Thanks to major properties like Game of Thrones and Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, we’ve entered a golden age of sci-fi and fantasy properties 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 American Gods 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

Shazam! (April 5, 2019)

Adapted from: various DC Comics

Originally published: 1939, Fawcett Comics

Optioned for: Film (DC Films)

What it’s about: When kid Billy Batson speaks the word “SHAZAM,” he turns into the titular superhero (Zachary Levi).

Status: Watch the first trailer from SDCC.

Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen (April 12, 2019)

Adapted from: Hellboy by Mike Mignola

Originally published: 1993, Dark Horse Comics

Optioned for: Film (Millennium)

What it’s about: A demon who shaved off his horns, Hellboy works for the BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense), fighting dark forces like the Nazi occultists who first summoned him from Hell as an infant.

Status: Instead of Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating (and now dead) Hellboy 3, this will be an R-rated reboot directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent) and starring David Harbour (Stranger Things). According to Harbour, it won’t be an origin story.

Avengers: Endgame (April 26, 2019)

Adapted from: The Infinity War by Jim Starlin (writer) and Ron Lim (artist)

Originally published: 1992, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (Marvel Studios)

What it’s about: The sequel to Avengers: Infinity War will see the survivors of the snap figuring out how to reverse the devastating effects of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet… perhaps with the help of Captain Marvel?

Status: Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo, will all return.

Good Omens (May 31, 2019)



Adapted from: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Originally published: 1990, Gollancz/Workman

Optioned for: Television (BBC/Amazon Studios)

What it’s about: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett co-wrote this comedy about the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley trying to avoid the End Times, brought about by Satan’s son.

Status: At a 2016 memorial for Pratchett, Gaiman revealed that the late author wrote him a letter before his death imploring Gaiman to adapt their book on his own. (Gaiman: “At that point, I think I said, ‘You bastard, yes.’”) The six-part miniseries, which will star David Tennant as Crowley and Michael Sheen as Aziraphale, will premiere on Amazon Prime Video before being aired via BBC Two. Watch a behind-the-scenes video from SDCC.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (June 7, 2019)

Adapted from: Uncanny X-Men (“The Dark Phoenix Saga”) by Chris Claremont (writer) and John Byrne (writer/artist)

Originally published: 1980, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: No official synopsis yet, but it will presumably pick up after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse. Jessica Chastain will play the villainous Lilandra. Check out first-look photos from EW.

Untitled Gambit Movie (June 7, 2019)

Adapted from: various Marvel Comics

Originally published: 1990, Marvel Comics

Optioned for: Film (Fox)

What it’s about: It’s currently unclear whether or not this standalone film will be an origin story.

Status: At SDCC 2017, after the project had languished for a couple of years, star Channing Tatum said that they were “giving it a bit of a rethink.” Now, its projected release is mid-2019.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 5, 2019)

Adapted from: TBD

Originally published: TBD

Optioned for: Film (Walt Disney Company/Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures)

What it’s about: The film’s title implies that it will take Peter Parker out of New York City. Jake Gyllenhaal plays villain Mysterio; Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) will also make an appearance.

The New Mutants (August 2, 2019)

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.

Artemis Fowl (August 9, 2019)

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.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (August 9, 2019)

Adapted from: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

Originally published: 1981, Harper & Row

Optioned for: Film (CBS Films/Entertainment One)

What it’s about: “It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind…but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying tome.”

Status: Guillermo del Toro will co-write and produce the adaptation, to be directed by André Øvredal.

Joker (October 4, 2019)

Originally published: 1940, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (DC Films/Warner Bros)

What it’s about: The studio describes the film as an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.”

Status: Todd Phillips (The Hangover) is set to co-write a script with Scott Silver (8 Mile), with Phillips directing alongside Martin Scorsese producing. Joaquin Phoenix will star. The latest update comes from SDCC.

The Boys (2019)

Adapted from: The Boys by Garth Ennis (writer) and Darick Robertson (artist)

Originally published: 2006, Wildstorm/Dynamite Entertainment

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

What it’s about: In a world where superheroes take advantage of their superpowered fame, Hughie (Jack Quaid) gets drawn into a covert war between the government and superheroes after the death of his girlfriend by the superhero A-Train (Jessie Usher).

Status: Supernatural and Timeless creator Eric Kripke is adapting the comic for television, and will executive produce alongside Preacher’s Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.

Chaos Walking (2019)

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 to be announced.

Creepshow (2019)

Adapted from: stories by Stephen King and Joe Hill

Originally published: TBD

Optioned for: Television (Shudder)

What it’s about: The six-episode series will adapt the 1982 movie of the same name (for which King wrote the screenplay), but will adapt to-be-determined stories by King and Hill.

Status: Announced in early 2019 and expected to premiere later in the year.

Cursed (2019)

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 (13 Reasons Why’s Katherine Langford), who originally wielded the sword Excalibur and would go on to become the Lady of the Lake.

Status: Cursed will likely arrive concurrently as an illustrated novel in fall 2019 and as a 10-episode Netflix series, helmed by Zetna Fuentes (Jessica Jones) sometime in 2019.

Image: The Lady of the Lake gives Excalibur to King Arthur (original work: Alfred Kappes, 1880; derivative work: Themadchopper, 2011)

Doom Patrol (2019)

Adapted from: Doom Patrol by Arnold Drake (writer), Bob Haney (writer), and Bruno Premiani (artist)

Originally published: 1963, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (DC Universe/Warner Bros. Television/Berlanti Productions)

What it’s about: It is unclear which iteration of the long-running series the TV show will be based on, but here’s the official synopsis: “Doom Patrol is a re-imagining of one of DC’s most beloved group of outcast Super Heroes: Robotman (Brendan Fraser), Negative Man, Elasti-Girl (April Bowlby), and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), led by modern-day mad scientist Dr. Niles Caulder (The Chief) (Timothy Dalton). The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities—but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence—and to protect Earth from what they find. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of super-powered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them. Picking up after the events of Titans, Doom Patrol will find these reluctant heroes in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg (Joivan Wade), who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse, but with a warning that is hard to ignore: their lives will never, ever be the same.”

Status: Greg Berlanti will executive-produce the live-action series alongside Jeremy Carver (Supernatural), who is adapting the comic for television. Some of the characters from Doom Patrol will first appear in the TV series Titans. Doom Patrol will air on DC Universe, the forthcoming subscription digital model from Warner Bros. Television, sometime in 2019.

Harley Quinn (2019)

Adapted from: various Harley Quinn comics by various authors and artists

First published: 1993, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (DC Universe)

What it’s about: Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) breaks up with the Joker and striking 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 around mid-October 2019. Watch the first teaser!

His Dark Materials (2019)

Adapted from: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Originally published: 1995, Scholastic UK/1996, Alfred A. Knopf

Optioned for: Television (BBC One/HBO)

What it’s about: Lyra, an orphan, and her trusty dæmon Pan travel through parallel universes in order to learn the truth about her parents, prophecies about Lyra’s place in the fight against celestial beings, and the meaning behind the mysterious Dust.

Status: The BBC is partnering with New Line Cinema (who produced the movie version of The Golden Compass in 2007) to adapt all three books for television, with author Philip Pullman drawing comparisons to Game of Thrones and The Wire. Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) will write the teleplay, under the watch of producers Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner (Doctor Who). Principal photography began in mid-2018. The cast includes Logan’s Dafne Keen as Lyra, James McAvoy as Lord Asriel, Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter, Ruta Gedmintas as Serafina Pekkala, and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby. The series was granted a second season before the premiere date of the first has even been announced. Creative agency designdough posted on their blog that the series was expected to premiere in late 2018/early 2019, the latter being the more likely now.

Metropolis (2019)

Adapted from: various Superman comics

Originally published: 1938, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (Warner Bros Television/DC Entertainment)

What it’s about: The producers behind Gotham will delve into life in Metropolis before Superman showed up, following young reporter Lois Lane and evil-mastermind-in-the-making Lex Luthor in their day-to-day life.

Status: The 13-episode series will premiere on DC’s streaming service sometime in 2019.

NOS4A2 (2019)

Adapted from: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Originally published: 2013, William Morrow

Optioned for: Television (AMC)

What it’s about: In his 1938 Rolls Royce-Wraith with the license plate NOS4A2, Charles Talent Manx (Zachary Quinto) picks up children and transports them to the sinister Christmasland. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, Victoria McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) is the Manx’s only victim to have escaped… until he picks up his next victim, her son.

Status: AMC used its new script-to-series model to develop the series under showrunner Jami O’Brien (Hell on Wheels, Fear the Walking Dead), in which the network opens writers’ rooms to develop the pilot and several scripts, considering the potential for a first season, before it picked up 10 episodes to air sometime in 2019. Hill will executive-produce. Jahkara Smith (a.k.a. YouTuber Sailor J) will have a supporting role as Maggie Leigh, “Iowa’s bubbly, purple-haired librarian with a Scrabble Bag portal to the universe.”

October Faction (2019)

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.

The Rook (2019)

Adapted from: The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

Originally published: 2012, Little, Brown and Company

Optioned for: Television (Starz/Lionsgate)

What it’s about: When Mfanwy Thomas awakes in a park wearing latex gloves but with amnesia, she must follow the letter from her former self (which opens with “the body you are wearing used to be mine”) to discover how she wound up there.

Status: Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer and The Night Manager’s Stephen Garrett will executive produce the supernatural spy thriller. The series is expected to premiere sometime in 2019.

Suicide Squad 2 (2019)

Adapted from: various DC Comics by various writers and artists

Originally published: 1959, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Films)

What it’s about: No word yet on plot, but Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Will Smith are all confirmed to be returning.

Status: James Gunn is in talks to write, and possibly direct, the next installment in the Suicide Squad franchise. It won’t quite be a sequel to David Ayer’s movie; more information to come.

Swamp Thing (2019)

Adapted from: Swamp Thing by Len Wein (writer) and Bernie Wrightson (artist)

Originally published: 1972, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (DC Universe/Warner Bros. Television/Atomic Monster)

What it’s about: The official synopsis: “The drama follows what happens when CDC researcher Abby Arcane returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. There, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland—only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous—and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all.” Andy Bean (It: Chapter Two) will play Holland, while Derek Mears (The Flash) will play the Swamp Thing.

Status: Len Wiseman (Sleepy Hollow, Lucifer, The Gifted) will direct the pilot. The series will reportedly draw inspiration from Alan Moore’s 1984 issue “The Anatomy Lesson.” It is set to premiere sometime in 2019 on DC’s streaming service.

V-Wars (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: Somerhalder is the first big star to sign on for the 10-episode TV adaptation.

Watchmen (2019)

Adapted from: Watchmen by Alan Moore (writer) and Dave Gibbons (artist)

Originally published: 1986, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (HBO)

What it’s about: HBO’s logline: “Set in an alternate history where ‘superheroes’ are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own.”

Status: Damon Lindelof will write and executive produce the series, alongside director and EP Nicole Kassell (The Leftovers). Lindelof shared updates with fans in mid-2018 in a five-page open letter. Most notable? That the series would be a “remix” set in present day, starring Regina King, Don Johnson, Jeremy Irons (as Adrien Veidt), and others in currently unknown roles.

Doctor Sleep (January 24, 2020)

Adapted from: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Originally published: 2013, Scribner

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros)

What it’s about: “Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant ‘shining’ power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes Doctor Sleep. Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival.”

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).

Wonder Woman 1984 (June 5, 2020)

Adapted from: various DC Comics by various authors and artists

Originally published: 1941, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros/DC Films)

What it’s about: Rumor has it the sequel will be set during the Cold War—probably the end, judging by the title. Director Patty Jenkins will return! As will Steve Trevor, for reasons we do not yet know! Kristen Wiig plays new villain Cheetah.

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.

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: Michael Green (American Gods) and Aïda Mashaka Croal (Jessica Jones, Luke Cage) will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers, with Vaughan also an EP. 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. The series, which got a full pickup from FX in early 2019, is expected to premiere in 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.

New Warriors (TBD)

Adapted from: New Warriors by various authors and artists

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 still looking for a network after Freeform passed on it.

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: Film (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: The Three-Body Trilogy is being adapted into six movies, directed by Panpan Zhang. Liu told The Atlantic in late 2017 that although the film shoot had wrapped in 2015, the project was still in post-production. Release date is unclear, as the project’s release seems to have been delayed several times. In the meantime, check out the stunning stage adaptation of the novel.

The War of the Worlds (TBD)

Adapted from: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Originally published: 1898, William Heinemann

Optioned for: Television (BBC One)

What it’s about: In Wells’ novel, an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and his brother in London watch as Martians invade southern London. In this three-part drama series, couple George (Rafe Spall) and Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson), whose love somehow defies society’s standards of the time, must fight for their lives against a Martian invasion. Other characters include George’s brother Frederick (Rupert Graves) and astronomer and scientist Ogilvy (Robert Carlyle).

Status: Peter Hartness, who adapted Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for the BBC in 2015, has adapted the novel into a miniseries set, interestingly, in Victorian times. An official premiere date has yet to be announced.

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-walking mutant.

Status: Deadpool director Tim Miller and X-Men comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis are teaming up for the spinoff.

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 the 2014 announcement, 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: Eli Roth is teaming up 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

Ascendant, from Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Originally published: 2011, HarperCollins

Optioned for: Television (Starz)

What it’s about: Post-apocalyptic Chicago has been split into five factions, ways to group citizens possessing different affinities: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. When Abnegation member Tris discovers that she is Divergent—able to choose more than one faction—she goes for the brave, reckless adventurers Dauntless. Along the way, she uncovers conspiracy upon conspiracy that threaten the entire social system of the city.

Status: The Divergent franchise stumbled in the box office, with the third installment (part one of the third book) Allegiant not doing as well as its predecessors Divergent and Insurgent. Lionsgate announced in 2016 that it would release the fourth planned film, Ascendant, as a TV movie, and then develop a spinoff starring an entirely new cast. As of 2017, Starz will develop a new take on Allegiant for TV; it’s unclear if star Shailene Woodley and any of the original cast might return to wrap up the story.

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.

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 by various authors and artists

Originally published: 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.

The Batman, by various authors and artists

Originally published: 1939, DC Comics

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 writinng from Affleck. In mid-2018, he gave an update that the script was still in the works. However, Affleck does not seem to be attached to the project anymore.

Batwoman by Geoff Johns (writer), Grant Morrison (writer), Greg Rucka (writer), Mark Waid (writer), and Keith Giffen (artist)

Originally published: 2006, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (The CW)

What it’s about: “Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.”

Status: Kate Kane was first introduced during the Arrowverse crossover in late 2018. In early 2019, The CW gave a pilot pickup order to the standalone series (from The Vampire Diaries’ Caroline Dries and Greg Berlanti), to be directed by David Nutter (Game of Thrones). Depending how the pilot is received, Batwoman will be under consideration for a series order.

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.

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.

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, from Black Cat comics by various authors and artists

Originally published: 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, Sony 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, but it is unclear if they will remain with either project.

Black Adam, from various comics

Originally published: 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; as of late 2018, still in the scripting stages.

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.

Black Panther 2, from various Black Panther comics

Originally published: 1966, Marvel Comics

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. Production is expected to start in late 2019/early 2020, but Marvel has not announced any specific dates yet.

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.

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.

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.

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: Film (Warner Bros)

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: Warner Bros is planning a trilogy of feature-length animated films: Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda, The Little Prince) will direct a script co-written with Adam Kline (Artemis Fowl).

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.

Book of Enchantment, from the Villains series by Serena Valentino

Originally published: 2017, Disney Press

Optioned for: Television (Disney+)

What it’s about: Valentino’s series examines classic Disney villains/antagonists such as Maleficent, Ursula, and the Beast, asking what their side of the story is.

Status: Michael Seitzman (Quantico, Code Black) will write and produce the adaptation.

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 are currently producing the film adaptation of VanderMeer’s Annihilation with Paramount, will also produce Borne.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley



Originally published: 1932, Chatto & Windus

Optioned for: Television (USA)

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. Brian Wiener (Fear the Walking Dead) will serve as showrunner, with Grant Morrison executive producing and writer Bryan Taylor (Crank) acting as a consultant.

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.

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: Ellen DeGeneres, along with her A Very Good Production partner Jeffrey Kleeman, will produce the story of a 12-year-old witch who 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: Recently announced.

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Originally published: 2017, Spiegel & Grau

Optioned for: Television (Annapurna Television)

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: Annapurna Television, which is also producing the Coen brothers’ Western anthology series for Netflix, will adapt the novel. 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).

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.

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.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Originally published: 2018, Little, Brown and Company

Optioned for: Television (TBD)

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: Miller announced the optioning of the rights on social media, but no news yet about who is doing the optioning.

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).

Color Out of Space, from “The Colour Out of Space” by H.P. Lovecraft

Originally published: 1927, Amazing Stories

Optioned for: Film (SpectreVision)

What it’s about: 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: Richard Stanley (The Island of Dr. Moreau) will direct, with much of the Mandy production team returning. The cast includes Joely Richardson, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tommy Chong, Elliot Knight, and Julian Hilliard.

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. The TV show was expected to premiere in 2018: Based on Wizard and Glass, it’s a 10-to-13-episode prequel series following a young Roland. In mid-2018, Amazon Studios’ new head Jennifer Salke confirmed that the TV series is not dead but also said that she has yet to read the scripts. No word yet on premiere date.

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.

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 “refrigerated”—frozen out of the story once they provided emotional backstory for the men. 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.

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.

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.

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).

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, but there’s been no real update.

Doctor Doom by various writers and artists

Originally published: 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.

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.

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.

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, and that the first would probably take two years to make—which means we shouldn’t expect it before 2020.

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.

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.

Eternals by Jack Kirby (writer/artist)

Originally published: 1976, 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). The most famous Eternal to the current MCU is Thanos.

Status: Kevin Feige confirmed in 2018 that the project is in early stages of development. Chloe Zhao will direct; the film will be released sometime after Avengers 4 (May 3, 2019).

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.

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.

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 by various writers and artists

Originally published: 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.

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.

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 Spinoff, 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: In mid-2018, HBO picked up the pilot for Goldman’s project. At the summer TCAs, HBO president Casey Bloys said that there are currently no plans to develop the other four pilots. Goldman’s pilot is expected to start production in early 2019. Martin will serve as executive producer; the same goes for Game of Thrones co-creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff. SJ Clarkson (Jessica Jones, The Defenders) will direct.

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Originally published: 1977, St. Martin’s Press

Optioned for: Television (Syfy)

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).

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.

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, an escaped slave who learns about freedom working in a brothel, where 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.

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 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.

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 fact that the Hinterland is real—and journey into it to discover how her own story went so wrong.

Status: Ashleigh Powell (The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, The Paper Magician) will adapt the novel for the screen.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Originally published: 2015, HarperCollins

Optioned for: Film (Focus Features)

What it’s about: When 14-year-old Marjorie Barrett displays signs of acute schizophrenia, or possible demonic possession, her desperate family agree to an exorcism but wind up becoming the stars of a twisted reality series. Fifteen years later, younger daughter Merry meets a journalist and offers up the true story of what happened.

Status: Osgood Perkins (son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins) will rewrite and direct the adaptation.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Originally published: 2017, Graywolf Press

Optioned for: Television (FX)

What it’s about: Machado’s short fiction collection is being adapted into an anthology series (via Deadline) “staging psychologically vivid tales of women’s fears and desires on landscapes of horror, fabulism, and wild-haired absurdity. It’s described as a feminist Black Mirror with fairy tale themes, its hours threaded together with a recurring ensemble of female characters.”

Status: Gina Welch (Castle Rock, The Terror) is adapting the collection for television.

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Originally published: 2016, Tor Books

Optioned for: Television (Warner Bros.)

What it’s about: The residents of Black Spring use apps and video surveillance to keep track of their resident witch, who in turn keeps them trapped in Black Spring. But when a group of teenage boys want to broadcast the existence of Katherine van Wyler outside of their tiny town, they risk unleashing an ancient and dangerous magic.

Status: Not much information beyond the initial announcement, but in the meantime, delve into the creepiness of Black Spring by reading an excerpt.

The Hidden Girl, from “The Hidden Girl” by Ken Liu

Originally published: 2017, Penguin Random House

Optioned for: Film (Studio 8)

What it’s about: Described as Interstellar meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, “The Hidden Girl” follows a group of female assassins who can cross between dimensions.

Status: Film rights were optioned before Liu’s story was even published; it appeared in the 2017 anthology The Book of Swords, edited by Gardner Dozois. Novelist and screenwriter Ellen Shanman will adapt the screenplay.

The Hike by Drew Magary

Originally published: 2016, Viking

Optioned for: Television (IM Global Television)

What it’s about: On a business trip in rural Pennsylvania, suburban family man Ben decides to take a short hike before his dinner meeting… only to find himself lost in the woods, his path crossed by a talking crab, a futuristic hovercraft, a 16th-century Spanish explorer, and even more surreal encounters.

Status: David S. Goyer (Batman v Superman) is producing the show, with Magary adapting his novel to pilot.

Hold Back the Stars by Katie Khan

Originally published: 2017, Gallery Books

Optioned for: Film (21 Laps)

What it’s about: After an accident, lovers Carys (Letitia Wright) and Max (John Boyega) are floating adrift in space, with only 90 minutes of oxygen left between them, as they reminisce about their love affair on a utopian Earth and where they went wrong. The movie is described as “Romeo & Juliet meets Gravity.”

Status: Mike Cahill (I Origins, Sleepless) will direct a script by Christy Hall.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix



Originally published: 2014, Quirk Books

Optioned for: Television (Fox)

What it’s about: The novel follows five employees at the ORSK furniture superstore, as they volunteer to take an all-nighter shift to find out what’s behind the mysterious damage at their store. Fox’s supernatural dramedy (co-written by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz and produced by Charlie Kaufman) seems to be building out this story into more serialized form, focusing on slacker protagonist Amy.

Status: No update yet.

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer

Originally published: TBA, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Optioned for: Film (Netflix)

What it’s about: VanderMeer describes the novel, inspired by our dystopian present, as “a taut thriller set in the Pacific Northwest about a simple act of turning a key in the door of a storage unit, and changing someone’s life forever.”

Status: Netflix is nearing a deal to nab the movie rights to VanderMeer’s upcoming novel, announced in 2017.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Originally published: 2018, G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Optioned for: Film, 20th Century Fox

What it’s about: A retelling of the Donner Party tragedy, but with zombies.

Status: 20th Century Fox snapped up the film rights to former CIA analyst Katsu’s book proposal, with Luke Scott (The Martian) attached to direct the film.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Originally published: 1989, Doubleday

Optioned for: Television (Syfy)

What it’s about: On the eve of armageddon brought about by galactic war, seven pilgrims set out to the Shrike, hidden in the Valley of Time Tombs. Each has a riddle, a hope, and a secret.

Status: Bradley Cooper, who has been trying to adapt the novel for years, is now working with Syfy to adapt the novel into an “event series” (i.e., miniseries). Itamar Moses (Boardwalk Empire) is set to write the screenplay. No updates for some time, however.

I Still Dream by James Smythe

Originally published: 2018, HarperCollins UK

Optioned for: Television (Carnival Films)

What it’s about: In 1997, 17-year-old Emma creates an artificial intelligence that she names Organon. As Emma grows up, the AI grows with her; but as rival companies begin developing their own AIs, Emma struggles with whether to hand over Organon, if it means saving humanity from itself.

Status: Carnival Films, a producer behind Downtown Abbey, is adapting the novel for television.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Originally published: 2015, Knopf

Optioned for: Film (Warner Bros./Plan B Entertainment)

What it’s about: Told through a series of letters, chat conversations, and dossiers, a teenage hacker and her pilot ex must struggle with their broken relationship while unearthing an interstellar conspiracy.

Status: No update since the first announcement in 2015.

Infidel by Pornsak Pichetshote (writer), Aaron Campbell (artist), and José Villarrubia (artist)

Originally published: 2018, Image Comics

Optioned for: Film (TriStar)

What it’s about: “A haunted house story for the 21st century, Infidel follows an American Muslim woman and her multi-racial neighbors who move into a building haunted by entities that feed off xenophobia.”

Status: Producer Michael Sugar acquired the rights to Infidel before the third of its five issues even came out.

Injection by Warren Ellis (writer), Jordie Bellaire (artist), and Declan Shalvey (artist)

Originally published: 2015, Image Comics

Optioned for: Television (Universal Cable Productions)

What it’s about: Five eccentric geniuses collaborate on an unprecedented artificial intelligence, created by both technology and shamanistic magic. Years later, the disbanded group must reunite when the AI they created reemerges, wreaking havoc inspired by superstition and folklore.

Status: UCP optioned the TV rights in 2018. Ellis is already working with UCP to adapt his vigilante crime graphic novel series El Pantera.

Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice

Originally published: 1976, Knopf

Optioned for: Film (Universal Pictures)

What it’s about: Louis de Pointe du Lac tells his life story to a reporter—but as life stories go, it’s a doozy, spanning over two centuries of being a vampire alongside his maker Lestat and their bloodthirsty charge Claudia.

Status: For a long time the rumors were that Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) was working on a movie adaptation that combined the plots of The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned. Then Boone clarified in 2016 that he was remaking Interview, by sharing a page from the script on Instagram. He has also hinted that Jared Leto could play Lestat, though that has not been confirmed.

The Invisibles by Grant Morrison (writer) and various artists

Originally published: 1994, DC Comics

Optioned for: Television (Universal Cable Productions)

What it’s about: “Throughout history, a secret society called the Invisibles, who count among their number Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, work against the forces of order that seek to repress humanity’s growth.”

Status: As part of Morrison’s overall deal with UCP, The Invisibles will be his first adaptation with the studio for cable and streaming networks.

Jake Ellis, from Who Is Jake Ellis? by Nathan Edmondson

Originally published: 2011, Image Comics

Optioned for: Film (20th Century Fox)

What it’s about: Silas’ life is turned upside-down when he discovers that the voice in his head—an entire personality named Jake Ellis—is a result of human experimentation. With Jake Ellis’ help, Silas flees the people chasing him as he tries to learn what happened to him. (In the comics, Silas was former CIA analyst-turned-criminal Jon Moore; it’s unclear if the film will stick to this original background.)

Status: Josh Mond (James White) will direct the adaptation, taking over for David Yates; they’re currently looking for a screenwriter.

Untitled Joker/Harley Quinn Love Story, from various DC Comics

Originally published: 1993, DC Comics

Optioned for: Film (DC Films/Warner Bros)

What it’s about: Described as “an insane and twisted love story. When Harry Met Sally on benzedrine.”

Status: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love and This Is Us) are in final negotiations to write and direct the movie, to be released at some point after Suicide Squad 2.

Judge Dredd: Mega City One, from Judge Dredd by John Wagner (writer) and Carlos Ezquerra (artist)

Originally published: 1977, Rebellion

Optioned for: Television (IM Global Television)

What it’s about: The ensemble drama follows a team of Judges as they deal with crime in the future-shocked megalopolis of the 22nd century.

Status: IM Global Television president Mark Stern, who developed Battlestar Galactica and other Syfy series, will serve as executive producer.

Kill Shakespeare by Conor McCreery (writer), Anthony Del Col (writer), and Andy Belanger (artist)

Originally published: 2010, IDW Publishing

Optioned for: Television (Universal Cable Productions)

What it’s about: This Shakespeare crossover comic diverts the plot of Hamlet, joining the titular prince up with Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Juliet, and many more in a world where all of the Bard’s villains are banding together to kill the reclusive wizard known as William Shakespeare.

Status: UCP optioned the project in 2015, but there’s been no updates since.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss



Originally published: 2007, DAW Books

Optioned for: Film, Television, & Video Games (Lionsgate/Showtime)

What it’s about: In Rothfuss’ fantasy trilogy—the first two books of which have been published—adventurer and musician Kvothe tells his life story, with the majority of the series made up by the flashbacks.

Status: Lionsgate plans to adapt the books into movies and a TV series and tie-in video games… and perhap