Paramount Picks Up 'Red Rising' With Francis Lawrence Directing

· Entertainment · United States

Paramount has acquired film rights to Pierce Brown's New York Times bestselling sci-fi book series 'Red Rising' and will adapt the first installment, with Francis Lawrence attached to direct. Justin Rhodes, whose credits include 'Terminator: Dark Fate' and the Prime Video series 'Secret Level', will write the script based on the 2014 original novel. Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce. Brown's series is a popular franchise in the young-adult and science-fiction space, and Lawrence is best known for directing multiple films in 'The Hunger Games' franchise — a comparable book-to-screen property. The deal hands Paramount a potential new tentpole franchise at a moment when studios are competing hard for proven literary IP that arrives with a built-in readership.

Why it matters：Studios continue to bet on proven literary franchises as the safest route to theatrical tentpoles; a successful adaptation would extend Paramount's franchise slate and further entrench book-to-film pipelines across Hollywood.

Key points

  • Justin Rhodes will pen the script, based on Brown's 2014 novel, with Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy producing.
  • Lawrence directed multiple films in 'The Hunger Games' franchise, a similarly popular YA sci-fi book series.
  • The book series is a New York Times bestseller, giving the project a built-in readership before release.

Sources (original reporting)

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