Literary adaptations: May 20, 2026

Here's a roundup of news and reflections on literary adaptations and crossovers.

• Netflix's One Hundred Years of Solitude adaptation will continue with both a second part and a grand finale in August (Deadline). 

• Freida McFadden's The Housemaid is getting another adaptation, this time for the stage (Variety). 

• Also, The Housemaid's sequel, The Housemaid's Secret, is following in the original novel's footsteps and becoming a movie; Kirsten Dunst will join returning stars Sydney Sweeney and Michele Morrone (People). 

• Florence Pugh will star in and produce an adaptation of Matt Haig's The Midnight Library (Deadline).

• Giant, a Broadway play about children's author Roald Dahl, turned a profit in ten weeks, which is extremely rare for Broadway (The New York Times).

• A new business aims to reverse-engineer the books-to-screen trend, by having screenplays be pitched to publishers in the early phases of development (Deadline).