Paramount is turning Pierce Brown’s Red Rising into a movie, and the director is someone who knows dystopian young adult franchises well. The studio has picked up the film rights to the series, and Francis Lawrence is attached to direct an adaptation of the first novel, also titled Red Rising. The news first came from The Hollywood Reporter on 16 October, and IGN says it arrives more than a decade after the book’s 2014 publication.
The team behind the camera is largely in place. Justin Rhodes, who worked with Lawrence on developing Netflix’s Bioshock adaptation, will write the script. His credits include Terminator: Dark Fate and the Prime Video series Secret Level. According to Deadline, Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce for their about:blank banner alongside Francesco Goedhuis, with Brown executive producing. Brown has also written a Red Rising comic book prequel story
Brown himself seems happy with the arrangement. IGN reports that he posted on Instagram, writing, “Let fall the iron rain. Bloodydamn, I love this team.”
Lawrence’s résumé explains why Paramount would pick him. He’s best known for directing five Hunger Games films, including The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, out 20 November, and is coming off the Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk for Lionsgate. The deal is the latest high-profile book adaptation at Paramount, which releases a big-budget take on Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone on 15 January 2027.
For anyone new to the books, the setup is simple. Red Rising follows Darrow, a “Red” miner on Mars who discovers the ruling Gold caste has enslaved his people. After being remade to infiltrate Gold society, he joins a rebellion against the colour-based hierarchy. IGN says the series is planned to end with a seventh instalment that has no release date yet, so the story on the page is still unfinished.
The film is at an early stage. Nerdist reports there’s no production start date, cast or release date announced. The same outlet notes that Universal Pictures held the rights for a time to make a feature film, but it never came to fruition. The Hollywood Reporter adds that a series adaptation was being considered in the late 2010s. Until Paramount names a Darrow, the Red Rising film remains a director, a writer and a studio’s commitment.
Is there a release date for the Red Rising movie?
No. Nerdist reports that no release date, cast or production start has been announced, and the project is in early development.
Which book will the movie adapt?
Deadline says Lawrence will direct an adaptation of the first instalment, Red Rising. That’s the one to read first if you want to get ahead of the film.
Who is making the film?
Paramount holds the rights, Francis Lawrence is attached to direct, and Justin Rhodes is writing the script. Lawrence, Cameron MacConomy and Francesco Goedhuis produce, and author Pierce Brown is an executive producer.
