Watch for Kirkus’ column on Remarkably Bright Creatures, a new film based on the bestselling 2022 debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt. It stars Sally Field as Tova, a grieving part-time cleaner at a small-town aquarium; Alfred Molina narrates the thoughts of Marcellus, a highly observant and intelligent octopus with whom Tova bonds. The movie also features Lewis Pullman (Lessons in Chemistry) as Cameron, a troubled man passing through town, searching for answers about his past. It premieres on Netflix on May 8. In the meantime, here are four more book-to-screen adaptations coming soon:

May 1: The Devil Wears Prada 2 (film premiere)

This is a sequel to the 2006 film based on Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 bestseller, The Devil Wears Prada. It is not, however, based on Weisberger’s own 2013 follow-up, Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns. In the new movie, Andrea Sachs—a former assistant to high-powered, Anna Wintour-like Runway magazine editor Miranda Priestly—returns to the now-struggling publication as its new features editor; her former colleague, Emily Charlton, now works as chief communications officer for deep-pocketed luxury brand Dior, which could alter Runway’s fortunes. Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Emily Blunt were all delightful in the first film as Andrea, Miranda, and Emily, respectively; so was Stanley Tucci, as sarcastic and wise Runway art director Nigel Kipling. Fortunately, all return in the sequel, as does director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh-McKenna, who’s also known for the justly acclaimed CW musical-comedy show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which she co-created.

May 4: Lord of the Flies (series premiere, Netflix)

The classic, Kirkus-starred 1954 novel by William Golding—about a group of British schoolboys who survive a plane crash on a Pacific island, only to descend into violence and chaos—has been adapted as a film multiple times, but never for television. This new series, which features a cast of young unknowns, was created by Jack Thorne, who wrote the 2020 film Enola Holmes and its 2022 sequel; he also co-created the Emmy-winning Netflix crime-drama series Adolescence. It’s sure to be an intriguing watch, in any case, but it will make for particularly interesting comparisons with the excellent Showtime series Yellowjackets, in which a group of American high school girls find themselves in very similar, and equally dire, circumstances.

May 7: The Terror: Devil in Silver (Season 3 premiere, AMC+/Shudder)

The first season of the horror series The Terror, which premiered in 2018, adapted the late Dan Simmons’ Kirkus-starred novel of the same name, about an ill-starred Arctic sea expedition. The second season, in 2019, told a tale with an all-new cast that drew on Japanese folklore and was set in an internment camp during World War II. This latest season is based on The Devil in Silver (2012) by Victor LaValle, and it again features a set of new actors—this time led by Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Legion). He plays Pepper, a professional mover from the New York City borough of Queens, who’s wrongfully committed to the New Hyde mental hospital—where it appears that an evil, supernatural entity dwells. The new season was created and written by Christopher Cantwell (Halt and Catch Fire) and directed by the great Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, Destroyer). The cast also features such lively players as Stephen Root (Barry) and CCH Pounder (The Shield).

May 20: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War (film premiere, Prime Video)

The Prime Video spy series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan ran from 2018 to 2023 and starred John Krasinski as the title CIA analyst and espionage operative, created by the late technothriller master Tom Clancy. Ryan appeared in 14 novels, starting with 1984’s The Hunt for Red October, and Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine have played him in various films. Krasinski was, and is, known mainly for his lighthearted work in the NBC sitcom The Office, but he offered a thoughtful and contained interpretation of Ryan, whose greatest weapon is his razor-sharp intelligence. This new movie is a continuation of the show and not based on a particular book; in it, Ryan becomes part of a mission to stop a rogue black-ops team called Starling from wreaking havoc throughout the world. The film also features Wendell Pierce (The Wire), Betty Gabriel (Get Out), and Michael Kelly (House of Cards) as Ryan’s CIA colleagues; all return from the show, and all are naturals in the tough spy-fiction milieu. Sienna Miller (High-Rise) appears this time around, as a new agent on the scene.

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.