The most exciting book adaptations coming to TV this year
If you enjoy yelling, “That’s not what happened in the book!” at your TV, 2026 is your year.
From The Testaments to Margo’s Got Money Troubles to Lord of the Flies, there’s already a staggering number of adaptations on our screens. That’s not even counting the recent success of Heated Rivalry and The Summer I Turned Pretty – shows that reintroduced YA and romance novels to grown adults hungry for compelling storytelling (and lusty longing).
What else can we look forward to in 2026? Spoiler: there’s more hockey-related romance.
Off Campus (Amazon Prime Video, May 13)
Is there hockey? Yes. Is there steamy romance? Yes. Will there be viral videos of straight men watching the series a la the reaction to Heated Rivalry? Unlikely, as the protagonists are decidedly heterosexual. This new show has been adapted by showrunner Louisa Levy (Death and Other Details, The Flight Attendant) from Elle Kennedy’s 2015 book The Deal, the first in the five-part Off Campus romance series. Season one – the show has already been renewed for a second – focuses on university hockey athlete Garrett (Belmont Cameli) and Hannah (Ella Bright) who create a “fake” relationship to elicit the envy of Hannah’s crush. The original series has a large BookTok following, so this one’s likely to attract all the Off Campus fans and satisfy the Heated Rivalry-shaped hole for Connor Storrie diehards. Fun fact: it also stars Australian Josh Heuston, who you might remember as teen heartthrob Dusty in Heartbreak High.
The Five Star Weekend (Binge, July 9)
After losing her husband, a popular food blogger from Nantucket organises a big weekend with four of her best friends from different phases of her life. This story of friendship and self-discovery, published in 2023, is one of author Elin Hilderbrand’s many books set in Nantucket (30 and counting), and it won’t be her first screen adaptation either. Hilderbrand also penned the novel behind Nicole Kidman murder-mystery The Perfect Couple in 2024. This series stars and is executive produced by Jennifer Garner, who is joined by some big names including D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry) and Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians) among others. This is Garner’s second book adaptation this year, after The Last Thing He Told Me (season two).
Little House on the Prairie (Netflix, July 9)
It’s time to dust off your bonnets and split your curds from the whey, the Ingalls family are back. If you never read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s famous children’s book series or watched the 1970s TV show of the same name, you’ll still be familiar with the setting. The 2026 series focuses on Laura Ingalls (Alice Halsey, Lessons In Chemistry), her sister and parents (“Ma and Pa”) getting by in 1800s Minnesota. This version of the show promises to be “part family drama, part epic survival tale and part origin story of the American West”. And while it doesn’t outwardly look like much of a departure from the original, showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine was also a producer on the popular The Vampire Diaries, so I wouldn’t rule out interesting things. The books were written during the Great Depression, so the 2026-era recession feels like a perfect time to revisit family hardship.
Lucky (Apple TV, July 15)
Everybody loves a con artist story. Just ask Reese Witherspoon, who selected Lucky by Marissa Stapley as one of her 2021 Book Club picks. Years on, Witherspoon’s company Hello Sunshine has adapted the novel for TV. From what’s been announced so far, the series appears to be relatively faithful to the book (which is due to get a sequel next year). Con artist Lucky (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit), foiled by an unsuccessful heist, finds herself on the run from both the FBI and the criminal world. The series’ co-showrunner and EP, Jonathan Tropper (Your Friends and Neighbours, Warrior), has a knack for keeping you on the edge of your seat.
Pride and Prejudice (Netflix, TBC)
People tend to have strong opinions about Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice, its adaptations, and in particular Mr Darcy. Some fall firmly in the Colin Firth camp (of 1995 BBC miniseries fame). Others are wedded to 2005’s Matthew Macfadyen alongside Keira Knightley as Elizabeth. Me? I’m a chump for Laurence Olivier’s 1940 take. The point being: there have been a lot of these (more than a dozen and counting). So why revisit it now? The writer Dolly Alderton, perhaps best known for her 2018 memoir Everything I Know About Love or the 2023 novel Good Material, says she’s finding “familiar and fresh ways of bringing this beloved book to life”. That’s yet to be seen, but the cast is stacked: from Olivia Colman to Rufus Sewell, and Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) as the new Mr Darcy. It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you are a woman over the age of 30, you will be watching this.
Carrie (Amazon Prime Video, TBC)
Few cinematic moments are as memorable as the prom scene in the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel Carrie. The titular character stands on stage covered in a bucket of pig’s blood. Drenched in red, eyes wide, Sissy Spacek’s portrayal of the bullied-girl-turned-telekinetic-powered-horror-feverdream is hypnotic. All in all, big shoes to fill for the 2026 adaptation from lead writer and creator Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House). How will he stretch the story to fill an eight-episode miniseries? Cast interviews suggest they’re introducing modern themes like social media bullying and gun violence. As long as there’s a compelling pig blood moment, I’m in.
East of Eden (Netflix, TBC)
John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel – itself a retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel – is about to get the Florence Pugh touch. It’s hard to know what Steinbeck would have made of this series shifting the perspective to centre on the primary antagonist Cathy Ames (Pugh), the “monster” who leaves her twin sons (Cal and Aaron) to work in a brothel. But it will certainly make for an interesting take on this classic story. It’s not the first time the novel has been adapted for screens; in 1955, a young James Dean played Cal in a feature film. Australian actor Joseph Zada is set to take the role in this series, which strangely enough is being shot in New Zealand. And, notably, the show is written and produced by Zoe Kazan, the granddaughter of 1955 film’s director.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (HBO Max, December 25)
Do we really need another take on the Harry Potter franchise, when the last instalment of the film adaptation only came out in 2011? When Alan Rickman’s Professor Snape is a portrayal so iconic, a version without him would feel as heretical as a classroom of witches? HBO has signalled plans to devote an entire season of TV to every book, starting with Philosopher’s Stone in time for Christmas. What’s more, they’ve enlisted J.K. Rowling as an executive producer – a move that has received backlash with much of the Potter fandom (and original film cast) at odds in recent years with the author over her views on issues related to the transgender community. Writer Jon Brown (Succession, Veep) and showrunner Francesca Gardiner (Succession, Killing Eve) certainly have their work cut out for them. The new cast includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.
Do you have a favourite book-to-TV adaptation? Let us know in the comments.
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