A new month brings new book-to-screen adaptations, including Daisy Jones & the Six, a Prime Video miniseries based on the bestseller by Taylor Jenkins Reid (premiering March 3), and The Power, a Prime Video series of Naomi Alderman’s Kirkus-starred SF novel (premiering March 31). Here are four more productions heading to screens big or small in March:
March 3: Children of the Corn (theatrical film premiere)
Stephen King’s short story, which appeared in the 1978 collection Night Shift, was first adapted as a cheesy but effective horror film in 1984, co-starring The Terminator’s Linda Hamilton. That film spawned eight sequels, and in 2009 a new TV-movie version of the original story aired on SyFy. This new film presents its own take on King’s straightforward tale of a small Nebraska town run by a strange cult of kids whose faith revolves around a being (“He Who Walks Behind the Rows”) in the nearby cornfield. Elena Kampouris (Jupiter’s Legacy) stars as a teen who fights back against the group. The movie was written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, best known for his slick dystopian 2002 action film, Equilibrium. (Children of the Corn will also be available on the Shudder streaming service starting March 21.)
March 16: Shadow and Bone (Season Two premiere, Netflix)
The engaging first season of this series adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse YA fantasy novels made the list of our favorite adaptations of 2021. This new set of episodes draws on the novels Siege and Storm (2013) and Ruin and Rising (2014); the latter received a Kirkus star. The show, set largely in an Imperial Russia–like fantasy world, features Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov, a Sun Summoner who has the power to wield light; she’s being pursued by the Darkling (Westworld’s Ben Barnes), a Shadow Summoner with a deadly plan. The lively secondary cast includes standouts Amita Suman as knife-wielding acrobat Inej Ghafa and Kit Young as sharpshooter Jesper Fahey.
March 19: Lucky Hank (series premiere, AMC and AMC+)
Richard Russo’s Kirkus-starred 1997 novel, Straight Man, tells the story of West Central Pennsylvania University writing teacher William Henry “Hank” Devereaux Jr., who’s going through a midlife crisis as he navigates complicated relationships with colleagues, students, and family. Our reviewer noted that the plot, which includes a threat to murder a local goose, is less important than the protagonist’s “laconic, deadpan, disarmingly modest and self-effacing” voice. It sounds like the perfect role for Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk, who stars in this new series adaptation alongside such fine actors as Olivia Scott Welch, from the Fear Street Trilogy, and Hanna’s Mireille Enos.
March 23: The Night Agent (series premiere, Netflix)
In Matthew Quirk’s 2019 spy thriller, The Night Agent, surveillance specialist Peter Sutherland has a very unusual job: He monitors a single, rarely used phone line at the White House, waiting for possible coded messages. One fateful day, he receives a call that plunges him into a conspiracy involving a Russian mole in the White House. Our reviewer noted the novel’s brisk pace but found the characters rather thin. However, this series adaptation, which stars Hillbilly Elegy’s Gabriel Basso as Sutherland, shows promise; it was created by Shawn Ryan, the creative force behind the acclaimed FX show The Shield, and stars the always-excellent Hong Chau (Watchmen) as the president’s chief of staff.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
