Paramount Buys 'Red Rising,' With Francis Lawrence Directing the First Book

Paramount has acquired the film rights to Pierce Brown's New York Times bestselling science-fiction series Red Rising and has enlisted Francis Lawrence to direct an adaptation of the first installment, Deadline reports. Justin Rhodes, whose credits include Terminator: Dark Fate and the Prime Video series Secret Level, will write the script. The deal is for a series, but the announcement only commits Paramount to book one. Buying the rights is the easy half; the first film has to earn the rest, which makes the director-writer pairing the entire bet.