Hunger Games Director Joins New Dystopian Sci-Fi Movie Franchise After Sunrise on the Reaping

Home » Hunger Games Director Joins New Dystopian Sci-Fi Movie Franchise After Sunrise on the Reaping

The director behind most of the Hunger Games films has been tapped to helm the feature adaptation of Red Rising. Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights and hired Francis Lawrence to direct the adaptation. The film will adapt Pierce Brown‘s beloved 2014 novel of the same name.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence Lawrence will produce the film alongside Cameron MacConomy and Francesco Goedhuis of about:blank. Red Rising will be written by Justin Rhodes, who also worked with Lawrence to develop Netflix’s adaptation of Bioshock. Brown will also executive produce the film. The project was previously in development as a television series before those plans were shelved.

What else has Francis Lawrence made besides the Hunger Games movies?

Lawrence is known for directing several dystopian science-fiction films adapted from books. In addition to directing every Hunger Games film since Catching Fire, Lawrence has helmed Constantine, I Am Legend, The Long Walk, and other films. Beyond sci-fi, Lawrence also directed the 2011 romantic film Water for Elephants and the 2018 thriller Red Sparrow.

Lawrence has also directed episodes of the Apple TV series See, and music videos like Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” The filmmaker is also attached to direct Constantine 2 as well as Netflix’s Bioshock movie. His next film will be this November’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

Red Rising is the first novel in the eponymous series. Set on future Mars, the book follows a lowborne miner, Darrow, who is a “Red” in the color-coded class system. The story sees Darrow infiltrating the society of the “Golds” after a tragedy.

Six books in the series have been published, and a seventh is in development. The books have sold more than 6 million copies, and the series has also inspired an audiobook and a board game. The Red Rising movie does not yet have a release date.