The Spec SheetSpec Market Report
October 2026: spec script market report
Month to date through October 16, 2026; final numbers come after the month closes. All figures come from publicly reported feature spec and pitch sales logged on The Spec Sheet.
4October deals (MTD)
4specs
232026 YTD
-23%vs. 2025 pace
Key takeaways
- Volume: 4 reported deals in October (through Oct 16): 4 specs and 0 pitches. That compares with 3 in September and 3 in October 2025 over the same days.
- Year-to-date pace: 23 deals logged in 2026 through Oct 16 (20 specs), versus 30 at the same point in 2025 (-23%).
- Buyers: Every October deal went to a different buyer: Netflix, Black Bear, Sony and Fox Entertainment Studios. For the year, Netflix leads with 7 of 23 (30%).
- Genres: October mix: Horror (2), Comedy (1), Thriller (1). Year to date, Thriller leads with 8 deals; horror and thriller together account for 12 of 23.
- Reps: Yorn, Levine, Barnes was on the most October deals (2). Year to date, Kaplan/Perrone is on 8 deals.
- Specs vs. pitches: 20 of 23 deals this year (87%) were specs, i.e. finished scripts, not pitches.
October's deals
| Reported | Title | Writer(s) | Buyer | Type | Genre | Reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 16, 2026 | Canopy A botanist hunting a rare cure in the Amazon canopy must survive an undiscovered apex predator after a village offers her as a sacrifice. |
Brandon Feldman | Netflix | spec | Horror | Verve, Independent Artists Media, Yorn, Levine, Barnes |
| Oct 13, 2026 | Untitled Alla/Masino Comedy A mother and daughter accidentally start dating the same man, and the whole family deals with the fallout. |
Cassidy Alla, Read Masino | Black Bear | spec | Comedy | UTA, Mosaic, Artists First |
| Oct 8, 2026 | This Land Is Our Land An elevated thriller; plot under wraps. |
Casey Giltner | Sony | spec | Thriller | IAG, Zero Gravity Management, Yorn, Levine, Barnes |
| Oct 1, 2026 | Bleed the Night A lonely teen answers a 'must love blood' ad and goes on a 1994 crime spree with a young vampire. |
Keith Cooper, Zoe Cooper | Fox Entertainment Studios | spec | Horror | WME, Aperture, Gotham Group |
Charts
Download the chart set (PNG, .zip)
Deals by month
Top buyers YTD
Top genres YTD
Top reps YTD
Methodology
We count feature spec scripts and pitches whose sale was reported by Deadline, Variety or The Hollywood Reporter, dated by the report. TV specs, option-only deals and unreported sales aren't included, so totals can differ from other trackers (Scott Myers' Go Into The Story count is a good cross-check). See About & methodology, sales by month and the 2026 database.