Every month, all the major streaming services add a host of newly acquired (or just plain new) shows, movies, and documentaries into their ever-rotating libraries. So what’s a dedicated reader to watch? Well, whatever you want, of course, but the name of this website is Literary Hub, so we sort of have an angle. To that end, here’s a selection of the best (and most enjoyably bad) literary film and TV coming to streaming services this month. Have fun.
NEW:
Dexter: Resurrection
Paramount+, July 11
Literary bona fides: based on Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter series (2004-2015)
It’s barely legible, back there in the far distance, but Dexter is technically a literary adaptation. Michael C. Hall’s principled serial killer is back yet again, though it remains to be seen whether the show’s self-awareness will erode the IP sheen. This season is also resurrecting Dexter’s classic move to keep us interested: introducing invigorating new cast members, in this case Peter Dinklage as a serial killer collector and Uma Thurman as what appears to be his assistant. We’ll see!
Foundation (Season 3)
Apple TV, July 11
Literary bona fides: based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series (1951-1993)
It sounds like the latest season of Apple’s popular SF series—which is a loose adaptation of Asimov’s famous books—has faced a few production issues, but it still looks good. Hopefully the…foundation…will be strong enough to weather the storm. Sorry!
The Institute
MGM+, July 13
Literary bona fides: based on Stephen King’s The Institute (2019)
The Stephen King adaptation machine churns on. This one, if you haven’t read it, concerns a facility that kidnaps and brutally experiments on kids with telekinetic powers. (Fans will be interested to learn that director Jack Bender was careful to age up the protagonist, who is 12 in the book, and some of the other characters. “We were very aware of not wanting this to be as awful as it can be, what these kids go through,” he told Variety. “We didn’t want it to be a sadistic experience. There’s a fine line and, god knows, as storytellers we didn’t want to go there.”)
The Summer I Turned Pretty (Season 3)
Prime Video, July 16
Literary bona fides: based on Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy (2009-2011)
Romance fans rejoice: Prime Video’s take on Jenny Han’s beloved coming-of-age story comes to a conclusion this summer.
Washington Black
Hulu, July 23
Literary bona fides: based on Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black (2018)
Hulu’s adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s bestselling novel—about the adventures of a boy with a spectacular scientific mind, born into slavery in 1800s Barbados—is the marquee release of the month. Sterling K. Brown stars and executive produces with creator Selwyn Seyfu Hinds. Looks magical.
THROWBACK:
Get Shorty (1995)
HBO Max, July 1
Literary bona fides: based on Elmore Leonard’s Get Shorty (1990)
It’s always a good time to rewatch Get Shorty.
Easy A (2010)
Hulu, July 1
Literary bona fides: based, sort of, on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850)
It’s the 15th anniversary of the last gasp of the classic-novels-as-teen-movies boom. There, don’t we all feel old now?
Ruby Sparks (2012)
Hulu, July 1
Literary bona fides: it’s a movie about a novelist!
This movie—in which a frustrated novelist writes his dream girl into existence and then realizes he can make her do whatever he wants her to—was already problematic in 2012, but also, that was the point. I’m interested to see how it holds up.
The Meg (2018)
HBO Max, July 1
Literary bona fides: based on Steve Alten, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror (1997)
Another technically literary movie. But what’s better summer fare than a deep ocean Jason Statham monster movie? Come on now.
