13 Movies in 2018 That Are Based on True Stories

A secret plot to take down a Nazi war criminal. An unassuming biographer who turns to a life of crime to earn money. A game of tag spanning three decades and multiple states. These are all movie plots for films debuting in 2018. They're also all true stories. (Yes, even that last one.) Click through to see 13 films — out this year! — that prove the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. (Photos via STXfilms + Nick Delaney/Twentieth Century Fox + Warner Bros. Pictures + John Mathieson/Focus Features)

Chappaquiddick (April 6): In 1969, Ted Kennedy drove his car into a channel off Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. He escaped, but his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, became trapped inside the car and drowned. Kennedy left the scene and waited 10 hours to report the accident, for reasons that are still unclear. Chappaquiddick, which stars Jason Clark and Kate Mara, is the story of that night and its ensuing fallout. (Photo via Claire Folger/Entertainment Studios)

Adrift (June 1):Adrift is based on the book Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea, which Tami Oldham (played in the film by Shailene Woodley) wrote about her harrowing 41-day ordeal at sea in 1983. Oldham and her fiancé, Richard Sharp (played by Sam Claflin), were on a 4,000-mile journey from Tahiti to San Diego when they got caught in a massive hurricane that capsized their boat. (Photo via STXfilms)

Tag (June 15): It seems unbelievable, but Tag is (very loosely) based on the real-life antics of a group of friends who have been playing a game of tag for nearly three decades. (They play for one month of the year, every year, and whoever is "it" at the end of that month is "it" until the game resumes.) The movie stars Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, Hannibal Buress, Jake Johnson, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher, and Rashida Jones, and although the script takes a lot of liberties with both the characters and the story, the basic premise is very real. (Photo via Warner Bros. Pictures)

Woman Walks Ahead (June 29): Directed by Susanna White and starring Jessica Chastain, Michael Greyeyes, and Sam Rockwell, Woman Walks Ahead tells the story of real-life artist Caroline Weldon, who found herself caught up in the Lakota Sioux people's struggle for their land when she traveled to the Dakotas in the 1880s to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull. (Photo via Richard Foreman/A24)

Operation Finale (September 14):Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac stars as Mossad agent Peter Malkin, a key player in the 1960 covert mission in Argentina that captured Adolf Eichmann, a prominent figure in the Nazi Party during World War II. Ben Kingsley plays Eichmann. (Photo via Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)

White Boy Rick (September 14):White Boy Rick is based on the experiences of Richard Wershe Jr., a teenage cocaine dealer who worked as an undercover FBI informant in the 1980s until he was arrested for drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison. Richie Merritt plays Wershe Jr., while Matthew McConaughey stars as his father, Wershe Sr. (Photo via Sony Pictures)

Beautiful Boy (October 12): Based on David Sheff's memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction, this upcoming drama stars Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet as a father and son, David and Nic Sheff, caught in the throes of the son's meth habit. The book that inspired it is a haunting, heartbreaking look at the ripple effects of addiction, and if this first trailer is any indication, the movie will be just as devastating. Bring tissues. (Photo via Amazon Studios)

First Man (October 12):Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong in this film based on James R. Hansen's book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, which tells the story of the astronaut's mission to the moon in 1969. Look for The Crown's Claire Foy as Armstrong's wife, Janet. (Photo via Universal Pictures)

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (October 19): Melissa McCarthy trades comedy for drama to play Lee Israel, a writer who turned to an unusual criminal scheme when she found herself in dire straits. Unable to find work or make money as a writer of books and magazines, Israel began forging letters from dead literary icons. (Photo via Mary Cybulski/Twentieth Century Fox)

Bohemian Rhapsody (October 24): Rami Malek steals the show in Bohemian Rhapsody, which is based on the life of Queen lead singer and beloved rock idol Freddie Mercury. The highly anticipated film recounts the years leading up to the band's appearance at Live Aid in 1985. (Photo via Nick Delaney/Twentieth Century Fox)

Boy Erased (November 2):Boy Erased is based on Garrard Conley's memoir about being sent to gay-conversion therapy by his devoutly religious parents after he was outed in college. Lucas Hedges plays the main character — renamed Jared — while Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe play his parents. (Photo via Focus Features)

Mary Queen of Scots (December 7):Lady Bird's Saoirse Ronan steps into the role of young queen Mary Stuart in this take on John Guy's biography My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots. Margot Robbie stars as her cousin Elizabeth I, with whom she had a long-standing, ruinous rivalry. (Photo via John Mathieson/Focus Features)

Welcome to Marwen (December 21):Welcome to Marwen — which stars Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Diane Kruger, Janelle Monae, and Eiza González — is based on the life of photographer Mark Hogancamp (Carell), who suffered brain damage after a brutal attack in the year 2000. As part of his recovery, Hogancamp sought out an unusual therapeutic outlet: He built a miniature replica of a World War II village in his yard, with figurines representing himself and the people in his life. (Photo via Universal Pictures)