The Town with Matthew Belloni
The Town with Matthew Belloni
The Ringer
Why Hollywood Needs Books More Than Ever
31 minutes Posted Apr 1, 2026 at 11:14 pm.
Matt is joined by Jason Richman, UTA partner and cohead of media rights, to talk about the recent success of high-profile book adaptations at the box office ('Project Hail Mary,' 'Wuthering Heights,' 'The Housemaid'), why the long-standing Hollywood strategy of adapting books into films went away and is now back, the rise of female-focused authors, why this is leading to more power for book rights holders, what genres are most popular, and more
Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’
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Show notes
Matt is joined by Jason Richman, UTA partner and cohead of media rights, to talk about the recent success of high-profile book adaptations at the box office ('Project Hail Mary,' 'Wuthering Heights,' 'The Housemaid'), why the long-standing Hollywood strategy of adapting books into films went away and is now back, the rise of female-focused authors, why this is leading to more power for book rights holders, what genres are most popular, and more (00:00). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ (27:23).
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Jason Richman
Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jon Jones
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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