A New Fantasy Franchise
With the last Harry Potter movie having finally been released, and the Twilight Saga coming to an end in the next year, movie lovers are waiting to see what will be the next big franchise to take the place of these highly successful films. Well, there are quite a few projects in the works, all adaptations of novels in the fantasy and horror genres.
Unfortunately, there are always rumours that books are going to be made into films that never materialise, and this can very disappointing to fans of a particular novel when plans for a film fall by the wayside. Often a book can be optioned by a movie house and then be dropped further down the line. However, here I will list a number of books that are set in stone to be released as films, so all fans need to do now is wait for their favourite book to hit the big screen.
Books Being Made into Films for Release in 2012
Coming from Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, comes the novel Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, which is currently being made into a movie by director Timur Bekmambetov. The film is now in post-production and is set for release on 22nd June 2012. The novel tells the story of Abraham Lincoln whose mother gets killed by a vampire, thus spurring him to hunt down the supernatural creatures. Mary Elizabeth Winstead will play Mary Todd Lincoln and Benjamin Walker will play Abraham Lincoln.
Although it belongs more to the dystopian future genre than that of fantasy, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins makes this list as it is one of the most highly anticipated film adaptions to be released in 2012. Directed by Gary Ross, the movie is currently in production and will star Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. Woody Harrelson is also excellently cast to play Haymitch Abernathy. The Hunger Games is set in a future world where every year a child from each district must fight for their survival in a bizarre reality television show.
City of Bones, the first book in Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments" series, is set to hit cinema screens some time in 2012, though a definite date has not yet been released. So far, only two members of the cast have been named, Lily Collins as Clary and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace. In the novel Clary goes on a night out with her best friend Simon and comes across some strange characters only she can see. Before she knows it her mother has gone missing and Clary is immersed in the world of the Shadowhunters in which lie vampires, demons and werewolves.
Lauren Kate's novel Fallen is currently in pre-production and is set to be released next year. The film is being directed by Saul Cajacuri and will star Lucy Hale as Luce and Elizabeth Gillies as Arianne. The novel tells the story of a teenage girl who, after suffering a mental breakdown when her boyfriend is killed in a fire she is suspected of having started, is sent to a correctional boarding school. Here her life is turned upside down as she makes some new and unusual friends and falls for a boy who turns out to be an angel.
Finally, the last movie on this list is The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, it's taken many years to be made into a film and the finished product is set to be released on December 14th 2012. The film is being directed by Peter Jackson and will star Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Some familiar faces will also make an appearance as Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen as just some of the stars to return for the prequal to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
If you know of any other fantasy or horror books that are being made into movies please do comment below.
Grahame-Smith, Seth. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Corsair, 2010.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic, 2009.
Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones. Walker Books, 2007.
Kate, Lauren. Fallen. Corgi, 2010.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. Harper Collins, 1993.
Lorraine McInerney - Lorraine McInerney is currently working as a freelance writer and editor. She studied Arts for four years and has a BA in English and ...
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