In Venice, Hollywood Races to Adapt Books Before Publication

When representatives from 30 publishing houses and literary agencies arrive at the Venice Film Festival this week, they will come prepared to sell more than their newest releases. At the Book Adaptation Rights Market, held Sept. 4 to Sept. 6 as part of the Venice Production Bridge, publishers and agents can pitch their entire catalogs to film and television producers. The works range from novels and thrillers to graphic novels, biographies and children’s books. The setup reflects a broader shift in the adaptation business. Screen rights are increasingly discussed early in a book’s life, sometimes before publication.

“These two worlds are more used to working together,” Chiara Marin, coordinator of the Venice Production Bridge and curator of the Book Adaptation Rights Market, told Observer.

That was not always the case. When the market began in 2016, publishers and film producers could seem to be speaking different languages. A publisher might focus on the story or its readership, while a producer has to keep in mind “how much a book potentially could cost to transform into a movie,” Marin said. Publishers, she added, did not always have “the general vision of it.”

Over time, both sides have adjusted. Years ago, a period novel might have seemed like a harder sell because of the cost of sets and costumes. Producers are now more willing to look beyond those initial hurdles when the underlying material is strong.

“If there is a good story, there is a good story,” she said.

One example is Broken Toys, the debut novel from British journalist Marie-Claire Chappet. The campus coming-of-age story centers on two young women navigating friendship, class and relationships at an elite university in Scotland. Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) was already pitching the novel to the film and television industry at the London Book Fair in March 2025, when the material was still listed as an unedited manuscript. By December 2025, Netflix and A24 were developing the book for television after multiple bidders competed for the IP.

Rosie Gurtovoy, Chappet’s agent at PFD, told Observer that the book ultimately received 14 offers for its screen rights. It is expected to be published in the U.S. in April 2027.

“The book is so adaptable for television,” Gurtovoy said, pointing to its “clear, brilliant case of characters” and university setting, which provides a recurring world for the story.

The timing also helped. Gurtovoy said buyers are looking to build on the growing “new adult” market following adaptations such as Tell Me Lies and The Summer I Turned Pretty. Broken Toys, she said, fits that space while offering the possibility of multiple seasons—something that can be harder to find outside traditional genre fiction.

The book also shows how far upstream film and television companies are willing to go. Gurtovoy said it has become increasingly normal for novels, short stories and other literary properties to be optioned before publication and, in some cases, before a publishing deal has even been secured.

Venice’s Marin recalled conversations at the Frankfurt Book Fair one year in which publishers told her that producers and platforms were no longer simply asking what books were available. Some were asking whether publishers had authors who could write about particular subjects they already wanted to develop. The logic comes partly down to cost, she added. Developing an idea first as a book can require far less money than immediately committing to a film or television production.

From option to screen

That does not mean every book that attracts screen interest becomes a show or movie.

Much of the adaptation business starts with an option, which gives a buyer the exclusive right to acquire the screen rights to a property for a set period. According to the Authors Guild, initial option payments commonly range from $2,000 to $25,000, although deals can fall outside that range. An initial term of around 18 months is customary. If the producer moves forward, the buyer then pays the negotiated purchase price for the rights.

The long gap between securing a book and producing an adaptation is one reason Venice is designed as a relationship-building market rather than simply a place to close immediate deals.

Producers attending Venice are not there solely to shop for books. They may also be acquiring completed films, financing projects or working on their own productions, leaving relatively little time for any one meeting.

The official BARM rules are built around that model. Participants must represent the audiovisual rights to the works they bring and have catalogs containing a significant number of titles from different authors. Venice specifically encourages both bestsellers and unpublished books with strong adaptation potential.

What producers are looking for today

What constitutes “strong potential,” however, can change quickly.

Marin pointed to Bridgerton as an example of how quickly a breakout hit can reshape demand, with producers suddenly looking for similar period romances. This year, she sees continued interest in horror, thrillers, romance and young adult properties. Graphic novels have also become a growing area of interest.

But the more significant change may be how much risk buyers are willing to take.

Gurtovoy said the film and television market’s contraction in recent years has made established IP feel like a safer bet than original material from an unknown writer. Five or six years ago, producers were more willing to option books that required substantial development. Today, attention at major book fairs can concentrate around one or two particularly sought-after titles.

That dynamic helps explain an apparent contradiction in the current adaptation market: Buyers are moving earlier, but they are not necessarily buying more broadly. Studios and streamers may pursue a book before it has readers, reviews or sales figures, while competing especially aggressively for the properties they believe have the clearest path to the screen.

For three days in Venice, they will sit across from each other with entire catalogs between them, trying to figure out which story is worth betting on next.

What constitutes “strong potential,” however, can change quickly.

Marin pointed to Bridgerton as an example of how quickly a breakout hit can reshape demand, with producers suddenly looking for similar period romances.

This year, she sees continued interest in horror, thrillers, romance and young adult properties. Graphic novels have also become a growing area of interest, Marin said.

But the more significant change may be how much risk buyers are willing to take.

PFD’s Gurtovoy said the contraction of the film and television market in recent years has made established IP feel like a safer bet than original material from an unknown writer. Five or six years ago, producers were more willing to option books that required substantial development; today, attention at major book fairs tends to focus on one or two particularly sought-after titles.

That dynamic helps explain an apparent contradiction in the current adaptation market: buyers are moving earlier, but they are not necessarily buying more broadly. Studios and streamers may pursue a book before it has readers, reviews or sales figures, while competing especially aggressively for the properties they believe have the clearest path to the screen.

For three days in Venice, they will sit across from each other with entire catalogs between them, trying to figure out which story is worth betting on next.