James Patterson and MrBeast have written a novel/license to print money together

Don’t take our word for it: Here’s the logline for the novel, per Deadline, which doesn’t have a title yet, but does have what’s apparently an eight-figure bidding war from the publishing industry for the rights to print and sell it: “Players fight to survive deadly tests held in dangerous locations around the world, as they battle to become ‘The One’.” Which is, indeed, exactly what it would sound like if we made up a fake book to make fun of the idea of MrBeast writing a novel, but whoops, reality done outdone us again.

The untitled book represents Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson’s first novel, and Patterson’s 200-somethingth. The Alex Cross creator is no stranger to co-authors, of course (he’s written more books with another person’s name on them than without, we’d estimate), although they usually don’t rival him for fame. (A few exceptions include Dolly Parton, who co-wrote 2022’s Run, Rose, Run, and Bill Clinton, who co-penned two books with Patterson in 2018 and 2021.) In any case, publishers apparently love the idea (or the marketing potential) of these two guys teaming up: Film, TV, and novel rights are all being shopped around right now, with that “eight-figure” number being quoted for the publishing rights alone.