Based on the powerhouse best-selling book by Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy tells of Stevenson’s fight to free a wrongly-convicted black man sitting on death row. Both the book and film detail how Stevenson, a devout Christian, fights a criminal justice system unfairly biased against black men, a fight that still carries on today. The movie is currently in theaters.
6. The Personal History of David Copperfield
The works of Charles Dickens are known for many things, but “laugh riot” isn’t usually one of them. However that’s exactly what the upcoming remake of Dickens’ classic novel looks to be, a farcical look at a young man’s journey through Victorian society, and becoming a man. Starring Dev Patel, Hugh Grant, Tilda Swinton, and several other star actors, the movie looks really funny! It is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on May 8.
7. The Secret Garden
Since it was published in 1911, The Secret Garden has been adapted four times for the screen, including the version comes to theaters this April. There’s a reason the book is continually adapted: it’s the story about how relationships and families can not just go on, but thrive, when they are tended to. The book and films tell the story of Mary Lennox, a girl orphaned and sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. While exploring, she discovers a hidden magical garden that transforms her heart, as well as the household.
8. Burden
Adapted from Courtney Hargrave’s historical narrative Burden: A Preacher, a Klansman, and a True Story of Redemption in the Modern South, this film stars Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund, and singer Usher and follows the story of an African American reverend who befriended a former KKK grand wizard. Burden is being released in theaters on Feb. 28.
9. Greyhound
Written and starring America’s dad, Tom Hanks, Greyhound is based on The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester, the true story of the U.S. Navy’s Commander George Krause, who had to make difficult decisions to protect merchant ships from German submarines during World War II. The thriller, which was first published in the U. K. in 1955, is set to release on May 8.
