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Literary adaptations to look out for in 2018

By Instep Desk
Mon, 02, 18

After the colossal success of Big Little Lies and The Handmaid’s Tale, several books are getting their own TV show

In 2017, two television series, Big Little Lies and The Handmaid’s Tale - rose to prominence like no other. Both shows were based on novels and both won commercial applause as well as critical acclaim before going on to sweep all prestigious award ceremonies. Both had women at the center of the story and were deemed relevant to the times we’re living in.

While Big Little Lies, created by David E. Kelley was based on Liane Moriarty’s book of the same name, The Handmaid’s Tale, created by Bruce Miller, was based on a novel by Margaret Atwood.

The entrance of movie-stars like Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon into the TV scene with Big Little Lies and their consequent success also meant that more equally prolific Hollywood stars are looking to repeat the formula this year.

In 2018, the trend is continuing with the Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, that is based on Maureen Orth’s book, Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History and is presently on-air. It also features Academy Award winning Penelope Cruz (as Donatella Versace) in what is her first major TV role.

Although the response to Murphy’s second season of American Crime Story remains largely mixed due to the show’s intense focus on serial killer Andrew Cunanan and not Gianni Versace, there are several other new TV shows that are using literary works as source material and have the potential to make for compelling television.

Our story begins with Amazon’s Electric Dreams, a science fiction anthology series with standalone episodes based on the short stories of iconic writer Philip K. Dick.

Having premiered on January 12 on Amazon, it deals in themes ranging from alien threats, to virtual reality mind-messing questions about self-identity, intergalactic universes with shades of neo-noir, towering performances and much more.

The ten-episode series has a terrific cast that includes the likes of Greg Kinnear, Timothy Spall, Steve Buscemi, Anna Paquin, Terrence Howard, Janelle Monae, Richard Madden, and the iconic Bryan Cranston (of Breaking Bad fame).

It is also backed by some terrific directors such as Alan Taylor, whose past credits include The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones and the Marvel film, Thor: The Dark World. Dee Rees, the writer and director of Academy-Award nominated-Mudbound is also one of the episode directors as is David Farr, who directed the Golden Globe winning limited series, The Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie.

The second book-to-TV adaptation to look out for this year is The Alienist, a TNT period drama that is based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr.

Set in 1896 in New York, it follows the story of a psychologist, an illustrator and a cop who are forced to join forces and conduct an investigation into a series of murders of young boys that have gripped the city.

The show’s biggest selling point is its Hollywood heavy cast that includes actors Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds, Rush, The Fifth Estate and Captain America: Civil War), Luke Evans (The Hobbit trilogy, Fast and The Furious films) and Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga, I Am Sam, Ocean’s Eight). As for the rest of it, several curious names are attached to write or helm episodes. Among them is director James Hawes, whose recent projects include Netflix’s Black Mirror and the Eva Green-series Penny Dreadful, and Cary Joji Fukunaga, whose writing credits include the critically acclaimed Netflix film, Beasts of No Nation.

The third show on our list is the futuristic Altered Carbon that is based on the book of the same name by writer Richard Morgan. It could be the smash hit Netflix is looking for after their game-changing original series, House of Cards is set to end with a shorter sixth season that will be anchored by Robin Wright this year.

Altered Carbon, described as cyberpunk noir, premiered this February and stars Joel Kinnaman (House of Cards, Suicide Squad) and James Purefoy (The Following) in lead roles.

Set 300 years in the future, it is both bizarre and visually stunning. As for the plot, the story follows “an interstellar super soldier-turned-freedom fighter Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman)” who is woken up after 200 years to solve the murder of the richest and the oldest man alive, Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy).

The fourth and final show on our list is Hulu’s The Looming Tower that will premiere on March 1.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright, it is a 10-episode miniseries that follows “New York’s FBI counterterrorism unit in the days leading up to the 9/11 attacks”. Jeff Daniels, who starred in Aaron Sorkin’s The Newroom returns to the small screen as unit chief John O’Neill alongside Alec Baldwin, Michael Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard, Tahar Rahim and Bill Camp.