Books to movies
“Dark Places,” by Gillian Flynn
Cast: Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz
Gillian Flynn’s books are nail-biting page-turners, and “Gone Girl’s” successful box-office performance is proof that the books make great movies as well. “Dark Places” is the second book to jump to the big screen, while “Sharp Objects” gets its turn on TV.
“Insurgent,” by Veronica Roth
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
Dauntless Tris’ adventures continue in “Insurgent,” where the mystery unravels and we find out more about the factions.
“Paper Towns,” by John Green
Cast: Cara Delevingne, Nat Wolff
It’s a movie based on a book by John Green starring “It” girl Cara Delevingne—need we say more?
“Me Before You,” by Jojo Moyes
Cast: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin
This tearjerker gets a fantasy-infused cast with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin) as the leads.
“The Scorch Trials” (“The Maze Runner”), by James Dashner
Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
You won’t have to wait long to return to the world of “The Maze Runner.”
“Mockingjay” (Part 2), by Suzanne Collins
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson
The big-screen “Hunger Games” ends this year when the second part of “Mockingjay” comes out.
“Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelley
Cast: James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe
The monster classic gets a Harry Potter x Charles Xavier reimagining with Daniel Radcliffe as Igor and James McAvoy as Dr. Frankenstein.
“Room,” by Emma Donoghue
Cast: Brie Larson, Joan Allen
“Room’s” premise was interesting, and with such a contained setting, we want to see how it will translate into the movie version.
“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” by Seth Grahame-Smith
Cast: Lily James
Jane Austen’s period rom-com gets a flesh-eating twist on the big-screen in Seth Grahame-Smith’s zombie parody. And no, Mr. Darcy probably won’t still be dreamy as a zombie.
“True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa”
Cast: Jonah Hill, James Franco
This Brad Pitt-produced film adaptation of disgraced New York Times journalist Michael Finkel will star Jonah Hill and James Franco (no, this is not a screwball comedy).
Author James Frey (“A Million Little Pieces,” “My Friend Leonard”) will be coming to Manila in January (www.nationalbookstore.com.ph).
Books to look forward to
“The Heir,” by Kiera Cass
Kiera Cass’ “The Selection” series was such a huge hit that she has now moved on to “The Heir,” featuring America and Maxon’s daughter.
“The Winds of Winter,” by George R. R. Martin
The sixth book of the highly anticipated “A Song of Ice and Fire” series will be released this year.
“The Sword of Summer” (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1), Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan’s books about gods will get a heavy infusion of Norse mythology with his new trilogy beginning with “The Sword of Summer.”
“I Was Here,” by Gayle Forman
The “If I Stay” author will release a new book this year (get your tissues ready).
“PS I Still Love You,” by Jenny Han
The long-awaited sequel to “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” comes out this year.
“Miss Mayhem” (Rebel Belle 2), Rachel Hawkins
If you love “Buffy” and “Legally Blonde,” you’ll love Rachel Hawkins’ hilarious and action-packed Rebel Belle series. Read the first one before “Miss Mayhem” comes out.
“Dangerous Deception,” Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
The Duchannes saga continues with the “Dangerous Creatures” spin-off focused on Link and Ridley.
“Carry On,” Rainbow Rowell
What makes Simon and Baz so darn special that got Cath so hooked on it? We’ll find out this year as Rowell finally writes “Carry On” at length. Maybe we’ll turn into legit Simon and Baz fangirls, too.
“Finding Audrey,” Sophie Kinsella
The author best known for her “Shopaholic” series writes her first novel for the YA audience.
“Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story,” by David Levithan
Levithan’s “Will Grayson, Will Grayson” musical spin-off comes out in March.
“Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances,” by Neil Gaiman
It’s Neil Gaiman. You know you’re in for a great ride.
“You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost),” by Felicia Day
Everyone’s favorite girly gamer geek comes out with her quirky memoir this year. Now all we need is Nathan Fillion’s memoir and we’ll have ourselves a Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog book tour.
“Love May Fail,” by Matthew Quick
Quick’s (“Silver Linings Playbook”) new oddball heartwarming story comes out in June.
Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket (“Why We Broke Up”) will release his first novel for adults entitled “We Are Pirates.”
Movies
Reboots:
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
It’s the movie every “Star Wars” devotee has been waiting for. We can’t wait to see what new director J.J. Abrams will do with the galaxy far, far, away.
“Vacation”
Ed Helms takes over Chevy Chase in the reboot of the high jinks-filled Griswold family vacation movie. This time around, Rusty Griswold (Helms) is the embarrassing dad dragging the family in the vacation no one wanted to do.
“Daredevil” (TV)
While there are plans to reboot an Affleck-less “Daredevil” for the big screen, the TV version, starring Charlie Cox, will air first.
“Jurassic World”
The dinosaur world gets a new guardian in the form of Chris Pratt in this year’s version of the film.
“Pan”
Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara star in this Peter Pan prequel.
Installments:
“Avengers: Age of Ultron”
The superhero gang is back with a bigger, more robotic bad guy.
“Minions”
We’re already going bananas over this zany spin-off.
“Terminator: Genisys”
This seems to be Daenerys’ year to jump into the big screen. Emilia Clarke steps into Sarah Connor’s shoes and stars alongside Jason Clarke and Arnold Schwarzenegger in this new reboot.
“Spectre”
This is Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film. Will the next Bond really be Idris Elba?
“Pitch Perfect 2”
A-can’t-wait, can you?
“Taken 3”
When will the bad guys learn never to take anything or anyone away from Liam Neeson? We’re glad they’re still at it, because Neeson on a righteous rampage is fun to watch.
“Ted 2”
Everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed bear will be back this year
“The Jungle Book”
Jon Favreau directs Disney’s live action version of “The Jungle Book.”
“Sisters”
Amy Poehler says that she and Tina Fey have to have at least one movie together a year, and we agree wholeheartedly.
“Blackhat”
Chris Hemsworth pursues a cyber criminal in this Michael Mann movie, very timely in light of the recent damaging hacking incident that happened to Sony.
“Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie”
Snoopy and the round-headed kid are back, along with the rest of the philosophical, baseball-loving gang.
“Pixels”
It’s a movie about ’80s video game characters attacking New York. What’s not to love?
“Get Hard”
Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart star in this jailhouse rock comedy.
“The Walk”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays high-wire artist Philippe Petit in this movie about a daring stunt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center via high-wire in 1974.
“The Wedding Ringer”
Josh Gad (Olaf) stars in this comedy about a guy who rents a best man (Kevin Hart).
“Into The Woods”
It’s a musical about fairy tales; plus you get to hear Anna Kendrick and Emily Blunt sing and see Meryl Streep as a witch.
“50 Shades of Grey”
We just hope the movie is much better than the book.
“Inside Out”
This hilarious Pixar film trains the spotlight on the little guys responsible for our moods.
“The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water”
See Spongebob and Patrick move on to a bigger pineapple, er, screen.
“Jem and the Holograms”
More reasons for ’80s kids to rejoice: The pink-haired holographic rock star is making a comeback, and on the big screen, to boot.
“Cinderella”
The live action version of the fairy tale comes marching into the big screen (with only one glass slipper) this March.
“Entourage”
Ari Gold, Vincent Chase, and the rest of the “Entourage” cast as the long-promised film version of the HBO TV series finally premieres this year.
TV
“CSI: Cyber”
“CSI” is still a reliable favorite, and this new spinoff, which focuses on cybercrime, stars Patricia Arquette, James Van Der Beek, Peter MacNicol and Luke Perry. (Talk about throwback!).
“True Detective”
HBO’s dark, critically acclaimed police series gets a fresh cast of characters in its second season. Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn will star in the new storyline.
