7 Book-To-Screen Adaptations You Won't Want To Miss This August & September
When in doubt, I will turn on a book-to-screen adaptation. If it’s a book I’ve read so much that the spine is broken and the pages are frayed, I will watch the adaptation immediately. If it’s a book that I’ve only heard of because of its respective movie or TV show, I will often seek out the book afterward just to see how the story compares across mediums.
I love watching stories bend and evolve as they move from words on a page to moving pictures. The good (and overwhelming) news is that there are so many book-to-screen adaptations coming up. From streamers to theatrical releases and movies to TV shows, there are grounded stories, magical ones, romances, and more to look forward to in August and September 2026. Here are a few of them, what book they’re based on, and where you can watch them.
This one is big. Not only is One Hundred Years of Solitude: Part 2 the second and final season of this show, but it also has a unique release schedule that viewers should be aware of beforehand. The show, adapting Gabriel García Márquez’s bestselling magical realism book, debuted with its eight-episode season in December 2024. Since then, One Hundred Years of Solitude fans have been waiting to see how the Netflix show will adapt what’s next for the Buendía family.
When the premiere date was announced in May, director Laura Mora said, “Each episode of this second part is like a film. We took the series to another level aesthetically, narratively, and through sound and music to build a much more cinematic and emotional ending. After living in that house and in that town for three years, we felt that closing this journey had to feel just as grand, epic, and cinematic.” The release schedule reflects that as well. The first seven episodes will drop on Wednesday, August 5, with the super-sized series finale on Wednesday, August 26.
Prime Video is the place to be for romance fans right now, especially those who are locked into book-to-screen adaptations. One of its upcoming releases is The Last Sunrise, which is based on the novel by Anna Todd and stars Maia Reficco, Fernando Lindez, and Eva Longoria. The streamer has teased through some first-look pictures and conversations at its inaugural Obsessed Fest. I’ve been trying to soak up every little tease, and I haven’t read Todd’s book.
I’m just always excited to see another romance adaptation, and I’m especially excited that Carlson Young directed The Last Sunrise. I watched her as an actress in MTV’s screen show before she stepped behind the camera with the romantic comedy Upgraded (2024). So I have high expectations to see how the cast and crew bring Ry (Reficco) and Julián’s (Lindez) unexpected romance during the former’s summer in Mallorca to life. Luckily, the movie premieres on Wednesday, August 26, which is way sooner than it seems.
I have to be so honest, Netflix’s The Whisper Man looks like the kind of movie that will keep me up at night. Playground rhymes set to eerie noises are a good way to send a chill down my spine. I’ve only watched the trailer once because it looks that creepy to me. I think that means the adaptation of Alex North’s psychological crime thriller of the same name is doing its job right.
In the movie, a man’s son is abducted and revealed to be connected to a much older case about the titular serial killer. The responsible person has supposedly been convicted, but the new abductions put all of that in doubt. How terrifying! The Whisper Man stars Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, and Hamish Linklater. Honestly, I do not doubt that this cast will deliver on every bone-chilling level when the movie premieres on Friday, August 28.
Usually, any book or movie or media at all, really, about dogs is a tough sell for me. Like many others, Marley & Me (2008) wrecked me at a very young age. I’m also too attached to my dogs to enjoy any movie that even slightly endangers one. However, I’m sure there are plenty of people who really enjoy watching movies that feature dogs. Either way, the Ridley Scott-directed The Dog Stars will have its theatrical release on Friday, August 28.
It’s an adaptation of Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel where all hope is lost for Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot who has a dog named Jasper. He has to partner up with a military survivalist named Bangley (Josh Brolin) when they realize there is more to fight for–even after what they believed to be the end of the world. The Dog Stars also stars Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong, and Allison Janney.
I love Practical Magic (1998), and I love the Owens women as if they are real people. So I don’t know how to have any level of chill about Practical Magic 2. I’m just incapable of dampening my excitement about this sequel, which releases in theaters on Friday, September 11. It is based on Alice Hoffman’s book, The Book of Magic, which is just one of many books about the Owens women.
I sought out the Practical Magic book after watching the first movie. So you can bet that I will be reading The Book of Magic before I go to see Practical Magic 2. In this one, there are heightened stakes around their familial curse that has threatened Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian’s (Nicole Kidman) family, including Sally’s daughters. Have I mentioned that I’m excited? The aunts! Midnight margaritas! Lee Pace! There’s so much to look forward to!
I feel like I could write about The Love Hypothesis adaptation forever because I recently read Ali Hazelwood’s STEM romance for the first time. It’s one of my favorite iterations of the fake-dating trope that I’ve ever read. I love Olive and Adam equally and independently and as a couple. I’m absurdly giddy that I get to see Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman bring them to life so soon.
The Love Hypothesis will premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, September 23, and it will be one to watch. As a relatively new one, I’ve quickly learned how many Hazelwood readers there are out there. Her books are wildly and widely successful. So fans will be tuning in the second that this romance adaptation is available to them. I will be one of those people.
