Pictures via Various Publishers
Over the years, Netflix has adapted countless acclaimed novels, memoirs, and comic books, transforming them into blockbuster movies and binge-worthy television series. But before those stories ever hit your screen, Netflix has to quietly secure the rights behind the scenes. Following up on our massive roundup last year, we’re back to uncover the latest books and comics Netflix has been optioning for development in 2026.
Last summer, we combed through public filings to reveal over 30 books and comics Netflix had snapped up over a 12-month period. Since then, we’ve seen how crucial these options are to Netflix’s future slate—just look at the continued success of Harlan Coben’s universe or the buzz surrounding crime dramas like Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole.
Now, to be crystal clear about what a book option actually is before you get your hopes up that any of these titles will be dropping on Netflix next week: an option simply means Netflix has struck a deal with a publisher, author, or rights holder to secure the rights to potentially adapt the work into a series or film.
Just because a book is optioned doesn’t guarantee it will ever be produced. Development takes time, and there are plenty of instances where a project loses momentum or gets quietly shelved. However, this list offers a fantastic peek behind the curtain at the genres, stories, and authors Netflix is currently investing its resources into.
In last year’s roundup, we uncovered dozens of options, some of which have materialized in high-profile development deals. For instance, we highlighted S.A. Cosby’s Southern noir King of Ashes well before it became the center of a fierce bidding war—one that was ultimately won by Netflix, with Michelle and Barack Obama’s Higher Ground and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin set to produce. We also tracked Freida McFadden’s thriller The Boyfriend, shortly before Netflix officially announced they were turning her other hit, Never Lie, into a feature film produced by Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment. It just goes to show that tracking these options is the very best way to see the first building blocks of Netflix’s future film and television slate.
So, what does this 2026 slate of options actually tell us about what Netflix is hungry for right now? For starters, they are doubling down heavily on proven winners, expanding existing relationships into full-blown cinematic universes—just look at their early grab of Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders or keeping the Harlan Coben train rolling with Drop Shot. But beyond relying on familiar faces, there’s definitely a skew to swoon-worthy romances (clearly looking to feed the insatiable Virgin River and Nobody Wants This crowds), a pivot toward sweeping historical survival stories rather than just standard true-crime documentaries, and an undeniable prestige play with Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and you’ve got a clear roadmap for the platform’s future. There truly is a mix of everything.
Netflix declined to officially comment on any of these options. We’ll have a separate post out soon for graphic novels and comics!
So, let’s run through the dozens of books, memoirs, and comic books we’ve found Netflix to have optioned over the past 12 months…
We Solve Murders
Author: Richard Osman
Option Date: January 2026
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Richard Osman’s name popping up attached to Netflix. Netflix is already deep in business with the British author, with Chris Columbus having previously adapted Osman’s smash-hit The Thursday Murder Club into a star-studded feature film. Interestingly, they shot scenes during that first film for a second entry should Netflix want to delve further, per the director in various interviews. That said, a sequel has yet to be announced.
Now, it looks like Netflix has its sights set on his newest franchise. Published in late 2024, We Solve Murders follows a brand new trio of sleuths: a retired police officer, his daughter-in-law who works as a private security officer, and a famous author. If Thursday Murder Club performs well, expect Netflix to fast-track this one to keep the Osman cinematic universe growing.
Drop Shot (Myron Bolitar Series)
Author: Harlan Coben
Option Date: 2025/2026
Is it really a Netflix book options list if Harlan Coben doesn’t make an appearance?
Coben’s overall deal with Netflix has birthed a massive library of thrillers (from Fool Me Once to The Stranger). Recently, Netflix announced they were finally bringing Coben’s long-running Myron Bolitar series to the screen. Drop Shot is actually the second novel in the Myron Bolitar series, following the sports agent and occasional investigator as he tries to uncover the truth behind a murdered tennis star. Seeing this specific book optioned suggests Netflix is already mapping out the future of the Bolitar series.
Seven Days in June & A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
Author: Tia Williams
Option Date: Early 2026
Netflix appears to be betting big on bestselling romance author Tia Williams, picking up the rights to not one, but two of her hit novels.
First up is Seven Days in June, a steamy, hilarious, and emotional romance about two writers who unexpectedly reconnect at a literary event in Brooklyn, years after a passionate, traumatic week spent together as teenagers. Interestingly, this adaptation was previously announced to be in development at Amazon Prime Video back in early 2024, but it looks like the rights have since migrated over to Netflix. Whether it’s the same package that was set up there (it was set to be a series) is unclear.
Netflix has also optioned Williams’s most recent release, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, for a feature film, we’re told. Set against the backdrop of Harlem, this one is a magical, swoon-worthy story about a free-spirited florist and a mysterious musician whose lives collide.
Girl Dinner
Author: Olivie Blake
Optioned For: Series (Expected)
Option Date: May 2026
If you’ve spent any time on TikTok, you’ve likely heard the term “girl dinner,” but bestselling author Olivie Blake (known for The Atlas Six) takes the viral trend and twists it into a pitch-black, satirical horror novel. The story centers on “The House,” the wealthiest and most exclusive sorority on campus, promising a lifetime of success and protection to the lucky few who are accepted into their ranks. But as a desperate sophomore named Nina and an exhausted adjunct professor named Sloane are drawn deeper into the sisterhood’s arcane, perfectionist rituals, they uncover the sinister secret behind the sorority’s success. As it turns out, the ultimate “girl dinner” involves a terrifying wellness trend: cannibalism. This could be a strong contender as a follow-up to You…
Culpability
Author: Bruce Holsinger
Optioned For: TBD (Likely Series or Feature)
Option Date: August 2025
Selected as an Oprah’s Book Club pick, Bruce Holsinger’s 2025 novel is the perfect marriage of a tense family drama and a wildly relevant, provocative tech thriller (think Leave the World Behind). The story kicks off with a nightmare scenario: a family’s state-of-the-art, autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, tragically killing an elderly couple. When the dust settles, the ultimate question of moral responsibility must be answered. Who is truly at fault for the tragedy? Is it the seventeen-year-old son who was texting in the driver’s seat, the distracted parents riding shotgun, or the highly advanced artificial intelligence operating the vehicle itself?
A Lie for a Lie
Author: Jane Buckingham
Option Date: April 2026
Netflix loves a juicy, high-stakes young adult thriller, and Jane Buckingham’s A Lie for a Lie fits perfectly into the same vein as Elite or One of Us Is Lying. Set at the cutthroat Milford High School, the story revolves around a terrifying anonymous Instagram account known simply as @Revenge. Students use the account to enact vigilante justice on bullies, cheating boyfriends, and backstabbing friends.
The Bird’s Nest
Author: Shirley Jackson
Option Date: March 2026
Netflix has already scored massive, record-breaking success by adapting the legendary Shirley Jackson’s work (The Haunting of Hill House), so it makes complete sense that they are returning to her esteemed library. Originally published in 1954, The Bird’s Nest is a masterclass in psychological horror and tension. The novel follows a young, unassuming museum clerk named Elizabeth Richmond who begins to suffer from severe headaches and memory loss. When she is sent to a psychiatrist, it is revealed that her mind has fractured into four distinct, warring personalities, each fighting for dominance over her body and life. With the right director and a powerhouse lead actress, this could easily be Netflix’s next major prestige horror event.
Right as Rain
Author: George P. Pelecanos
Option Date: April 2026
George P. Pelecanos is a legend in the crime fiction space, serving as a prominent writer and producer on HBO’s legendary series The Wire. Now, Netflix appears to be developing a hardboiled detective series based on his acclaimed Derek Strange and Terry Quinn novels. Right as Rain is the first book in the series, following a Black private investigator and a disgraced white former cop who are forced to team up in Washington D.C. to uncover the truth behind a police-on-police shooting. One to watch.
All These Beautiful Strangers
Author: Elizabeth Klehfoth
Option Date: January 2026
If you cross Gossip Girl with a twisty, dark murder mystery, you get Elizabeth Klehfoth’s All These Beautiful Strangers. The story follows Charlie Calloway, a wealthy teenager attending an elite New England prep school, who is tapped to join a powerful, clandestine secret society known as the A’s. As she is forced to play the society’s dangerous, escalating “games” to secure her membership, Charlie begins to uncover dark truths that connect the secret society to the sudden, unsolved disappearance of her mother over a decade prior.
The Things You Save in a Fire
Author: Katherine Center
Option Date: June 2026
Netflix is stepping in to rescue this fantastic romance adaptation! Previously announced to be in development elsewhere as a feature film (with FBI‘s Missy Peregrym attached at one point), the rights have now landed at Netflix. The charming, emotional story follows Cassie Hanwell, a tough-as-nails female firefighter in Texas whose life is upended when she is forced to move to Boston to care for her estranged mother. There, she has to win over a grumpy, old-school, boys-club firehouse while trying her hardest not to fall for the hunky rookie. Of course, Netflix has worked to bring Center’s books to life twice before with Happiness for Beginners and the upcoming Guarding Stars movie. Like those two, we’d expect this to be a feature film.
The Bluest Eye
Author: Toni Morrison
Option Date: December 2025
This is undeniably one of the most prestigious options on the entire list. Securing the rights to Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s monumental 1970 debut novel is a massive play for Netflix. The essential piece of American literature tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl growing up in post-Depression Ohio who longs for blue eyes to fit the societal standards of beauty that exclude her. Adapting this iconic masterwork requires a delicate, masterful touch, and we will be watching closely to see what visionary filmmaker Netflix taps for the project.
Gotham Diaries
Authors: Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony
Optioned For: Movie
Option Date: March 2026
If you are looking for high-stakes social climbing, secrets, and betrayal, this feature film option is for you. Gotham Diaries is a juicy, scandalous dive into the upper-crust world of New York City’s Black elite, following two women navigating the cutthroat worlds of billionaire real estate, charity galas, and dangerous gossip. It promises to be a lavish, dramatic, and highly stylish movie. An adaptation was first announced to be in the works back in 2013.
On Fire Island
Author: Jane L. Rosen
Option Date: March 2026
This uplifting feel-good story follows a successful book editor who tragically passes away at the age of 37, but is granted one final summer to secretly watch over her husband and her closest friends as they spend the season grieving, loving, and moving on at their beloved Fire Island beach house. (Note: A separate movie based on Rosen’s A Shoe Story was announced in May 2025, but this specific option confirms Netflix has its hands on her Fire Island novel).
Experienced
Author: Kate Young
Option Date: July 2026
This fun, lively queer romance is perfectly primed to be a breezy Netflix rom-com series. The story follows Bette, a young woman who has just come out of the closet and a long-term relationship, only to realize she has zero actual dating experience. Desperate to make up for lost time and win back her ex, she enlists a guide to take her on a hilarious, chaotic, and steamy dating odyssey to finally gain some “experience.”
All That Life Can Afford
Author: Emily Everett
Option Date: November 2025
Selected as a Reese’s Book Club pick, Emily Everett’s debut novel is a lyrical coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of London’s jet-set elite. It follows an American woman trying to outrun her past who becomes entangled with a wealthy family in Saint-Tropez and a heady whirlpool of excess, privilege, and romance. It is a glossy, Austen-inspired exploration of class and ambition that will make for a gorgeous, globe-trotting feature film.
The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild
Author: Bryan Burrough
Option Date: April 2026
Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction historical epic strips away the Hollywood myth of the Wild West to examine the real-life violence and legendary outlaws birthed in post-Civil War Texas. By focusing on real historical figures and the brutal, lawless environment that created icons like Jesse James and Billy the Kid, this option provides the perfect foundation for a sprawling, action-packed historical series or a high-budget docudrama event.
All Blood Runs Red
Authors: Tom Clavin & Phil Keith
Option Date: February 2026
This is the legendary, almost unbelievable true story of Eugene Bullard, and it has “awards season prestige” written all over it. The son of a former slave in Georgia, Bullard fled to Europe as a teenager where his life took on mythical proportions. He became a world-famous boxer, the first African-American fighter pilot in history during World War I, a Parisian nightclub impresario who rubbed shoulders with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and eventually a spy for the French Resistance during WWII.
Interestingly, French filmmaker Paul Mignot is already attached to direct this sweeping biographical feature film, having developed a “proof of concept”.
The King of Confidence
Author: Miles Harvey
Option Date: May 2026
Subtitled A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch, this is a wild slice of forgotten 19th-century American history. It tells the true story of James Jesse Strang, a charismatic con man and false prophet who managed to recruit hundreds of followers, declare himself the literal “King” of an island in Lake Michigan, and operate a pirate colony outside the jurisdiction of the US government. Netflix isn’t shy about exploring this part of American history, with Death by Lightning being a recent example. Another record exists that suggests back in 2021, this book was being eyed for a movie adaptation.
Ghettoside
Author: Jill Leovy
Option Date: October 2025
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist’s masterwork of non-fiction, this is a deeply reported, heartbreaking look at a true-crime murder investigation and the epidemic of unsolved homicides in South Los Angeles. Following a dedicated group of LAPD detectives trying to bring justice to forgotten victims, adapting this would give Netflix a sprawling, socially conscious true-crime procedural that echoes the complexity and depth of The Wire.
The Friday Afternoon Club
Author: Griffin Dunne
Option Date: November 2025
Actor and director Griffin Dunne recently released this acclaimed, star-studded family memoir about growing up in a Hollywood and New York literary dynasty (his aunt is Joan Didion). However, at the center of the glittering celebrity anecdotes is the devastating, tragic murder of his sister, actress Dominique Dunne, and the highly publicized trial that followed. It is a profoundly moving, deeply personal memoir that could easily be adapted into a powerful dramatic limited series. This option was recently confirmed via Brad Koepenick on Instagram.
Us, After: A Memoir of Love and Suicide & Breakup Bootcamp: The Science of Rewiring Your Heart
Authors: Rachel Zimmerman / Amy Chan
Option Dates: Late 2025
Rounding out the non-fiction list are two incredibly poignant personal stories:
- Rachel Zimmerman’s Us, After is a profound and deeply personal memoir about grief, resilience, and raising children in the sudden aftermath of a spouse’s suicide.
- Meanwhile, Amy Chan’s Breakup Bootcamp takes a psychological and scientific approach to healing a broken heart—an option that feels prime for either a narrative adaptation or an unscripted Netflix reality/wellness series.
The Bering
Author: Sean Flynn
Originally produced as a gripping true-life Audible original podcast, this tells the harrowing, white-knuckle story of the fishing vessel Alaskan Ranger. When the massive ship began taking on water and sinking in the freezing, pitch-black waters of the Bering Sea, 47 crew members were left fighting for their lives. Chronicling both the terrifying fight for survival in the water and the heroic, near-impossible Coast Guard rescue mission from the air, this true-story adaptation would make for an incredibly tense, claustrophobic survival thriller akin to Society of the Snow.
