Movies Based on Books: Winter & Spring 2013 (January-April)

Gangster Squad

Starring: Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Opened: Jan 11 in USA (opens in 40+ other countries between early Jan and late Feb)

Based on Journalist Paul Lieberman's 2008 seven-part series for the Los Angeles Times', "Tales from the Gangster Squad" which chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. The series was adapted into book form in 2012 in anticipation of the film's release.

Rated: R
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10

Parker

Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis
Director: Taylor Hackford
Opens: Jan 25 in USA (and in about 25 other countries between late Jan and late March)

Summary: A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.

Based on the Parker novels of Donald E. Westlake, writing under the pseudonym Richard Stark; and apparently on Flashfire in particular, the 19th volume in the series, published in 2000.

Rated: R

John Dies at the End

Starring: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti
Director: Don Coscarelli
Opens: Jan 25 in USA (UK in March)

Summary: A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?

Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by David Wong which, according to Booklist, "spoofs the horror genre while simultaneously offering up a genuinely horrifying story."

Rated: R
IMDB Rating: 6.6/10

Warm Bodies

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
Director: Jonathan Levine
Opens: Feb 1 in USA (and in about 20 other countries between late Jan - early April)

Summary: The comedic story of a star-crossed, post-apocalyptic romance starring a young zombie and his human love interest.

Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Isaac Marion, about a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie in a post-apolcalyptic USA largely populated by zombies, who craves something more than blood and brains. Audrey Niffenger (author of The Time Traveler's Wife) describes the book as "elegantly written, touching, and fun."

Rated: PG-13