• There was a major shakeup at Penguin's adult imprints Tuesday, which feature some of my favorites like Viking and Riverhead. Nearly every Penguin imprint was affected, from the aforementioned divisions to Dutton and Putnam, all of which make regular appearances on the bestseller lists. Even smaller ones like Avery, which focuses on health-related books, were impacted. There were three key headliner changes, but arguably the one most visible to the average reader is the late-summer closure of Gotham Books and Hudson Street Press.
Any change at the behemoth known as Penguin Random House impacts bookstores by virtue of that company being the biggest publisher by far with dozens of divisions, or imprints. The problem with having this many imprints is that eventually, there will be overlap and that's what led to the closure of Gotham and Hudson Street. For example, I've always found Viking to have a wide variety of titles. It manages to publish nonfiction history like The Boys in the Boat to fiction like Mo Yan's controversial Frog and throws in some critical thinking books from the likes of Sir Ken Robinson along the way. With that wide of range, there's bound to be some overlap with other Penguin imprints.
• On Friday, I wrote about three trends for 2015 films based on books. Naturally, dates and movies were shuffled after that post's publication. Instead of The Jungle Book coming Oct. 9, Disney has opted to delay that to April 2016 and bump up its adaptation of the Michael J. Tougias book The Finest Hours, the true story of the Coast Guard's rescue of two oil tankers during a 1952 Nor'easter storm. The film stars Chris Pine (Star Trek, Into the Woods), Casey Affleck (Interstellar, Oceans trilogy) and Eric Bana (Lone Survivor, Hulk). So essentially, they swapped one trend of public domain stories for another in survival stories. Frankly, I don't think it's a bad trade. I had already planned to cover The Finest Hours when it was set for release. When the book was published by Scribner in 2009, it received generally favorable reviews and it currently has a 3.91 on Goodreads.
• In other book film news, the adaptation of Paula Hawkins' debut novel The Girl on the Train is gaining more traction at DreamWorks. Erin Cressida Wilson is set to turn in a script soon. The story is about a train commuter with an unreliable memory becoming entangled in a murder investigation. Hawkins' novel is taking the literary world by storm and has been flagged as a major bestseller of 2015. This one, along with Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, which is set for publication next month, have been heavily hyped for months. Hawkins' novel was published this week by Riverhead. I'm about three hours into the audiobook and the novel is definitely dark and twisty while the comparisons to Hitchcock are accurate.
• Speaking of Hitchcock and trains, Gone Girl writer and screenwriter Gillian Flynn is re-teaming with star Ben Affleck and director David Fincher for a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train. No word yet on a release date.
Marriage woes are nothing new to a novel, but Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl puts them in an even more sinister light. When I delved into the book in early September, I knew it was going to be a dark and twisty ride, but the characters are truly some of the more despicable I've seen on the page in recent memory.
Flynn is an excellent writer and wrote with a sense of authority on how the media would cover something like the disappearance of Amy Dunne and the accusations mounting against her husband, Nick. The details are impeccable, down to Rebecca, the crime blogger looking for a career-changing interview and the police detectives. Several of the side characters are genuinely likable, particularly Go and Tanner Bolt, Nick's sister and defense lawyer, respectively. Between the lead characters and Go, she is easily the sanest of the three and has dialogue reflective of what the reader would think or ask during situations.
One of the biggest problems I had with the book was that I never bought the characters truly ever loving each other. All of their interactions seemed to be skin-deep or making some funny and snide comment about a party crowd or society in general. Every married couple I know has some deep connection, whether it be through religion, shared interests, similar lifestyles, etc. I never saw that in Nick and Amy. As the book progressed, my predominant thought usually bounced back and forth between "These two should have never gotten together" and "These guys actually liked each other enough to marry?"
Overall, I thought the book was good, but not the rave that many critics viewed it as when the novel debuted in 2012 (just look on the paperback's back cover for the effusive praise). Again, as was the case with The Fault in Our Stars and The Emerald Mile, perhaps I came in with unrealistic expectations. I'd rate it 2.5/5 stars.
The movie is very well-made, a testament to director David Fincher and Flynn's screenplay. The dialogue is just as sharp as in the book and the characters are a bit more believable, especially the two leads. During the movie, there was never any point when I thought, "That would never happen" or "That's completely not from the book." In other words, the novel's adaptation nipped and tucked at sections of the book, rather than a full-scale amputation of key parts. I thought the movie also tried to make the connection between Amy and Nick pre-marriage stronger. I fully expect the movie to be in the Oscar conversation, especially Rosamund Pike as the missing wife, Fincher as director and for Flynn's screenplay. I do think it can get into the Best Picture race nearly on the strength of Fincher, Affleck and Pike alone, but I doubt it'll take home the trophy. I'd rate it 4/5 stars.
*Be advised, the rest of the review contains spoilers, so consider yourself warned.*
Despite the great twist of Amy framing Nick and her expressing how she would frame him for her disappearance and murder, the novel lost steam for me when Amy was robbed at the backwoods motel. Once that happened, I thought for sure she was going to head back to her husband, but since that happens three-quarters of the way through the book, the rest of it felt like going through the proverbial motions to get to the ending. I did not expect Desi to meet the horrible death of getting his throat sliced that he does (in the movie, it is a very gross and horrible death, whereas the book is less graphic in its description). Frankly, I much preferred the novel's way of handling it and that scene was a detractor for me in the film. Also, Rebecca and Betsy Bolt, Tanner's wife, were cut entirely from the movie. It would have been nice to see Betsy on screen to act as a contrast to Nick and Amy's shattered relationship. However, Tanner's classic line at the end of the book was directly transferred to the screen and got an uproarious laugh during the screening I went to.
Did you read and or see Gone Girl? What did you think?
The fall movie season has historically been one lined with awards contenders, but this year, the autumn months will also be stuffed to the brim with book-to-film adaptations.
The Maze Runner (U.S. theatrical release: Sept. 19)
The era of young adult dystopian adaptations continues with this adaptation of the James Dashner novel, starring Dylan O'Brien from MTV's Teen Wolf series in the lead role. The plot is more solitary than Divergent or The Hunger Games, though, as a group of teens try to escape from the middle of a giant maze they've been trapped inside. According to reports, the film only cost studio 20th Century Fox $30 million for its budget. For comparison, Fox's summer adaptation of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars has gone on to gross more than $280 million worldwide on a $16 million budget, crazy low by summer blockbuster standards. The producers of "Stars" are also shepherding this project and seem to have their finger on the pulse of these young adult adaptations in what I'm sure Fox is hoping becomes a franchise. The newest trailers show a lot of promise.
This is Where I Leave You (Sept. 19)
Writer Jonathan Tropper wrote the screenplay and produced this adaptation of his 2009 bestseller about a family sitting Shiva, a Jewish mourning ritual, in the wake of the death of the patriarch. With an all-star cast led by Jason Bateman, Jane Fonda, Tina Fey and Adam Driver among others, the film has made some alterations from the novel (the family's last name is now Altman, not Foxman like in the book), but with Tropper writing the script I wouldn't expect any dramatic changes from the source material.
A Walk Among the Tombstones (Sept. 19)
Based on a 1992 book by Lawrence Block, the film follows private detective Matthew Scudder as he tries to find the missing wife of a drug dealer. According to reports, Block has said star Liam Neeson is an ideal choice to play Scudder, even going so far as to tell The Wrap, "My book's in good hands." However, the trailer has already framed the movie as a "Taken"-style revenge thriller. At a recent movie screening, a friend of mine who is unaware of the book turned to me after watching the trailer and said, "That one's a renter." Judge for yourself and take a look at the trailer:
Gone Girl (Oct. 3)
The cast of this film is outstanding (Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris), the script is being written by Gillian Flynn herself, and David Fincher is directing. Sounds like an awfully good combination. Given the book's narrative structure of bouncing back and forth between the perspectives of husband Nick and wife Amy, it isn't surprising that the film will deviate from it, though rumors are swirling that the ending is being re-tooled as well. Any way Flynn does it, the book is in very capable hands and it wouldn't surprise me if the movie is both a box office hit (budget of only $50 million) and an Oscar contender.
Left Behind (Oct. 3)
I admit it, I read most of the Left Behind series when I was in junior high and early high school. I lasted to book 9, Desecration, out of the initial 12 books before I opted not to continue. When the first film adaptation came out, starring former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron, it was a cheeseball movie. Given that the premise of the series, two authors' fictionalized opinions about how the Book of Revelation could unfold, can be seen by some as cheesy or goofy to begin with, enlisting Nicolas Cage as Rayford Steele was probably not the best call. Having said that, the supporting cast is a bit better than I thought it would be.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Oct. 10)
In what figures to be a heavily reworked version of Judith Viorst's 1972 classic, Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star in a comedy about a boy's horrible day. In the book, Alexander wakes up with bubble gum in his hair and his day gets progressively worse, but in the film's trailer, the hijinks are leveled on the other family members. I remember reading the book as a child and have been split on whether or not to see this one.
Big Hero 6 (Nov. 7)
Very loosely based on the Marvel Comics team that debuted in 1998 and was later the subject of a 2008 miniseries, this animated film has already garnered a following online with its trailers and clips. A boy and his robot companion venture into a world of superheroes as a villainous figure tries to take over San Fransokyo, a colorful mashup of San Francisco and Tokyo. If you're going into this film with the hopes of an Avengers cameo, the director told Total Film this summer that the universe of Big Hero 6 would act as a stand-alone world separate from the other Marvel films. The movie is one of the top five films I'm most looking forward to for the rest of the year. Here's the latest clip, which debuted Sunday during a "Frozen" special on ABC:
Rosewater (Nov. 7)
Based on the 2011 memoir Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari, the film tells Bahari's story of being held captive by the Iranian government for more than 100 days after the 2009 election. The film has been getting buzz for being directed by Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" fame, but the film's crew and subject matter suggest a good movie as well and apparently critics have given it generally favorable reviews after debuting last week at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado (current Rotten Tomatoes rating is 89%).
The Theory of Everything (Nov. 7)
Despite the title, the movie is not necessarily based on Stephen Hawking's 1983 book, but rather on his wife's memoir Travelling to Infinity. Starring Eddie Redmayne, who was last seen by most audiences as Marius in the excellent 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables, and Felicity Jones, the film will show Redmayne as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking during his time studying at Cambridge, falling in love and being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease. The movie is set to debut this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here is the trailer, which debuted to big Internet buzz last month:
Is there a film based on a book you are most looking forward to this fall?
• There was a major shakeup at Penguin's adult imprints Tuesday, which feature some of my favorites like Viking and Riverhead. Nearly every Penguin imprint was affected, from the aforementioned divisions to Dutton and Putnam, all of which make regular appearances on the bestseller lists. Even smaller ones like Avery, which focuses on health-related books, were impacted. There were three key headliner changes, but arguably the one most visible to the average reader is the late-summer closure of Gotham Books and Hudson Street Press.
