From Print to the Big Screen: Popular book series being turned into movies

Successful book to movie franchises such as Harry Potter and Twilight have made movie producers scramble to find the next big book to turn into a movie. This year, there are several movies based off of books already released or scheduled to release in theaters soon.

The Book Thief came out in theaters nationwide on Nov. 8. It is based on the novel by Marcus Zusak and was first published in 2005 and has won numerous awards in addition to being a New York Times Best Seller.

The Book Thief is about a young girl named Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse), who must deal with the difficulties of living in Nazi Germany during World War II. The story follows Liesel’s life as she grows up in the care of her foster parents (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson), attempting to quench her thirst for books and knowledge, while simultaneously trying to live a normal life while hiding her family’s big secret: a Jewish man (Ben Schnetzer) taking refuge in her basement. She faces all this while witnessing death all around her. The 20th Century Fox film is rated PG-13 and is two hours and five minutes long.

Ender’s Game came out nationwide on Nov. 1. It is based off of Orson Scott Card’s novel, which was published in 1985 and has won several awards such as the Nebula Award and Hugo Award for best novel.

Ender’s Game is a military science fiction story, set on Earth in the future. In Ender’s Game, mankind fights against an insectoid alien species, which continually attempts to invade the Earth. Because of this, children are trained at a young age to fight against this menace through increasingly difficult games. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is one of these children, but unlike the other children, he displays a kind of tactical genius.

The story follows Ender as he continues to fight and succeed through the challenges at the military academy. The Summit Entertainment film stars actors such as Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin and Ben Kingsley. It is rated PG-13 and is one hour and 54 minutes long.

Divergent premiers nationwide Mar. 20, 2014. It is based on the first novel in the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, which was published in 2011.

Divergent takes place in a futuristic, dystopian Chicago where people are divided into four specific factions according to traits in their personalities. The story follows Beatrice “Tris” Prior (Shailene Woodley) as she discovers she is Divergent, a member of not one, but three factions in the city. After she discovers she is Divergent, she is informed that she must never share this information or face the possibility of losing her life, and she decides to uncover why there is a conspiracy to rid of all Divergents before it is too late.

The Summit Entertainment film features actors Theo James, Zoe Kravitz, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller and Kate Winslet. It is currently unrated.

Catching Fire comes out nationwide on Nov. 22. It is based on the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, published in 2009. It continues the story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in dystopian Panem (previously the United States), as she returns to District 12 with fellow Hunger Games victor Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), only to be thrust back into the Hunger Games for the Quarter Quell. Katniss fights her way through the Hunger Games, fighting to survive and continue the rebellion against the Hunger Games and the Capitol.

The Lionsgate film stars Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson. It is rated PG-13 and is two hours and 26 minutes long.

The Fault in Our Stars is set to release nationwide June 6, 2014. It is based on the novel by John Green, which was published in 2012.

The story follows a 16-year-old cancer patient named Hazel Lancaster (Shailene Woodley), whose parents force her to attend a support group. While she is there, she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), an 17-year-old ex-basketball player and amputee, whom she falls in love with. As the story develops, Hazel has to make difficult decisions in order to not hurt Augustus because of the possibility of her death.

The Fox 2000 film stars Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe and Nat Wolff. It is currently unrated.