What is the best way to discuss a movie or show in advance, without needing to give a spoiler warning. Easy. Add adaptations to your watchlist.
2022 already has a wealth of page-to screen titles. These include Anatomy of a Scandal and Under the Banner of Heaven. Heartstopper and Where The Crawdads Sing are just a few. There are many more to come.
This 2022 collection of adaptations will appeal to all tastes. If you want to be ahead of the curve, There is plenty of time to read the graphic novels and books listed here. Enjoy.
Paper Girls
Are you feeling the Hawkins-shaped hole? Paper Girls can help you plug that hole. This show is based on the Image Comics series by Cliff Chiang and Brian K. Vaughan. It glows with a familiar supernatural glow. It’s 1988, and four of their pre-teen friends get caught up in the middle of a time war as they complete their Halloween paper round.
Imagine a gender-flipped Stranger Things mixed with a few Yellowjackets, and you’re probably somewhere in the vicinity. Multi-timelines mean that we have a stellar cast of young actors playing the lead roles, alongside their adult counterparts, Tuca and Ali Wong. Stephanie Folsom wrote the series and the episodes of the Lord of the Rings series.
Where can I see?
Prime Video is streaming it now
The Sandman
It’s finally happening, Neil Gaiman fans. After decades of development hell, the Sandman adaptation is finally ready. How many years? How many years? Joseph Gordon-Levitt was originally attached to star and produce, but he resigned due to creative differences. He gives the torch to Tom Sturridge, who takes on the role of Dream (aka the Sandman or the King of Dreams).
The first season is a mix of horror, mythology, fantasy and mythology. It adapts Gaiman’s first two graphic novels, Dream, after he is incarcerated. He then sets out to escape to restore order to his kingdom. The series is produced by Warner Bros. and features a stellar cast that includes Gwendoline Christie (Boyd Holbrook), Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman. David Thewlis, Stephen Fry, and Charles Dance.
Where can I see?
The Sandman season 1 drops on Netflix August 5.
Bullet Train
Bullet Train will be a smash hit if Brad Pitt’s actions in the trailer and on the press tour are any indication. The story is based on Maria Beetle’s novel by KotaroIsaka and takes place entirely on a…
Ladybug, a lifelong assassin (Brad Pitt), is forced by Sandra Bullock to get a briefcase despite his desire for a more normal lifestyle. When he discovers that many of his fellow passengers have been hitmen, his journey becomes a mad dash.
Atomic Blonde director Chad Leitch directs this kinetic actioner that adopts a humorous approach to the material thanks to Zak Olkewicz, Fear Street writer. Pitt is joined by Joey King and Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the mad dash through Japan.
Where can I see?
Bullet train opens in UK theaters August 3rd and in US theaters August 5.
White Noise
Noah Baumbach examines modern life’s complexities in his first film that is not based on a true story. Baumbach directs and writes this adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise. It is a postmodern black comedy that centers on Jack Gladney (frequent collaborator Adam Driver), a professor at a liberal arts college who teaches Hitler Studies.
His life is thrown into turmoil when an untoward airborne poisoning threatens the small town he lives in. Raffey Cassidy and Don Cheadle are joined by Sam Nivola and May Nivola as well as Lars Edinger, Lars Edinger, Andre L. Benjamin, Raffey Cassy, Raffey Cassidy, Raffey Nivola, May Nivola and Raffey L. Benjamin in this Oscar-bait Netflix Original.
Where can I watch?
White Noise will debut at the Venice Film Festival, August 31, with a Netflix release announcement anticipated shortly thereafter.
Dark Harvest
The 30 Day of Night adaptation of the Norman Partridge novel was originally scheduled to be released in 2021. However, it arrives this fall. The film stars Twilightroyalty Elizabeth Reaser and The Marvelous Miss. Maisel Luke Kirby.
The story takes place in a Midwestern town, where each Halloween Sawtooth Jack appears from the cornfields to chase the local church. Locals are waiting to face the supernatural spectre as part of an annual harvest ritual. This horror story is a great one, but it’s still not very popular. Perhaps this is due to its multiple release shuffles because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll be there to harvest in any case…
Where can I see?
Dark Harvest will be in theaters September 9.
Vampire Academy
Richelle Mead’s best-selling YA series is back for another adaptation. This time Vampire Academy will be a ten-episode show on Peacock. Marguerite MacIntyre and Julie Plec, who have a lot of experience with Vampire Diaries and its spinoffs The Originals and Legacies, are adapting the novels to the small-screen.
The story follows two best friends, Rose Hathaway, a half-vampire guardian-in-training, and Lissa Dragomir, a Royal vampire princess as they navigate life at St. Vladimir’s Academy. Peacock describes it as “sexy drama” that combines the “elegance and aristocratic romance with the supernatural thrills from the vampire genre.” Add it to your watchlist if you enjoy paranormal teen drama
