These classic books are all getting turned into a period movie or TV show soon (2025)

Classic novel fans, rejoice — you’re about to see a ton of period movie and TV show adaptations.

This year has involved an impressive roster of period adaptation announcements. Some are being released soon, while others are very much still in development.

From “Wuthering Heights” to “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” here are six period movies or TV show adaptations that are currently in the works.

‘Nosferatu’

Release date: Dec. 25, 2024

Directed by: Robert Eggers

Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and more

Rated: N/A

While there isn’t a “Nosferatu” book, the original 1922 film is “the earliest surviving film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula,’” according to Brittanica. The film “was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale.”

One hundred years after the original film, it’s getting a period movie remake. “Nosferatu” tells the story of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), a vampire moving from Transylvania to Germany and spreading death and plague in his wake.

When real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) goes to Orlok’s Transylvania castle to finalize his purchase of a home in Hutter’s town, he discovers Orlok’s true nature. Orlok becomes obsessed with Hutter’s wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), and travels to Germany to get her.

As director Robert Eggers told Total Film, Skarsgård’s Orlok is going to be “scary, smelly.”

“We’ve gone all the way to Edward Cullen, where vampires are not scary,” Eggers said. “So how do we go in the complete opposite direction of that? Vampires were scary enough that people used to dig up corpses and chop them into bits and set them on fire.”

‘Frankenstein’

Release date: 2025

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charles Dance, Christoph Waltz, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth and more

Rated: N/A

There are over 60 film adaptations of “Frankenstein,” as the Deseret News has previously reported — and there’s another one in the works.

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro, best known for mixing horror and fantasy in his films, is tackling the latest “Frankenstein” adaptation, according to Netflix.

The classic book “Frankenstein,” written by Mary Shelley, follows the titular Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates life in a monstrous creature. Horrified by his creation, Frankenstein abandons the creature, which leads to tragic consequences.

Del Toro has been working on his “Frankenstein” period movie adaptation for over a decade, according to Netflix.

He told Collider in 2010, “My favorite novel in the world is Frankenstein. I’m going to misquote it horribly, but the monster says, ‘I have such love in me, more than you can imagine. But, if I cannot provoke it, I will provoke fear.’”

‘Wuthering Heights’

Release date: N/A

Directed by: Emerald Fennell

Starring: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi

Rated: N/A

Earlier this year, it was announced that director Emerald Fennell — best known for her films “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn” — is working on a period film adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic novel “Wuthering Heights,” according to Deadline.

“Wuthering Heights,” Brontë's only novel, chronicles the tumultuous relationship between Heathcliff, an orphan adopted by the Earnshaw family, and Catherine Earnshaw. They have an intense and destructive relationship — which leads to a cycle of pain and vengeance that impacts the next generation.

When news of Fennell’s adaptation hit, it was also announced that she found her two leads: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are set to star as Heathcliff and Catherine. But the casting drew immediate controversy online.

According to USA Today, “Fans took particular issue with the casting of Elordi as Heathcliff, who is described at one point in the original 1847 novel as ‘dark-skinned.’”

“I know I’m a bit late here buy as a massive Wuthering Heights fan (I own so many editions) when i was younger…. And now… I cannot get over the Elordi casting,” one fan posted on X.

‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’

Release date: N/A

Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger

Starring: N/A

Rated: N/A

Earlier this year, it was announced that “The Picture of Dorian Gray” was getting adapted into a series at Netflix, according to Deadline.

The series, called “The Grays,” “is a contemporary take on the Oscar Wilde classic about our fascination with eternal youth set against the backdrop of the modern beauty industry,” per Deadline. “In a twist on the gothic novel, the series revolves around siblings Basil and Dorian Gray.”

The classic gothic horror novel is centered on Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who is the muse of Basil Hallward, a friend and artist who paints the titular portrait.

In order to ensure that his beauty and youth will never fade, Dorian sells his soul. This causes the portrait to age, while Dorian stays youthful and can continue to pursue his hedonistic lifestyle.

Basil is eventually killed by Dorian after he implores his friend to seek salvation.

Some fans are wary of the adaptation, especially because Basil and Dorian will be siblings — a stark change from the book.

‘Pride and Prejudice’

Release date: N/A

Directed by: N/A

Starring: N/A

Rated: N/A

Yet another Netflix adaptation of a classic novel is in the works — this time, it’s “Pride and Prejudice.”

According to Variety, a “Pride and Prejudice” TV series is being developed by Netflix. Dolly Alderton, author of “Everything I Know About Love,” is set to write the series.

Variety notes that neither a cast or a release date has been announced “and the project has not been greenlit at the streamer.”

Fans immediately expressed their concern at the news of another Jane Austen adaptation from Netflix, citing concerns with 2022′s “Persuasion.” That film, starring Dakota Johnson, was panned by critics — it received a score of 30% on Rotten Tomatoes.

One fan posted to X, “Don’t trust Netflix making pride and prejudice.”

Another wrote, “Waking up and seeing that Netflix might do an another adaptation for Pride and Prejudice is seriously the worst news to wake up to.”

“Pride and Prejudice,” Austen’s classic novel, chronicles the love story between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.

It has been made into multiple movies and TV series, the most popular of which are BBC’s 1995 miniseries and the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden.

‘The Other Bennet Sister’

Release date: N/A

Directed by: N/A

Starring: N/A

Rated: N/A

Netflix’s “Pride and Prejudice” isn’t the only Austen adaptation in the works. Last week, it was announced that “The Other Bennet Sister,” a “Pride and Prejudice” spinoff, is being developed by BBC.

According to BBC, “The Other Bennet Sister,” based off of Janice Hadlow’s novel, will tell the story of Mary Bennet, “the seemingly unremarkable and overlooked middle sister in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice.’”

According to the synopsis, “Unlike her sisters, Mary isn’t your typical period drama heroine. She is awkward, anxious, preachy, full of facts, a terrible singer … overlooked by her mother and seemingly destined to an empty dance card for the rest of her life … until Mary takes matters into her own hands.”

“‘The Other Bennet Sister’ gives Mary Bennet the epic love story nobody predicted for her, taking her from her family home in Meryton to the soirees of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District — all in search of independence, romance and, most elusive of all, self-love and acceptance.”

This time, news of the period TV series was received warmly by fans.

One fan posted on X, “I really liked to book ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ by Janice Hadlow when I read it and thought it fleshed out and expanded Mary’s character and story very well. So I, for one, am looking forward to this adaptation.”