10 book to movie adaptions we're excited for

On the big screen

Books adapted for film are always a tricky proposition: Will they live up to your expectations and have you walking out of the movie theatre with a smile — or headed back to your couch for a reread? We rounded up 10 upcoming movies based on books for your viewing pleasure. And four of them are in the lineup up for the Toronto International Film Fest, if you’re in town Sept. 4 to 14!

Follow Chatelaine Book Club on @ChatReads and books editor Laurie Grassi on @LaurieGrassi.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

The story: A woman wakes each day with no memory of the previous day. She keeps a journal to help her keep track of the days, but the more she writes the more suspicious she grows. Who can she trust: the man she’s been married to for more than 20 years or the therapist helping her?

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong.

In theatres: Sept. 12.

Watch the trailer

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The story: Gillian Flynn, the author of this marriage-gone-wrong masterpiece, is famously reworking the ending for the screen version — but to what extent? That’s the question everyone’s waiting breathlessly to have answered in this adaptation. The trailer doesn’t give away much, but will have you hooked.

Stars: Ben Affleck as Nick; Rosamund Pike as Amy.

Behind the scenes: David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tatttoo) directs.

In theatres: Oct. 3

Watch the trailer

The Best Of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Men, Women & Children by Chad Kultgen

The story: Teens and their parents navigate the darker side of the internet and social media.

Stars: Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Emma Thompson, Ansel Elgort.

Behind the scenes: Kultgen’s book stirred up controversy with its tale of sex, teens and pornographic web sites; we’ll see what director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno) and the fine cast make of the racy material.

In theatres: Premiering at TIFF

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The story: A linguistics professor begins forgetting words and is devastated when she’s diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, leaving her struggling to maintain her identity — and her family struggling to cope.

Stars: Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish, Alec Baldwin.

In theatres: 2015 and select dates at TIFF

Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky

The story: A woman living with her mother-in-law finds herself slowly drawn to the German officer billeted in their home during the WWII occupation of France.

Stars: Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts, Kristin Scott Thomas.

Behind the scenes: Nemirovsky died in Auschwitz. Suite Française was discovered by Nemirovsky's daughters when, in the late 1990s, they went through notebooks of hers they had saved. The book was published in 2004.

In theatres: Release date still to be announced.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

The story: A survival story about Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who was taken prisoner by the Japanese during WWII after enduring seven weeks on a raft in the ocean after his plane crashed.

Stars: Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleason

Behind the scenes: Angelina Jolie directs; the Coen brothers are the screenwriters.

Out: Dec. 21.

Watch the trailer