Paramount Pictures has picked up the film adaptation rights to Pierce Brown’s bestselling dystopian Sci-Fi series Red Rising, with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence at the helm of the project, writes Film News Blitz‘s Lucy Eason.
The film adaptation will be based on the first novel in the seven-part series, also titled Red Rising.
The book is set on a dystopian version of the planet Mars, and follows a young miner named Darrow O’Lykos.
Born into the very bottom caste of the novel’s hierarchical society, Darrow has always been told that his dangerous and gruelling work is essential for preparing the planet for future generations.
However, after a devastating personal loss, he discovers that everything he has been taught is a lie, and embarks on a mission to infiltrate the ruling class and bring the system down from within.
Since the publication of the first instalment in 2014, the series has built a cult following and sold over six million copies in the United States alone.
TV series considered
Previously, Red Rising was set up for feature development at Universal Studios, and was at one point also being considered for adaptation as a television series.
However, neither of these options materialised.
Now, the film adaptation is set to be directed by Francis Lawrence, whose directing credits include several instalments in the beloved Hunger Games film franchise.
More recently, Lawrence has seen further directorial success with his 2025 adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel The Long Walk.
The film was a box office hit, and as of December 2025 had grossed a worldwide total of $65million against a budget of $20million.
It currently holds an impressive rating of 88% on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.
Seasoned professionals
Lawrence will also be joined by a team of fellow seasoned professionals from the film industry when working on the adaptation.
The film’s script will be written by Justin Rhodes, who has worked on projects such as Terminator: Dark Fate and Prime Video’s Secret Level.
Meanwhile, production for the film will be handled by a collaboration between Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy alongside Francesco Goedhuis, with author Pierce Brown stepping in as executive producer.
Other upcoming adaptations
Red Rising is just one of the numerous major book adaptations currently being developed by Paramount Pictures.
Early next year, the studio is set to release a high-budget film based on Tomi Adayemi’s young adult romantic fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone.
Other upcoming releases include adaptations of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, which will see Florence Pugh taking on the lead role.
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