The pipeline from page to screen shows no signs of slowing. Here’s a quick look at the latest adaptation announcements, casting updates and projects in development.
First look at ‘The Last Sunrise’ adaptation
Lots of adaptation news came out of Amazon’s Obsessed Fest event on Saturday, including trailers, first looks and release dates. Amazon MGM released first looks at “The Last Sunrise.” The series premieres Aug. 26 on Prime Video. Based on the novel of the same name by Anna Todd, the story follows college student Ry (Maia Reficco), who lives with a chronic illness and travels to Mallorca with her mother (Eva Longoria). She meets Julián (Fernando Lindez) and starts a romance, hiding her health condition.
Lili Reinhart, Tom Bateman preview ‘The Love Hypothesis’
Also at Obsessed Fest Saturday, “The Love Hypothesis” stars Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman discussed the film, which premieres on Sept. 23, and debuted the teaser trailer. Based on the popular romance book by Ali Hazelwood, the story follows Stanford University Ph.D. candidate Olive (Reinhart) who fakes a relationship with Adam (Bateman), an intimidating, brooding young professor. Olive does it to convince her friend Anh she is in a relationship, but things get…complicated.
‘Snowball Earth’ to return for second season
On Friday, “Snowball Earth’s” X account announced it was returning for a second season. The anime series follows Tetsuo, a boy who spent almost a decade in cryosleep after fighting in a war against alien monsters. He returns to a frozen Earth. The series streams on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
The cast of ‘Magical Explorer’ adaptation announced
“Magical Explorer,” a light novel series by Iris and Noboru Kannatsuki, announced that M・A・O has joined the adaptation cast. The rest of the cast includes Nobunaga Shimazaki, Ai Kakuma and Saori Onishi. The series will premiere this fall.
‘Shrek’ favorite ‘Donkey’ origin film to premiere in June 2028
“Shrek” character “Donkey,” famously voiced by Eddie Murphy, is getting his own film. On Thursday, Universal and DreamWorks announced that they will release the origin story of the popular character on June 30, 2028. Murphy, who first mentioned the film’s possibility on his publicity tour for “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley” will return to voice him. This will follow the release of “Shrek 5” in the summer of 2027. Read more about the book-to-screen life of Shrek here.
Jack Quaid joins ‘Invincible’ as Prime Video orders Season 6
“Invincible” executive producer and co-showrunner Robert Kirkman announced at Prime Video’s panel at Annecy Animation Festival that Jack Quaid will join Season 5 of the series as Gravitator/Chris. In addition, the animated series, which features the voices of Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons and Sandra Oh, has been renewed for a sixth season. Season 4 premiered in March. The series is based on Kirkman’s comic book of the same name.
Warner Bros. and DC Studios announce ‘Joker: Laugh Riot’ and more
At the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Warner Bros. and DC Studios also announced their first anime series, “Joker: Laugh Riot” at the DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation Panel. The logline for “Joker: Laugh Riot” says: “When Batman is murdered, the Joker launches a ruthless crusade through Gotham’s underworld to find the killer who took away his greatest adversary. But as his violent quest for answers pushes him closer towards vigilante than villain, Joker is forced to confront the truth that without Batman, he doesn’t know who he is.” In addition, the studios announced a new “Krypto” series by C.H. Greenblatt (“Spongebob SquarePants”) and “Absolute Batman” by Scott Snyder.
‘The Wolf King’ romantasy coming to Starz
On Thursday, Starz announced it has optioned all three books in Lauren Palphreyman’s “The Wolf King” romantasy series. The story follows Aurora, a princess, who is kidnapped by a werewolf and gets drawn into a war. Tanya Saracho (“Vida”) is to be the series’ showrunner and executive producer. The three books in the series include “The Wolf King,” “The Night Prince” and the upcoming release “The Wolf Queen.”
Ella Balinska joins ‘Beach Read’ cast
Ella Balinska, known for her role in 2019’s “Charlie’s Angels,” has joined the cast of the upcoming “Beach Read” film, an adaptation of the 2020 book of the same name by Emily Henry. Balinska shared the news on Instagram. The novel centers on January (Phoebe Dynevor), a romance writer, and Gus (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a literary fiction author, both struggling with different kinds of loss. The rivals swap genres for the summer while living in neighboring beach houses.
Asa Butterfield, Jonny Lee Miller, Christine Tremarco join ‘Hamburg Days’
Asa Butterfield, Jonny Lee Miller and Christine Tremarco have joined the cast of BBC’s Beatles series “Hamburg Days.” The drama is based on Klaus Voormann’s memoir about his and fellow artist Astrid Kirchherr’s encounters with the Beatles in the 1960s in Hamburg. Butterfield is to play Beatles manager Brian Epstein, while Jonny Lee Miller will play Paul McCartney’s father. Christine Tremarco will play John Lennon’s guardian Aunt Mimi. It stars Rhys Mannion as John Lennon, Ellis Murphy as Paul McCartney, Harvey Brett as George Harrison, Louis Landau as Stu Sutcliffe, Patrick Gilmore as Pete Best, and Casper von Bülow as Klaus Voormann.
‘The Mad Widows’
Scott Moore’s debut novel “The Mad Widows” has been acquired by Gallery Books and optioned as a series by MGM Television. The dark comedy will be published in March 2027 and follows a group of widow friends who find out that one of their husbands might not actually be dead. Suzanne Todd, producer of “Bad Moms,” will develop and executive produce the series. Moore shared the news on Instagram.
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