Paramount Picks Up Pierce Brown Sci-Fi Novel Red Rising for Film

Paramount Pictures is officially taking another swing at adapting Pierce Brown's bestselling sci-fi novel Red Rising for the screen. The studio tapped Francis Lawrence, known for his work on The Hunger Games franchise, to direct the upcoming live-action project. Scripting responsibilities fall to Justin Rhodes, who previously collaborated with Lawrence on Netflix's developing BioShock adaptation. Rhodes brings a robust genre background to the table, with prior credits including Terminator: Dark Fate and various episodes of Prime Video's Secret Level.

First published in 2014, Red Rising transports audiences to a dystopian Mars where low-status laborers extract helium-3 fuel to help terraform the planet. The narrative follows Darrow, an eighteen-year-old miner who embarks on a vengeance mission against the ruling Nero Augustus following a brutal public whipping. Darrow joins forces with local rebels to surgically alter and infiltrate the societal elite, where a strict color-coded caste system dictates every citizen's physical traits and social standing. The initial novel sparked widespread critical and commercial acclaim, leading Brown to expand the universe into a sprawling series featuring an initial trilogy followed by a separate tetralogy.

Hollywood has pursued a screen adaptation of the property for over a decade. Universal initially acquired the film rights back in 2014, though that iteration failed to materialize. Brown subsequently attempted to develop a television series adaptation in both 2018 and 2021, yet those efforts similarly stalled before reaching production. With a fresh creative team attached at Paramount, industry watchers and fans alike await further developments to see if this high-profile attempt finally brings the Martian epic to theaters.