Way back in the dim and distant past, in a year the ancients called 2015, Elizabeth Banks was looking to follow her directorial debut on Pitch Perfect 2 with a movie adaptation of Victoria Aveyard’s book Red Queen. Fast-forward today and, like so many projects, it will now instead become a streaming TV series.
The tome, published in February 2015, takes place in a near-future America divided by blood colour. Ordinary folk have red, while silver is for those elite types with supernatural abilities. Our focus is on Mare, a 17-year-old who is just about making a living as a thief. When a twist of fate leads to her saving the life of one of the royal court, she’s brought before the king and queen – and suddenly starts displaying powers of her own. To keep her under control, the king invents a backstory for her, and has her prepare to marry one of his sons. But she’s caught between worlds as she becomes part of the silver community while helping a rebellion among the reds.
Banks would co-produce and direct the series and is also taking an important supporting role, while Aveyard is writing the scripts alongside Arrow veteran Beth Schwartz. And with three book sequels already in existence, there's plenty of material for the show. It's in development at Universal-back service Peacock, so make your own guess as to where it ends up in the UK.