Top 10 Books Being Made into Disney Movies

We don’t know much about this project, but back in 2014 Disney secured the film rights to Patrick Carman’s fantastical novel series, “Floors.” So many children’s and young adult books are being adapted into movies these days, but it’s very possible that you’ve never heard of this one. “Floors” has been compared to Willy Wonka, but set inside a hotel rather than a chocolate factory. Jason Filardi, who worked on “17 Again,” was the one who pitched the idea and, as of the latest reports, is set to write the script for the film.

In the ‘80s, Ray Bradbury’s dark fantasy novel, “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” was adapted by Disney with Bradbury himself acting as the co-screenwriter. And in 2014, we got an announcement from Disney that the film was going to be remade. Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the popular novel “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” has been tapped to both write and direct the new film. Bradbury was reportedly happy with the first adaptation, and by all accounts the creators of this new film are committed to focusing on his original source material when crafting their narrative.

Alright guys, this one is about to get pretty meta. Kenneth Grahame published his beloved children’s book “The Wind in the Willows” in 1908 and in 1949, Disney chose a particular part of that novel to become the subject of their film, “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.” Several years later, when Disneyland opened, they created an indoor dark ride called Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which has gone on to become one of the most bizarre in any of the parks. Now that ride is being turned into a movie! Are you still following? Guillermo del Toro was once attached to the project, but that was in 2003.

If you’re a Neil Gaiman fan, you’ve probably been following this saga. His young adult novel, “The Graveyard Book,” was set to be adapted to film by Miramax back in 2009, but Disney purchased the rights not long after. Fans were thrilled when Henry Selick was hired by Disney to lead the project, since he directed both “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and another beloved adaptation of Gaiman’s work, “Coraline.” The partnership soured, though, and the latest news as of 2013 is that Ron Howard will be directing, but so far this one could still be a long way off.

Miss Marple is a popular character created by Agatha Christie who appeared in a great number of the esteemed mystery writer’s works. Her stories have already been adapted several times, being played by Margaret Rutherford in the ‘60s and Angela Lansbury in the ‘80s. Many were shocked to hear the news in 2011 that Jennifer Garner was cast as the elderly spinster Miss Marple and were eager to see how this one was going to pan out. It has been several years, though, since we’ve had any news on this project.

Jules Verne



Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” has been adapted countless times for various media. In fact, one of Disney’s earliest live-action films was their version of the story, which went on to be the inspiration for a popular park ride. These days, though, no story is left untold and the current plan is for Disney to create an origin story film for Captain Nemo. As of 2016, James Mangold is set to direct and Sebastian Gutierrez is working on the script.

Johann David Wyss’s well-known story, "The Swiss Family Robinson," was adapted into a movie by Disney in 1960 and became a fixture in Disney parks. Now it looks like they’re ready to do it all over again. Okay, well not quite. The upcoming “Brooklyn Family Robinson” will be a modernized version of the tale, and fans of “The Office” will be happy to hear that not only will Steve Carell be starring in the film, but he’ll also be producing it. We don’t know much about the premise of the movie except for the fact that it will involve a Brooklyn family adapting to island life.

You may not have heard of “The Chronicles of Prydain,” but any Disney fan worth their salt is surely familiar with “The Black Cauldron.” This 1985 animated Disney film was based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander’s series, but was so poorly received that it almost caused Disney’s animated studio to go bankrupt. Disney has decided to take another crack at this story, however, and in 2016 announced that they planned to adapt the novel series into a film series. As of now, we don’t have any production information, but this should definitely be a project to look out for.

If you grew up as a bookworm in the early aughts, you almost surely read this series. The “Artemis Fowl” books followed the adventures of a teenage criminal mastermind of the same name and were a huge hit, receiving numerous accolades. After many years of talks of a film version being made, it’s finally happening. While most of our list so far consists of adaptations that are far from being fully realized, this project is actually in production as of March 2018 with Kenneth Branagh directing! It even has a tentative release date of August 9th, 2019.





Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.



“Hover Car Racer” (2004)

Matthew Reilly



“The One and Only Ivan” (2012)

K. A. Applegate



“Tuxedo Gin” (1997-2000)

Tokihiko Matsuura