The Best (And Worst) Book-to-Screen Adaptations of 2024

When our favorite reads get adapted for the screen, we almost always come away with the feeling that the book is better. But we still love seeing our favorite stories in action, especially if the result enhances our experience of the book. Here are our favorite (and least favorite) book-to-screen experiences of 2024 so far.

The Hits

Shogun

The FX series adaptation of James Clavell's epic historical novel has received widespread acclaim and just scored a boatload of Emmys including Outstanding Drama Series (becoming the first Japanese-language series to do so). The epic saga is about an Englishman who washes up on the shores of seventeenth-century feudal Japan. The 1980 miniseries adaptation was also well received.  

Ripley

The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1955 crime novel by Patricia Highsmith. Previously adapted for the screen in a 1999 film, the stylish new Netflix miniseries has received much critical praise, particularly for Andrew Scott's performance as Tom Ripley, a small-time con man looking for a windfall. When a wealthy industrialist sends him to Italy to retrieve his playboy son, Ripley devises a deadly game.

Dune, Part Two

This visually stunning film from director Denis Villeneuve continues the story of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction epic. Timothée Chalamet reprises his role from Part One as Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny. Set in a distant future, the story follows Paul as he struggles against powerful forces to lead his people toward a new era.

The Wild Robot

In Peter Brown's heartwarming, illustrated middle-grade novel, a robot named Roz finds herself on a remote, wild island with no idea how or why she's there. As she works to adapt to her surroundings, she befriends a variety of native animals. The gorgeous family-friendly Dreamworks adaptation features voicework from Lupita Nyong'o and Pedro Pascal.

A Gentleman in Moscow

The British limited series based on the 2016 historical novel by Amor Towles stars Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov, a charming Russian aristocrat sentenced by a 1922 Bolshevik tribunal to spend the rest of his days confined to the grand Metropol Hotel. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances lead to a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Turtles All The Way Down

Aza Holmes never intended to be a detective. When she agrees to join her best friend, Daisy, in trying to solve the disappearance of billionaire Russell Pickett, her obsessive compulsive disorder complicates things. The adaptation of John Green's affecting YA novel received praise for its realistic depiction of OCD, a condition Green himself lives with.

The Sympathizer

Inspired by the thrilling Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen, this award-winning HBO limited series follows a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain living in the U.S. after the Fall of Saigon. While building his new life, he is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam—a double agent. It's a sweeping epic of love and betrayal.

Rob Peace

This dramatic film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, is based on The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. Author Jeff Hobbs chronicles the true story of his Yale roommate, a brilliant young man struggling to overcome his family circumstances. With his father in prison and his mother earning less than $15,000 a year, he's drawn into a dangerous double life.

Masters of the Air

World War II expert Donald L. Miller's riveting history about the American Eighth Air Force in World War II and the young pilots who helped beat the Nazis inspired an Apple TV+ miniseries starring Austin Butler and Callum Turner. Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the Emmy-winning show follows the duo's previous WWII projects, Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Queenie

The inspiration for this entertaining series, streaming on Hulu, has been described as a "funny, clever, heartbreaking lightning bolt of a first novel by a writer bristling with talent." Author Candice Carty-Williams served as the showrunner and executive producer for the adaptation. The story centers on a British-Jamaican woman who's having a rough year.

One Day

It's 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after just one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day each year. The bestselling romance by David Nicholls that inspired this year's hit Netflix series was previously adapted as a 2011 film.

The Misses

Argylle

Elly Conway is the pen name for writing duo Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen. Their globe-trotting spy thriller inspired a star-studded film that incorporates the fictional Conway as a character, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, as an author who realizes that the spy novel she is writing mirrors real-world events. Despite a glittery cast of A-listers, the adaptation was generally panned.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man

This is the fourth installment in the superhero horror franchise. The film, from director Brian Taylor, was criticized as being uneven, chaotic, and difficult to follow. It is based on the popular Dark Horse Comics series by Mike Mignola. The first film in the franchise Hellboy (2004), written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, was well received by critics and fans alike.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Crockett Johnson's classic children's book is beloved for its elegance—a quiet story about the endless possibilities of a child's imagination. Harold is a small boy who uses his crayon to draw a landscape of wonder and excitement. The overwrought film, meant as a sequel to the book, was panned by critics for missing the "blissful simplicity of its source material."

The Watchers

Mina is a young artist who gets stranded when her car breaks down at the edge of an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland. After finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers and stalked by mysterious creatures each night. M. Night Shyamalan produced the tedious adaptation of this spine-chilling horror novel by A. M. Shine.

Uglies

The society in Scott Westerfield's dystopian bestseller values appearance above all else. Nearly sixteen, Tally is counting the days until she can have the surgery that will turn her from an ugly to a pretty. But gradually, she begins to see a different side of things. A compelling premise but, sadly, both critics and audiences gave the new Netflix film a thumbs down.

Madame Web

Cassandra Webb's incredible future sight serves as a valuable asset in the Spider-Verse as seen in the Marvel comics like this one featuring the web-slinger. Despite an impressive cast including Dakota Johnson in the title role, the movie chronicling Madame Webb's origin story was declared an "embarrassing mess." Although some think it might have a future as a cult classic.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2

He would never! The 2023 slasher film that transformed childhood icons, Pooh and Piglet, into bloodthirsty murderers went into development after the 1926 classic by A. A. Milne entered the public domain in 2022. As with the first installment, this sequel drew widespread attention, getting slightly better reviews than its predecessor.

What do you think are the best (and worst) adaptations so far this year? Let us know if you agree with our assessments.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon