Your Guide to YA Book-to-Screen Adaptations 2025
We haven’t had many YA adaptations become blockbusters in a few years. At least, not on the big screen. Several small screen adaptations, including The Summer I Turned Pretty and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder have been big hits for streamers, with the latter earning a rare renewal for a second season from Netflix.
Unfortunately, it turns out that good reviews and even decent ratings aren’t quite enough to keep some adaptations afloat, as we saw with Prime’s My Lady Jane in 2024. Too often, it is the works by female creators who seem to be on the one-and-done schedule with streamers. Is it that we are overwhelmed with the number of options available (yes) or is it that these adaptations don’t seem to have a lot of marketing and publicity associated with their releases (also yes)? Despite covering YA extensively for well over a decade, several adaptations slipped from my attention in the past year simply because I never saw news or press for them.
Although there are a handful of YA adaptations to hit the big screen in the new year, chances are that they won’t be quite as huge as one we’re all anticipating for 2026: Sunrise on the Reaping, the latest from the Hunger Games franchise. The press for this one began the moment it was announced.
That said, it won’t be surprising if we see the small screen be the place of some wildly popular YA adaptations this year, especially from the series mentioned above that have already found devoted followers and are no longer in their premier season.
As we enter into 2025, let’s take a look at some of the films and small-screen YA adaptations we can anticipate this year. All of the titles here are either confirmed with release dates or by those involved in the projects. I’ve not included titles that have been optioned for film, as we don’t know whether or not they will happen at all (an option is just that: the ability to hold onto a project for potential adaptation). Titles in pre-production or production per IMDb status, such as The Children of Blood and Bone and The Inheritance Games are also not included, though some titles that are in post-production may be included here. Pre- and currently in production adaptations do not indicate anything about a release date, especially if they have yet to have any casting news or filming updates.
As has been the case for the last several years, there have been a lot more books by authors of color optioned for adaptation, but few of those options have been exercised. The bulk of adaptations are still by white authors. Hopefully, we will begin to see some of those options come to fruition soon.
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts by Ying Chang Compestine (No date yet)
This short story collection has been in the works for a bit, and as you’ll see here, the pilot episode trailer was released in summer 2024 as a tease.
In Chinese tradition, if someone dies unjustly or hungry, they come back to haunt the living—while some are satisfied by food, others continue their haunting. The stories in this collection travel through China’s history, and each includes a recipe and historical notes for taking the stories off-page, too.
There hasn’t been news yet on where the adaptation will be released, but it will be animated.
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare (Theaters, May 9)
A Summer Scares pick from 2022, Cesare’s terrifying clown-themed horror novel will be hitting the big screen in May. The story follows Quinn and her dad, who have moved to small Kettle Springs, Missouri, for a fresh start. Unfortunately, Kettle Springs is anything but that. Ever since the corn syrup factory shut down, there has been a divide between the adults desperate to make Kettle Springs cool again and the kids who want to just get through school and get out of town.
Enter Frendo, the mascot for the defunct corn syrup factor. He’s alive, and he’s coming for the kids in town alongside a host of his killer clown friends.
There are three books in the series and all are out, but this first title easily stands alone. It is guaranteed to be a terrifying theatrical experience (one that I cannot wait to experience!).
Fear Street: Prom Queen by R.L. Stine (Netflix, no date yet)
Small-screen horror adaptations have done well over the last few years—including the first three Fear Street adaptations in 2021—so it’s little surprise to see that another Stine classic will get the treatment. This story follows the one-by-one murder of a number of Prom Queen candidates and the girl who realizes she might be next on the list. It has a different cast of characters than the other three films made from the series, so you don’t need to be familiar with any of those to enjoy the latest adaptation.
Forever… by Judy Blume (Netflix, early 2025)
Two years ago, Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret hit theaters and created an opportunity for both those who grew up with Blume’s stories—as well as the current generation of young people—to see the classic middle grade novel brought to the big screen.
In 2025, we’re going to see a modern take on Blume’s young adult staple, Forever…. It will be presented as a series on Netflix, featuring the classic first love story through two Black lead characters, with a 2018 Los Angeles setting. The lineup of those involved in the project is pretty stellar: Anthony Hemingway and Regina King are directing episodes of the series, and the leads will be played by Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, Season Two (Netflix, no date yet)
Five years ago, Andie Bell was killed by her boyfriend, who then killed himself right after. Pip, like so many others, has never quite shaken the story off. But unlike others, she’s made it a mission to get to the bottom of what really happened to Andie that day.
Price’s novel and the subsequent series have been hits in the US, UK, and elsewhere throughout the world since their publication.
The second season will film in 2025, so it is likely this will hit streamers later in the year.
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan (Theaters, July 18)
This isn’t the first, nor is it the second, take on Duncan’s teen scream classic. It is the third. The original film hit theaters in October 1997, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe, among other stars of the time. The second take ran as a streaming series on Amazon starting in 2021. Now, we’re seeing it hit theaters once again and yes, it will feature at least one of the original cast members in its new iteration.
Is it a summer of teen screams in 2025? It sure looks like it.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (Netflix, no release date yet)
Westerfeld’s been on a roll with his YA finally seeing their adaptations come to light. Last year we saw Uglies hit Netflix, 20 years after it was initially optioned. In 2025, an animated take on Leviathan—the first in a trilogy—will hit Netflix.
Leviathan, originally published in 2009, follows a fugitive prince and a girl in disguise who meet aboard a dirigible called the HMH Leviathan in 1914. Their meeting forever changes the course of history.
My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak, Season Two (Netflix, no date yet)
The first season of Ali Novak’s novel was a hit on Netflix, including hitting the Top 10 lists of 88 different countries. Its second season has wrapped on filming and will hit the streamer sometime this year.
In season one, we meet Jackie, who wants to be perfect in order to get the attention of her parents. They’re the too busy to notice things sort, living a New York City life. But when they’re killed in a tragic accident, Jackie is shuffled off to small town Colorado to live with the Walters. It’s a home with 11 boys and one girl, and Jackie learns that perhaps her desire for perfection isn’t the best way to live her life—even if the habits of those Walter boys drive her up a wall.
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, Season Three (Amazon, Summer)
We know that the adaptation of Jenny Han’s first YA series will see its third season this year. Previously slated for an earlier release, filming schedules and contract negotiations pushed it back to 2025.
The third season will feature 11 episodes, following Belly and her family while they spend another summer at Cousins Beach. It will once again give the opportunity for Belly to come of age…and tackle the important questions of which of her mom’s best friend’s sons, Conrad or Jeremy, is the boy with whom she’s truly meant to be. Fans who’ve read the book know what happens at the end, so it’ll be curious to see if and how that plays out this season.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Prime, no date yet)
It’s not 100% confirmed whether or not the mega-selling, TikTok-revived We Were Liars will finally hit the Amazon streamer in 2025, but Lockhart has sure been dropping plenty of hints on social media that suggest it will. Filming wrapped up, so the status as of writing is that it is in post-production and about ready to go.
Another clue that the family-centered thriller will land this year? Amazon Studios recently hired a former Disney executive to help shepherd their lineup of new entertainment for YA viewers.
