Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence to helm Red Rising for Paramount
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The gist
Paramount tapped Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence to direct a Red Rising movie.
The adaptation spent eight years in development and now heads to theaters.
Background
Francis Lawrence is the director of four Hunger Games movies, including the upcoming prequel Sunrise on the Reaping. Paramount Pictures picked up the rights to Pierce Brown's best-selling Red Rising book series and set Lawrence to direct; the series is set on Mars in a future society with a color-coded class system and follows Darrow, a young miner from the lowest working class, who infiltrates the ruling class. Lawrence says the adaptation was in the works for eight years, initially under Netflix, before moving to Paramount.
How it unfolded
- Oct 16, 2026Paramount Pictures picks up the rights to Pierce Brown's Red Rising and taps Francis Lawrence to direct the adaptation.
- Oct 28, 2026Lawrence attends The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping UK Fan Screening at Westfield London.
- Late October 2026At the London fan screening, Lawrence says he would be interested in a Plutarch Heavensbee prequel.
- Nov 5, 2026A report says that with Lawrence set to direct Red Rising, which he calls "a priority at Paramount," DC Studios may move on with a DCU take on Constantine.
- Nov 7, 2026The Wrap and A.V. Club publish Lawrence's Plutarch prequel pitch; producer Nina Jacobson also voices enthusiasm.
- Nov 8, 2026Lawrence tells MovieWeb the Red Rising adaptation was in the works for eight years, initially under Netflix, before moving to Paramount.
- Nov 20, 2026The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to arrive in cinemas.
Key terms
- DCU
- An American media franchise and shared universe based on DC Comics characters, created by James Gunn and Peter Safran.
- Constantine
- A DC Comics antihero and working-class warlock, occult detective, exorcist and con man from Liverpool, created by Alan Moore and others.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Director
- Lawrence calls Red Rising "an infiltration story" with its own themes and moral quandaries, and says he is "very excited because I feel like that material is deserving of a theatrical experience."
- Caution
- Lawrence notes the adaptation is "a big ask in terms of spend, because it's not going to be cheap."
- Producer
- Nina Jacobson, calling herself a "Plutarch obsessive," says of the character: "He's been at this for 25 years playing both sides. Like, how did you pull that off?"
Still unverified
A potential Plutarch Heavensbee prequel remains an idea rather than a confirmed project, and whether it becomes the franchise's next big-screen instalment is described as still to be seen.