Time to refresh your reading list because we've rounded up some of the most highly-anticipated book-based movies coming out in 2015.
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Paddington
Release date: January 14, 2015 (local release date)
The adorable bear that's been melting hearts for over 50 years now, finally has its first feature film. The movie is based on the book Paddington Bear by Michael Bond and stars Ben Wishaw as the voice of the eponymous bear and Nicole Kidman as the sinister taxidermist, Millicent.
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American Sniper
Release date: January 21, 2015 (local release date)
Oscar®-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood helms the movie adaptation of US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's bestselling autobiography American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. It chronicles his courageous exploits on the battlefield and stars Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle.
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Fifty Shades of Grey
Release date: February 11, 2015 (local release date)
The hotly anticipated film adaptation of E.L. James' erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey will make its way into the big screen just in time for Valentine's Day next year. Although the decision on which actors should play Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele was hotly debated, the roles were eventually given to Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. This is one movie you definitely don't want to watch with your parents.
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Serena
Release date: February 26, 2015 (US release date)
Silver Linings Playbook stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper team up once again for the film adaptation of Ron Rash's New York Times Best-selling novel, Serena. The book chronicles the life of newlywed couple Serena and George Pemberton and their journey to creating a timber empire in North Carolina. The film premiered in October 2014 at the BFI London Film Festival and will get a wider release early next year.
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Unbroken
Release date: February 2015 (local release date)
Unbroken is an epic drama adapted from Laura Hillenbrand's non-fiction book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis "Louie" Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII – only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. The film is directed by Oscar®-winning actress Angelina Jolie.
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Insurgent
Release date: March 20, 2015 (US release date)
The second installment of the best-selling Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth will hit the big screen in March 2015. It follows Tris (Shailene Woodley) as she searches for answers while being hunted by Erudite leaders.
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Far from the Madding Crowd
Release date: May 1, 2015 (US release date)
Thomas Hardy's literary classic gets a new film adaptation thanks to BBC Films. The movie stars Carey Mulligan as the headstrong Bathsheba Everdene, and Matthias Schoenaerts (Gabriel Oak), Michael Sheen (William Boldwood), and Tom Sturridge (Sergeant Troy) as Bathsheba's lovers.
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Release date: March 4, 2016 (US release date)
Okay, so this movie isn't due until 2016 but we recommend that you start reading about it now. Ransom Riggs' debut YA novel will be brought to life on the big screen by Director Tim Burton. Eva Green will star as Miss Peregrine while Asa Butterfield will play the role of Jacob Portman. The book tells the story of 16-year old Jacob Portman who finds himself in an abandoned orphanage where he is tasked to save the lives of its gifted inhabitants.
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Paper Towns
Release date: July 31, 2015 (US release date)
Another YA novel hitting the big screen is John Green's Paper Towns. The book will be adapted to the screen by the same team who made The Fault In Our Stars. Cara Delevigne will star as the self-described Paper Girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman, while Nat Wolf who played Isaac in The Fault In Our Stars will play the role of Quentin “Q” Jacobsen.
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Victor Frankenstein
Release date: October 1, 2015 (local release date)
Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein will get a contemporary adapation starring Daniel Radcliffe as the hunchback Igor and James McAvoy as the eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein.
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The Jungle Book
Release date: October 7, 2015 (local release date)
Disney is set to make Rudyard Kipling's classic children's book into a live-action/animation set in 3D. The movie stars newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli and will be the only actor onscreen. The rest of the cast will be voiced by Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong'o.
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The Revenant
Release date: December 25, 2015
Author Michael Punke's classic tale of revenge will be adapted to the big screen by Academy Award-nominated Mexican film director Alejandro González Iñárritu and will star Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domhnall Gleeson. We have a strong feeling that this will get Oscar buzz.
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Silence
Release date: N/A
Silence is a historical fiction novel by Shūsaku Endō. It is the story of young Portuguese Jesuit, Sebastião Rodrigues who was sent to Japan to investigate the reports about his mentor comitting apostasy. While there, he and his companion Fr. Francisco Garrpe face prosecution. The film adaptation will be directed by Martin Scorsese and will star Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Issei Ogata and Ken Watanabe.
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One Last Thing Before I Go
Release date: N/A
After This Is Where I Leave You, another Jonathan Tropper novel is set to hit the big screen with One Last Thing Before I Go. The book tells the story of divorced father Drew Silver who decides to ditch his lifesaving heart surgery and instead spends his remaning days mending his broken relationship with his daughter. The film adaptation is being produced by J.J. Abrams.
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Dark Places
Release date: N/A
Another author getting her second movie adaptation is Gillian Flynn. After Gone Girl, Flynn's msytery novel, Dark Places about murders and a secret society will be brought to life by Charlize Theron, Christina Hendricks, Nicholas Hoult and Chloë Grace Moretz.
