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Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to Pierce Brown’s bestselling Red Rising novel series, with director Francis Lawrence set to helm a film adaptation of the first book. Lawrence, best known for directing the entire Hunger Games franchise, brings significant experience in adapting popular science fiction and dystopian stories for the big screen.
Screenwriter Justin Rhodes will craft the script, drawing from Brown’s original 2014 novel. Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce through their company About.Blank, joined by producer Francesco Goedhuis. Brown himself will serve as executive producer on the project.
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A Sci-Fi World Built on Color and Class
The Red Rising story unfolds in a distant future where humanity has colonized the planets of the solar system. Society operates under a rigid color-coded caste system. At the bottom, the Reds toil as slave laborers in the mines of Mars. At the top, the powerful Golds rule the solar system and wage war among themselves.
The story centers on Darrow of Lykos, a Red miner who suffers a devastating personal loss. His grief pulls him into a rebellion’s plot for revenge against the ruling Golds. To infiltrate their ranks, Darrow undergoes a brutal physical transformation to pass as a Gold. He then enters a military academy, competing alongside other young adults in brutal trials designed to determine who joins the highest levels of Gold society.
The series currently spans six novels, including Golden Son, Morning Star, Iron Gold, Dark Age, and Lightbringer. A seventh and final book, Red God, is also in the works.
Lawrence Returns to Dystopian Storytelling
Francis Lawrence is no stranger to this genre. He has directed every installment of the Hunger Games film series. His most recent entries include the 2023 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping, set for release next month. He also directed last year’s Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk.
Lawrence is represented by CAA, Gretchen Rush at Hansen Jacobson, and ID. Brown is represented by CAA, Hannah Bowman at Liza Dawson Associates for publishing, and Dave Feldman at Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver & Thompson. Rhodes is represented by CAA, Adam Kolbrenner at Lit Entertainment, and Eric Suddleson at Toczek Suddleson. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.
