Red Rising is getting another shot at a screen adaptation, I’m loving the trend of this happening this year! Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights to Pierce Brown’s dystopian science-fiction series, with The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence attached. So you know it has to be good. After more than a decade of announcements this truly calls for a celebration. This book has finally found the right team to bring it to life. I mean? Francis Lawrence? Yes please.
And giving it’s Lawrence, yes, that does mean it will be a movie. Hopefully, a set of movies. But even so, trying to add the whole story into one movie is going to be a stretch. And the books don’t exactly get smaller as they go on.
Anyway, here’s all the bits we know.
Red Rising movie: quick takeaways
- Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights to Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series.
- Francis Lawrence, known for directing multiple Hunger Games films, is attached to direct an adaptation of book one.
- Justin Rhodes will write the screenplay; Pierce Brown is attached as an executive producer.
- The previously developed Red Rising TV series was cancelled. This is a different project.
- No cast, trailer, filming date, rating or release date has been announced.
Red Rising movie: at a glance
- Studio
- Paramount Pictures
- Format
- Feature film adapting the first novel
- Director
- Francis Lawrence (attached)
- Screenwriter
- Justin Rhodes
- Author involvement
- Pierce Brown, executive producer
- Announced
- October 16, 2026
- Cast and release date
- Not announced
What has Paramount actually confirmed about Red Rising?
Paramount has acquired the screen rights to the series and are bringing along Francis Lawrence to the adaptation of the first novel. Justin Rhodes will be writing of course. Lawrence and Cameron MacConomy will produce through About.Blank alongside Francesco Goedhuis, with Brown serving as executive producer. So, we have some named people.
There’s a limit to what this tells us, though. Just because we have the names doesn’t mean we have the green light, but this time we could be pretty close. The fact that Brown is involved is freaking incredible, we love to see the authors credited here, but we don’t know how involved he’ll be. Sometimes an author gets a lot of say-so, like Fourth Wing, other times it’s just the name slapped on.
For new readers who have not yet joined the action, Red Rising follows Darrow, a miner born into the lowest caste of a colour-coded society on Mars. The ruling Golds have engineered themselves into a physically dominant class, while the Reds labour under a monumental lie. Darrow infiltrates the Golds’ Institute, where their future rulers are trained through a frankly nightmarish competition. So expect to see lots of space, mars like sets, and dystopian features.
What happened to the Red Rising TV show?
Pierce Brown confirmed in March 2026 that the long-running television project was no longer moving forward. This does tend to happen with these sort of things. However, even at this point Brown mentioned there was another opportunity on the horizon. Which we now get to hear about.
The series has had whispers around screens for more than a decade, just by the way, when Universal originally acquired the film rights in 2014. Later, a television version seemed the more likely route, I mean, have you seen the depth? So, fans spent years wondering about the supposed streaming home. But no. It will be a movie. So get ready to snag those tickets, assuming it will be in theaters and not straight to Paramount.
Is Francis Lawrence a good choice to direct Red Rising?
I actually think so, I really do. Lawrence directed Catching Fire, the two Mockingjay films and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as well as the 2025 Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk. He has considerable experience translating violent, politically charged stories with young protagonists to the screen without losing all the character work in favor of the spectacle. I think he did an incredible job in his newer work, The Ballad of Songbirds. I invited my teens to watch it and despite it not actually being that gory, they could not handle the suspense. It really opened their eyes to things they had never experienced and they were incredibly moved. I’ve had my teen read the book, and it was seeing this movie in particular on the screen, above all other media for The Hunger Games, that really captured them. So, with that ramble said, I’m excited.
The first Red Rising book has all the trapping of a good dystopian with rival factions, tests of steel, and twists and turns….and lest we forget, a main character just trying to survive. So as you can imagine people are going to look to the Hunger Games as a comparison for this book to movie adaptation. The one thing I really hope for is the compelling visuals. True differences in castes, stronger depictions of violence and strife, could really make this story stand out and shake off the Hunger Games vibes. Not that I dislike that story, I’ve written several odes to it. But Red Rising deserves it’s own identity too.
Would Red Rising be better as a TV show?
For the full saga, I still prefer the idea of a television series, I know, I know. But there are six published novels so far, with Red God planned as the seventh and final installment. There is so much story. Would you create all of the movies? Would they find a way to cut it early somewhere? Would the audience stay interested enough for 7 movies, we’re talking Harry Potter / Marvel levels of repeat movies here. That’s a big ask. 7 series of a television show is less so, and can go further in depth. I really don’t envy the writers on this one.
If we look at just the first book, it could work though. It has a central viewpoint, am easy goal, and a good, fast paced structure. So, a film might conquer it. But it’s going to need to take those relationships very seriously. We need to be able to span a lot of story, and without that, it may flop.
There’s also no confirmed plan for sequels. You heard that right. I’m rattling on about 7 movies, but they haven’t decided that far. This worries me immensely. I hope we don’t see them try to cut the first book into a standalone. I hope they have taken the long serial potential into account. Golden Son will not fit as nicely into a movie as Red Rising, for instance.
When is the Red Rising movie coming out, and who is playing Darrow?
There is no confirmed release date or cast. Paramount hasn’t announced a filming schedule, the actor playing Darrow, or a trailer. There’s no official age rating either, so claims about a PG-13 or R-rated adaptation are speculation. Lawrence has other projects on his slate, and it would be guesswork to put a year on this one. I will come back and update as soon as I can.
So, is Red Rising finally happening?
It’s closer, at least, if nothing else. An actual major studio, a named writer, and Francis Lawrence attached to direct is a far more substantial update than yet another round of streamer rumours. Whether this reaches cinemas is still a question. But let’s all band together and hope. This series deserves to be seen by those who don’t have time for reading, or simply struggle with it.
I would have loved a high-budget television adaptation, particularly for the later novels, if I’m being really honest, but I’m cautiously optimistic about Lawrence and the first book. I mean, Lawrence…
Please don’t give us Mars with three CGI backgrounds though. Someone pitch a good set.
If the return of dystopian fiction has you interested, I’ve also been following Veronica Roth’s return to Divergent in The Sixth Faction. For more fantasy, sci-fi and adaptation news as it breaks, join The Gilt List.
For the Writers in the Room: Can Your Story Survive a Different Format?
I actually think the first Red Rising novel has a fighting chance as a film because Darrow’s immediate goal is clear, and the Institute gives the plot a recognizable join the dots sort of layout that every reader can follow. It’s when you look beyond that first book that the adaptation work gets a bit terrifying…I mean, imagine tracking all of those threads through a spreadsheet, phew. Later installments carry more political factions, bigger conflicts and characters with relationships the reader really gets, and can totally call you on if you mess it up. You can trim an event from a screenplay, sure, but you still have to account for what it will affect down the road. Take one something that sets up book 5/movie 5? Watch the dominoes crash.
There’s a pretty good revision exercises hiding in this, by the way. Try describing your fantasy manuscript as a two-hour film, aka the dreaded synopsis. Which scenes absolutely must survive on your survival island? And when you cut them, will it make anything else crash, burn, and not make much sense later on in the story? Which relationships need time on screen so people are really gutted by the betrayal? Or elated by the kiss? If you’re struggling to answer these, or want to try out more tips like these, read my guide to story promise, then check for plot holes and missing consequences. And if you’re still unsure how much information your reader actually needs in the opening, start with the fantasy first-chapter guide.
If the overall structure is keeping you up at night, or you just want someone to nerd out and build your world with you, my fantasy and romantasy developmental editing services are designed to help you without losing what makes the book yours.
FAQ: Red Rising movie and TV adaptation
A film is now being developed at Paramount Pictures, with Francis Lawrence attached to direct. The earlier television adaptation was cancelled.
Francis Lawrence is attached to direct the film based on the first Red Rising book. Justin Rhodes is writing the screenplay.
Yes. Brown is attached as an executive producer. The full extent of his creative involvement has not been announced.
No official Darrow casting has been announced as of October 18, 2026. Fancasts circulating online are not confirmed production news.
No release date or filming schedule has been announced. The adaptation remains in development.
