Let’s be real. We were truly #blessed in 2018 when it came to quality YA book-to-movie adaptations. Love, Simon, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Dumplin’ and The Hate U Give were freaking masterpieces, and as I watched them, I couldn’t help but think that whoever had adapted these books into movies had done so with the reader in mind. But, are we able to get that kind of luck two years in a row? Check out our list of 2019 YA adaptations below, and join me in the comments to discuss which ones will be winners, and which ones sound like flops.
Notes: Some of the following movies are more YA-adjacent than straight up YA, all release dates are for the U.S.—unless otherwise noted—and all dates are subject to change.
January
Name: Ashes In The Snow
Release Date: January 11, 2019
Based On: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
The Deal: In 1941, a 16-year-old aspiring artist and her family are deported to Siberia amidst Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region. One girl’s passion for art and her never-ending hope will break the silence of history.
Familiar Faces: Sophie Cookson, James Cosmo, Sam Hazeldine
March
Name: Five Feet Apart
Release Date: March 15, 2019
Based On: Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott
The Deal: A pair of teenagers with life-threatening illnesses meet in a hospital and fall in love.
Familiar Faces: Cole Sprouse, Haley Lu Richardson, Claire Forlani, Parminder Nagra
Name: Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Release Date: March 15, 2019
Based On: The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene
The Deal: A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community.
Familiar Faces: Sophia Lillis, Linda Lavin
April
Name: After
Release Date: April 12, 2019
Based On: After by Anna Todd (Editor’s note: in case you’re unfamiliar, After began as a ridiculously popular series of Harry Styles fan-fiction on Wattpad.)
The Deal: A young woman falls for a guy with a dark secret and the two embark on a rocky relationship.
Familiar Faces: Selma Blair, Peter Gallagher, Jennifer Beals, Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin
May
Name: The Sun Is Also A Star
Release Date: May 17, 2019
Based On: The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
The Deal: A teenager finds love at a difficult time in her family’s life.
Familiar Faces: Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton
August
Name: Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Based On: Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Marie Semple
The Deal: After her anxiety-ridden mother disappears, 15-year-old Bee does everything she can to track her down, discovering her troubled past in the process.
Familiar Faces: Cate Blanchett, Judy Greer, Kristen Wiig, Billy Crudup, Lawrence Fishburne, Troian Bellisario
Name: Artemis Fowl
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Based On: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Deal: Artemis Fowl II, a young Irish criminal mastermind, kidnaps the fairy LEPrecon officer Holly Short for ransom to fund the search for his missing father in order to restore the family fortune.
Familiar Faces: Judi Dench, Josh Gad, Miranda Raison, Simone Kirby
Name: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Based On: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz
The Deal: A group of kids face their fears in order to save their town.
Familiar Faces: Zoe Coletti, Kathleen Pollard, Gil Bellows, Dean Norris, Lorraine Toussaint
December
Name: Little Women
Release Date: December 25, 2019
Based On: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Deal: Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Familiar Faces: Emma Watson, Saiorse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen
Sometime This Year Hopefully
Name: Chaos Walking
Release Date: The original release date was in March of 2019, but that appears to be pushed back due to the intense schedules of its superstar cast.
Based On: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
The Deal: A dystopian world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear each others’ thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise.
Familiar Faces: Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, David Oyelowo, Nick Jonas
Name: All The Bright Places
Release Date: TBD
Based On: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
The Deal: The story of Violet and Theodore, who meet and change each other’s lives forever. As they struggle with the emotional and physical scars of their past, they discover that even the smallest places and moments can mean something.
Familiar Faces: Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Luke Wilson, Keegan Michael Key
Name: Stargirl
Release Date: TBD
Based On: Stargirl by Jerri Spinelli
The Deal: A quirky, homeschooled teenager shakes things up at her uptight high school in Arizona.
Familiar Faces: Grace VanderWaal, Giancarlo Esposito, Darby Stanchfield
Down the Pipeline
There are a few titles that we’re excited about but probably won’t see this year, including an adaptation of John Green’s Turtles All The Way Down, which is already making waves by hiring one of the youngest female directors ever. Of course, we’re on pins and needles waiting to be fed any snippet of intel on the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before sequel, which Netflix has already announced. We know that we’ll also be getting a mini series adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse at some point. And as always, there are still whispers of a Raven Cycle TV show. Whether that’ll happen is anyone’s guess (though I secretly don’t want it to…shhh).
That’s all I could find for YA book-to-movie adaptations this year. Do any of you have the inside scoop on one I might’ve missed? Which of these are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments!
