Netflix is no stranger to book adaptations — both in TV show and movie form. In fact, book adaptations drove over 4.5B global views for the streamer in the first half of 2025 alone.
Adaptations represented almost 20% of total view hours in the first half of the year, and the Global Top 10 lists have featured a book adaptation every week this year according to the streamer, whether it be the film based on Ruth Ware’s thriller The Woman in Cabin 10 or Season 2 of My Life With the Walter Boys based on the book of the same name by Ali Novak. Ransom Canyon, a newer series Netflix bet on back in 2022 that has some similarities to Walter Boys, saw its first season come to the small screen in April to promising numbers as well, lassoing a second season later on in the year.
The streamer is further expanding its slate of book-based offerings with Emily Griffin’s All We Ever Wanted now in the works for a series adaptation executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben. Witherspoon and Coben recently partnered on the thriller novel Gone Before Goodbye, and both have worked separately with the streamer to translate books to screen, with Coben’s Fool Me Once landing at number 10 on the list for popular Netflix shows. Witherspoon, through her Reese’s Book Club and Hello Sunshine production company, has backed many a book adaptation, including that of From Scratch, based on Tembi Locke’s memoir.
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Still more anticipated book adaptations on the release horizon for Netflix are the film based on Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation arriving January 9, 2026 as well as Season 4 of Bridgerton, based on Julia Quinn’s book An Offer From a Gentleman, which has been split into two parts, the first arriving Jan. 29 and the second, Feb. 26.
Other recent big hit book adaptations for the streamer this year include The Hunting Wives, which was renewed for a Season 2 and based on May Cobb’s novel, BOOTS starring Miles Heizer based on The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White and films like The Ballad of a Small Player starring Colin Farrell based on Lawrence Osborne’s novel, The Thursday Murder Club adapted from Richard Osman’s murder mystery book of the same name and My Oxford Year based on a novel by acclaimed audiobook narrator Julia Whelan which was in turn based on a screenplay by Allison Burnett. Netflix worked alongside Temple Hill Entertainment, a production company specializing in simultaneous book publishing and TV and movie output of adaptations, on both My Oxford Year and the upcoming People We Meet On Vacation film adaptations.
“At Netflix, we’ve always believed that ‘the best story wins’, whether it starts on the page or on the screen. Adapting books into series and films feels like a natural extension of that belief, because the depth of storytelling gives us such a strong foundation to build from,” said Jinny Howe, now head of UCAN scripted series who shepherded adaptations like Bridgerton and Ransom Canyon into being. “Books let us live with characters, grow with them, and experience their emotional journeys in a deep and immersive way. We’re always looking for fresh voices and bold perspectives, to share original stories and complex characters that resonate with audiences.”
As Netflix touts its library of original content offerings from Stranger Things — the fifth and final season of which is rolling out over the holidays — to Kpop Demonhunters, it’s clear that book adaptations bolster the streamer as well. Netflix also occasionally conducts novelizations of some of its projects like the film Damsel, which was first a script by Dan Mazeau before Evelyn Skye wrote a book based on that screenplay, and Queen Charlotte, the Bridgerton spinoff series from Shonda Rhimes, which led to a book co-authored by Rhimes and Julia Quinn, who wrote all of the Bridgerton books.
As 2025 comes to a close, Deadline took a deep dive into four 2025 Netflix projects that emphasize the notable connection between readers and adaptations, reflecting the circulation between adaptation releases and corresponding book sales. TV shows include Ransom Canyon and Forever, both renewed for second seasons, with showrunners sharing updates on those next installments. Films include The Woman in Cabin 10 and Frankenstein, which both arrived in the final quarter of 2025. Auspices behind the movies reflect on their relevance and audience response.
Ransom Canyon Showrunner April Blair Shares Season 2 Production Update; Reveals Who Is Playing Yancy Grey’s Wife
L-R: Minka Kelly as Quinn and Josh Duhamel as Staten in Episode 104 of ‘Ransom Canyon’
For “comfort entertainment” suite show Ransom Canyon, Netflix had already optioned the books before showrunner and series creator April Blair came aboard to helm the television adaptation of Jodi Thomas’ novel of the same name. Thomas’ series has 10 books, but Blair’s show uses the first novel as a jumping off point before branching out and keeping the main ensemble between seasons versus starting over with new characters as the books do in an anthology format. Thomas’ novel came out in August 2015.
“I instantly knew it was a great world to build a show around,” Blair recalled after Netflix asked her to look at the books. “It felt timely and timeless and big and romantic like all the good stuff that you want when you’re looking at books. [It] had the possibility to expand and have legs to continue for multiple seasons. You could see how that world could just keep growing. [I] could see seasons and seasons.”
Blair wanted to keep readers in mind through placement of easter eggs in Season 1 despite the show’s divergence from the book’s timeline and certain character subplots like Quinn’s piano background and mentor.
RELATED: Everything We Know About ‘Ransom Canyon’ Season 2 So Far
“The character of Cap [Fuller] (James Brolin) didn’t really exist in the books. Yancy came to Ransom [Canyon] and moved into an old folks home as their caretaker. Cap is like a collection of all those elderly people that Yancy befriended when he was the caretaker at the old folks home,” she said. “Our dramatic through line is a little different than the book. It’s soapier and has more relationship drama. Lauren Brigman and The Sheriff and Quinn and Staten, all of the names I kept. I could never come up with such good names as Jodi.”
After its debut on Netflix in April 2025, Ransom Canyon received a Season 2 renewal in June. At the time Deadline spoke with Blair for this piece, production on the second season had reached just over halfway. The goal is to finish shooting in January 2026. Several high profile new characters have boarded Season 2 including Quinn’s mother played by Patricia Clarkson and Staten’s half-brother portrayed by Steve Howey.
“[In Season 2], Quinn’s story isn’t just about, ‘Oh, she’s torn between two men.’ She’s torn between her home and this other place, this other life that she’s been living back in New York for the past six months. We really wanted to dig deeper into why she was conflicted about that and understand that,” Blair told Deadline. “In order to do that, we wanted to know who formed her, what her history was. For Staten, we introduced a half-brother, and Steve Howey is playing him. It’s a fun deepening of his character and the fraught relationship with his father in Season 1, which trickles into this season.”
Blair confirmed to Deadline that Heidi Engerman will portray the wife of Yancy Grey after a different actress stood in for the character to be shot from behind confronting Ellie Estevez (Marianly Tejada).
“She comes to town and causes a whole lot of trouble, a lot of fun trouble. It’s gonna be a challenge for me. There’s a lot of surprises for Yancy this season that are going to be super fun and a lot of stakes to his wife showing up,” Blair said. “Can he get rid of her? Does he want to get rid of her? Why does he need to get rid of her? And it picks at his history a little too. We always alluded to Yancy having this grifter criminal past, and now the the context of that starts to come into focus with the wife’s arrival.”
Another very similar show with a second season out this year was My Life With the Walter Boys, which diverged from Ali Novak’s first book and arrived shortly after she published a sequel over ten years in the making. Season 2 doesn’t follow the sequel, but Novak felt the urge to return to the story for fans. The timing worked out for both parties.
Spotify reported that the listening to Thomas’ novel in audiobook format spiked 254% in the two weeks following the premiere of Ransom Canyon. In Netflix’s January through June 2025 engagement report, Ransom Canyon roped 228,900,000 hours viewed and 29,000,000 views total. The series arrived April 17 on Netflix. For comparison, the younger-skewing XO, Kitty Season 2 captured 143,400,000 hours viewed with 35,300,000 total views, and that installment came out in January. XO, Kitty is a spinoff of Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, based on the books by Jenny Han.
Mara Brock Akil Talks Forever Reimagining And Season 2
L-R: Michael Cooper Jr. and Lovie Simone in ‘Forever’ on Netflix
Mara Brock Akil’s Forever reimagining of the Judy Blume classic arrived on the streamer in May 50 years after it was published. Akil, who stressed that knowing Blume was offering her work to be adapted allowed her to “raise my hand” to “translate” the book, distilled the 17 bans on the novel to a desire to silence the truth, and she took this “core principle” of truth-telling into her vision for the show, which made several changes to the book.
“Most banned books are banned because they’re truth-telling. And Judy Blume dared 50 years ago to tell young people the truth by anchoring a narrative on their very human curiosity and exploration,” she said. “She was a truth teller back then. So my adaptation of the book, it was less about it being censored and banned, it was more about the truth, and the choices we made building the world and the tone to get to a greater truth. I think that is what is resonating with the audience like the book did so many years ago, that Judy was willing to tell us the truth about our curiosity, about our own humanity, and what were some of the pitfalls in that particular generation? And I had to go find what was the bigger pitfalls in this generation.”
Akil was thrilled that the news of a Season 2 pickup came 5 days after the release of Season 1.
RELATED: 5 Songs With ‘Forever’ Music Supervisor Kier Lehman
“It was exhilarating to know you’re on the biggest stage in the world, and Netflix was able to make a decision that quickly, comparatively to how they normally respond. It was a collective win for the artists who we all collaborated with to bring a great story, and the audience, who were just great listeners,” she said. “I mean, they sat down for eight hours, or however long it is — eight episodes, and they let Netflix know ‘More of this, please.’ It put a lot of gas in the tank for Season 2. And we’re very excited. We’re already in the writers room. Things are gelling.”
When asked about whether Season 2 will continue with Season 1’s main couple, Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.), Akil first emphasized that she’s hard at work with her team on the second installment. She encouraged audiences to stay excited, but she didn’t want to say too much in terms of a preview.
“I’m excited about not revealing too much about where we’re headed for Season 2 until it’s time to. I’ve been cooking in the kitchen, as the kids say, I’ve been cooking for over 25 years. And I have served up a lot of hit shows, and I just want people to trust me and to show up when I ring the dinner bell, knowing that I want to serve you the best meal. I want to cook that dish, make that TV show that you can’t get enough of and you want more of, and will show up when next time I make it,” she said. “I can offer this — we will be following Justin and Keisha, as opposed to moving to a new couple. I think we have more to say with them before we pivot in a new direction.”
In Netflix’s January through June 2025 engagement report, Forever notched 124,200,000 total hours viewed with 19,100,000 views, and this was after its arrival May 8. The audiobook listening spiked globally 259% in the two weeks following Forever‘s release on Netflix, according to Spotify.
Author Ruth Ware On The Woman in Cabin 10 And Sequel Film Possibility
L-R: Keira Knightley as Lo and Guy Pearce as Bullmer in ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’
Parisa Taghizadeh/Netflix
The Keira Knightley-led thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10 arrived on the streamer Oct. 10, 2025, debuting to No. 1 on the global English Film list where it held that spot for two weeks. Ware’s novel, which was originally published in 2016, jumped in sales 190% across all formats year-over-year with the comparison measured between Oct. 25, 2024 and Oct. 25, 2025 — the latter date being 2 weeks after the film’s arrival on Netflix. This would track with a casting announcement Deadline reported in late September 2024 of the star-stacked ensemble joining Knightley as well as the advance in making the movie. There were 2.3 million copies of Ware’s novel in circulation in the United States as of early November 2025 according to Jennifer Bergstrom, SVP & Publisher, Gallery Books & Scout Press.
Ware, in a conversation with Deadline, recounted how the idea for the book sprang out of “he said, she said” cases in the news and her impetus being a “hierarchy of evidence” resulting in women falling “lower on the scale of reliability” when reporting incidents that happened to them. The author, whose book The Lying Game is getting adapted at Prime Video, thinks The Woman in Cabin 10 is just as relevant almost 10 years later, which in her words is “incredibly depressing.”
Unique circumstances around the development of the film allowed Ware to envision a third audience when she began penning a sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10 in 2023, before she knew the film was going to be greenlit. The Woman in Suite 11 picks up with Lo Blacklock (Knightley’s character in the film) three years after the birth of her third child for another journalistic opportunity.
RELATED: Keira Knightley Fights Denial And Gaslighting In ‘The Woman In Cabin 10’ Trailer
“I’d always known that I was writing it mostly for people who had read and loved Cabin 10, because they were the reason, ultimately, why I went back to Lo,” she said. “They kept her alive in my head, but I wanted it to work for people who hadn’t read Cabin 10 and were coming to that world for the first time. Halfway through, I suddenly had this realization that I was writing it for a third audience, who might be the people who had seen the film but not read the book.”
As for a potential sequel film, Ware said that “the screen adapters have set themselves a challenge with the way the threads tie up in the book world, but may not tie up in the film world.” Several changes were made to the story in the movie, but she has made peace with the fact that the book universe and film universe do not unfold in completely the same way.
“That would be quite interesting to try to solve some of those problems, but it would be amazing. If it happens, I would be over the moon,” she added. “A lot of people are coming back to the book. I had an awful lot of people who read it for the first time when it first came out and said, ‘Oh, I’m going to read it again before the before the adaptation comes out.’ A lot of people who you know picked it up because of the gorgeous new tie in kind of cover, which is stunning. It looks really Hitchcockian. It’s been really fun watching, I don’t want to say a new generation because it’s only been 10 years, but an audience discussing the book in a slightly different way.”
RELATED: 9 Changes In Netflix’s ‘The Woman In Cabin 10’ Movie From Ruth Ware’s Novel
According to Spotify, the audiobook listening for The Woman in Cabin 10 rose 333% in the two weeks after the film’s arrival on Netflix.
Frankenstein Executive Producer Miles Dale On Faithfulness of Guillermo Del Toro Adaptation
Jacob Elordi as The Creature in Frankenstein. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2025.
Ken Woroner/Netflix
Probably less surprising, both because of the adaptation material and the attachment of Guillermo del Toro was the popularity of Frankenstein, which landed on Netflix Nov. 7, 2025. From Nov. 10 to 16, the film dominated the Netflix Weekly Top 10 after its debut in the No. 1 English-language film slot.
EP Miles Dale, who has collaborated with del Toro many times previously, stressed the film’s faithfulness to Mary Shelley’s original 1818 classic, which many call the very first science fiction story, compared to the 1931 James Whale version.
“Many of us read the book in school, but if you haven’t, you’re looking at this movie and you’re [going], ‘Oh, boy, there’s a whole bunch more [to the story] that I didn’t know,’” Dale told Deadline.
Starring Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac, Christoph Waltz, Charles Dance, David Bradley and more, the film had a limited theatrical release Oct. 17.
“For a modern audience and maybe a younger audience, they can look at this movie and say, ‘I knew the story, but I really don’t. So I think I’m going to go and read the book,’ one of the most beloved, classics of modern literature,” Dale said. “We’re happy to bring that back to people at a time when reading ha[s] suffered, especially [with] younger people [on] Tiktok and Instagram and all those things and watching TV. Reading has lost its luster for a lot of people, and I think [this film] could inspire them to go and perhaps read the book.”
According to Penguin Random House, sales of the movie-tie-in edition of Mary Shelley’s novel spiked 180% after the film came out on Netflix.
“This is the ultimate IP. It’s 200 year-old IP that’s been made, how many times into other movies and spin-off movies and stage plays,” Dale said. “That’s what we love, knowing that we would be surprising people who hadn’t read the book, who would be so engaged and, crying and finding relatability in this father-son story, whether you’re a father or a son or anybody really, or just somebody who’s needing acceptance. That was the secret sauce of this movie, frankly, was that a lot of people didn’t really know the extent of what Mary Shelley was saying, and that is why it resonates.”
Frankenstein global listening rose 69% in the two weeks following the film’s release, according to Spotify.
