This is when a {{Novelization}} of a work (usually a film) arrives on store shelves before the work's own debut, resulting in {{Spoiler}}s to those who read it. It can happen in any media, and is increasingly common in big-budget titles.

This, obviously, does not apply to cases where the original work is a book series itself (e.g. ''Literature/HarryPotter'') and receives a re-release right before its [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] hits the box office. (Unless the novelization is specifically [[RecursiveAdaptation based on the adaptation]], instead of the original source.)

Subtrope of AdaptationFirst. See also: SequelFirst.

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!!Examples:

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[[folder: Film ]]

* Famously, ''Franchise/StarWars''.
** Including the first six episodes plus ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' and ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie The Clone Wars]]'', as well as comics and novels of ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' and its sequel. Notably, the very first ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'' had a novelization known as ''Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker'' credited to Creator/GeorgeLucas (ghostwritten by Creator/AlanDeanFoster during production) and released ''six months'' before the film's initial theatrical cut, in December 1976, though this can be excused as part of the promotion of a product whose success was not at all assured.
** The prequel trilogy each had ''Illustrated Screenplays'' simultaneously released along with multiple novelizations a month or so before the movie's release. Add in the official soundtrack, comic book and video game adaptations, and by the time of the premiere you could not only know the plot, but ''every single line'' as well. ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' is even a case of ''Graphic Novelization First'', as the release of Dark Horse Comics' trade paperback predates all the other versions, including the film itself by just over ''two months''.
** The sequel trilogy appears to have broken that trend, with digital copies of ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' novelization out on the same day as the movie's theatrical release (four days after the Los Angeles premiere) and print copies two weeks ''afterwards'' to avoid spoiling the movie. ''Film/RogueOne'' is given similar treatment. Notably, doing this sacrificed the potential of print copies of ''The Force Awakens'' being sold as Christmas gifts, but it was decided that this was a necessary sacrifice.
*** ''Film/TheLastJedi'' goes even farther, not releasing in any form until close to the DVD release of the film. Perhaps owing to the divisive reaction to the film, it's being advertised as being an "expanded edition". The same was true for ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's novelization of ''Film/FantasticVoyage'' came out six months before the movie, leading many people to believe that Asimov originated the story, which he had to constantly deny. Some confused fans even complained about the movie getting things wrong because the novelization had corrected a few glaring plot holes that were still present in the film.
** Eventually he had to write an entire science article both to sort this out ''and'' explain in how many ways the scientific problems of shrinking were ignored by the screenwriters. Ultimately, he acquired the rights and created ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Voyage_II:_Destination_Brain Fantastic Voyage 2]]'' - a remake in ''book'' form.
* The novel for ''Film/SpiderMan3'' was in bookstores, and even Wal-Mart, months before the actual movie was released.
* ''Film/IronMan2'': Same as above.
* The novel ''The Ice People'' was written as an adaptation of a big-budget movie that never got off the ground.
* People studying literature and old German cinema to this day debate whether ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'' was a movie adaptation of a book or the movie script got made into a novel. The novel came out first, though.
%%* WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega.
* The novelization of ''Film/TheFunhouse'', by Owen West (a pseudonym of Creator/DeanKoontz), came out the year before the film.
* The novelization of ''Film/RedRidingHood'' was released three months before its theatrical debut
** Partially averted. The ending is not included in the novelization; it is online, but will not be available until the movie comes out.
* The novelizations for the first three ''Film/{{Transformers|FilmSeries}}'' films were released before the movies. Since the plot of ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]'' revolves around a major plot twist, Creator/MichaelBay forbid [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction the fourth]] and [[Film/TransformersTheLastKnight fifth movies]] from having book or comic adaptations.
* Many Creator/{{Pixar}} movies - as well as the sequels to ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' - had their novelisations come out before the films did, as well as tie-in books.
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] by the novelization of the film version of ''Film/DickTracy'', which follows the plot beat-for-beat but carefully omits the film's twist that [[spoiler: The Blank is Breathless Mahoney in disguise.]]
* One of the earliest examples is the novelization of the original ''Film/KingKong1933'' by Delos W. Lovelace which was released in December 1932, some three months before the film's premiere. As often happens with these, since it used an earlier version if the script, some details are different, such as the name of the ship.
* ''Film/TheOmen1976'', as part of a marketing blitz, and done by the film's screenwriter.
* When the book ''Film/LoveStory'' came out, novelizations were so rare that many readers didn’t know it was actually the novelization of an in-preparation film.
* The novel version of ''Film/Mulan2020'' was released in Australia on May 29, 2020. The film had been delayed from its early April release date because of the {{UsefulNotes/COVID}} pandemic, and was moved to July 23 in the nation.
* The novelization of ''Film/Penelope2006'' was published months before the film was released due to a change of American distributor.
* The novelization of ''[[Film/TheLittleMermaid2023 The Little Mermaid]]'' was released on April 11, 2023, a month before the film's release.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland'': The episode "White Rabbits Can't Jump" was released as a book before it was supposed to air on TV, but [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents the OJ Simpson case]] caused Disney to shelve the episode, making it an EarlyDraftTieIn.
* Novelizations of the ''Series/AlienNation'' [[MadeForTVMovie Made-for-TV Movies]] ''Dark Horizon'' (1994) and ''Body and Soul'' (1995) were both published in 1993, based on unfilmed scripts for future episodes of the series. At the time, it was believed that attempts to revive the series would never succeed, so it was deemed okay to go ahead and do the scripts as novels instead. Then a revival ''did'' happen, but both scripts were rewritten before being filmed (in the first case to accommodate the passage of time by writing out the cliffhanger element, in the second case to add a new action subplot for the movie version), so the novels present significantly different versions of the stories.
* This supposedly happened in the UK with the ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[LongRunners 20th]] [[MilestoneCelebration anniversary special]] ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Project Itoh's novelization of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' was published on June 12, 2008, the same day the game was released... in Japanese only. The English translated edition wouldn't be released until four years later on June 2012.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}: Ghost'' book came out around 2006. The computer game is [[VaporWare indefinitely postponed]].
** That novel (''Nova'') was a prequel to the game. The novelization of the game (''Spectres'') wasn't released until 2011. Game's still missing in action, though.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The novelization of Sozin's Comet, the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', came out months before the actual episodes were shown on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} (but only in the US, they had aired elsewhere in the world months before).
* The novelization of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension'' was available on June 28, 2011, earlier than the movie itself aired on Creator/DisneyChannel.
* Pretty much any given [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney film]] from the 90s and onward has novelizations and other merch coming out before the films.
** Partially averted, in that many of the novelizations will prematurely end, and visual guides will be missing siginificant events and props from the end.
** The book version of ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' is an extreme case of this, as it came out almost ''two years'' ahead. In fact, it was specifically written to "familiarize" audiences with the story, since Disney was then - even more than now - linked with adaptations of already-ubiquitous fairy tales.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Movie Novelization]]'' was released on September 22, 2015, before the actual movie's October San Francisco premiere and November New York City premiere.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
** Unlike the previous three ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]]'' movies, the novelization of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree'' was released on September 6, 2016 — almost a month before the (English) premiere on October 1, 2016. And the novelization itself apparently got released early in some stores, as details (and eventually the book itself) were leaked by some fans.
** The novelization for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' came out on August 29, 2017, but the movie would only be released more than a month later on October 6, 2017.
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'': A picture book based on the movie titled ''My Little Pony: A New Adventure'' was released on August 17, 2021, over a month before the movie's {{Creator/Netflix}} release.
* The picture book adaptation of the ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' episode "Daniel's Fish Dies," titled ''Remembering Blue Fish'', was published on August 29, 2017. This was nearly six months before the February 26, 2018 premiere of the episode.
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