It Was A Book First

This week, Sophie and Rudi discuss “Verity,” a new film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s twisty psychological thriller that stars Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.

The Amazon MGM movie, which opened at No. 1 at the box office this past weekend, stars Hathaway (“The Odyssey”) as Verity Crawford, the writer of a famous thriller book series, whose husband (Josh Hartnett, “Oppenheimer”) enlists a younger writer, Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson, “Fifty Shades of Grey”), to help Verity finish the popular series after a car accident leaves her unable to write.

Before they get to the book and film, Sophie r...

This week, NPR pop culture correspondent Linda Holmes joins Sophie and Rudi to discuss “The Love Hypothesis,” Prime Video’s new streaming adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s 2021 novel of the same name.

The fake dating romantic comedy stars Lili Reinhart ("Riverdale") as PhD student Olive Smith and Tom Bateman as professor Dr. Adam Carlsen. Rachel Marsh and Jaboukie Young-White also star in the film, which was directed by Claire Scanlon (“Set It Up”) and adapted by screenwriter Sarah Rothschild.

Before they discuss the book and film, they talk about rom-com adaptations and tropes with Linda, who co-hosts...

This week, Sophie and Rudi look ahead to the book-to-screen adaptations they’re most anticipating watching this fall. From horror stories to new takes on Jane Austen, they picked 11 adaptations they can't wait to cover on the podcast before rapid-firing through some other adaptations they’re intrigued to see make the leap to the screen later this year.

(00:02:38) “East of Eden,” Oct. 1, Netflix, based on the John Steinbeck novel

(00:07:18) “Verity,” Oct. 2, theaters, based on the Colleen Hoover book

(00:12:21) “Carrie,” Oct. 7, Prime Video, based on the Stephen King book

(00:17:36) “Other Mommy,” Oct. 8, theaters, based on J...

This week, Sophie and Rudi discuss "Practical Magic 2,” the sequel to the witchy 1998 book-to-screen adaptation “Practical Magic,” starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The new film is an adaptation of writer Alice Hoffman’s “The Book of Magic,” the fourth and final book in her “Practical Magic” series.

Bullock and Kidman reprise their roles as the cursed Owens sisters, as do Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing, who play their aunts. The new sequel was directed by Susanne Bier and finds actors Joey King, Maisie Williams and Lee Pace joining the ensemble cast. This film catches us up with the Owens f...

This week, Sophie and Rudi discuss a movie that almost didn’t exist: “Coyote vs. Acme,” a hybrid live action and cartoon Looney Tunes reboot that’s based on Ian Frazier’s 1990 New Yorker piece of the same name.

The movie centers on Wile E. Coyote suing the ACME corporation for faulty products that hindered his work hunting the Roadrunner. Will Forte ("Saturday Night Live") and Lana Condor ("To All the Boys I've Loved Before") star as Wile’s lawyers, who face off against ACME’s head lawyer, played by John Cena ("Peacemaker").

Before getting into the film...

This week, Sophie and Rudi discuss “The Dog Stars,” director Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel of the same name. Set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by a flu pandemic that wiped out most of humanity, the film stars Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce as survivors navigating this bleak reality.

Before getting into the film, Sophie and Rudi discuss two modern slasher films they each recently watched: 2022’s “Influencer,” directed by Kurtis David Harder, and Jane Schoenbrun’s new movie “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” which stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillia...

This week, Washington Post food reporter Tim Carman joins Sophie and Rudi to discuss “Tony,” A24’s loose adaptation of Anthony Bourdain’s breakout 2000 memoir “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.”

The film, directed and co-written by Canadian filmmaker Matt Johnson (“Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie”), stars Dominic Sessa (“The Holdovers”) as a young Bourdain — before he became the beloved writer, chef and TV host. Antonio Banderas, comedian Stavros Halikias, Emilia Jones (“Coda”) and Leo Woodall (“The White Lotus”) co-star in the coming-of-age story. “Tony” is based on about 50 pages of “Kitchen Confidential” (along with an episode of Bourdain’s CNN seri...

This week, costume designer Whitney Anne Adams joins Sophie and Rudi to discuss how she approaches book-to-screen adaptations. Whitney, who hosts the “Tales From a Costume Designer” podcast, worked on Baz Luhrman’s 2013 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel “The Great Gatsby” as well as “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,” a 2024 film based on Edward Kelsey Moore’s 2013 novel.

Before their chat, Sophie shares some recent beach read recommendations (00:01:18) and Rudi discusses two new movies that treat sex and romance very differently: Greg Arakki’s “I Want Your Sex” and Will Gluck’s “One Night Only” (00:07:01). Those films...

This week, screenwriter Samy Burch joins Sophie and Rudi to discuss her new film “Late Fame,” based on Austrian novelist Arthur Schnitzler’s 1895 novella of the same name. Directed by Kent Jones, the movie stars Willem Dafoe as a postal worker whose book of poetry from the 1970s gets rediscovered and hailed as a masterpiece by a group of young admirers called the Enthusiasm Society. The New York-set film, out in limited release now from Magnolia Pictures, features a strong supporting cast that includes Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan.

Before talking about the film in a (mostly) spoile...

This week, Vulture TV Critic Roxana Hadadi joins Rudi and Sophie to discuss Apple TV’s “Cape Fear,” a streaming adaptation of John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel “The Executioners” that’s also based on a pair of “Cape Fear” films from 1962 and 1991.

After introducing Roxana (00:01:11), Sophie shares some background on the novel (00:06:42); Rudi gives an overview of the 1962 film, which was directed by J. Lee Thompson and starred Gregory Peck as the lawyer Sam Bowden and Robert Mitchum as the vengeful ex-con Max Cady (00:11:37); and Roxana details Martin Scorsese’s 1991 adaptation that starred Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte in the le...

This week, Sophie and Rudi take a deep dive into Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey” with Classics professors Kyle Gervais and Il-Kweon Sir from Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.

After Kyle and Il-Kweon share their backgrounds and areas of expertise (00:01:15), they dive right into Nolan’s film, sharing their general thoughts on his adaptation (00:03:35).

Then, they discuss what message readers are meant to take away from Homer’s poem (00:05:54), how Matt Damon’s characterization of Odysseus in the film subverts the poem (00:10:51) and the influence of Virgil’s “Aeneid” on No...

This week, It Was an Epic Poem First! Sophie and Rudi discuss one of the most anticipated adaptations of the year: “The Odyssey,” director Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic poem. The blockbuster adaptation of the ancient Greek work follows Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, on his long journey to return home after the Trojan War. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Zendaya, and Lupita Nyong'o are just some of the stars who help bring this 3,000-year-old epic to the screen.

Before talking about the film in detail, Rudi and Soph...

This week, Sophie and Rudi look at the streaming adaptation landscape through the lens of this year’s Emmy nominations, BookTok's role in the rise of streaming adaptations, and the process behind adapting a book with author, screenwriter, and LA Times contributor Gary Goldstein.

Before that conversation, Sophie and Rudi chat about what adaptations made the cut for the Emmy Award nominations (02:23), (including two series they’ve covered on the podcast: “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” and “The Testaments”), Rudi shares a brief recommendation for why you should go see Olivia Wilde’s new movie “The Invite” (10:22), and they reveal why...

This week, Sophie and Rudi discuss one of 2026’s most surprising hits: “The Sheep Detectives,” Amazon MGM’s adaptation of Leonie Swann’s German murder mystery novel “Three Bags Full.” The family-friendly comedy, about a flock of sheep investigating the muder of their sheppard, stars Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Molly Gordon, and a voice cast that includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patrick Stewart, Brett Goldstein, and Bryan Cranston.

Before talking about the movie, Rudi and Sophie share what else they watched and read recently: John Early’s new movie “Maddie’s Secret” (01:17) and the novels of author Emily St. John Mandel (04:17).<...

On the fourth episode of It Was A Book First, the podcast about new book-to-screen adaptations, hosts Sophie Vershbow and Rudi Greenberg discuss “Off Campus,” Amazon Prime Video’s series adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s “The Deal,” the first book in her bestselling “Off Campus” series. The college-set streaming show follows the opposites attract romance between music major Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and star hockey player Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli).

Before talking about the show, Sophie and Rudi share what else they watched recently: Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” (00:01:01) and two classic movies (00:03:15), “Chungking Express” and “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Th...

On the third episode of It Was A Book First, the podcast about new book-to-screen adaptations, hosts Sophie Vershbow and Rudi Greenberg discuss "The Testaments," Hulu’s series adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 2019 sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Created by Bruce Miller as a continuation of his “Handmaid’s Tale” series adaptation, “The Testaments” stars Chase Infiniti and Lucy Halliday as teenagers coming of age in the dystopian society Gilead.

Before talking about the show, Sophie and Rudi have an extended chat (01:10) on A24’s Gen Z horror hit “Backrooms,” which is based on director and YouTuber Kane Parsons’ ser...

On the second episode of It Was A Book First, the podcast about new book-to-screen adaptations, hosts Sophie Vershbow and Rudi Greenberg discuss "Margo's Got Money Troubles," Apple TV's series adaptation of the 2024 Rufi Thorpe novel. Created by David E. Kelley, the show stars Elle Fanning as Margo, a recent college dropout and aspiring writer who turns to OnlyFans to provide for her newborn son.

Before talking about the show, Sophie and Rudi share what they've been watching and reading lately: Lena Dunham's new memoir and a documentary on Martin Short.

Then they break down...

Welcome to the first episode of It Was A Book First, a new podcast about book-to-screen adaptations. Today, hosts Sophie Vershbow and Rudi Greenberg discuss one of the biggest and most successful adaptations of 2026, "Project Hail Mary." In directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's take on Andy Weir's 2021 novel of the same name, Ryan Gosling stars as a science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship alone and doesn't remember how he got there.

Before they talk about "Project Hail Mary," Sophie and Rudi introduce themselves and the podcast and explore why book adaptations are having a...

Welcome to It Was A Book First, a new podcast about the book-to-screen adaptations everyone is talking about. Each week, culture reporters Sophie Vershbow and Rudi Greenberg will discuss a new book-to-screen adaptation, covering everything from how it got made to how readers are reacting to it. We’ll also talk to authors and industry insiders about how books actually go from page to screen.

Our first two episodes drop on Wednesday, June 17th! Subscribe now to get new episodes delivered weekly.

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