Richard Wright himself starred in a low budget film adaptation of Native Son in 1950. The film, directed by Pierre Chenal, is available on video from Classic Pictures Incorporated.

Native Son was adapted to film in 1987. The film, directed by Jerrold Freedmand, starred Victor Love as Bigger Thomas, Elizabeth McGovern as Mary Dalton, Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Thomas, and Matt Dillon as Jan Erlone. The film was produced by Diane Silver for Cinecom Pictures.

Several recordings have been made of the novel. The most recent one was done in 1991 by Caedmon Productions.

Richard Wright gave a talk on March 12, 1940, at Columbia University which explained his ideas about Bigger Thomas in Native Son. This talk has since been published as "How 'Bigger' Was Born" and is included in most recent editions of the novel.