Adapting books and short stories for film and television is a trend that has only become more popular over time. Some of the largest and most successful film franchises and television series such as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones were adapted from book series.

This trend is continuing into 2020 with books being adapted into more films and television series such as Disney’s Artemis Fowl, The Witches, and China Rich Girlfriend. Here is a look at five television series set to premiere in 2020 that are adapted from books that we are looking forward to, and five that we are not.

Not Looking Forward: Made For Love

Made for Love by Alissa Nutting is a novel about Hazel, who is now living with her father and his sex doll Diane in a senior trailer park after leaving her husband who was controlling to the point of keeping track of her vital signs, with his controlling nature gradually escalating.

The television show has been described by a number of sites as an examination and exploration of modern love. Based on the premise of the book, it sounds like the television show will be crazier and more convoluted than that.

Looking Forward: Nine Perfect Strangers

Fans of Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies will likely enjoy this upcoming series. The novel Nine Perfect Strangers is also a novel by Moriarty and follows nine people who go to a health resort for ten days. This book, like Big Little Lies, is filled with twists and turns that keep readers on the edges of their seats, which is promising for the television adaptation.

Also like in Big Little Lies, Nicole Kidman is cast in a lead role. Kidman is also credited as an executive producer. No other cast members have been announced at this time, so we are also looking forward to learning who else will be in the series.

Not Looking Forward: Untitled Bridgerton Series Adaptation

This currently untitled project is based on the Bridgerton series of novels by Julia Quinn. The book series follows the Bridgerton family in the high society of Regency London. The books and the show are a period drama romance and will be run by Shonda Rhimes and Chris Van Dusen.

The show is set for eight episodes on Netflix. It seems like it is going to be a limited series of just those eight episodes, which is not long enough to adapt an eight-book series and fully capture the essence of each book.

Looking Forward: The Luminaries

The Luminaries is a 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton. It is about the gold rush that occurred in New Zealand in 1866. The main character, Walter Moody, travels through New Zeland, intending to search for gold in the settlement of Hokitika but instead comes across a series of mysterious cover-ups of unsolved crimes upon arriving.

The limited series based on the book is set to air on the BBC. It will features Eva Green, previously known from her work on Penny Dreadful and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, in a prominent role.

Not Looking Forward: The Stand

The Stand is an upcoming miniseries based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and the 1994 miniseries. The Stand is about the breakdown of society after a genetically manipulated strain of influenza intended for biowarfare is accidentally released.

The upcoming miniseries cast James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg, and Amber Heard in lead roles alongside Marilyn Manson. In an undetermined role, Alexander Skarsgård plays Randall Flagg, an infamous character also known as the Dark Man in a number of Stephen King stories including The Stand.

Unfortunately, in spite of the interesting premise and the all-star cast, there is some controversy involving a hearing actor playing a deaf character. We are hoping that the showrunners and CBS resolve the issue and recast the role to be more inclusive, but considering other television distributors’ track records with similar issues, recasting is unfortunately unlikely.

Looking Forward: The Outsider

The Outsider is a 2018 novel written by Stephen King in which King explores the idea of people having doubles, similar to the Edgar Allan Poe story “William Wilson,” but in the form of a murder mystery. Soon after its release, due to its popularity, HBO bought the rights to produce it into a miniseries.

The show is set to have Jason Bateman, who is also a producer, Ben Mendelsohn, and Cynthia Erivo in lead roles. A couple of trailers for the show have already been released, building up the hype for the show, which will be released on HBO Max in January.

Not Looking Forward: I Know This Much Is True

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb is about a set of twins, one of whom suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. The story is told through the perspective of the twin without schizophrenia, who often finds himself helping his brother through his episodes.

Film and television have a poor history of accurately depicting mental illness, especially a severe mental illness such as paranoid schizophrenia. Even when consulting professionals, portrayals of characters with mental illnesses tend to fall flat, which makes this series not very promising that it will be any different.

Looking Forward: Shadow And Bone

Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books consist of a trilogy entitled The Grisha Trilogy, a duology entitled Six of Crows, an additional duology collectively called Nikolai, as well as a number of short stories set in the universe. Shadow and Bone is now being turned into a television series and will follow the characters within the Grishaverse, particularly in the Grisha trilogy and the Six of Crows duology.

Leigh Bardugo’s books, particularly those set in the Grishaverse are popular among booktubers, the term used for YouTubers who talk about review books on their channels, and among fans of YA fantasy. Considering the quality writing of her works and their immense popularity, the television series will certainly have high expectations to meet.

Not Looking Forward: Brave New World

Brave New World is a dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley. The premise of the books is a futuristic world filled with genetically modified people and a social hierarchy based on intelligence.

The novel has been adapted several times into radio shows, a play, and two television films. We really don’t need yet another adaptation of this particular work. Furthermore, television is often used for the purpose of escapism. With today’s society, a dystopian television show is too close to home to use to escape today’s everyday occurrences and the 24-hour news cycle.

Looking Forward: Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere is a best-selling novel by Celeste Ng. It is about two families, the Richardsons and the McCulloughs, living in Shaker Heights, Ohio in the 1990s. The novel involves a custody battle over a recently-adopted young girl.

Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, is producing a limited series based off of the book. Witherspoon will also have a lead role in the series, accompanied by Kerry Washington and Rosemarie DeWitt. Smaller, but still known, stars such as AnnaSophia Robb and Alona Tal will be guest-starring in the series as well. Ng’s writing, paired with a talented cast is setting up this series for success upon its release in 2020.

Next: 5 Sci-Fi Series We’re Looking Forward To In 2020 (5 We’re Not)