Option (filmmaking)

In the film industry, an option agreement is a contract that "rents" the rights to a source material to a potential film producer.^[1] It grants the film producer the exclusive option to purchase rights to the source material if they live up to the terms of the contract and make a film (or series) from it. This is known as optioning the source material.

Some examples of producers are film studios, production companies or an individual. Source materials are often a book, theatrical play, or screenplay; however, they may also be articles, video games, songs, or any other work of intellectual property.

The term is often used as a verb. For example, "Paramount optioned a short story by Ted Chiang."