Big sci-fi adaptations are suddenly everywhere again. Every few years, Hollywood remembers just how good sci-fi novels really are. You read a novel with a wild idea, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you think this would make an incredible movie, and lately, studios seem to be having the same thought, because this new wave of adaptations does not seem like random picks at all.
Some of the upcoming movies are based on books people have passed around for years, the ones with dog-eared pages and late-night discussions. Some are terrifying, huge, and cosmic, and some are the kind of stories you finish and immediately wish you could see on a screen. And now, finally, they might be coming to screens. Here is a list of the upcoming movies that are based on long-awaited classics and recent bestsellers.
7
‘Hyperion’ (TBA)
Hyperion is based on Dan Simmons’s 1989 sci-fi classic, a novel known for its mix of space opera, mystery, and character-driven storytelling. The movie follows a group of travelers making a pilgrimage to a distant world called Hyperion, where a creature known as the Shrike waits for them. Each traveler carries a story about why they’re on this journey, and every story adds a different layer to the mystery.
The adaptation has been in development for years, starting as an HBO series before shifting toward a feature film. There is no confirmed release date yet, but the book’s structure gives the movie a strong foundation. If the adaptation keeps the same shifting perspectives and emotional depth, Hyperion has the potential to feel very different from most large-scale sci-fi films being made right now.
6
‘Cold Storage’ (2026)
Cold Storage is based on the novel by David Koepp and it is an upcoming adaptation that is exciting because the source material already reads like a movie. Koepp is the screenwriter behind Jurassic Park and Spider-Man as well. He wrote the novel as a tight and fast-paced thriller about a deadly fungus that was discovered inside a military facility. The movie follows the same setup with a bioengineered organism that escapes contamination and three ordinary people end up trying to stop an outbreak that could wipe out the entire country.
The team behind the movie is extremely promising. There is Joe Johnston, who directed Captain America: The First Avenger, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, who is leading the project. His style fits a story that needs tension without losing clarity. The cast includes Liam Neeson, who plays the retired special ops soldier who first encounters the organism decades earlier, and Joe Keery, who plays a low-paid storage facility worker who gets pulled into the crisis. If done well, cold storage could land somewhere between outbreak and a quiet place in terms of atmosphere.
5
‘Rendezvous with Rama’ (2027)
Rendezvous with Rama is an upcoming movie likely to be aired in 2027 and is based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It has been in development for decades now, but the 2027 project is the first one that finally looks real. The film is based on the classic 1973 novel about a massive alien cylinder entering the solar system. A human exploration team is sent to investigate, and once they enter the structure, they find an entire engineered world running on rules no one understands.
The biggest reason people are excited is the team attached to it. Denis Villeneuve, who directed Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and the Dune films, is developing the adaptation. His entire filmography shows he knows how to handle slow-burn sci-fi.
4
‘Project Hail Mary’ (2026)
The film adaptation of Project Hail Mary is one of the most anticipated sci-fi releases, largely because the book already feels like a movie. Andy Weir, who wrote The Martian, builds the story around Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spacecraft with no memory of who he is or why he’s there. As his memory returns in pieces, he realizes he’s on a last-chance mission to save Earth from an extinction-level threat caused by a star-eating microorganism.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are directing the film, and it is the same duo behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie. Their work has always balanced emotion, humor, and high-concept storytelling, which is exactly what the novel needs. Ryan Gosling is set to play Ryland Grace, a casting choice that caught attention early because the role requires moments of quiet panic, scientific improvisation, and unexpected warmth.
3
‘Dune: Part Three’ (2026)
Dune: Part Three is based on Frank Herbert’s novel ‘Dune: Messiah’. It is shaping up to be one of the most talked-about upcoming sci-fi adaptations because it will bring Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune: Messiah’ to the screen, the book that completely changes how people see Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). While Part Two ended with Paul embracing power, Messiah follows the consequences of that choice. It’s a slower, more political, and far more tragic story, which is why fans are eager to see how Denis Villeneuve handles it.
Villeneuve has already confirmed his plan to finish Paul’s arc as Herbert wrote it, meaning this film will explore his reign as Emperor, the religious movement surrounding him, and the burden of every decision he makes. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and the returning cast will step into the darker side of Herbert’s world. If Villeneuve continues his tactile style of the first two films, Part Three could become the most emotionally intense film of the trilogy.
2
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ (2026)
Sunrise on the Reaping is one of the most anticipated sci-fi adaptations in years because it returns to the story that shaped an entire generation. The movie is based on Suzanne Collins’ new novel, which goes back to the 50th Hunger Games, the year Haymitch Abernathy won. Fans already know Haymitch as the bitter, sarcastic mentor played by Woody Harrelson, but this film will show him before the Capitol broke him.
The story takes place twenty-four years before Katniss Everdeen enters the arena, and that shift in timeline gives the film room to show how the Games evolved into the monstrous spectacle we see in the original trilogy. This is also the Quarter Quell where the Capitol doubled the number of tributes, which means the arena will look and feel different from anything we’ve seen so far. The movie is directed by Francis Lawrence, who already understands the tone and politics of this world. What makes this adaptation exciting is that it can fill the gaps that the other films only hinted at.
1
‘One Second After’ (TBA)
One Second After is being adapted from William R. Forstchen’s bestselling novel, a story that imagines what happens to the United States in the first days after a nationwide EMP attack. The setup is brutally simple. One moment, everything works, and the next, every electronic device fails, cars stop, phones die, planes fall, and modern life collapses instantly. The novel follows John Matherson, a history professor and veteran, as he tries to keep his small North Carolina town alive when food, medicine, and communication disappear.
The story doesn’t rely on futuristic tech or massive battles. Instead, it focuses on the slow, realistic breakdown of a community that has to relearn basic survival. Hospitals run out of supplies. People walk miles for water. Families try to protect each other with whatever they have left. The movie has the potential to stand out because the novel is built on real research. The scientific details of an EMP, the timeline of infrastructure failure, and the social consequences are all based on actual military reports.
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