I sat through a surprise screening and watched a crowd gasp when a dragon first filled the frame. By the time the lights came up I realized studios are chasing a simple truth: fantasy sells. You and I are about to meet 13 adaptations that Hollywood thinks will keep the money rolling in.
Below I break down the must-follow projects — what we know, who’s behind them, and why they matter to you as a reader, streamer, or weekend ticket-buyer. Expect casting shocks, release dates, and the occasional production drama. Some titles arrive soon; others are years away. Read on like you’re scanning a release schedule before the next big weekend.
When does The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping come out?
It opens November 20; Francis Lawrence returns to direct and Joseph Zada will play a young Haymitch Abernathy.
What is Fourth Wing on Prime Video about?
Prime Video is adapting Rebecca Yarros’ dragon-riding YA series: a battle-school story with enemies-to-lovers energy and heavy streaming backing from Meredith Averill.
Is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returning for another season?
Season 3 returns November 11, and Prime Video is already pushing toward multiple additional seasons in various stages of planning.
1. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
I was at a casting notice board the week the prequel was announced and people circled Haymitch like it was spoilery treasure. Francis Lawrence is back, Joseph Zada plays teen Haymitch, and Mckenna Grace joins as a District 12 tribute. This project isn’t just recycling a brand — it’s a calculated play to mine nostalgia while spinning a new origin story that could hook Gen Z ticket buyers.
Release date: November 20. Suzanne Collins hasn’t confirmed more books, but studios clearly want the franchise to run as long as audiences will pay to see it.
2. Fourth Wing
I overheard a Prime Video executive at a panel bragging about securing a YA property that moves like wildfire online. Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya headline this adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ best-selling dragon academy series; Meredith Averill is attached as a producer. If you follow Empyrean fandom on TikTok, you know this is being positioned as the next big streaming ship — the kind of show that drives subscriptions and social chatter.
Expect romance, dragons, and production values tuned to bingeability.
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
I watched a friend map out battle sequences for season 3 like a chess player prepping a match. Season 3 lands November 11 and leans into full-scale war: Sauron’s machinations and the forging of the One Ring are on the table. With Prime Video bankrolling spectacle, the show is being built to compete with cinematic fantasy and to keep Tolkien conversation active across social platforms.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
I saw Andy Serkis speak about returning to Middle-earth and people nodded as if a class had just been assigned. Serkis directs and returns alongside Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood for a theatrical outing on December 17, 2027. This film doubles as nostalgia bait and a way to re-anchor theatrical Tolkien storytelling in the post-merger studio landscape.
5. Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew
I watched a test IMAX clip of the production design and heard the audience whisper, “This feels big.” Greta Gerwig directs a starry Netflix theatrical release starring Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, and Meryl Streep, opening February 2, 2027 in theaters and hitting Netflix on April 2, 2027. Netflix is treating this like a prestige event — part blockbuster, part awards play.
6. Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest
I bumped into a VFX supervisor who smiled and said, “Dragons on a film scale change the economics.” Owen Harris directs and Beau Willimon scripted the Targaryen origin film, which gets a theatrical window on June 1, 2029. HBO’s strategy is clear: expand the franchise across formats — feature films, spinoff shows, and staggered season releases — so you never stop paying attention.
Note: A second season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is due in early 2027, and House of the Dragon wraps its final season in 2028.
7. Children of Blood and Bone
I watched the trailer and realized the film is trying to be both epic and intimate — a hard balance at the box office. Gina Prince-Bythewood directs an ensemble led by Thuso Mbedu; the cast reads like an awards roster: Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Regina King, Viola Davis, and more. Author Tomi Adeyemi has distanced herself from some production choices, but the film still looks gorgeous and opens January 15, 2027.
8. Dungeon Crawler Carl
I heard a writer at NYCC describe this show as “gamified survival with a talking cat” and the room laughed. Peacock is developing Matt Dinniman’s LitRPG hit with Seth MacFarlane attached as executive producer and Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer running the show. Filming starts next year; the logline promises an absurd, violent, and live-TV satire of genre television that could either become a cult sensation or a streaming swing-and-miss.
9. Cosmere universe
I saw Brandon Sanderson sign a multi-project deal and fans cheered as if a new book had been announced. Apple TV secured rights to Sanderson’s Cosmere with the author retaining creative control; plans include a TV adaptation of The Stormlight Archive and a film series for Mistborn. This is one of the rare author-backed partnerships where you can expect fidelity to source material and a slow-build franchise strategy, like a magnet pulling pages off the shelf.
10. Eragon
I remember the 2006 film flopping and fans still griping at conventions about lost opportunity. Disney+ is developing a new series of Christopher Paolini’s book, taking a second shot at a dragon-and-hero tale that failed once at the box office. After Percy Jackson, Disney+ has reason to believe serialized YA fantasy can work if handled with care.
11. Powerless
I was on a writers’ group chat the week Amazon announced the project and people immediately debated tone. Prime Video picked up Lauren Roberts’ enemies-to-lovers romantasy with Daphne Ferraro as creator-showrunner. No new updates yet, but the Amazon MGM Studios pipeline suggests they’ll give it time and resources to build a fanbase the old-fashioned way: episode by episode.
12. The Midnight Library
I bumped into a studio rep who joked that Florence Pugh’s attachment made the project “a steal” at auction. Paramount paid $36 million (€33 million) to win the adaptation of Matt Haig’s bestseller; Pugh will star and produce, with Garth Davis set to direct. Filming aims to start in 2027, and the investment signals serious faith in literary adaptations as commercial tentpoles.
13. Red Rising
I read a story draft about Francis Lawrence reuniting with a franchise and thought: talk of scale is inevitable. Lawrence signed to direct a film adaptation of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, with Justin Rhodes writing. This project combines Roman myth with sci-fi grit — a cinematic tone that studios hope will attract both blockbuster audiences and dedicated book fans.
If you track industry moves on Twitter, Variety, Deadline, or platform slates at Netflix, Apple, Prime Video, Disney+, HBO and Paramount, you’re already plugged into the signals that tell you which projects will dominate conversation and which will fade. Some of these will be appointment viewing; others will be cases of “better on paper.”
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
Which adaptation do you think will betray its book — and which will become the benchmark other studios copy?