Historically, movies have drawn from existing intellectual property (IP) more heavily than series. However, that gap has closed. Over the past three years, a larger share of new series premieres have been based on existing IP (12-14%) compared to movie premieres (11.5% of new movies in 2025).

Just looking at the volume of these new releases, however, drastically understates their impact. Existing IP adaptations vastly overperform original concepts. While IP-driven films made up just 11.5% of the 2025 movie slate, they generated a commanding 47.1% of total audience demand. The television landscape saw a similar trend, with adaptations capturing 37.5% of demand despite representing only 13.8% of new shows. If we just look at the top 100 most in-demand titles, existing IP is even more heavily represented.

When it comes to where existing IP is sourced, books are the single largest source of material for film and television, with literary works accounting for 37.6% of all adapted IP titles that premiered in 2025. This is the highest share for book adaptations since 2017, so they have only been growing in importance. Franchise extensions (22.3%) and true stories (15.2%) followed behind, while comic (5.1%) and video game (1.6%) adaptations commanded much smaller shares of the pie.

The return on investment for these literary adaptations is undeniable. Shows and movies based on books have generated 3.4 times the global demand of the average title. The reason is clear: books provide tested concepts and built-in, passionate fanbases that give marketing teams a crucial head start. It’s no surprise that platforms continue to heavily stock their slates with recognizable novels, relying on established readership to cut through an increasingly crowded content landscape.

Literary IP has also been successful at appealing to a range of demographics where other adapted formats may have more of a skewed audience. For example, shows and movies that are based on video games are highly concentrated, pulling an audience that is overwhelmingly male (73.6%) and heavily Gen Z (48.5%) – useful for targeting young men but not exactly a broad audience. 

While book adaptations overall have a slightly older tilt to their audiences (30.6% are Gen X or older), a high level look at some of the year’s biggest releases based on books shows literary adaptations can be appealing source material for a range of ages.  “The Odyssey” broke through with young men; The latest adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” won over young women.  When it comes to building a guaranteed hit, a library card just might be the most valuable asset in town. 

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“Monster,” the Netflix anthology series that offers fictionalized biographical accounts of famous murderers’ upbringings, hacks its way into the top spot after debuting in second place last week. The current season, “The Lizzie Borden Story,” focuses on the young woman in 1890s Massachusetts who allegedly murdered her parents with an ax. It’s perfect timing for Netflix as viewers start planning their Halloween costumes.

Hanging on to second place this week is “Neagley” on Amazon Prime Video. The show, which follows a private investigator who uncovers a conspiracy, is a spinoff from Amazon’s hit series “Reacher.” Astute Weekly Wrap Report readers will know that “Reacher” held the top spot on our chart for six consecutive weeks before vacating the top spot this week.

But don’t write off “Reacher,” as the detective series sticks around in ninth place despite ending its fourth season the previous week. The entire first season of “Neagley” was added to Amazon’s library on Sept. 16, meaning that both shows’ chart positions are due to sustained viewership, without the aid of new episodes. Clearly, Amazon has found a winning formula in its extended “Reacher” universe.

The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most-watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television, sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.

Netflix takes third place this week, again with a scripted biographical look at a famous killer. This time it’s “Unabomber,” which tells the story of the terrorist mail bomber Ted Kaczynski. A star cast with Russell Crowe, Jacob Tremblay, Annabelle Wallis and Shailene Woodley likely added to the film’s appeal.

“Special Ops: Lioness” lands in fourth place this week as the spy thriller ended its third season. Despite being one of the biggest Paramount+ hits to date, the show has not yet been renewed for a fourth season.

“The Love Hypothesis,” a new romcom on Amazon, debuts in fifth this week. The film is a modern twist on the Shakespearean “enemies to lovers” premise, set in a university research lab. Interesting fact: the film is an adaptation of a popular romance novel, which itself started out as Star Wars fanfiction.

We have another Netflix chart debut in sixth with “A Different World.” The sitcom is a sequel to the 1980s series of the same name (itself a spinoff of “The Cosby Show”). Similar to the source material, the sequel follows the stories of students arriving at a prestigious HBCU.

In seventh is Paramount+’s “Mobland,” as the star-filled gangster series moves up one slot in its second week on the chart.

“Wonka’s the Golden Ticket,” a reality competition based on the Roald Dahl book and hit films, is in eighth this week. The new Netflix series finds contestants looking to win a huge cash prize by competing in challenges on a set that replicates the famous Wonka chocolate factory, complete with a chocolate river.

Sliding down to 10th this week is “Lanterns.” The HBO Max superhero drama had a strong start near the top of the chart, but hits its lowest point now, following its penultimate episode.

Meanwhile, the megapopular singing competition “The Voice” returned to NBC for its 30th season with three episodes that all make the chart this week, the highest placing second.

That pushes the once-again culturally relevant new season of “Dancing With the Stars” down a spot this week, to third. 

All of this action at the top of the chart is unfortunate news for “America’s Got Talent,” which dominated a desolate linear chart throughout the summer. The competition’s 21st season concluded with a two-part finale this week, landing in fourth and eighth place.

The 28th season of “Big Brother” has winnowed down to its final three contestants, putting it in fifth place this week. Meanwhile, “Saturday Night Live” returned for its 52nd season on NBC, hosted by the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a linear chart without “Wheel of Fortune.” The classic game show closes us out this week in 10th place.

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“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” fell to third at 2.90%. “Resident Evil” followed in fourth at 2.53% after Zach Cregger’s reboot opened to $60 million domestically, the biggest debut in franchise history. “Avengers: Doomsday” rounded out the Top 5 at 2.37%, as it continues to build toward its December 18 release.

“The Odyssey” landed sixth at 2.24%, up from the prior week as it continues its theatrical run. “Avengers Endgame: Encore” edged up to 1.94% coinciding with its September 25 re-release.

Netflix’s “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85” entered the Top 10 at 1.78% following the September 17 release of all eight Season 2 episodes. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” also entered at 1.71%, continuing to find an audience after its September 2 Disney+ debut. Prime Video’s “Reacher” fell sharply to round out the Top 10 at 1.62%, following the September 16 Season 4 finale.

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Between 2024 and September 2026, demand for Ibero-American content boomed in several unexpected regions. Major East Asian markets registered some of the sharpest increases globally, led by South Korea (+243%), Japan (+148%), and China (+119%).

Then there’s the Turkish reversal. For years, Turkish soap operas have found eager audiences across Latin America. The trend over the past two years suggests that cultural exchange may now be working in the opposite direction, with Turkish demand for Spanish and Portuguese series more than doubling in that time. 

Meanwhile, there was a consistent rise in demand for Spanish/Portuguese language series across Nordic countries over the past two years. 

A four-quadrant appeal is likely helping these series travel successfully across wildly different cultural landscapes. Many of the global export success stories of the past few years actually have distinct audience skews. For example, Parrot Analytics’ audience demographic data shows Japanese series, in particular anime, leaning heavily toward young males, while K-dramas tilt toward younger women.

In contrast, Spanish and Portuguese series sit almost dead-center on the demographic spectrum, achieving a near-perfect balance between male and female viewers, as well as across age groups. This four-quadrant versatility makes them broadly appealing as they find new fans globally.

Leveraging existing intellectual property is one way that new shows can cut through an increasingly saturated global market. Some of the most globally successful Ibero-American exports have won with this strategy.  In particular, Spanish and Portuguese literary adaptations have had three times higher global demand than non-IP-based original series this year.

High-profile prestige adaptations are proving the power of this strategy. Shows like Netflix’s adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s “100 Years of Solitude” and the Argentine sci-fi classic “The Eternaut,” adapted from a classic comic, have demonstrated that local heritage IP can command massive international attention and break through beyond traditional export markets. 

Our Streaming Economics model calculates that “The Eternaut” alone has driven over 230,000 new subscriber signups for Netflix globally since premiering and was the most impactful Spanish-language title for the platform at driving subscriber acquisitions during that time.

As streaming platforms prioritize content efficiency and real financial results, Spanish and Portuguese titles are proving they can deliver on a global scale well beyond their traditional markets.

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The cherry on top for Amazon is that “Neagley,”a “Reacher” spinoff series, debuts in second place this week, marking a very rare one-two combo atop the chart for the ecommerce company’s streaming service. Amazon dropped the entire first series of “Neagley” on Sept. 16, the same day as the “Reacher” season finale, giving fans an opportunity to binge on the “Reacher”-verse, and they gladly obliged.

The combination is an enormous success for Amazon, which is often behind Netflix and HBO Max on the Weekly Wrap Top 10.

The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most-watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television, sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.

Not to be left out, Netflix accounts for five of the remaining eight spots on this week’s chart, starting with the return of “Monster” in third place. In its fourth season, the Ryan Murphy-created series dramatizes the story of Lizzie Borden, the alleged 19th century ax murderer. 

Coming in fourth is “Special Ops: Lioness,” the Paramount+ spy thriller that has been a chart mainstay throughout its third season. The show made a big push leading up to its finale, climbing as high as third place last week. Alas, the double dose of “Reacher” fare and the return of “Monster” blocked the show from the top spot as it aired its finale on September 20.

A trio of Netflix titles is up next, starting with two chart debuts. “The Perfect Lie,” in fifth, is a Dutch murder mystery series that continues the long-running trend of Netflix helping foreign language programs land with American audiences. In fact, it’s the second time it’s happened this month, following the Danish film “The Secret Woman” just two weeks ago.

That’s followed by “Crew Girl,” another in Netflix’s line of hit teen dramas. This one finds a champion rower forced to attend a new school after a family scandal, where she must navigate romantic and athletic drama while forcing her way onto the boys’ crew team.

 “Why Did I Get Married Again?,” the streamer’s latest collaboration with multi-hyphenate creator, writer and producer Tyler Perry, slides down two spots this week to seventh.

The star-packed “Mobland,” with Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, returns to Paramount+ and lands in eighth place this week. 

“Lanterns” on HBO Max slides down to ninth this week after several weeks in the top half of the chart. The superhero drama has HBO’s coveted Sunday night slot, and started strong on the Wrap report, but it could never out-punch “Reacher” and has slowly slid down the chart in subsequent weeks.

Closing out the Top 10 is “Ted Lasso,” another faller this week. Apple TV’s premier show has also spent much of its fourth season near the top of the chart, but this week slid all the way down from second place.

Over on linear, the “78th Emmy Awards” telecast was the most-watched show, as audiences flocked to watch Mariska Hargitay host the night where TV celebrates itself. 

In a bit of an upset, part two of the “Dancing with the Stars” two-night premiere on ABC tops our reigning chart champion, “America’s Got Talent,” on NBC. “AGT” owned the linear chart for most of the summer, so it’s a stunner to see its semifinals episode slide to third place.

However, this 35th season of “Dancing” has been getting some hype due to the inclusion of actress Julia Stiles, who famously played a Juilliard hopeful in “Save the Last Dance.” A quarter century after that film’s release, audiences are hungry to see if she still has the moves.

The rest of the linear chart is split between two perennial favorites. “Wheel of Fortune” grabs four spots, while “Jeopardy!” claims three.

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ScreenShare, a data partnership between Screen Engine and TheWrap, tracks the Top 10 most-mentioned entertainment options every week and whether each has gained or lost momentum compared to the prior week. The chart lives on the Data & Analysis page of the WrapPRO Members Hub.

For the week of Sept. 12-18, “NFL Football” held the top spot in entertainment mentions at 4.6% as Week 1 of the regular season wrapped up and Week 2 got underway on Sept. 17. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” held second at 4.4% as the film become the highest-grossing release of all time at the domestic box office, reaching the record in just 47 days.

“Grand Theft Auto VI” held third at 4.1% ahead of the game’s Nov. 19 launch, while “Avengers: Doomsday” held fourth at 3.2% on the heels of Disney’s announcement that presales had already topped $50 million three months ahead of its Dec. 18 release. “Resident Evil” surged to round out the Top 5 at 3.2%, as anticipation built ahead of the September 18 release of Zach Cregger’s reboot, which went on to open to $60 million, the biggest debut in the franchise’s history.

Prime Video’s “Reacher” held sixth, rising to 2.6% as the Season 4 finale arrived Sept. 16 alongside the full first season of spinoff “Neagley.” “Practical Magic 2” slipped to 2.3% following its opening weekend, while HBO’s “Lanterns” entered the Top 10 at 1.6% as the DC series starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler aired its fifth episode on Sept. 13, with its eight-episode run continuing weekly through an Oct. 4 finale.

“Avengers Endgame: Encore” edged up to 1.5% ahead of its Sept. 25 re-release, while “The Odyssey” rounded out the Top 10 at 1.4%, declining from the prior week although the film has now passed the previous record holder “Jurassic World” to become Universal’s highest-grossing release of all time at roughly $1.68 billion worldwide.

The post ‘Resident Evil’ Creeps Up in Audience Excitement After Surprisingly Strong Opening | Chart appeared first on TheWrap.

At press time, “Reacher” has already wrapped its fourth season, and a “Reacher-verse” spinoff, “Neagley,” debuted on Prime Video on Sept. 16. Tune in to next week’s edition of the Samba Weekly Wrap Report to see if the show was able to complete its run at the top.

“Ted Lasso,” in second this week, is one of those Emmy-winning shows that “Reacher” has kept at bay over the past month. The sports comedy’s surprise fourth season has been a massive hit for Apple TV, and the show moves up two spots this week.

It’s followed by “Special Ops: Lioness” on Paramount+. The popular spy thriller created by Taylor Sheridan aired the penultimate episode of its third season on Sept. 13, pushing it to its highest chart position yet. Will its season finale help it climb into the top spot?

With “Lasso” and “Lioness” up, “Lanterns” is down. The HBO Max series finds the titular superhero (Green) Lanterns investigating murder and alien activity in a small town. It slides to fourth this week.

Fifth place brings our first Netflix appearance this week, and it’s a debut. “Why Did I Get Married Again?” is the third film in Tyler Perry’s comedy trilogy, and the latest offering from the fruitful partnership between the actor/director/writer/producer and Netflix.

Back to Apple TV in sixth place, as “Mayday” moves up three spots this week. The combination action film and buddy comedy stars Ryan Reynolds as an American fighter pilot trying to escape the Soviet Union with help from an Americanophile former KGB agent played by Kenneth Branagh.

Netflix owns the next three spots, starting with “The Gentlemen,” which debuts in seventh place as it returns for its second season. Guy Ritchie, the British writer and director known for his hardscrabble tales, created the black comedy series.

That’s followed by “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” also a premiere this week. The Angelina Jolie-led Sheridan thriller originally came out in 2021, and is finding a second life since being added to the Netflix library.

Rounding out our trio is “The Whisper Man,” which drops from second all the way down to ninth. The suspense thriller features an all-star cast, with Robert de Niro, Michelle Monaghan and Adam Scott, which likely helped it stay on the chart for three straight weeks.

Closing the chart in 10th place is “The Runner.” The premise for the Gal Gadot-led action film is about as contrived as they come: Gadot’s character is an attorney who must run through London to stop a witness from testifying and save her son.

Meanwhile, “America’s Got Talent” continues a dominant summer atop the linear chart. The finale of the show’s 21st season is slated for Sept. 22.

Season 28 of “Big Brother” makes its presence known, pushing into second place on the chart as it winds towards its Oct. 1 finale.

We get our first scripted series in a while as well, with “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” appearing in fifth. “The Floor,” on Fox, is another notable new arrival, as the Rob Lowe-hosted game show returns for its sixth season.

Old standbys round out the rest of the linear chart, with “Wheel of Fortune” taking three spots, “Jeopardy! Masters” claiming two and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” closing things down in 10th place.

The post ‘Reacher’ Holds Off ‘Ted Lasso’ and Taylor Sheridan as No. 1 on Streaming | Chart appeared first on TheWrap.

ScreenShare, a data partnership between Screen Engine and TheWrap, tracks the Top 10 most-mentioned entertainment options every week and whether each has gained or lost momentum compared to the prior week. The chart lives on the Data & Analysis page of the WrapPRO Members Hub.

For the week of Sept. 5-11, “NFL Football” held the top spot in entertainment mentions at 6.5% as the league opened its 107th season, with Seattle defeating New England in the Sept. 9 Kickoff Game. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” climbed to second at 5.5% as it continues a strong theatrical run.

“Grand Theft Auto VI” fell to third at 4.5%, as interest cooled slightly following Rockstar Games’ Aug. 27 “Extended Look” ahead of the game’s Nov. 19 launch. “Avengers: Doomsday” held at fourth at 3.5% with tickets on sale ahead of its Dec. 18 release, while “Practical Magic 2”, coinciding with the Sept. 10 theatrical debut of the sequel, climbed to the fifth spot at 2.6%.

Prime Video’s “Reacher” rose to 2.1% as the seventh of eight episodes of Season 4 arrived Sept. 9, with the finale set for Sept. 16 alongside the full first season of spinoff “Neagley.” “Toy Story 5” edged up to 1.8% ahead of its Sept. 22 physical release and Sept. 23 Disney+ debut. “The Odyssey” landed at 1.8%, as the film became Universal’s highest grossing release of all time.

“Resident Evil” entered the Top 10 at 1.6% as anticipation built ahead of the Sept. 18 release of Zach Cregger’s franchise reboot, which premieres at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 17. “Avengers Endgame: Encore” rounded out the Top 10 at 1.5%, also increasing as tickets went on sale for the Sept. 25 re-release, a special presentation that includes an exclusive look at “Avengers: Doomsday” on IMAX and Infinity Vision screens.

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The adaptation of the popular Lee Child novel series has now topped the Samba Weekly Wrap Report for four consecutive weeks. In a landscape often dominated by Netflix and HBO Max, this is impressive by itself. What’s even more impressive is that “Reacher” is fending off strong competition from those two streamers at the same time, as seen on this week’s chart.

While “Reacher” itself has just one more episode to air, on Sept. 16, this may not be the end of its extended universe. A spinoff, “Neagley,” will drop its entire first season on that same date. Stay tuned to see how the greater “Reacher-verse” is received.

The next three entries on the chart come from three different streaming platforms, and all focus on very different kinds of male leads.

First is “The Whisper Man,” on Netflix, which finds Robert de Niro playing a retired detective looking into the mystery of how a killer he put behind bars for life may have captured his grandson. The crime thriller is up one spot this week, likely buoyed more by its strong cast (featuring de Niro, Michelle Monaghan and Adam Scott) than its reviews.

“The Whisper Man” flips spots with “Lanterns,” on HBO Max, which falls to third this week. The DC Universe superhero drama stars Kyle Chandler as a cocky, aging Green Lantern, who is facing challenges on all sides while investigating a small town murder and training his replacement (Aaron Pierre).

In fourth is “Ted Lasso,” Apple TV+’s portrayal of male vulnerability and kindness. It’s up one spot this week amid its surprise Season 4 return.

We leave those male protagonists behind and switch gears as five of the next six entries feature female protagonists or subjects. Kicking things off in fifth is “Special Ops: Lioness.” The Paramount+ series, which stars Zoe Saldaña as a CIA operative, remains a hit in its third season.

That’s followed by “Death of the Pastor’s Wife,” on Netflix. The true-crime docuseries looks into the mysterious death of Mica Miller and allegations of abuse and manipulation by her pastor husband.

“The Secret Woman,” on Netflix, debuts in seventh place this week. This is the latest in Netflix’s string of foreign-language titles that become minor hits among the American audience. The Danish film is about an amnesiac who discovers she has a family and a successful business, and tries to return to her life and figure out why she initially left it behind.

There’s another debut in eighth, with the Gal Gadot-led “The Runner” on Amazon. Gadot plays an attorney who must run through London to stop a witness from testifying and save her son.

“Mayday,” in ninth, is the third-straight debut, but breaks up the female-focused block. The Apple TV+ movie stars Ryan Reynolds as an American fighter pilot who crash-lands in the Soviet Union and is fortunately rescued by an America-loving former KGB agent played by Kenneth Branagh. Closing us out is “Furious,” on Hulu. The crime drama, starring Emmy Rossum as an FBI agent hunting a serial killer, returns to the chart this week after its season finale aired on August 31.

Over on linear, “America’s Got Talent” returns to the top of the chart. As the popular competition nears the end of its 21st season, the show holds two spots this week, also coming in fifth.

Meanwhile, “Wheel of Fortune” claims four spots,” while standbys “Jeopardy!,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Jeopardy! Masters,” and “Dancing with the Stars” all claim one each.

The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most-watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television, sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.

The post ‘Reacher’ Holds Off Netflix’s Latest Star-Studded Thriller as No. 1 on Streaming | Charts appeared first on TheWrap.

ScreenShare, a data partnership between Screen Engine and TheWrap, tracks the Top 10 most-mentioned entertainment options every week and whether each has gained or lost momentum compared to the prior week. The chart lives on the Data & Analysis page of the WrapPRO Members Hub.

For the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4, “NFL Football” was the top spot in entertainment mentions at 6.9%, up from the prior week as the NFL preseason continued. “Grand Theft Auto VI” surged to second at 6.4%, also increasing as anticipation grew after Rockstar Games’ Aug. 27 release of “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look,” a nearly 27-minute presentation that debuted on Netflix before becoming available on Rockstar’s YouTube channel and website later that day.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” fell to 5.6%, though the film continued its strong theatrical run. “Avengers: Doomsday” held fourth at 3.5%. “The Odyssey” rounded out the Top 5 at 2%, down slightly, as Christopher Nolan’s film continued its theatrical run.

“Stranger Things” landed at 1.8%, coinciding with Netflix’s Aug. 25 release of a new trailer for Season 2 of the animated spinoff “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.” Prime Video’s “Reacher” slipped to 1.7% as its Season 4 weekly rollout continued following its Aug. 12 premiere. “Practical Magic 2” entered the Top 10 at 1.7% as anticipation built ahead of the Sept. 10 theatrical release of the Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman sequel.

“Toy Story 5” edged down to 1.5% following its Aug. 18 home entertainment release, while HBO’s “House of the Dragon” rounded out the Top 10.

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