How we source: data, release dates and reading times

The sources

Wikidata, the open knowledge base, released under CC0. It tells us which films and series are based on which written work, and gives authors, directors, showrunners, cast, studios, channels and dates.
Open Library, the open catalogue run by the Internet Archive. We match each book by title and author and take the typical page count across editions, an ISBN and the link to the book's page there.
TMDB (The Movie Database). We use it for release dates by country and type, US streaming availability, trailer links, posters and the order of the main cast. Posters are shown from TMDB's own image server. Watch-provider data from JustWatch via TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Hand checks. For the most anticipated titles, and for announcements the open sources have not caught up with yet, we read the studio's, platform's or publisher's own announcement and record the date and details from there.

We write every description on the site from these facts. We do not copy text from Wikipedia, and we do not show book covers.

What is covered

Films (including TV films) and series (including miniseries and limited series) based on books: novels, novellas, short stories, non-fiction, memoirs and graphic novels.
Not covered: adaptations of comics and manga, video games, and stage plays or musicals. A film of a stage musical is left out even when the musical itself came from a novel.
Titles found through Wikidata need an article on the English-language Wikipedia, which keeps the list to titles English-language readers can find. Titles we add by hand do not need one.
The calendar covers releases from 2025 to 2027: 223 titles at the moment, 157 of them with a page count.

How we choose the release date

We use the first general release. Festival premieres and preview screenings do not count.
Films that premiere on a streaming service use the day they arrive on that service.
Other films use the US cinema date, unless they opened in cinemas elsewhere more than 60 days earlier, in which case we use that first release.
Series use the day the first episode airs.
When only the month is announced, we say "sometime in" that month and never show a made-up day. When there is no date at all, we say "release date to be announced".
Hand-checked dates take priority, then TMDB, then Wikidata.

How we work out reading time

Reading time is the page count multiplied by 1.3 minutes, rounded to the nearest 15 minutes. That assumes about 300 words a page and a steady 230 words a minute, so treat it as a guide: a fast reader will beat it and a careful one will not. We leave reading time out for book series, where "the book" is several books, and when we cannot match the book to a reliable page count.

The gauge on each title page sets that reading time against the days left until release, at one hour of reading a day. The page is built with the day count as of the last refresh; your browser updates the count to today's date when the page loads.

How we date the book

"First published" is the year the book first came out, not the year of the edition on your shelf. We take it from our own hand checks first, then from the publication date on the book's Wikidata entry. Open Library's earliest edition is used only when neither has a year, and only when it is not a reprint from long after the author died or long after the work was written. If no year can be trusted, we leave it out rather than guess.

Status labels

Released: The release day (or the whole release month) has passed.
Upcoming: A release day or month is announced and still ahead.
Announced: The adaptation is confirmed but has no release date yet.
In production: No release date yet, and filming or post-production has been reported.

How often it is refreshed

Every week we fetch the sources again, re-check the dates and rebuild the site. Each page shows the day it was last updated. Data on this site was last refreshed on 12 October 2026.

Report an error

Found a wrong date, a missing title, or a film that is not really based on the book we name? Email hello@freshlitmedia.com with the page address and what should change. A link to an official announcement helps us fix it faster. We aim to correct mistakes within a week.