Hollywood Is Asking for Older and Translated Books More Often

Film and television companies in Hollywood are asking to see older books and novels translated into English far more often than before, according to a new report on the book-to-screen market.

The report, titled "Book-to-Screen Marketplace Insights, 2019–2026," was released by Rightscenter, a platform that tracks literary rights. Rights are the permissions that let a book be turned into a film or show, and a rights-tracking platform is a database where publishers and agents list the titles they want to sell. The findings are based on how studios, producers and scouts (people paid to hunt for stories that could be adapted) use the platform. Publishing Perspectives reported the findings on 23 October 2026.

The biggest shift is in backlist titles. Backlist means books that were published some time ago and are no longer new releases. According to the report summary, backlist titles rose to nearly two-thirds of all requests, where a request is a studio or producer asking to look at a specific title.

International stories are also drawing more attention. The report summary says interest in them is up 3.5 times from last year. Translated fiction, novels written in one language and published in another, is part of that picture.

Female protagonists, meaning books with a woman at the centre of the story, account for 48% of the titles drawing the most interest, according to the same summary.

Not every title gets a crowd, though. Nearly 75% of requested titles were inquired after by only a single user. In other words, most of the titles people asked about had one buyer behind them, not several.

For a novel that has sat on a shelf for years, a studio's interest can mean a second life. The usual first step is an option, a paid contract that gives a production company the right to develop a book into a film or series for a set period. Many options never become finished productions, but each one moves a book a little closer to the screen.

What the report tracks is some of the earliest activity in that process: who asks to look at a book, and what kind of book they ask for. For readers, it is a reminder that a story can travel a long way from its first printing, and that older and foreign-language books are now part of that search.