Our pick of the most epic book-to-screen stories on Showmax

What’s your favourite genre? No matter what you like to read, you’ll find a series to match – from spy action, to romance, to fantasy, to war drama and sports biography. You might even find that your favourite books have gotten the Hollywood treatment in series and movies. So get ready to see the characters you obsess over in a whole new light.

Check out our favourite book-to-screen stories from around the world … and strange new worlds, too.

1. Emperor of Ocean Park

Making its South African debut on Showmax, this drama series is based on Stephen L Carter’s bestselling first book in the Elm Harbor novels, which is set between the worlds of politics, Ivy League academia, and the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard. The books centre on the Garland family as they navigate race and class issues in the United States. 

Ivy League law professor Talcott Garland (Grantham Coleman) faces a daunting battle with family after his father, politically conservative Judge Oliver Garland (Forest Whitaker), dies of a heart attack shortly after failing his bid to join the Supreme Court, and Tal’s sister Mariah (Tiffany Mack), a journalist-turned-conspiracy-theorist, believes he was murdered.

Binge Emperor of Ocean Park from Friday, 6 December.

2. My Brilliant Friend

This final season in HBO’s adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels transports us back into the gritty world of post-war poverty in a working class neighbourhood in Naples. 

As well as being a study of Lenu and Lila’s complicated ongoing friendship, the series shows the painful restriction of women’s traditional roles during the rise of social liberation. Season 4 delves into Lenu (Alba Rohrwacher) and Lila’s (Irene Maiorino) adult lives in 1980s Italy when they find themselves back in the same neighbourhood together juggling motherhood, career demands, betrayals, threats, disappearances, and natural disasters.

Binge My Brilliant Friend Season 4 now.

3. Dune: Prophecy

Inspired by the 2012 novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, this prequel series is set 10 000 years before Paul Atreides sets foot on the planet Arrakis, and shows how the way was paved for his victory. 

The series follows two Harkonnen sisters, played by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams, as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit. With Vikings’ Travis Fimmel (Vikings) and Mark Strong as the first Corrino Emperor. 

Stream Dune: Prophecy now. New episodes on Mondays from 21:30. Binge from 23 December. And look out for the movie Dune Part Two from Wednesday, 1 January.

4. Eileen

Ottessa Moshfegh adapted her own novel of the same name for this movie – a psychological thriller set in the 1960s, about a friendship between two women that takes a dark turn.

Glamorous psychologist Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway) joins the staff of a corrections centre for teenaged boys, where the facility’s socially isolated secretary, Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie), becomes fascinated by her. When Rebecca shares a secret with Eileen, she sets her new friend on a sinister path involving kidnapping, abuse, obsession and forbidden love. 

Stream Eileen now.

5. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

This movie prequel to Stephen King 1983 horror novel, Pet Sematary, reveals some secrets about how a dangerous patch of ground brings dead people and pets back to life, but turns them evil. 

It’s 1969, 50 years before the events of Pet Sematary, and young Jud Crandall (Jackson White) is about to leave home to seek his fortune when he and his friends uncover an ancient entity that has had the small town of Ludlow, Maine, in its grip since it was first founded. With David Duchovny, Henry Thomas, and Pam Grier.

Stream Pet Sematary: Bloodlines now.

6. Apples Never Fall

Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty (author of Big Little Lies), which has a family in an uproar as a stranger arrives, and a mother vanishes. 

Married couple Stan (Sam Neill) and Joy (Annette Bening) have retired from running their tennis academy and are preparing to enjoy their golden years when a young woman named Savannah (Georgie Flood) arrives on their doorstep looking for help. The situation sets their adult children Troy (Jake Lacy), Logan (Conor Merrigan), Amy (Alison Brie), and Brooke (Essie Randles) on edge as their parents’ so-called perfect marriage crumbles, and Joy’s disappearance exposes the family’s dark secrets.

Binge Apples Never Fall now.

7. Sullivan’s Crossing

Based on author Robyn Carr’s (The Virgin River) bestselling book series of the same name, Sullivan’s Crossing follows neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan’s (Morgan Kohan) adventures as she returns to her hometown in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In the first season, Maggie navigates her past and present with her dad Harry “Sully” Sullivan (Scott Patterson), and her tight-knit community, after she comes home in disgrace following her arrest and a lawsuit that threatens her medical licence. While finding her feet again, Maggie falls in love with Sully’s enigmatic assistant, Cal (Chad Michael Murray)

Binge Sullivan’s Crossing Season 1 now before Season 2 arrives in January 2025.

8. Fellow Travelers

Historical romance, a political thriller, and a tale of forbidden passion collide in this eight-episode, Peabody Award-winning miniseries based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel of the same name.

The drama kicks off in 1950s in Washington DC, in a time of outright persecution and demonisation of anyone suspected of indulging in “unAmerican activities”, from homosexuality, to communism, to leading labour unions or pushing for any kind of equality between genders and races. So there are significant risks involved when WWII veteran and State Department official Hawk Fuller (Matt Bomer) meets idealistic new political staffer Tim Laughlin (Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey, who won a Critics Choice Award for this role). Their connection lasts through the 1950s to the rebellious 1960s, hedonistic 1970s and the dawning Aids crisis of the 1980s.

Binge Fellow Travelers now.

9. House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones

Based on George RR Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set 172 years before the events of his A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, which are adapted in the series Game of Thrones.

House of the Dragon centres on the Targaryen Civil War, known as the Dance of the Dragons – which decimated the Targaryen royal house, and drove their dragons to extinction. Aside from disputes over two branches of the family and their right to rule, the war revolves around the prophecy that a Targaryen must rule Westeros to save the realm from a deadly supernatural attack that’ll come from the icy lands beyond the Great Wall in the North. It’s crammed with details about the historical tidbits that dropped in Game of Thrones – which takes us through to the years during which the prophecy is fulfilled, and a handful of surviving Targaryens make a bid for power as a new war of succession breaks out in Westeros.

Binge House of the Dragon Season 1-2, and Game of Thrones Season 1-8 now.

10. The Sympathizer

Series co-creators Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and Don McKellar (Last Night) bring black comedy to this spy drama based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer, which follows a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and into his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles.

A South Vietnamese military officer known as The Captain (Hoa Xuande) is recruited to spy for the North Vietnamese authorities. He flees to the United States with his general at the end of the Vietnam war and settles with a community of South Vietnamese refugees while hiding his confused loyalties. Those loyalties now include working as a mole for the CIA under recruiter Agent Claude, played by Robert Downey Jr who also appears as the Captain’s grad school mentor – history Professor Robert Hammer – politician Ned Godwin, filmmaker Niko Damianos (who’s working on a project about the war), and the priest who councils the Captain. As well as giving us five Robert Downey Jrs, the stacked cast includes Sandra Oh, David Duchovny, and John Cho.

Binge The Sympathizer now.

Coming soon

The Color Purple

Musical drama directed by Ghanaian Blitz Bazawule, and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker (which was, in turn, adapted from the Tony-winning Broadway stage musical). 

The story is set in Georgia in the early 1900s and follows an enduring friendship between three Black women. Celie (Grammy-winning singer Fantasia Barrino) endures countless hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in her unbreakable bonds of sisterhood with Sofia (Danielle Brooks) and Shug (Taraji P Henson).

Stream The Color Purple from Monday, 23 December.

Also watch

1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter: This vampire horror film expands on chapter 7 of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula.
2. Arthur the King: Action-adventure movie based on Val Hudson and Swedish professional endurance racer Mikael Lindnord’s memoir about a stray dog, titled Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.
3. The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Six-part historical drama series based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Heather Morris, which was inspired by the true story of Jewish Holocaust survivors Lali and Gita Sokolov.
4. After We Collided, After We Fell, After Ever Happy and After Everything: Based on Anna Todd’s After series of books, these romantic drama movies chart the course of a young couple’s toxic relationship.
5. The Irrational: This crime drama series is loosely based on the non-fiction book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist.
6. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: This film with Jim Broadbent as Harold Fry, a pensioner who walks across England to visit his dying friend, is based on Rachel Joyce’s 2012 novel of the same name.
7. Ready Player One: This film is based on Ernest Cline’s dystopian science fiction novel of the same name, about a man hunting for a prize in a worldwide virtual reality game. 
8. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!%!: This documentary film expands on themes in author Mark Manson’s self help book of the same name, which attacks the self-help industry and toxic positivity.
9. ZeroZeroZero: Movie based on journalist and author Roberto Saviano’s 2013 non-fiction book of the same name – an exposé of the global Cocaine trade and its impact.
10. Marlowe: Liam Neeson stars as detective Philip Marlowe in this neo-noir crime thriller based on the 2014 novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville, which was inspired by author Raymond Chandler’s original Philip Marlowe character.
11. Perry Mason Seasons 1-2: Private detective/criminal lawyer Perry Mason (Matthew Rhys) dives into the political corruption of early post-Depression era Los Angeles and Hollywood in this series based on the character from Erle Stanley Gardner’s detective novels (1933-1973). 
12. The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Legacy and Jason Bourne: This hard-hitting series of spy action films, starring Matt Damon (and, in Legacy, Jeremy Renner) as Jason Bourne, is based on the character and conspiracies created by author Robert Ludlum in his Bourne books.
13. Boardwalk Empire Seasons 1-5: Loosely based on Nelson Johnson’s non-fiction book titled Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, this period drama is set in the prohibition era in the United States and tracks the rise of gangsterism and crooked politics through the eyes of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi).
14. Sometimes Always Never: Based on the short story Triple Word Score by Frank Cottrell Boyce, in this film a Scrabble addict played by Bill Nighy must mend his relationship with his son. 
15. Band of Brothers: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ miniseries, which focuses on the camaraderie between a real-life military unit (Easy Company) during World War II in Europe, is based on historian Stephen E Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book of the same name. Also watch the documentary We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company.
16. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit: Chris Pine plays author Tom Clancy’s most famous spy character in this action movie, which has an original plot.
17. John Adams: This series about the second-ever US President (and the first 50 years of freedom from British rule in the US) is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name by historian David McCullough.
18. Mildred Pierce: This psychological drama series, set in the 1940s, is based on the book of the same name by James M Cain, and follows social climber Mildred’s (Kate Winslet) doomed efforts to support her selfish daughter, Veda. 
19. Olive Kitteridge: Based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this drama miniseries tells stories connected by the life of teacher Olive Kitteridge (Frances McDormand).
20. Beowulf: This warrior vs monsters action fantasy film, starring Angelina Jolie, is based on an Old English epic poem dating back to as early as 975 CE.
21. Younger Seasons 1-7: Based on the book of the same name by Pamela Redmond Satran, this comedy series follows a woman who’s pretending to be younger than she is so that she can land (and keep) a job at a publishing house.
22. True Blood Seasons 1-7: This comic fantasy vampire series with Alexander Skarsgård is based on the Southern Vampire novel series by Charlaine Harris.
23. Watchmen (the series) and Watchmen (the movie): Both the series and the movie are based on Alan Moore and David Gibbons’ graphic novel series (1986-1987) of the same name, which digs into what happens when an all-powerful superhero goes to extremes to save the world by uniting it against a common threat.
24. Minari: Director Lee Isaac Chung was inspired by the tale of immigrants’ struggles with farm life in the novel My Ántonia by Willa Cather, but he adapted the story to make it semi-autobiographical, with characters based on his Korean-American family.
25. I Know This Much Is True: Mark Ruffalo plays Dominick Birdsey and his schizophrenic identical twin brother, Thomas, in this compassionate miniseries based on Wally Lamb’s 1998 novel of the same name. 
26. Show Me a Hero: This historical drama series, adapted from the book of the same name by New York Times writer Lisa Belkin, zooms in on the intersection between public housing, racism and government policy.
27. Lovecraft Country: Based on Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, this fantasy horror series sees a war veteran, his cousin and his uncle take a road trip through the Southern USA’s Sundown Towns, where Black people are in danger after dark from racism, cults and monsters – both human and alien.
28. The Plot Against America: This series, based on Philip Roth’s alternate history novel of the same name, imagines an America in which racist, eugenicist Nazi sympathiser Charles Lindburgh becomes US President in 1940, and quickly plunges the country into fascism. 
29. A Dog’s Journey and A Dog’s Way Home: These touching, family-friendly live action animal adventure films are based on the novels of the same name by W Bruce Cameron. 
30. Sex and the City Seasons 1-6 and And Just Like That Seasons 1-2: These series, centred on four best friends’ lives as women on New York’s dating scene, are inspired by author Candace Bushnell’s original 1996 novel, Sex and the City.
31. The Killing Kind: British thriller miniseries about a lawyer whose stalker client seems to swing his unwanted attention to her. Based on the novel of the same name by Jane Casey.
32. Sharp Objects: HBO series based on the thriller novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), in which a journalist returns to her hometown to cover the murder of two girls.
33. Big Little Lies Seasons 1-2: Stars Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Zoë Kravitz, Laura Dern, and Shailene Woodley bring novelist Liane Moriarty’s characters to life in this series based on her 2014 murder-mystery novel of the same name, which is set in an exclusive California neighbourhood where everything is perfect on the surface.
34. A Gentleman in Moscow: Period drama series based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Amor Towles, about Russian Count Alexander Rostov (Ewan McGregor), who’s placed under house arrest for more than 20 years in a posh Moscow hotel.
35. The Undoing: HBO crime thriller miniseries starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as a therapist and her husband, who could be a killer. Based on the 2014 novel You Should Have Known, by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
36. The Girls on the Bus: American political drama series about a group of female journalists on the campaign trail, inspired by Amy Chozick’s 2018 memoir Chasing Hillary.
37. The Leftovers Seasons 1-3: Sci-fi series centred on what happens after 2% of the world’s population vanishes overnight without a trace, based on Tom Perrotta’s 2011 novel of the same name. 
38. The Outsider: 2020 HBO psychological thriller miniseries based on Stephen King’s 2018 novel of the same name, about a murder investigation complicated by supernatural elements, including doppelgangers. 
39. I Am Legend: Post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie about Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville’s (Will Smith) fight against zombie-vampire-like mutants called “Darkseekers”, based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 horror novel of the same name.
40. Shutter Island: Leonardo DiCaprio plays a man investigating the disappearance of a criminally insane killer from an isolated psychiatric hospital during the 1950s in this twisty psychological thriller based on Dennis Lehane’s 2003 novel of the same name.
41. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’s Baby: British romantic comedies starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, based on Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones series of novels.
42. Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood: Based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Rebecca Wells. A woman uncovers the stories of her mother’s childhood friends, and the secrets that followed them to adulthood. With Sandra Bullock and Maggie Smith.
43. Resident Alien Seasons 1-3: Sci-fi comedy series about an alien masquerading as a human while preparing for the invasion of Earth. Adapted from the 2012 Dark Horse comic of the same name, written by Peter Hogan and illustrated by Steve Parkhouse. 
44. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Seasons 1-2: Fast-paced HBO sports comedy-drama series based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, by Jeff Pearlman.
45. Strike Back Seasons 1-7: Action drama about the daring global missions carried out by a secretive branch of the British Defence Intelligence service, inspired by the novel of the same name, written by former soldier Chris Ryan.
46. CB Strike: Lethal White and CB Strike: Troubled Blood: British crime drama miniseries based on the Cormoran Strike novel series by Robert Galbraith (the pseudonym of Harry Potter author JK Rowling).
47. Everything I Know About Love: Coming-of-age comedy-drama miniseries based on British journalist Dolly Alderton’s 2018 memoir of the same name.
48. Funny Woman: British period comedy miniseries about a woman’s determination to make it in the sausage factory of 1960s British TV comedy, based on the novel Funny Girl by Nick Hornby.
49. Empire Falls: Emmy Award-winning miniseries based on Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, about secrets and class struggle in a decaying New England town. With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt and Paul Newman.
50. Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law’s action-adventure films are inspired by the characters in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Victorian-era Sherlock Holmes detective novels 
51. Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back: The Tom Cruise Jack Reacher action films, about a tough vagrant and his mission to solve crimes and dish out street justice, are inspired by the book series and characters created by novelist Lee Childs. 
52. Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom: These sci-fi action adventure films, set in a theme park with full-sized living dinosaurs, are all based around Michael Crichton’s novels Jurassic Park, and The Lost World.
53. The Calling: David E Kelly’s police procedural series, about a detective who feels a spiritual calling to solve crimes, is based on Dror Mishani’s 2011 novel The Missing File.
54. SAS Rogue Heroes Season 1: This British war drama about the founding of the SAS during World War II is based on Ben Macintyre’s 2016 book Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS. Season 2 comes to Showmax around the end of January 2025.
55. The Winter King: This gritty medieval action miniseries retells the legend of Arthur Pendragon, best known from Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, which was first published in 1485.
56. Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed: All three of these erotic dramas about the sexual relationship between a student and a billionaire with controlling appetites (starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan) are based on the Fifty Shades book series by EL James (who was inspired by the Twilight novels by Stephenie Meyer)
57. The Time Traveler’s Wife: Based on the book of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger, this fantasy romance movie jumps around in time while telling the tale of a man and woman (played by Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams) who fall in love despite the man time-traveling against his will.