Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights to Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series, with Francis Lawrence attached to direct an adaptation of the first novel, The Hollywood Reporter first reported on Oct. 16.
The movie is still in early development, so a cast and release date haven’t been announced yet, but we’re already eagerly anticipating everything to come.
(Red Rising via Del Rey)
- Studio: Paramount Pictures
- Director: Francis Lawrence
- Writer: Justin Rhodes
- Based on: Red Rising, the first novel in Pierce Brown’s series
- Executive producer: Pierce Brown
Who Is Making the Red Rising Movie?
Justin Rhodes is writing the script, according to Variety and Deadline.
His credits include Terminator: Dark Fate and the Prime Video series Secret Level.
Francis Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce for About.Blank alongside Francesco Goedhuis.
Author Pierce Brown is also on board as an executive producer.
What Is Red Rising About?
The 2014 novel takes place in a sci-fi future where colonized planets are divided by a color-coded caste system.
The story follows Darrow, a “Red” miner on Mars who discovers that the ruling “Gold” caste has enslaved his people. They’ve been misled for centuries to believe that they’re working hard for their freedom, breaking their backs to complete a terraforming project for the good of their planet.
In reality, they toil while many others live lives of opulent luxury on the surface. Darrow’s best shot at changing everything may be to pose as a Gold himself, and against all odds, infiltrate their society and change it from within.
Six books have been published so far, and the final installment, Red God, is still on the way.
In 2024, Pierce announced that the saga had sold more than 6 million copies, though it’s unclear whether that figure is U.S. or global.
The universe has grown beyond the novels, too.
Pierce has co-written the Red Rising: Son of Ares prequel comic series with Rik Hoskin, published by Dynamite Entertainment, and the series has also inspired a board game.
Why Francis Lawrence for Red Rising?
Francis Lawrence is no stranger to dystopian worlds, having directed several films in The Hunger Games franchise.
That includes 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which arrives next month.
He also directed last year’s Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk.
Francis is attached to the first book only for now, which suggests Paramount is starting with one story before deciding how far to take it.
Also read about: Everything You Wanted to Know About The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
When Is the Red Rising Movie Coming Out?
There’s no release date yet, and no actors have been announced to play Darrow or anyone else from the books.
Reports describe the project as in development, which means production hasn’t started.
The rights have also been on quite a journey, as Red Rising was once set up for feature development at Universal and was eyed as a TV series in the late 2010s.
Now, it’s landed at Paramount as a feature film built on the first book, with its author involved as an executive producer.
For now, the news means one of sci-fi’s most popular book series finally has a studio, a director and a writer behind it, and we’ll be watching for the first casting announcements.
Looking for more Panem? Check out The 44 Best Quotes From The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Book as Instagram Captions.
