MrBeast's book actually sold decently well, so there's talk of film rights

In its first week of sales, The Most Dangerous Games reached number three on the NYT bestsellers list.

By Drew Gillis  |  September 10, 2026 | 10:04am
Screenshot: MrBeast/YouTube
Books News MrBeast
MrBeast's book actually sold decently well, so there's talk of film rights

Last week, reports circulated that MrBeast’s debut novel, which is credited as a co-authored work with James Patterson, was on track to be a “historic bomb” for sales. It appears these reports were overblown; while The Most Dangerous Games didn’t exactly put up Harry Potter numbers (or the kinds of numbers the content creator Jimmy Donaldson is probably used to on YouTube) the novel seemed to have performed well enough in its opening week. Per The Hollywood Reporter, The Most Dangerous Games debuted at number three on the hardcover fiction list of the New York Times bestsellers. It also ranked highly in USA Today‘s and Amazon’s various bestseller lists. Donaldson has also been selling the book directly from his website, which doesn’t count to these lists. 

So, naturally, THR also reports that the discussion about film rights for the novel is already underway, though there aren’t any more details. We shouldn’t be surprised; critical reception (and legal trouble) aside, Donaldson’s Prime Video series Beast Games was fairly popular in terms of viewership. The Most Dangerous Games—described in a logline as “An unprecedented competition from MrBeast, the world’s #1 creator with more than a billion followers, and James Patterson, the world’s #1 bestselling author, where the stakes couldn’t be higher.”—sounds a bit like a scripted version of Beast Games, albeit with life-or-death stakes, so it was probably only a matter of time before this brand got the feature-length treatment. That is not hype. That is the truth. 

 
Join the discussion...
Keep scrolling for more great stories.