Francis Lawrence is attached to direct a Red Rising film for Paramount, according to TheWrap. The project adapts the first novel in Pierce Brown’s science-fiction series, with Justin Rhodes writing the screenplay. Brown is on board as an executive producer.
The novel introduces Darrow, a worker at the bottom of a society organized by color-coded castes. He has been raised to believe his labor is preparing Mars for future settlement. Discovering what that promise conceals sends him into the world of the privileged Golds. The publisher’s synopsis frames the story around infiltration, class and a struggle for power inside the ruling order.
Lawrence brings considerable experience with dystopian adaptations through The Hunger Games. His connection with Rhodes also predates this project: the pair worked on an unproduced BioShock adaptation. Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce Red Rising through about.blank, alongside Francesco Goedhuis, TheWrap reports.
For an adaptation, the central challenge is already visible in the premise. Darrow must enter the elite’s institutions to oppose them, putting rebellion and participation uncomfortably close together. The report concerns a film of the first book; it does not announce a release date or a cast.