The COVID-19 pandemic has led many movie theaters across the country to shut down. As a result, a number of book-based films that were slated to premiere in April—including the James Bond adventure No Time to Die, The Secret: Dare to Dream, and The Personal History of David Copperfield—have all been delayed. A few smaller film adaptations still had scheduled April release dates at press time—although viewers would be advised to wait until they’re available to stream.
TV movies and miniseries, however, are rolling out as usual. Watch for Kirkus’ reviews of upcoming miniseries of William Landay’s 2012 courtroom drama, Defending Jacob (Apple TV+, April 24) and Wally Lamb’s 1998 bestseller, I Know This Much Is True (HBO, April 27). In the meantime, here are a few other April highlights:
April 12: Belgravia (Miniseries Premiere – Epix)
Julian Fellowes is best known for creating and co-writing the historical TV series Downton Abbey, which aired on PBS in the United States from 2011 to 2015 and spawned a 2019 theatrical film. But he’s also an accomplished screenwriter who won an Oscar in 2002 for writing the Robert Altman-directed film Gosford Park, as well as a novelist whose “archly amusing” 2005 debut, Snobs, received a Kirkus star. His 2016 book, Belgravia, provides the basis for this upcoming miniseries on the premium-cable network Epix. Its story is set in the aristocratic society of 1815 Britain, just before the Battle of Waterloo. The trailer promises a sumptuous historical drama, and its star turn by the wonderful actor Tamsin Grieg of the Showtime TV series Episodes is sure to make it worth a watch.
April 12: Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Heist and Seek (Film Premiere – Hallmark Movies and Mysteries)
Most readers will know prolific author Charlaine Harris for her series of Southern Vampire Mysteries, which provided the basis for HBO’s long-running horror-fantasy show True Blood. Another of her mystery series, featuring crime-solving librarian Aurora Teagarden, has also been adapted to the small screen with great success—although it’s far less intense than HBO’s show. Twelve TV movies starring Fuller House’s Candace Cameron Bure have aired on the cable channel Hallmark Movies and Mysteries since 2015, including several based directly on Harris’ novels, such as 1992’s A Bone to Pick and 1994’s Three Bedrooms, One Corpse. This 13th film is an original tale, but it’s sure to be just as lighthearted and fun as its predecessors.
April 17: Martin Eden (Film Premiere)
A movie version of Jack London’s classic adventure novel The Call of the Wild, starring Harrison Ford, hit theaters last month. This film, directed by Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello, takes on a somewhat lesser-known work by the author: 1909’s Martin Eden, which tells the tale of a poor young sailor who falls in love with a woman from a rich family, and his struggles to find success as a writer so that he may marry her. Things don’t go as planned, which eventually leads to a tragic ending. It’s not an upbeat tale, to be sure, but this film version—starring Italian actor Luca Marinelli, who recently appeared in the 2018 FX TV series Trust—at least offers gorgeous cinematography as compensation.
April 24: Radioactive (Film Premiere)
Lauren Redniss’ 2010 graphic biography, Radioactive: Marie Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout, was a finalist for the National Book Award. The talent involved in this movie adaptation, which focuses on Marie Curie, is similarly impressive: Rosamund Pike, who was nominated for a Oscar for her performance in the movie version of Gillian Flynn’s bestseller Gone Girl, stars as the brilliant, Nobel Prize-winning scientist, and the director is Marjane Satrapi, best known for her autobiographical comic series Persepolis and its 2017 animated film adaptation, which she co-directed.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
