Written by Lília
With the second part of Dune finally being released, I started thinking about all the sci-fi books that have been made into films or TV series and was amazed to find there are many more films and series based on books than I expected.
While I was growing up, most science fiction films tended to be more horror than scientific, where the sci-fi element was related to space or from space. Fortunately, not all sci-fi books have horror themes.
My first science fiction film was probably The Forbidden Planet, which has its inspiration in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. I’ve watched it as a rerun on TV—I’m not that old, guys!—and I was hooked. The Body Snatchers, by Jack Finney, a book published in 1955, inspired films as well: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (which had a 1956 and a 1978 version) and 1993’s Body Snatchers.
I liked the idea of a sci-fi environment, and after watching some fun TV series, I started looking for more scientific sci-fi books and discovered The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey, among others.
Another is Isaac Asimov’s series Foundation. I loved it! When I found out they made a TV series, I wanted to check it out and see if it was going to be as good as the books. I was not disappointed and am looking forward to Season 3, whenever it might be released.
The Expanse is a wonderful series of books by James S.A. Corey that became a great streaming series, too.
And quite a few titles are being released on TV or in the theaters in the coming few months.
In March we have Spaceman, a film based on the book The Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kasfar, and the series The Three-Body Problem, based on Liu Cixin’s book of the same title. And in theatres, we have Mickey 17, based on the book Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.
In May Dark Matter, based on the book by Blake Crouch, will be available for streaming.
There are a couple of known titles in post-production whose release dates haven’t yet been revealed: Cold Storage, based on the book by David Koepp, and Simon Stalenhag’s The Electric State, based on the graphic novel.
Even though Uglies is actually a dystopian Young Adult novel by Scott Westerfeld, it is indeed sci-fi. Also in post-production.
And Artemis, by Andy Weir, is still in development.
Whether you choose to watch or read these sci-fi classics, the beauty is in their symbiosis: let the books lead you to the films or TV series, the visual versions direct you to new books to be discovered. Either way, it’s a win-win.
