Pictures via various publications
Over the years, Netflix has adapted numerous well-known novels, books, and comics, bringing them to life on screen as either TV shows or movies. Before they reach our screens, however, Netflix must first secure the rights by optioning the material and assigning a development team to the project. Below, we’ve looked through public filings from the past 12 months to uncover the books and comics Netflix has been quietly optioning behind the scenes.
Now, to be crystal clear about what a book option actually is, and to add some much-needed context before you get your hopes up that any of the titles will be hitting your screens imminently…
A book option is when Netflix strikes a deal with a publisher or author, securing the rights to potentially adapt the work into a series or film. A good example is Netflix’s deal with Harlan Coben, whose novels have been adapted into several series produced around the world.
However, just because a book is optioned doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be produced. There are plenty of examples over the years where adaptation plans were announced or books were optioned, but eventually lost momentum behind the scenes or were quietly shelved.
While this is a pretty extensive list of books that have been optioned, it’s no doubt the tip of the iceberg, and there are a few more that we haven’t included because we’re awaiting more concrete news from Netflix itself. In the case of all the titles below, we don’t currently know if a movie or TV series adaptation is most likely.
So, let’s run through, in alphabetical order, over 30 books and comic books we’ve found Netflix to have optioned between now and this time last year:
Netflix Book Options
A Fate Inked in Blood – Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Book Release Date: February 27th, 2024
Description: Part of the Saga of the Unfated series, this fantasy romance is based in Norse mythology and you follow a magic-wielding shield maiden bound by a blood oath who must train for war, resist her growing desire for a fierce warrior prince, and unite a fractured kingdom under a ruthless king’s rule.
A Killer in the Family – Aminuddin Ahmad
Genre: Thriller
Book Release Date: ~Spring 2026
Description: A suspenseful story about a family confronting a dark secret and the devastating consequences of their actions.
All We Ever Wanted – Emily Griffin
Genre: Romance
Book Release Date: June 26th, 2018
Description: A scandalous photo at an elite Nashville school forces three very different people, a wealthy mother, a struggling single father, and his daughter, to confront their values, relationships, and true identities.
Note: A report surfaced several years ago that had the author pitching to Netflix for an untitled series with movie producer Molly Smith.
American Prison: A Reporter’s Journey Into the Business of Punishment – Shane Bauer
Genre: Nonfiction, Politics, History
Book Release Date: September 18th, 2018
Description: Investigative journalist Shane Bauer recounts his time working undercover as a private prison guard, exposing the brutal realities of for-profit incarceration while tracing its roots to slavery and systemic racism in America’s history.
Cathedrals of Glass Trilogy – A. J. Hartley
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy, Thriller
Book Release Date: February 21st 2017 (+ 2 more entries)
Description: The series, from the author behind Steeplejack, follows a group of teenagers exiled to a harsh, icy planet called Valkrys after breaking a behavioral law.
Note: Netflix has optioned all three books, including A Planet of Blood and Ice and Valkrys Wakes, plus a yet-to-be-announced third book.
Dad Camp – Evan S. Porter
Genre: Family Drama
Book Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Description: A devoted dad takes his drifting preteen daughter to a chaotic father-daughter summer camp, hoping to reconnect before she slips fully into teenagehood—but soon discovers the real challenge is facing what she’s not telling him.
Fadeout – Joseph Hansan
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: 1970
Description: When beloved pop star Fox Olson vanishes after a car crash with no body found, openly gay insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter suspects foul play and uncovers secrets involving Fox’s wife, his manager, and a mysterious friend from the past.
Notes: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (The Electric State, Avengers: Infinity War) spoke in July 2018, saying they had optioned the novels.
Fatal Intrusion – Isabella Maldonado and Jeffery Deaver
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: August 6th, 2024
Description: Homeland Security agent Carmen Sanchez teams up with a rule-breaking private security expert from her past to hunt a cunning serial killer known only as Spider, an elusive predator whose web of murders spans Southern California and hides a far more sinister agenda.
Heliopause – Daniel H. Wilson
Genre: Mystery
Book Release Date: TBD
Description: Yet to be released seventh novel from the author that reportedly takes place in Spiro, Oklahoma, “where the ancient and mysterious Spiro Mounds are one of the state’s most important prehistoric archeological sites.”
In the Shadows: True Stories of High Stakes Negotiations – Mickey Bergman & Ellis Henican
Genre: Nonfiction
Book Release Date: June 4th, 2024
Description: The behind-the-scenes story of Mickey Bergman and his team of rogue negotiators who risk everything to bring unjustly imprisoned Americans home from hostile nations—navigating shadow diplomacy, high-stakes standoffs, and emotional turmoil far from the public eye.
King of Ashes – S.A. Cosby
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: June 10th, 2025
Description: A slick Atlanta financial adviser returns to his hometown after his father’s suspicious accident, only to confront family debts, buried secrets, and a decades-old disappearance that could destroy the Carruthers family for good.
Notes: Netflix is already adapting S.A. Cosby’s other well-known novel, All the Sinners Bleed, into a series.
Lazarus Man – Richard Price
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: November 12th, 2024
Description: A devastating explosion in Harlem shatters a community and sets off a devastating chain of events, as a miraculously surviving man finds new purpose, a struggling funeral director seizes a second chance, and a determined NYPD detective searches for the truth amid the rubble.
Note: Richard Price is also a screenwriter, having worked on movies and series alike, such as Clockers, The Night Of, and The Outsider.
Minnesota / Wolf Hour – Jo Nesbø
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: January 8, 2025 / ~2026
Note: Netflix is already adapting Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole series into a crime drama series called Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole, which is scheduled to release in 2026.
Paper Gods: A Novel of Money, Race, and Politics – Goldie Taylor
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: October 23rd, 2018
Description: Atlanta’s brilliant mayor teams up with a disgraced reporter to investigate a string of political assassinations marked by mysterious origami figures—unraveling a deadly conspiracy that strikes dangerously close to home.
Note: This was at one point in development as a TV series from John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co and Sony Pictures TV for ABC with Nia Long to star and EP.
Peanut Goes For The Gold – Jonathan Van Ness
Genre: Kids
Book Release Date: March 31st, 2020
Description: A nonbinary guinea pig who embraces their uniqueness with flair, showing young readers the beauty of being unapologetically true to themselves.
Note: Jonathan Van Ness is the star of Netflix’s Queer Eye reality series.
Prep – Curtis Sittenfeld
Genre: Coming of Age
Book Release Date: January 17th, 2005~
Description: Fourteen-year-old scholarship student Lee Fiora navigates the privileged, pressure-filled world of an elite boarding school, where her longing to belong leads to complicated friendships, quiet obsessions, and a self-destructive unraveling that challenges her sense of identity and home.
Note: Previously in development at HBO as a series in the mid-2010s.
Six Minutes to Freedom – John Gilstrap and Kurt Muse
Genre: Military, Nonfiction
Book Release Date: July 1st, 2006
Description: The true story of Kurt Muse, an American imprisoned in Panama for leading a covert radio campaign against Noriega’s regime—and the daring Delta Force mission that rescued him, making him the only civilian ever saved by the elite unit.
Notes: In September 2015, John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle were attached to adapt this novel into a thriller for MadRiver Pictures, although it never ultimately made its way into production.
Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives In World War II – Adam Makos
Genre: Military, Nonfiction
Book Release Date: February 19th, 2019
Description: The true story of American tank gunner Clarence Smoyer, whose deadly duel with a German Panther tank in Cologne becomes a legendary WWII moment, leading to an unexpected bond with his former enemy decades later.
Note: Previously in development as a feature film in the early 2020s with Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson on board to write.
The Academy – Elin Hilderbrand, Shelby Cunningham
Genre: Romance, Young Adult
Book Release Date: September 16th, 2025
Description: An elite boarding school is thrown into chaos when a gossip app begins exposing students’ and staff’s deepest secrets, shattering reputations, testing loyalties, and upending life on campus.
Note: Netflix has previously adapted Hilderbrand’s novel The Perfect Couple, which has been renewed for a season 2.
The Boyfriend – Freida McFadden
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: October 1st, 2024
Description: A New York woman falls for the perfect man, only to suspect he may be a serial killer targeting his girlfriends, making her the next possible victim.
Note: Netflix is also working on McFadden’s other novel, Never Lie, with Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment producing.
The Grace Year – Kim Liggett
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Horror
Book Release Date: October 8th, 2019
Description: Sixteen-year-old Tierney James enters her society’s brutal ritual of exile meant to purge girls of their dangerous “magic,” only to discover that the deadliest threat in the wild may come from the very girls she’s meant to survive alongside.
Note: In 2019, Ashleigh Powell and Elizabeth Banks were attached to adapt the novel for Universal.
The House at Watch Hill – Karen Marie Moning
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Book Release Date: October 1st, 2024
Description: After inheriting a vast fortune and a mysterious Gothic mansion in Louisiana, Zo Grey must live there alone for three years—only to uncover eerie secrets, hidden powers, and dark forces tied to her own past.
The Immortalists – Chloe Benjamin
Genre: Fantasy
Book Release Date: January 1st, 2018
Description: Four siblings learn the dates of their deaths from a mysterious psychic in 1969, and the prophecy shapes their divergent paths over five decades—blurring the line between fate and free will.
Note: In 2016, Jackal Group acquired the rights to the book to adapt it into a TV series.
The Quantum Spy – David Ignatius
Genre: Sci-fi, Thriller
Book Release Date: November 7th, 2017
Description: High-stakes cyber thriller about CIA officer Harris Chang who hunts a suspected Chinese mole leaking secrets about America’s quantum computing program, a pursuit spanning the globe and forcing him to question loyalty, morality, and the very nature of truth.
Note: Previously announced to be adapted into a series at NBC in 2019 from Anonymous Content, and two years later, had Lewis Tan attached to star.
The Vaster Wilds – Lauren Groff
Genre: Historical, Fiction
Book Release Date: September 12th, 2023
Description: A runaway servant girl flees a colonial settlement into the untamed wilderness, where survival tests her faith, ingenuity, and understanding of a world on the brink of change.
The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Wives: An Inside Look at Women & Sex in Medieval Times – Rosalie Gilbert
Genre: Historical
Book Release Date: October 27th, 2020
Description: Offers a vivid and eye-opening look at the intimate lives of women in the Middle Ages, exploring love, lust, marriage, and sexuality across all classes, from strict traditions to surprising pleasures.
Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty – Jeff Pearlman
Genre: Sports, Nonfiction
Book Release Date: September 22nd, 2020
Description: Chronicles the turbulent yet triumphant eight-year run of the Shaquille O’Neal–Kobe Bryant era, revealing how their fierce rivalry and mutual disdain fueled the Lakers to three straight championships and restored the franchise’s dominance.
Very Bad Company – Emma Rosenblum
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: May 14th, 2024
Description: At a lavish Miami retreat for a high-flying tech startup, a top executive’s sudden disappearance forces the newest hire to help keep up appearances—or risk the company’s multimillion-dollar deal collapsing.
When Darkness Calls – Mark Griffin
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Release Date: November 1st, 2018
Description: When a gruesome murder mirrors past killings, criminal psychologist Holly Wakefield joins a Met Police investigation—only to discover the serial killer shares a chilling connection to her own hidden past.
Netflix Comic Book Options
Black / Faust: Love of the Damned
Two comics from Black Mask Comics have been optioned by Netflix, including Black by Kwanza Osajyefo and Jamal Igle, released in October 2017, that asks the question: what would happen if only Black people had superpowers? They’re also attached to the Faust: Love of the Damned collection by author David Quinn and Tim Vigil.
W0rldtr33 – James Tynion IV and Fernando Blanco
Genre: Sci-fi, Horror
Comic Release Date: November 8th, 2023
Description: A group of former hackers must confront the dark online realm they thought they’d buried decades ago, as the sinister Undernet resurfaces to unleash a wave of chaos and violence.
Note: Netflix was/is developing a series on Something Is Killing The Children, another comic by James Tynion IV.
Are there any of these you hope will become a Netflix series or movie? Let us know in the comments.