A Red Rising movie is in development at Paramount, with The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence attached to direct. The studio has acquired the film rights to Pierce Brown’s science-fiction series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The adaptation will begin with the first novel, Red Rising. Justin Rhodes is writing the screenplay, and Brown will serve as an executive producer. Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce through about:blank, alongside Francesco Goedhuis.
There is no announced cast, filming schedule or release date. For now, the news gives the project a studio, director and writer as it moves through development.
Francis Lawrence takes on another dystopian adaptation
Lawrence joined The Hunger Games with Catching Fire and went on to direct both Mockingjay films and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. His experience adapting a story about an oppressive society and young people forced into violent competition makes this a familiar kind of material, even if Darrow’s world has its own demands.
Rhodes has worked on Terminator: Dark Fate and has also been developing the BioShock adaptation with Lawrence. Brown’s executive-producer credit puts the author on the film’s production team, although the announcement does not spell out his day-to-day involvement.
A new film after the earlier TV project
Red Rising has been through more than one attempt to reach the screen. Universal acquired the movie rights in 2014, with Marc Forster attached to direct. That version did not reach theaters, and a television adaptation later entered development.
In a March interview with Maude’s Book Club, covered by ComicBook, Brown said the television project was no longer moving forward. He also indicated that another live-action adaptation was being discussed. The Paramount film is a new development following that stalled TV effort.
Where Darrow’s story begins
Published in 2014, Red Rising follows Darrow, a young Red working beneath the surface of Mars. His people occupy the lowest tier of a society divided by color, and believe their labor is making the planet habitable for future generations. When Darrow discovers the truth about the world above him, he enters the ranks of the ruling Golds to challenge their power from within.
The first novel introduces that society through Darrow’s entry into the Institute, where its future leaders compete for power. The wider series expands far beyond that starting point, with six novels currently published and Red God still to come. Our Red Rising reading-order guide covers the original trilogy and the later books.
The reported adaptation is of the first novel. No sequel films have been announced.
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