A new year is upon us, and with it, a new flock of book-to-screen adaptations. Watch for our in-depth columns on Boy Swallows Universe, a Netflix miniseries based on the coming-of-age novel by Trent Dalton (premiering on Jan. 11), and Origin, a theatrical film inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s nonfiction book Caste, written and directed by Ava DuVernay (in wide release on Jan. 19). Here are four more book-based productions coming in January:

Jan. 1: Fool Me Once (limited series premiere, Netflix)

This British limited series, based on the Kirkus-starred 2016 thriller by Harlan Coben, is the latest in a long string of international Netflix adaptations of the author’s work. In 2018, the streamer signed a deal with Coben to develop 14 of his novels as English-language and foreign-language films and series. Since 2020, this arrangement has yielded British limited series based on Stay Close and the Kirkus-starred The Stranger; a Spanish show of The Innocent, which also received a Kirkus star; a French adaptation of Gone for Good; and Polish productions of The Woods and Hold Tight. This new show features Obsession’s Richard Armitage as Joe Burkett, who’s apparently been shot and killed in a park. Not long after the burial, his widow, Maya (Coronation Street alum Michelle Keegan), sees footage of him on a nanny cam that indicates he’s still alive. Her many unanswered questions lead her to launch her own investigation. The trailer promises plenty of intrigue, and sharp-eyed viewers will be pleased to see Absolutely Fabulous’ Joanna Lumley as Maya’s mother-in-law.

Jan. 4: The Bricklayer (theatrical and digital premiere)

Aaron Eckhart recently starred in another literary adaptation, which premiered last month: Rumble Through the Dark, in which he played a former bare-knuckle boxer who’s forced by circumstances to get in the ring once again. In The Bricklayer, based on the 2010 thriller by Noah Boyd (a pseudonym of the late Paul Lindsay), Eckhart plays Steve Vail, a former CIA operative who now makes his living as, yes, a bricklayer; like the boxer, this character is also called upon to employ his dormant, brutal skills for a new mission. There appear to be some changes from Boyd’s original novel; for one thing, Vail is ex-FBI in the book, not a Company man. That said, the film’s main draw will be its lively fight scenes, and director Renny Harlin is a proven master of the craft; he helmed Die Hard 2 and the underrated John Cena actioner 12 Rounds, among other genre gems.

Jan. 12: Mean Girls (theatrical film premiere)

This new movie, written and co-produced by Tina Fey, is based on the 2018 Broadway musical of the same name. The show drew on the hit 2004 comedy film starring Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, the naïve new girl at Illinois’ North Shore High, where the cruel Regina George (played by the great Rachel McAdams) rules the student body as head of the Plastics clique. That film was loosely based on the 2002 nonfiction bestseller Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman. The new movie’s energetic trailer promises plenty of onscreen conflict, but there have been some strong words off-screen, as well: In an interview with the New York Post earlier this year, Wiseman publicly expressed dissatisfaction with her Mean Girls contract and compensation. Time will tell if the equation changes following the release of the new film, which stars Spider-Man: Far From Home’s Angourie Rice as Cady and The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Reneé Rapp (no relation to this writer) as Regina.

Jan. 19: Which Brings Me to You (theatrical film premiere)

A Kirkus-starred 2006 novel by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott inspired this new rom-com, which stars Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars, Katy Keene) and Nat Wolff (The Stand) as two 30-somethings who meet at a wedding, make out a bit in a coat closet, and then become friends, swapping stories of their chaotic and frequently embarrassing dating lives—sometimes in rather graphic detail, as the trailer attests. It seems to have the chatty, getting-to-know-you vibe of Before Sunrise, but with fewer romantic illusions—not a bad premise for an offbeat romance. Fortunately, Hale and Wolff are both charming enough to carry it off.   

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.