7 awesome book-to-screen adaptations of 2017

In case you didn't know it yet, the Netflix original series "13 Reasons Why" is actually based on a book.  American author Jay Ashner wrote the book with the same name and published it back in 2007.

The film "50 Shades Darker," which hit theaters in February this year is also based on a book, as is "Beauty and the Beast." 

We're telling you this because this year saw a lot of books adapted to screen.

With the 38th Manila International Book Fair fast approaching — Sep 13-17 at the SMX in Pasay — we say now is your chance to create the worlds in which these stories are set before, you know, cinema takes over. We list down seven titles:

1. Smaller and Smaller Circles. Based on the Filipino crime novel of F.H Batacan, this groundbreaking story is now one of the most-awaited movies in Philippine cinema. First published in 1997, “Smaller and Smaller Circles” won the Carlos Palanca Grand Prize Winner in English Novel in 1999, and now it is being translated to screen! It is produced by Tuko Film Productions and Buchi Boy Entertainment, makers of indie blockbuster “Heneral Luna” and more recently, "Birdshot".

2. Ang Larawan. Now set to be shared with the global audience, “Ang Larawan” is a film adaptation of the three-act English play of National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino” in 1952. The story will tell the plight of two sisters Candida and Paula Marasigan (Rachel Alejandro and Joanna Ampil), daughter of high-profile artist Don Lorenzo Marasigan, in the midst of the family’s financial crisis. 

3. Murder on the Orient Express. “Murder on the Orient Express (2017)” is the fourth adaptation Agatha Christie’s detective novel in 1934, having been last adapted to screen back in 2001. It's about private detective Hercule Poirot, who uncovers the mystery behind the murder on the train of a man called Mr. Ratchett, who happens to be the killer of Daisy Armstrong. As the investigation progresses, he discovers that the 13 people inside the coach are all related to the girl, and so, are now murder suspects. The film is set for release in November.

4. It. The classic Stephen King horror thriller, published in 1986, gets a fresh 2017 adaptation. The premise is scary: a group of kids face-off with Pennywise the Clown, who has a record of murder and violence. The trailers, first released in March, is even scarier. Now given just words on a page, can you imagine the kind of horror and gore your frantic and anxious brain may just whip up? Scariest, yes?

 5. A Series of Unfortunate Events. Since the publication of the first book in 1999, "A Series of Unfortunate Events" has  generated a film, a video game in 2004, and now a Netflix rendition. Starring Neil Patrick Harris, the series is about the Baudelaire children who after their parents’ death, are placed in the custody of their distant relative Count Olaf (Neil). The latter wants to keep the family’s fortune for himself but fails and in the process of eluding him, the Baudelaires uncover the reason for their parents’ death as well as the secret society of which their parents were part of.

6. Big Little Lies. This American comedy-drama HBO miniseries that started in January, is actually based on a 2014 novel by Liane Moriarty. It is about three mothers of first-graders who develop a close relationship with each other, leading to uncover some personal secrets and eventually, murder. The series cast Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley.

7. A Dog’s Purpose. Definitely one of the best novels ever made for dog-lovers, A Dog’s Purpose, written by American newspaper columnist W. Bruce Cameron, became a highly grossed film early this year (January). It chronicles the reincarnated journey of a dog (voice over by actor Josh Gad) in his many lives where it continually seeks its purpose in each of its lives. — LA, GMA News

Find their book counterparts and more at the 38th Manila International Book Fair (MIBF), happening on Sep13 to 17 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.