Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights to Pierce Brown's Red Rising, with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence attached to direct an adaptation of the first novel, TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter reported on October 16, 2026. Justin Rhodes is writing the script, and Brown is an executive producer. No cast or release date has been announced.
It is the most serious attempt yet to bring the bestselling series to the screen, more than a decade after a first try at Universal stalled.
Quick facts
| Studio | Paramount Pictures |
| Director | Francis Lawrence (attached) |
| Writer | Justin Rhodes |
| Producers | Francis Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy (about.blank), Francesco Goedhuis |
| Executive producer | Pierce Brown |
| Based on | Red Rising (2014), the first book in the series |
| Cast | Not announced |
| Release date | Not announced |
What is the Red Rising movie about?
Red Rising is set on a future, terraformed Mars governed by a strict caste system in which people are sorted by color. The Golds rule; the Reds work as miners below the surface. Darrow, a young Red, learns that his people have been lied to about their lives and their world, and he is remade to infiltrate Gold society and tear it down from within.
The books mix science fiction with Roman history and mythology, and the first one has drawn constant comparisons to The Hunger Games, which makes the choice of director easy to understand.
Who is Francis Lawrence?
Lawrence has spent much of the past 13 years in Panem. He directed Catching Fire, both Mockingjay films and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and his fifth film in the franchise, Sunrise on the Reaping, opens later this year. "Francis Lawrence isn't leaving the dystopian future anytime soon," TheWrap wrote.
His other films include I Am Legend, Constantine and Red Sparrow.
Writer Justin Rhodes worked on Terminator: Dark Fate. He and Lawrence previously teamed up on a long-gestating adaptation of the video game BioShock at Netflix, which has not been made.
Hasn't this been tried before?
Yes. In February 2014, the month after the first book came out, Universal bought the rights with Marc Forster (World War Z) set to direct and Brown writing the screenplay. Brown wrote multiple drafts, but the film never went into production and the rights went back to him.
In 2018, Brown said he was developing Red Rising as a television series instead, and later that year that the rights had been sold again to an unnamed studio. Nothing was produced. Paramount's deal is the first to come with a named director and writer since Universal's.
How many Red Rising books are there?
Six have been published, in two series:
| Book | Published |
|---|---|
| Red Rising | 2014 |
| Golden Son | 2015 |
| Morning Star | 2016 |
| Iron Gold | 2018 |
| Dark Age | 2019 |
| Light Bringer | 2023 |
| Red God | No date |
A seventh and final book, Red God, is planned. In March, Brown said it was "nowhere near completion" and that he had not given his publisher a target date. The series has sold more than 6 million copies, according to Brown, and has spawned comics and a tabletop game.
What we don't know yet
- Who will play Darrow, or anyone else. No casting has been reported.
- Whether Paramount sees it as a franchise. The deal covers an adaptation of the first book; the studio has not said publicly whether it plans the sequels.
- When it will shoot or open. No dates have been set.
The deal is one of the first big franchise plays at Paramount since its merger with Warner Bros. closed this month; see what the Paramount–Warner Bros. deal means.
What to watch
Casting. Darrow is the role fans have argued about for a decade, and the first name attached will tell you a lot about the scale Paramount has in mind.
Lawrence's schedule. Sunrise on the Reaping comes first. How quickly Red Rising moves after that depends on him.
Red God. Whether the final book lands before or after the film could shape how the story is adapted.
Published Sunday, October 18, 2026. Deal details are from TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter; Paramount has not issued a public statement. Adaptation history is from contemporary reporting and Brown's own statements.
