Paramount Pictures has officially greenlit a movie adaptation of Pierce Brown's popular Red Rising book series, with Francis Lawrence, known for his work on The Hunger Games franchise, attached to direct. The film adaptation comes more than a decade after the first book was published in 2014.
Lawrence will produce the Red Rising film through his production company, about:blank, alongside Cameron MacConomy. Pierce Brown himself and Francesco Goedhuis are also set to produce. Brown expressed his enthusiasm for the project on Instagram, stating, "Let fall the iron rain. Bloodydamn, I love this team."
Justin Rhodes, who is also working on Netflix's Bioshock movie adaptation, has been tapped to write the script for Red Rising. Rhodes's previous credits include Terminator: Dark Fate and Traveler.
The Red Rising saga is set in a galaxy with a rigid, color-coded caste system. The narrative follows Darrow, a member of the lowest caste, the Reds, who labor under the belief that Mars is not yet habitable. Upon discovering this is a falsehood and that Mars has long been terraformed, Darrow infiltrates the elite Gold caste to incite change across the galaxy. The book series is planned to conclude with its seventh installment, though a release date has not yet been announced.
This development follows recent news regarding other popular book-to-screen adaptations, such as Prime Video's Fourth Wing series casting its lead roles.