Books to Movies Summer 2012

What to Expect When You're Expecting
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Matthew Morrison and J. Todd Smith
Opening: May 18 in USA (release in 30+ other countries between May and Sept).

Based on: The bestselling non-fiction guide of the same name, with more 30 million copies in print.
About: The lives of five apprehensive couples become intertwined by the challenge of impending parenthood. No reviews as yet at RottenTomatoes, but considering that a rather stunning 91% of those who've cast an opinion (over 8000 people) say they want to see it, it looks like it could be quite a hit!
Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, thematic elements and language.

The Intouchables
Starring: Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy and Anne Le Ny
Opening: Limited release in the USA from May 25 (with subtitles). Opened in France and Belgium in Nov 2011.
Based on: A Second Wind by Phillippe Pozzo di Bargo (memoir), which is publishing in USA on May 22.

About: A French aristocrat becomes a quadraplegic after an accident and hires a hot-headed Algerian immigrant to look after him. The book was a #1 bestseller in France and the movie is considered a huge success in France where it took in about $14 million in its first week from just 508 screens.
Rating: Not rated at time of writing

Snow White and the Huntsman
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron
Opening: June 1 in USA (release in 60+ other countries between May 21 and early July)

Based on: The fairy tale
About: This is the second Snow White movie this year, following the release of Mirror, Mirror which got a lukewarm reception.
Rating: PG 13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality.

Bel Ami
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman and Kristin Scott Thomas
Opening: Opening on limited release in the USA on June 8. Opened in parts of Europe, including UK, in March.

Based on: Bel Ami, or the History of a Scoundrel by Guy de Maupassant (1903)
About: According to IMDB.com, this is the ninth movie inspired by de Maupassant's novel. The book chronicles journalist Georges Duroy's corrupt rise to power from a poor ex non-commissioned officer to one of the most successful men in Paris, most of which he achieves by manipulating a series of powerful, intelligent, and wealthy mistresses.
Rating: R

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Rufus Sewell and Dominic Cooper
Opening: June 22 in USA; and in 30+ other countries between then and August

Based on: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (2010)
About: Explores the secret life of Abraham Lincoln, and the untold story that shaped their nation. Lincoln discovers blood-thirsty vampires are planning to take over the United States and makes it his mission to eliminate them, becoming history's greatest hunter of the undead.
Rating: Not rated at time of writing

Savages
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively (directed by Oliver Stone)
Opening: July 6 in USA; and in about 20 other countries between August and November

Based on: Savages by Don Winslow (2010)
About: Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Rating: R

Easy Money (original title: Snabba Cash)
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela and Dragomir Mrsic
Opening: July 11 in USA. Opened in Sweden Jan 2010. Movie will presumably be subtitled, but the only trailer we could find is not

Based on: Easy Money by Jen Lapidus (pubbed in USA in April 2012), the first installment of Lapidus's Stockholm Noir trilogy.
About: A three-tiered story centered around drugs and organized crime, and focused on a young man who becomes a runner for a coke dealer. If the movie is as gritty as the book it will earn its R rating. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review while describing it as "a searing debut... full of offensive language [which] exposes moral degradation of every stripe while relentlessly depicting Sweden's underworld and the reasons it exists and grows."
Rating: R

Chicken With Plums (original title: Poulet aux prunes)
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer and Maria de Medeiros
Opening: Some sources say this will open in the USA in August, but IMDB.com is not currently listing a USA release date. Opened in Europe in late 2011.

Based on: Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi (2006)
About: The New Yorker's review of the book Chicken With Plums reads, "The writer and illustrator who chronicled her childhood in the best-selling graphic memoir Persepolis now turns to the life of her great-uncle Nasser Ali Khan. A revered musician, he takes to his bed and refuses sustenance after his frustrated wife breaks his tar - an Iranian lute - over her knee. It takes him eight days to die, and in that time Satrapi reveals the futures of his children and unearths his past. She shows her great-uncle not merely as a wayward romantic but as a conflicted man whose story embodies several aspects of Iranian cultural identity during the late nineteen-fifties." The movie won $100,000 for Best Narrative Film at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2011.
Rating: Not rated at time of writing

The Bourne Legacy
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton
Opening: August 3 in USA. (Opening in about 30 other countries between in August or September)

Based on: The Bourne Legacy by Eric Van Lustbader (whose Bourne books are based on Robert Ludlam's original novels)
About: Introducing a new CIA operative, played by Jeremy Renner, whose predicament has been triggered by events in the first three films.
Rating: Not rated at time of writing, but the previous 3 movies are rated PG-13

Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Starring: Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron and Devon Bostick
Opening: August 3 in USA and UK/Ireland; Sept in some parts of Europe, Australia and New Zealand

Based on: This third movie is based on books 3 and 4 in the Wimpy Kid series: The Last Straw and Dog Days
Rating: PG for some rude humor

Lawless
Starring: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Guy Pearce
Opening: Aug 13 in USA (Sept/Nov in some parts of Europe, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia)

Based on: Lawless by Matt Bondurant (originally published as The Wetest Country in the World (2008).
About: Set in the Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits.
Rating: Not rated at time of writing.