Page to screen: the best adaptations of 2019

John Le Carré once joked that having your book turned into a movie is like turning a cow into a stock cube. And there are plenty of examples to prove his point which we're far too polite to mention here.

But then there are the exceptions: the big or small screen adaptations that elevate its source material to new heights, explore its themes in interesting ways or just uses it as a springboard to a new kind of greatness. 

According to research from the Publishers Association, films based on books currently take 53 per cent more at the box office worldwide (44 per cent in Britain) than original screenplays, which says something about the enduring value of the novel.

And so to 2019. From the Oscar-nominated adaptation of James Baldwin’s classic If Beale Street Could Talk to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, it’s been a wildly successful year for the adaptation. Here are our ten favourites of the year.