published: 2017, Tor Books

Optioned for: Television (AMC)

What it’s about: In 2144, ex-patent-scientist-turned-pirate Jack Chen is pursued by Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his robotic partner, Paladin.

Status: AMC optioned the series in late 2018, with Newitz and TV writer/producer Amanda Segel (Person of Interest, The Mist) cowriting the pilot.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

Originally published: 2016, Tor.com Publishing

Optioned for: Television (AMC)

What it’s about: Tommy Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father’s head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and gets caught up in a Lovecraftian conspiracy to conjure the destruction of the world.

Status: AMC announced the project as part of their “scripts-to-series development model that puts the emphasis on the most important part of our strategy – outstanding writing, a commitment to worlds you’ve never seen on TV before, and rich character development.” No casting announcements yet, but Victor LaValle will act as co-executive producer.

Untitled Batgirl Movie



Originally published: Character created by Bill Finger (writer) and Sheldon Moldoff (artist), 1961 (DC Comics)

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Entertainment)

What it’s about: No word yet on if the project will draw inspiration from Batgirl’s current, rebooted arc, or the more classic stories like Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke or Gail Simone’s run.

Status: Joss Whedon exited the project in early 2018, a year after signing on, after admitting that he had no way in to Batgirl’s story. Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, Bumblebee) has been hired to replace him. As of September, 2019, DC is said to be looking for a female director for the film, and they’re planning to tie the film in closely with Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey

Originally published: 2016, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Optioned for: Television (Studio 8)

What it’s about: In Howey’s collection of linked novellas, the notion of the lighthouse keeping boats safe has transformed into lighthouses in space, sending beacons across the Milky Way to ensure safe passage for spaceships. But when the supposedly reliable beacons break down, a shellshocked former soldier must put aside his past to help the ships traveling out in the dark.

Status: Studio 8 has tapped Josh Friedman (creator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and screenwriter, Avatar 3) to develop the TV series. As of fall 2018 the series was said to be close to a greenlight as a production between independent studio Platform One Media and Spectrum Originals.

Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers

Originally published: 2016, Orbit Books

Optioned for: Film and Television (TBD)

What it’s about: Princess-turned-gunrunner Hail Bristol has made a fearsome reputation across the galaxy, but she hides the secrets of her pasts—namely, escaping the throne of the Indranan Empire twenty years ago. When she is rediscovered and dragged back to court as the sole remaining heir, Hail takes on her most dangerous job yet.

Status: Producer David Barron (the Harry Potter films) has optioned both TV and film rights.

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Originally published: 1982, Jonathan Cape

Optioned for: Film/Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: Young Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant take on the Bonecruncher, the Bloodbottler, and other monsters.

Status: Netflix is adapting a number of Dahl’s works as “animated event series” starting in 2019.

Bitter Root by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Artist)

Originally published: 2019, Image Comics

Optioned for: Film (Legendary)

What it’s about: Set during the Harlem Renaissance, the Eisner-nominated comics series follows the Sangeryes, a family of monster hunters. The family will have to heal old wounds and resolve generations-long feuds to fight an invasion of shapeshifting monsters who feed on prejudice.

Status: Ryan Coogler will produce for Legendary alongside Zinzi Evans. Comics creators Walker, Greene and Brown will executive produce with Sean Owolo of Drapetomedia, and two Legendary executives, Jon Silk and Disney Hall, will represent the production company.

Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life by Marcus Wohlsen

Originally published: 2011, Penguin Publishing Group

Optioned for: Television (Legendary Television)

What it’s about: In 2011, WIRED editor Wohlsen delved into a then-mostly-unknown subculture of biohackers working to change how we build and alter genetic code. In the intervening half-decade, biopunk has become much more mainstream, so it’s good timing to reexamine Wohlsen’s book on the small screen.

Status: Zachary Quinto will co-executive produce and star as “the iconoclastic leader of this movement who can’t wait for the future to get here fast enough.”

Black Cat

Originally published: Character created by Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum, 1979 (Marvel Comics)

Optioned for: Film (Sony Pictures)

What it’s about: The Spider-Man spinoff will follow cat burglar (and Spidey love interest) Black Cat.

Status: Despite announcing Silver & Black in 2017, by 2018 Sony had decided to split the team-up movie into two separate projects. Screenwriter Chris Yost (Thor: Ragnarok) and director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Cloak & Dagger) had previously been attached. Prince-Blythewood is reportedly remaining as a producer, but it is unclear whether she’ll direct—as of 2018, Sony has stated that if not, she’ll be replaced with another female director.

Black Adam

Originally published: Character created by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, 1945 (Fawcett Comics)

Optioned for: Film (DC Films)

What it’s about: The standalone film follows Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson), arch-nemesis of the superhero Shazam.

Status: In development; production is supposed to begin in 2020, and in June 2019 Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows; Disney’s Jungle Cruise) was announced to direct.

The Black Company by Glen Cook

Originally published: 1984, Tor Books

Optioned for: Television (Boston Diva Productions/Phantom Four)

What it’s about: The Black Company begin their series as a tough, cynical unit who sell their skills to the highest bidder. However, when they learn that an ancient prophecy may be coming true, they have to reevaluate their choices, and most importantly, decide whether to forsake old loyalties. The Lady, who rules the Northern Empire, hires the Black Company for her own ends.

Status: Eliza Dushku and David Goyer’s production companies (respectively) are collaborating on the adaptation, with Dushku playing the pivotal role of The Lady.

Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire (writer) and Dean Ormston (artist)

Originally published: 2016, Dark Horse Comics

Optioned for: Television & Film (Legendary Entertainment)

What it’s about: “Banished from existence by a multiversal crisis, the old champions of Spiral City—Abraham Slam, Golden Gail, Colonel Weird, Madame Dragonfly, and Barbalien—now lead simple lives in an idyllic, timeless farming village from which there is no escape! But as they employ all of their super abilities to free themselves from this strange purgatory, a mysterious stranger works to bring them back into action for one last adventure!”

Status: Legendary Entertainment optioned both film and TV rights, in order to develop their own superhero universe, in late 2018.

Blackhawk by Chuck Cuidera (writer), Bob Powell (artist), and Will Eisner (artist)

Originally published: 1941, Quality Comics

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Films)

What it’s about: The Blackhawks are a World War II-era squadron of ace pilots led by a mysterious man known as Blackhawk to fight superpowered threats.

Status: Steven Spielberg will produce the adaptation, from a screenplay by frequent collaborator David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull), “with an eye toward” directing.

Blue Beetle created by Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski (writer/artist)

Originally published: 1939, Mystery Men Comics

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Entertainment)

What it’s about: It looks as if the film will follow Mexican-American teenager Jaime Reyes, the third iteration of the character, who becomes Blue Beetle after picking up a mysterious scarab that fuses itself to his back and creates an Iron Man-like suit of armor.

Status: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala) will write the screenplay, with Zev Foreman executive producing for Warner Bros. If it comes to the screen, it will be the first DC standalone film lead by a Latinx character.

Bodies by Si Spencer (writer) and Tula Lotay, Phil Winslade, Meghan Hetrick, and Dean Ormston (artists)

Originally published: 2014, Vertigo Comics

Optioned for: Television (Hulu)

What it’s about: This miniseries follows four detectives trying to solve four murder cases, all in London but in distinct time periods: the 1890s, the 1940s, 2014, and post-apocalyptic 2050.

Status: Amulet screenwriter Aron Coleite is developing Bodies with Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey company.

Bone by Jeff Smith

Originally published: 1991, Cartoon Books

Optioned for: Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: The series follows the three Bone cousins, Fone, Smiley, and Phoney Bone, after they’re run out of Boneville and have to make a new life for themselves in a forbidding forest. They’re soon caught up in an adventure with a young woman named Thorn, which is gradually revealed to be an epic high fantasy saga.

Status: Netflix acquired the rights to the series in October 2019, and is planning an animated series. Per Jeff Smith: “Netflix is the perfect home for Bone. Fans of the books know that the story develops chapter by chapter and book by book. An animated series is exactly the way to do this! The team at Netflix understands Bone and is committed to doing something special — this is good news for kids and cartoon lovers all over the world.”

Bone Street Rumba by Daniel José Older



Originally published: 2015, Roc

Optioned for: Film and Television (Roaring Virgin Productions)

What it’s about: Being a “halfie”—not quite dead, not quite alive—makes Carlos Delacruz a perfect soulcatcher for the Council of the Dead in New York City: He tracks down ghosts with unfinished business and keeps them from disturbing the balance between the living and the dead.

Status: Actress and producer Anika Noni Rose optioned Daniel José Older’s urban fantasy series in January 2015.

The Boogeyman by Stephen King

Originally published: 1973, Cavalier

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox/21 Laps)

What it’s about: Lester Billings is a man terrorized by some inhuman creature that has killed each of his young children, each time with the child crying “Boogeyman!” and him finding the closet door slightly open.

Status: Though The Boogeyman has been adapted several times (as a short) by amateur filmmakers, this is its first feature-length, big studio adaptation. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place) will write the screenplay. As of September 2019 the film was still in development after the Disney/Fox merger.

The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch

Originally published: 2017, Harper

Optioned for: Film (Stone Village Productions)

What it’s about: In this futuristic retelling of the Joan of Arc story, humanity has fled the radioactive surface of the Earth for CIEL, a mysterious hovering platform. Having evolved into hairless, sexless creatures who inscribe stories upon their skin, the surviving humans are galvanized by Joan, “a child-warrior who possesses a mysterious force that lives within her and communes with the earth.”

Status: Stone Village won the movie rights before the book even hit shelves, with Scott Steindorff (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Dylan Russell (Penelope) producing.

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

Originally published: 2017, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Optioned for: Film (Paramount)

What it’s about: Borne follows a young woman fighting to survive in desolate near-future city. The woman finds a green lumpish creature called Borne during a scavenging mission, and begins to realize that her new companion may be more than she first thought.

Status: Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, who produced the film adaptation of VanderMeer’s Annihilation with Paramount, will also produce Borne.

Brand New Cherry Flavor by Todd Grimson

Originally published: 2011, Schaffner Press

Optioned for: Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: Aspiring director/scrreenwriter tries o build a career in Holloywood, but after one too many lascivious producers try to force her into sleazy quid pro quos, she makes a magical bargain for vengeance, and thel ines between reality, dream, and satire begin to blur.

Status: The horror noir will be an eight-episode series, written by Channel Zero‘s Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion. Antosca will serve as EP, and Channel Zero‘s Arkasha Stevenson to direct the first episode.The series will star Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel), Get Out’s Catherine Keener, who will hopefully leave her tea sets at home, he perfect and amazing Manny Jacinto, who stars in The Good Place (and many of tor.com’s collective dreams), Eric Lange (Unbelievable), and Jeff Ward (Marvel’s Agents of Shield).

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley



Originally published: 1932, Chatto & Windus

Optioned for: Television (Peacock)

What it’s about: Aldous Huxley’s scarily prescient vision of the future sees humans born in hatcheries and seduced by consumerism, free sex, and—when those don’t make them entirely happy—the hallucinogenic drug soma, which they can take to get away from it all. But soon a “savage” from the “reservation” threatens the World State.

Status: Ordered straight-to-series in early 2019. David Wiener (Fear the Walking Dead) will serve as showrunner, with Grant Morrison executive producing and writer Bryan Taylor (Crank) acting as a consultant. The series previously moved from Syfy to the USA Network, and then in September 2019 it was announced it would go to NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. The cast will include Harry Lloyd as Bernard Marx, Alden Ehrenreich as John the Savage, Hannah John-Kamen as Wilhelmina Watson, and Jessica Brown Findlay as Lenina Crowne.

Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

Originally published: 2013, Amazon Publishing

Optioned for: Film (The Story Factory)

What it’s about: Since 1980, one percent of the population, called “brilliants,” have been born with powers ranging from mind-reading to invisibility. Federal agent Nick Cooper is a brilliant, using his power to hunt terrorists. But to catch his greatest target—a brilliant intent on civil war—Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in—and betray his own kind.

Status: Akiva Goldsman has signed on to write and produce the adaptations of the books in Sakey’s trilogy. As of September 2019, Will Smith will star as the book series’ hero, Nick Cooper.

The Brotherhood of the Wheel by R.S. Belcher

Originally published: 2016, Tor Books

Optioned for: Television (ITV Studios America)

What it’s about: Belcher’s urban fantasy follows an offshoot of the Knights of Templar: bikers, taxi hacks, state troopers, bus drivers—the Brotherhood of the Wheel—who protect travelers from roaming serial killers.

Status: ITV Studios America (Aquarius, Texas Rising) acquired the rights in mid-2017.

Camelot, from every Arthurian legend ever

Optioned for: Television (Fox)

What it’s about: The legend of King Arthur, reimagined as a modern-day police procedural. Hoo boy. I’m just gonna post the synopsis: “When an ancient magic reawakens in modern-day Manhattan, a graffiti artist named Art must team with his best friend Lance and his ex, Gwen—an idealistic cop—in order to realize his destiny and fight back against the evil forces that threaten the city.”

Status: The Jackal Group’s Gail Berman (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Rocky Horror Picture Show reboot) and Joe Earley will oversee the project, written by Dan Frey and Ru Sommer (The Black List, Fox’s Saint Patrick) writing.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Originally published: 2017, Flatiron Books

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: When her cruel father arranges a marriage for her, Scarlett fears she will never journey to Caraval, the magical annual festival that demands participation of its attendees. But when her sister Tella whisks her away to Caraval, and then gets kidnapped, Scarlett learns the disturbing truth: This year’s Caraval revolves around Tella, with whoever finds her the winner.

Status: Fox preemptively picked up the film rights in 2015; as of early 2018, there were no new developments, though the option still holds.

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

Originally published: 2015, Dial Books

Optioned for: Film (Walt Disney Company)

What it’s about: Molly, a 12-year-old witch, travels to Castle Hangnail to become its new master. If she fails at being as wicked as expected, the castle will be decommissioned by the Board of Magic, with its various residents (including a hypochondriac fish and a minotaur afraid of the letter Q) dispersed into the non-magic world.

Status: Ellen DeGeneres, along with her A Very Good Production partner Jeffrey Kleeman, will produce the story for Disney, with writer Bill Kunstler adapting the book.

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Originally published: 2017, Spiegel & Grau

Optioned for: Television (FX)

What it’s about: LaValle’s New York City fairy tale centers on new parents Apollo and Emma, who suspect that something may be unusual about their son Brian… (Read our review.)

Status: Kelly Marcel (Venom, Fifty Shades of Gray) will adapt LaValle’s (amazing) book for television in a co-production between FX Productions and Annapurna Television. Annapurna’s Sue Naegle and Ali Krug will oversee development, with LaValle serving as a co-executive producer.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Originally published: 1964, Alfred A. Knopf

Optioned for: Film/Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: Charlie Bucket gets a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s mythical factory of sweets and pure imagination.

Status: Netflix is adapting a number of Dahl’s works as “animated event series” starting in 2019.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

Originally published: 1972, Alfred A. Knopf

Optioned for: Film/Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: Sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Status: Netflix is adapting a number of Dahl’s works as “animated event series” starting in 2019.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Originally published: 2018, Henry Holt & Co.

Optioned for: Film (Fox 2000)

What it’s about: The first installment in the Legacy of Orïsha series follows young maji Zélie as she struggles to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha following its eradication.

Status: Rick Famuyiwa (Dope, The Mandalorian) will direct the screenplay written by David Magee (Life of Pi, Mary Poppins Returns). Famuyiwa will also produce (under his new shingle Verse) along with Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner and John Fischer of Temple Hill (Love, Simon, First Man, Maze Runner) and Sunswept’s Karen Rosenfelt.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Originally published: 2015, Pan Macmillan/2018, Orbit Books

Optioned for: Film (Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate Pictures)

What it’s about: The last remnants of Earth escape their dying planet for a fully terraformed one… only to find the new world abandoned by humans and occupied by a very different sentient species.

Status: Film rights optioned in mid-2017, with Colby Day (Simultaneous, Spaceman of Bohemia) adapting the novel.

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny

Originally published: 1970, Doubleday

Optioned for: Television (Skybound Entertainment)

What it’s about: Recovering from a loss of memory, Corwin discovers that he is a prince from Amber, one of the two “true” worlds—the other being the Courts of Chaos—waging war for control over the “shadow” worlds, including Earth.

Status: Robert Kirkman and David Alpert will adapt the ten-book series; no writers have been announced yet. As of July 2019, Brian Huntington of Skybound was promising to update the news “soon” on Twitter.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Originally published: 1950, Geoffrey Bles

Optioned for: Film and Television (Netflix)

What it’s about: Lewis’ beloved series follows the four Pevensie siblings as they step through an ordinary wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia.

Status: The Mark Gordon Company, Entertainment One (eOne, The C.S. Lewis Company, and Netflix are partnering on various adaptations of all seven books in the series. Coco’s Matthew Aldrich will oversee the production of both series and feature-length adaptations.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Originally published: 2018, Little, Brown and Company

Optioned for: Television (HBO Max)

What it’s about: This reimagining details the life of the witch Circe, a supporting character in The Odyssey, as she is banished to an island in the mortal world, where she harnesses her witchcraft and encounters Daedalus and Icarus, Medea, and of course Odysseus.

Status: HBO Max gave an 8-episode, straight-to-series order for an adaptation from writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who co-wrote and produced 2015’s Jurassic World as well as the most recent Planet of the Apes trilogy.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Originally published: 2018, Scholastic

Optioned for: Television (The CW)

What it’s about: After a near-death experience, college grad Cass discovers that she can pull back the Veil between the worlds of the living and the dead—and she’s not the only one with this gift.

Status: I. Marlene King (Pretty Little Liars) will executive produce alongside Lauren Wagner (The Following, Time After Time), Karen Wyscarver, and Sanford Golden (Bones, Time After Time, Taken).

The Comet Cycle by Benjamin Percy

Originally published: 2020, Houghton Mifflin

Optioned for: Film (TBD)

What it’s about: The trilogy (The Ninth Metal, The Unfamiliar Garden, and Sky Fault) depict the aftermath of a meteor shower that drastically alters the planet.

Status: The Russo brothers (Avengers: Infinity War) optioned the film rights in 2018.

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard

Originally published: 1932, Weird Tales

Optioned for: Television (Amazon Studios)

What it’s about: In this reimagining, “driven out of his tribal homelands, Conan wanders the mysterious and treacherous world of civilization where he searches for purpose in a place that rejects him as a mindless savage.”

Status: Ryan Condal (Colony co-creator), Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones director), and Warren Littlefield (The Handmaid’s Tale producer) are adapting the series.

Culture, from Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

Originally published: 1987, Macmillan

Optioned for: Television (Amazon Studios)

What it’s about: The first book in Banks’ Culture series is the story of Horza, who is tasked by the conquering and warlike Idirans with recovering a Culture “Mind”—an A.I. that could help them wipe out the Culture.

Status: Amazon Studios has acquired the rights to Consider Phlebas, with the Estate of Iain M. Banks serving as executive producer. Dennis Kelly (Utopia, Matilda) will adapt the series, with Plan B Entertainment (World War Z) producing.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Originally published: 2015, Bloomsbury USA

Optioned for: Film (Constantin Film/Tempo Productions)

What it’s about: After killing what she believes is a wolf, huntress Feyre realizes that she has accidentally slain a faerie. Dragged to the faeries’ realm by lethal immortal Tamlin, Feyre must choose between stopping an impending, shadowy threat or dooming Tamlin and the world of Fae forever.

Status: The production company behind the Resident Evil movie franchise and the Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments TV series (based on Cassandra Clare’s books) is adapting Maas’ first novel in this series of the same name for the big screen. Maas shared a photo of the first page of the screenplay (adapted by Rachel Hirons) in mid-2018, warning fans that it was still slow going as they were searching for the perfect director and cast.

Cowboy Ninja Viking by A.J. Lieberman (writer) and Riley Rossmo (artist)

Originally published: 2009, Image Comics

Optioned for: Film (Universal Pictures)

What it’s about: Chris Pratt plays an assassin who is a “Triplet,” or someone who manifests multiple identities at once—in this case, a cowboy, a ninja, and a Viking.

Status: Michelle MacLaren (Game of Thrones) will direct the film, written by Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans) and Ryan Engle (The Commuter, Rampage). While it was slated for a June 2019 release, Universal has now delayed the film indefinitely.

Crosswind by Gail Simone (writer) and Cat Staggs (artist)

Originally published: 2017, Image Comics

Optioned for: Television (eOne)

What it’s about: “A slick and ruthless Chicago hitman. A smart but downtrodden Seattle housewife. When an inexplicable event strikes these two random strangers, their bodies, souls, and lives are switched to potentially deadly effect. It’s Freaky Friday meets Goodfellas!”

Status: The adaptation is one of Vanessa Piazza’s (Lost Girl, Dark Matter) major projects in her new multi-year producing partnership with eOne. Simone wrote the pilot and will serve as an executive producer, with Staggs serving as a consulting producer.

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

Originally published: 2003, Plume Books

Optioned for: Film & Television (Amazon Studios/Sony Pictures Entertainment)

What it’s about: Stephen King has described the series as his magnum opus: Combining themes from sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and Western, it follows a gunslinger (Idris Elba), the Man in Black he’s following (Matthew McConaughey), and his quest to find a tower that is both physical and metaphorical.

Status: The Dark Tower movie (read our review) came to theaters in 2017. Per TV Guide, the TV show is at the pilot stage as of June 2019. Former Walking Dead showrunner Glenn Mazzara has signed on as an executive producer. The gunslinger Roland Deschain will be played by Sam Strike, a British actor recently seen in Nightflyers, will play Roland Deschain, and Vikings‘ Jasper Pääkkönen will play the Man in Black. The series will reportedly tell Roland’s origin story, with this iteration of The Man in Black going by the alias Marten Broadcloak. Jerome Flynn (Bronn in Game of Thrones) and Michael Rooker (Mary Poppins, y’all) will reportedly also be joining the cast. Also, billy-bumblers will be appearing in the show.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Originally published: 2015, Tor Books

Optioned for: Film (G-BASE)

What it’s about: Traveler-magician Kell’s official job is to deliver correspondence between the parallel Londons, but his unofficial job is smuggling visitors to see the flourishing magic of Red London, or the eerie control of White London (though no one is allowed in Black London). When a thief from boring Grey London robs, saves, and then joins Kell, he discovers the perilous magic at the root of everything.

Status: While the original plans for the adaptation was a limited series along the lines of Game of Thrones, the project changed direction in 2017: Schwab will be a producer on the movie version of the first book, with the other two volumes serving as material for a potential franchise. John Wick screenwrite Derek Kolstad will adapt the books for G-BASE.

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

Originally published: 1987, Grand Central Publishing

Optioned for: Television (TBD)

What it’s about: Lilith’s Brood is a trilogy, in which the alien Oankali save humans from themselves, but for a price (Dawn); some humans agree to mate and evolve with the Oankali, while others revolt (Adulthood Rites); and there emerges a new generation of human-Oankali hybrids (Imago).

Status: While producer Allen Bain acquired the TV rights in 2015, that adaptation seems to have fallen through. As of mid-2017, director Ava DuVernay (A Wrinkle in Time) is helming the new adaptation alongside producer Charles D. King’s (Fences) Macro Ventures and TV writer Victoria Mahoney (Misfits). Right now it seems as if only Dawn is in development.

Deadtown, from The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente

Originally published: 2017, Saga Press

Optioned for: Television (Amazon Studios)

What it’s about: “Five recently-dead women meet in Deadtown, a purgatory where they discover that their entire lives were merely in service to the superhero men they happened to cross paths with, resulting in each of their deaths. Or in comic book terms, they were “fridged”—the term coined by comics icon Gail Simone to commemorate a plot in Green Lantern #54, when Kyle Rayner finds that his girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, has been killed by a villain and stuffed into a refrigerator to traumatize him. The realize they are part of a long line of women whose lives and deaths were written solely to give men an emotional backstory. Until now. They start to discover their own powers, tell their sides of the narrative, and decide to write their own damn stories. And a group of seemingly ordinary women discover their own true power. It’s a subversive, kick-ass exploration of what it means for women to find their inner power—and use it.”

Status: Announced in late 2018. Shauna Cross (Whip It, If I Stay, What to Expect When You’re Expecting) will write the pilot.

Deathstroke by Marv Wolfman (writer) and George Pérez (artist)

Originally published: 1980, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (DC Entertainment/Warner Bros)

What it’s about: A longtime enemy of the Teen Titans, Deathstroke the Terminator is a U.S. Army soldier who was transformed in a secret experiment to create metahuman super soldiers.

Status: While the movie was announced in late 2017, as of mid-2018 it still seems to be in the works but moving slowly. Joe Manganiello is attached to star, and teased fans in a July 2019 Instagram post that featured a custom Deathstroke-themed D20—Manganiello is an avid DnD player, but many fans took it as a hint that the film is still in the works.

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Originally published: 2013, First Second Books

Optioned for: Film (Disney)

What it’s about: Like the female Indiana Jones and trained in 47 styles of swordfighting, Delilah Dirk breaks out of a Turkish prison and picks up a mild-mannered lieutenant, Selim, as her sidekick for fighting pirates and the like.

Status: Disney is developing a live-action adaptation that could lead to a diverse franchise built on female empowerment.

Dire Earth by Jason M. Hough

Originally published: 2017, Random House Publishing Group

Optioned for: Television (TBD)

What it’s about: Hough’s action-adventure sci-fi duology follows two clashing crews undertaking a long journey to a far-off planet to rescue a race of benevolent aliens.

Status: The deal was announced in 2017, around the publication of the first installment, Injection Burn.

Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke

Originally published: 2014, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Optioned for: Film (Straight Up Films/Envision Media Arts)

What it’s about: Del is a Walker, able to move between parallel realities. When she is forbidden from Walking after a training session gone wrong, she can’t resist still poking into alternate worlds, following the echo of Simon Lane—who won’t give her the day in her world, but whose alternate selves seem strangely intrigued by her.

Status: Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Red Riding Hood) will direct a screenplay adapted by Andrea Siegel (Laggies).

DMZ by Brian Wood (writer); Ricardo Burchielli (Artist)

Originally published: 2005, Vertigo

Optioned for: TV (HBO Max)

What it’s about: Over 72 issues from 2005 to 2012, DMZ explored a future in which Manhattan has become a lawless demilitarized zone after a brutal civil war.

Status: Ava DuVernay will direct the pilot episode for the streaming service’s upcoming take on the Vertigo comic.

Doc Savage, from the character created by Henry W. Ralston, John L. Nanovic, and Lester Dent

Originally published: 1933, Doc Savage Magazine

Optioned for: Film (Sony Pictures/Original Film)

What it’s about: The pulpy adventure hero has been credited as the forerunner to modern superheroes.

Status: Director Shane Black and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have wanted to work together on this adaptation since 2016. As of April 2018, it sounded as though the film has been put on hold, but we’ll leave it here until there’s an official cancellation.

Doctor Doom



Originally published: Character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, 1962 (Marvel Comics)

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: No word yet on whether this will be a standalone film or if Doctor Doom will get to play off the Fantastic Four.

Status: Legion creator and executive producer Noah Hawley announced at SDCC 2017 that he was developing the film, reportedly to direct. It would seem that he wants to mix genres, perhaps drawing inspiration from Captain America: The Winter Soldier to make the Doom movie more of a political thriller. However, as of April 2019 it seems the standalone film, at least, is in limbo.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Originally published: 1897, Archibald Constable and Company

Optioned for: Television (BBC One/Netflix)

What it’s about: “In Transylvania in 1897, the blood-drinking Count is drawing his plans against Victorian London. And be warned: the dead travel fast.”

Status: BBC One commissioned three 90-minute episodes of the series, to be written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, in late 2018. No word on a release date yet, but BBC One has dropped a trailer!

Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Originally published: 1968, Ballantine Books

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros.)

What it’s about: The possible franchise series would begin with the first book, Dragonflight, which sees orphaned noble Lessa hiding out as a lowly servant after the assassination of her family. But as her telepathic powers grow, a dragonrider recognizes her potential to become the strongest Weyrwoman (that is, the female leader in a Weyr, or group of dragons) in recent history.

Status: As of late 2014, the studio had landed a screenwriter, but no update since then.

East of West by Jonathan Hickman (writer) and Nick Dragotta (artist)

Originally published: 2013, Image Comics

Optioned for: Television (Amazon Studios)

What it’s about: This sci-fi Western takes place in a dystopian, alternate-history United States in which Death—of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—must actually stop the world from ending.

Status: Both creators are on board as producers.

The Electric State by Simon Ståhlenhag

Originally published: 2018, Atria

Optioned for: Film (Russo Brothers Studio)

What it’s about: “In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her small yellow toy robot travel west through a strange American landscape where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, along with the discarded trash of a high-tech consumerist society addicted to a virtual-reality system.”

Status: Joe and Anthony Russo will produce, with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Infinity War) writing and Andy Muschietti (It) in negotiations to direct.

Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock

Originally published: 1972, Hutchinson

Optioned for: Television (New Republic Pictures)

What it’s about: Elric is the skull-white, ruby-eyed Sorcerer Emperor of Melniboné. He’s a genius, he’s on many, many magical drugs, and his court is, um, fun. But over the course of the saga he has to become more of an action hero, wiedling an evil sword and hating every second of it.

Status: “[E]xclusive rights to all works” in Moorcock’s series have sold to New Republic Pictures’ Brian Oliver and producer Bradley J. Fischer. As of late 2019, they’re shopping a potential TV series around; Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead) and Vaun Wilmott (Star Trek: Discovery) have signed on to adapt. While you wait, you can read Karin L. Kross’ reread!

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Originally published: 2018, Orbit Books

Optioned for: Television (Kronicle Media/Amyale/Rebel Maverick)

What it’s about: “The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited. When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda. Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…”

Status: Sadia Ash (author of Juniper Smoke) will adapt the pilot.

Empress by Mark Millar (writer) and Stuart Immonen (artist)

Originally published: 2016, Icon Comics

Optioned for: Film (Netflix)

What it’s about: “Imagine you’re married to the worst bad guy from your favorite sci-fi movie. An alien dictator feared throughout the universe, who will kill you if you leave—but you need to escape for the sake of your three children. All you have are your wits, your bodyguard, and three guns.”

Status: Lindsey Beer (The Kingkiller Chronicle) is adapting the comic for the screen, with Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum producing.

Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars by Scott Kelly

Originally published: 2017, Knopf

Optioned for: Film (Sony Pictures)

What it’s about: Astronaut Scott Kelly’s memoir will detail his year spent in space, as well as the post-return to Earth experiments conducted on him and his twin brother and fellow astronaut Mark Kelly to help guide NASA’s plans for eventual travel to Mars.

Status: Sony Pictures picked up the competitive rights to the book; both Kelly brothers will serve as co-executive producers.

Extreme Universe, from various titles by Rob Liefeld

Originally published: 1992, Image Comics

Optioned for: Film (Netflix/Fundamental Films)

What it’s about: Spanning nine comic-book titles and nearly 100 characters, Liefeld’s universe includes such superheroes as Bloodstrike, Brigade, Lethal, Re-Gex, Cybrid, Bloodwulf, Battlestone, Kaboom, and Nitro-Gen.

Status: Liefeld will work with Akiva Goldsman and Graham King to develop the property, with the potential opportunity to make it into a film franchise. Netflix bought the rights in early 2018, setting up a cinematic universe writers room helmed by Goldsman, but as of January 2019, Liefeld tweeted that the deal had been cancelled, and he was looking for other markets for the property.

The Fandom by Anna Day

Originally published: 2018, Scholastic

Optioned for: Television (Fox 21 Television Studios)

What it’s about: Violet and her friends are diehard fans of dystopian book/movie franchise The Gallows Dance. But when a freak accident at Comic-Con catapults them into the story, and they accidentally kill heroine Rose, the only way out is for Violet to step into Rose’s role and play out the plot to the end.

Status: Producer Ileen Maisel (The Golden Compass) inked a first-look deal with Fox 21 in 2018, and is looking to develop Day’s novel as a TV series.

Fear Street by R.L. Stine

Originally published: 1989, Simon Pulse

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: According to THR: “The first film is set in 1994 in the town of Shadyside and focuses on a group of teens that discover that the deadly events occurring in their town have not only been happening for centuries, but are also connected. The other stories are set in 1978 and 1666 before finding their way back to 1994.”

Status: The first in an intended trilogy, starring Gillian Jacobs and a number of newcomers. Filming wrapped in Georgia in August, 2019, and there is talk of an unusual release strategy of the three films being released in three consecutive months, sometime in 2020.

Ferryman by Claire McFall

Originally published: 2017, Floris Books

Optioned for: Film (Legendary Pictures)

What it’s about: “Dylan has escaped a horrific train crash unscathed. Except she hasn’t. The bleak landscape around her isn’t Scotland. It’s a wasteland haunted by wraiths searching for human souls. And the stranger waiting for her isn’t an ordinary boy. Tristan is a Ferryman, tasked with transporting her soul safely to the afterlife, a journey he’s made a thousand times before. Except this time, something’s different.”

Status: Kelly Marcel (Venom, Fifty Shades of Grey) will direct the adaptation.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Originally published: 2015, Orbit Books

Optioned for: Television (TNT)

What it’s about: The series follows three women who possess the ability to control the civilization-causing earthquakes (the eponymous “fifth season”) that threaten their world… but they can also create them. Damaya is training to serve the Empire; ambitious Syenite is ordered to breed with her frighteningly powerful mentor; and Essun is searching for the husband who murdered her son and kidnapped her daughter mere hours after the last Season.

Status: Leigh Dana Jackson (Sleepy Hollow, Helix) will adapt the first installment of Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. Daveed Diggs will serve as an executive producer.

The Final Six by Alexandra Monir

Originally published: 2018, HarperCollins

Optioned for: Film (Sony Pictures)

What it’s about: The United Nations teams up with international space agencies to create an unprecedented coalition of six intrepid teenagers who will establish humanity’s first settlement on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Not much else is known, but the book will have themes of global unity, leadership, and environmentalism.

Status: Sony optioned the rights based on the first few chapters alone, ahead of publication. Josh Bratman at Immersive Pictures is attached to produce.

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

Originally published: 1984, McClelland & Stewart

Optioned for: Television (Temple Street)

What it’s about: Five people invited to Fionavar (the first of all worlds), ostensibly for the celebration of the king, discover that each of them has a role to play in the war that is brewing.

Status: Temple Street, the production company behind Orphan Black, will bring the series to television.

FKA USA by Reed King

Originally published: 2019, Flatiron Books

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros.)

What it’s about: In 2085 America, dissolved from environmental disasters and secessions, factory worker Truckee from Crunchtown 407 (formerly Little Rock, Arkansas) must deliver a talking goat across the lawless territories that used to make up the United States. Joined by an android who wants to be human and a former convict lobotomized in Texas, this foursome may be the world’s last hope.

Status: Warner Bros. optioned the film rights prior to publication.

The Flash



Originally published: Character created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert, 1940 (DC Comics)

Optioned for: Film (DC Entertainment/Warner Bros)

What it’s about: Crime scene investigator Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) uses his newly-gained super speed to help put criminals behind bars.

Status: While the Flash’s standalone movie was initially revealed as the Flashpoint storyline, more recent reports liken the film, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Game Night), to the comparatively lighter Back to the Future. With Miller’s involvement in the Fantastic Beasts films, he won’t start on The Flash until late 2019/early 2020, putting the film on track for a likely 2021 release. In July of 2019 it was announced that IT director Andy Muschietti had signed onto the project, and Miller confirmed in August 2019 that the film is still happening.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman



Originally published: 1974, St. Martin’s Press

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros.)

What it’s about: Channing Tatum has signed on to star as William Mandella, a soldier fighting a fearsome enemy, only to (thanks to time dilation) return to a world he doesn’t recognize.

Status: The project was initially announced in 2015. Screenwriter Jon Spaihts provided an update in late 2016, saying that the adaptation was still happening but had been delayed by the production of his film Passengers.

Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman (writer) and Skottie Young (artist)

Originally published: 2013, HarperCollins

Optioned for: Film (Fox)

What it’s about: Edgar Wright will direct a part-live action, part-animated adaptation (written by Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie) of Gaiman’s children’s book. Johnny Depp will star as a father who, with his son, gets caught up in issues of time travel and breakfast cereal.

Status: Currently the aforementioned folks are in negotiations.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Originally published: 1951, Gnome Press

Optioned for: Television (Apple TV+/Skydance Television)

What it’s about: Foreseeing the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, mathematician Hari Sheldon creates a foundation of artists, academics, and engineers to preserve and expand on humanity’s knowledge before said fall.

Status: David S. Goyer (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Josh Friedman (Avatar 2) will serve as showrunners/EPs, working with Asimov’s daughter Robyn. A 2019 casting update announced that Jared Harris will star as Hari Seldon, the mathematical genius who predicts the demise of the empire, with Lee Pace starring as Brother Day, the current Emperor of the Galaxy.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Originally published: 1818, Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones

Optioned for: Television (CBS)

What it’s about: From Deadline: “Frankenstein centers on a San Francisco homicide detective who’s mysteriously brought back to life after being killed in the line of duty, but as he resumes his old life and he and his wife realize he isn’t the same person he used to be, they zero in on the strange man behind his resurrection—Dr. Victor Frankenstein.”

Status: Announced at the 2019 winter TCAs, the series is written and executive produced by Jason Tracey (Elementary), with Elementary creator Rob Doherty also serving as EP.

Untitled Game of Thrones Prequel, from A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

Originally published: 1996, Bantam Books

Optioned for: Television (HBO)

What it’s about: HBO’s logline: “Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”

Status: As of October 2019, the project had been scrapped by HBO.

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Originally published: 1977, St. Martin’s Press

Optioned for: Television (TBD)

What it’s about: The discovery of Gateway, a space station belonging to the Heechee alien race, in a hollow asteroid leads to a kind of gold rush for the human race, as they endeavor to learn more about the Heechee and turn these artifacts into fortunes.

Status: Syfy announced in 2015 its intention to adapt the novel to series, with David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) revising a pilot script written by Josh Pate (Falling Skies). However that production never came to fruition, and in 2017 it was announced that rights had been picked up by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert’s Skybound Entertainment, who are developing it for television with Frederik Pohl IV onboard as a consultant.

Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire (writer) and Andrea Sorrentino (artist)

Originally published: 2018, Image Comics

Optioned for: Television (Hivemind Productions)

What it’s about: “The lives of a reclusive young man obsessed with a conspiracy in the city’s trash, and a washed-up Catholic priest arriving in a small town full of dark secrets, become intertwined around the mysterious legend of The Black Barn, an otherworldly building that is alleged to have appeared in both the city and the small town, throughout history, bringing death and madness in its wake.”

Status: The series was optioned in late 2018, and in October 2019it was announced that James Wan had signed on to executive produce.

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Originally published: 1991, Firebrand Books

Optioned for: Television (13 Gen)

What it’s about: Gomez’s groundbreaking Afrofuturist novel follows Gilda, a young woman who escapes slavery and learns about freedom working in a brothel. She becomes a vampire and adopts the title of Gilda, moving through the world as an immortal being.

Status: Cheryl Dunye (Queen Sugar, Star) is attached to write, direct, and produce the adaptation.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Originally published: 2016, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Optioned for: Film (Fox Animation)

What it’s about: Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to an unseen witch. But when delivering a baby to waiting families on her yearly journey, witch Xan accidentally feeds moonlight to the infant, filling her with magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own, with the help of a wise swamp monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon.

Status: Kubo and the Two Strings co-writer Marc Haimes is adapting Barnhill’s book as a live-action/animation-hybrid film.

The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

Originally published: 2018, Penguin Random House

Optioned for: Film (Fox)

What it’s about: Not much information is available about the book except that it’s described by Deadline as “a sci-fi time travel procedural.” Read our review of Sweterlitsch’s first novel, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, for an idea of his work.

Status: District 9 and Elysium’s Neill Blomkamp signed on to write and direct the film adaptation even before the novel was published.

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake

Originally published: 1946, Eyre & Spottiswoode

Optioned for: Television (FremantleMedia North America)

What it’s about: Titus Groan, reluctant heir to Gormenghast Castle, finds his legacy potentially threatened by the more charismatic kitchen boy Steerpike, who’s moving up through the ranks.

Status: Neil Gaiman and Akiva Goldsman will serve as non-writing executive producers alongside fellow EPs Barry Spikings (The Deer Hunter) and David A. Stern (Howards End). Toby Whithouse (Doctor Who, Being Human) will write the adaptation and also serve as EP. As of August 2019, the project had been picked up by Showtime, who are planning to co-produce with Fremantle, and have given a script-to-series order.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

Originally published: 2015, Saga Press

Optioned for: Film (DMG Entertainment)

What it’s about: Bandit Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu, son of a deposed duke, become friends when fighting to overthrow the emperor. But once the throne is available for the taking, they become leaders of opposing factions, with very different views on the best way to run the world.

Status: DMG Entertainment has acquired the film and licensing rights to the entire Dandelion Dynasty series into a film series.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Originally published: 2014, Penguin Books

Optioned for: Film (New Regency)

What it’s about: Austin Szerba struggles with confusing sexual feelings for both his best friend and his girlfriend while preying mantises hatch in his Iowa town and threaten to take over the world.

Status: Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is on board to direct. New Regency is in final negotiations after a bidding war against Netflix and others; the project had previously been set up at Sony.

Green Lantern by Martin Nodell (writer) John Broome (writer) and Gil Kane (artist)

Originally published: 1940, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (HBO Max)

What it’s about: A hero uses an alien’s ring to channel his imagination and willpower in order to fight evil and defend the universe. Or, to put that more poetically: “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power: Green Lantern’s light!”

Status: Greg Berlanti, the man behind the CW’s DC Arrowverse, announced that the Green Lantern series will be “our biggest DC show ever made,” and that at least some of the adventures will take place in space. The show will be produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. There’s no word yet on which iteration of the Green Lantern will star.

Green Lantern Corps by John Broome (writer) and Gil Kane (artist)

Originally published: 1959, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (DC Entertainment/Warner Bros)

What it’s about: Following the Green Lantern Corps, including John Stewart and Hal Jordan, as they keep the peace in space.

Status: In mid-2018, Geoff Johns came on as writer and producer, so it’s expected that the movie would pull from his run of the comic. As of 2019, there have been no updates announced for the project.

Happiness Is for Humans by P.Z. Reizin

Originally published: 2018, Grand Central Publishing (US) and Sphere Fiction (UK)

Optioned for: Film (Fox 2000/Working Title)

What it’s about: Described as “Sleepless in Seattle meets Her,” the novel follows a pair of AIs who attempt matchmaking with two lovelorn humans.

Status: Fox 2000, which adapted John Green’s Paper Towns and Nicholas Sparks’ The Longest Ride for the big screen, acquired film rights to Reizin’s partial manuscript before the London Book Fair in 2016. Fox 2000 is partnering with Working Title to adapt the novel.

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Originally published: 2018, Flatiron Books

Optioned for: Film (Columbia Pictures)

What it’s about: Pursued by bad luck, teenager Alice and her mother live on the road, with no contact with Alice’s grandmother Althea Proserpine, author of the dark fairy tales Tales from the Hinterland. When her mother is kidnapped, Alice must confront the fac