The Most Anticipated Book-to-TV Adaptations Coming in 2023

Book-to-TV adaptations are perhaps more popular than ever, and 2023 promises plenty of TV series based on books old and new. Some of these stories are based on true events, while others take place in supernatural worlds with werewolves or Chinese mythological gods. 

Our most anticipated book-to-TV adaptations of 2023 come from fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and even a Pulitzer Prize winner. We don't have the premiere dates for all of these titles, but we are hopeful they'll premiere in 2023 given what we've heard of their production schedules.

Another thing: This list is focused on new TV series based on books. Of course, there are more seasons of Bridgerton, Outlander, and Shadow and Bone coming in 2023. But the novels they're based on are likely on your to-read lists already, and we're going to highlight the shows you may not have known were coming and the books you may not have known were getting adapted. 

Wolf Pack (Paramount+)

Book: Wolf Pack by Edo van Belkom
Premiere Date: Jan. 26

The beloved television series Teen Wolf is getting a movie on Jan. 26, but show creator Jeff Davis is also returning with a new supernatural drama that's all about werewolves. Wolf Pack, based on Edo van Belkom's book of the same name from 2004, is about two teens who become connected after a California wildfire. They are both bitten by a werewolf, and as they figure out the mystery behind the bites, they meet two others who were adopted by a park ranger after a previous wildfire had ravaged the land. Wolf Pack's trailer includes plenty of snarls, growls, and blood.

Daisy Jones & The Six (Prime Video)

Book: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
Premiere Date: March 3, 2023

If you love sex, drugs, and rock and roll, then you should add Daisy Jones & The Six to your Kindle or Libby account before the highly anticipated series hits Prime Video in March. Riley Keogh plays the titular Daisy Jones in the adaptation, the frontwoman of a rock band that's poised to take over the world but ends up disbanding after a legendary show at Chicago's Soldier Field. Reid, who has developed a rabid following with her fellow bestsellers The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising (both of which are being adapted elsewhere), wrote the book like a Behind the Music episode, with everyone involved in the band's highly successful first tour weighing in via interviews decades later. The Fault in Our Stars writers Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter are behind the Prime Video take, along with showrunner Will Graham, in association with Hello Sunshine productions. Keogh is joined by Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne, the band's frontman before Daisy was recruited; Suki Waterhouse as keyboardist Karen Sirko; and Camilla Morrone as Billy's wife, Camilla. 

A Spy Among Friends (MGM+)

Book: A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre
Premiere Date: March 12

The life of Kim Philby, a double agent for the Soviet Union who spied on the British — and a member of the Cambridge Fire — has been documented many times in history through books and television. But Ben Macintyre's A Spy Among Friends tells Philby's story with a different lens: through a focus on his friendship with British intelligence officer Nicholas Elliott. The upcoming series on MGM+ adapts Macintyre's book and expands on the relationship between the two men. Created by Alexander Cary and directed by Nick Murphy, the show stars Guy Pearce as Philby, Damian Lewis as Elliott, and Anna Maxwell Martin as the fictional character Lily Thomas. 

White House Plumbers (HBO)

Book: The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency by Egil "Bud" Krogh and Matthew Krogh
Premiere Date: March 2023

The premise of White House Plumbers is interesting enough. Based on Egil Krogh and his son Matthew Krogh's 2007 book Integrity, as well as on public records, the series is about how E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy — the masterminds behind Watergate and Nixon's political operatives — "accidentally toppled the presidency they were zealously trying to protect," according to HBO. But White House Plumbers is even more enticing because of its stacked cast, featuring Woody Harrelson as Hunt, Justin Theroux as Liddy, Domnhall Gleeson as Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean, and Lena Headey as Hunt's wife, Dorothy. Not to mention the show is helmed by David Mandel, the showrunner of Veep.

American Born Chinese (Disney+)

Book: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Premiere date: TBD

Jin Wang (Ben Wang) just wants to live as a normal high schooler, but that hope all but vanishes when he crosses paths with a foreign exchange student and begins to encounter Chinese mythological gods. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the series is based on Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel of the same name that tackles subjects like race and identity. Fans of Everything Everywhere All At Once can look forward to the series, since it stars Michelle Yeoh (as Guanyin), Ke Huy Quan (as Freddy Wong), and Stephanie Hsu (as Shiji Niangniang).

Three Women (Showtime)

Book: Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
Premiere date: TBD

Lisa Taddeo's 2019 non-fiction bestseller Three Women tells the story of three women from across the U.S. Taddeo spent eight years working on the book, and now the emotional journeys of Lina, Sloane, and Maggie will be shown on screen. Shailene Woodley plays Gia, a grieving writer who asks the three women to share their stories with her. Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise, and Gabrielle Creevy star as Lina, Sloane, and Maggie, respectively, in what Showtime describes as an "intimate, haunting portrayal of American female desire."

Solo Leveling (Crunchyroll)

Book: Solo Leveling by Chugong
Premiere date: TBD 

Solo Leveling was originally published as a web novel by Chugong in 2016, before a comic adaptation was serialized starting from 2018. Now, the story is heading to animated form. Earlier this year, Crunchyroll announced that A-1 Pictures — the studio behind Sword Art Online — will be producing the series with Shunsuke Nakashige directing. Solo Leveling follows Jinwoo, a weak hunter who is chosen by an enigmatic "System" to receive great powers. The trailer for the anime series has already garnered over 4 million views since July 2022.

The Last Thing He Told Me (Apple TV+)

Book: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Premiere date: TBD

Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me spent 48 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2021, and the story about a woman searching for her missing husband, and forming a special bond with her stepdaughter in the process, is coming to Apple TV+. Produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, The Last Thing He Told Me features Jennifer Garner in the lead role of Hannah. Garner replaced Julia Roberts, who Variety said exited the project due to a scheduling issue. Angourie Rice plays the stepdaughter, Bailey, and Nicolaj Coster-Waldeu plays the missing husband, Owen. 

The Power (Amazon Prime Video)

Book: The Power by Naomi Alderman
Premiere date: TBD

Naomi Alderman's adaptation of her 2016 sci-fi bestseller The Power has seen a number of changes. Leslie Mann, who was cast to play the lead Margot Cleary-Lopez, and Tim Robbins, cast to play Daniel Dandon, dropped out of the project in 2022 and were replaced by Toni Collette and Josh Charles, respectively. And while the show originally considered Georgia as a filming location, it pulled out in 2019 after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the "heartbeat" bill, according to Time. The wait has only built up anticipation for the Amazon Prime Video series, which is about a world where young girls have the ability to release electrical jolts from their fingers.

All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix)

Book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Premiere date: TBD

Netflix's adaptation of Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See — which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015 — has been in the works since 2019. Shawn Levy is directing the four-part limited series, with Steven Knight as the writer, and Grammy-winning composer James Newton Howard is writing the musical score. The show will star Aria Mia Loberti as Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French teenage girl, and Louis Hofmann as Werner Pfennig, a German soldier fighting in World War II whom Marie-Laure crosses paths with.

Shogun (FX)

Book: Shogun by James Clavell
Premiere date: TBD

FX's Shogun has been in the works since 2018. The series adapts James Clavell's novel of the same name that was published in 1975, and is an epic tale that follows two men in feudal Japan. Cosmo Jarvis will star as John Blackstone, a shipwrecked sailor whose story is loosely based on William Adams — an English navigator who arrived in Japan by ship in 1600. Hiroyuki Sanada is set to play Lord Toronaga, while Anna Sawai is set to play the female samurai Lady Mariko. At the Television Critics Association winter press tour, FX Content & FX Productions Chairman John Landgraf said the story will be told from both a Japanese perspective and a European perspective.

Editor's Note: The original version of this story misstated the release date for Wolf Pack. It premieres Jan. 26, 2023, not Jan. 24, 2023.