Elizabeth Banks to Bring YA Fantasy Adaptation ‘Red Queen’ to Peacock
Elizabeth Banks is heading to an alternate near-future in new Peacock drama Red Queen, based on the New York Times best-selling YA fantasy novel from author Victoria Aveyard.
The Hunger Games actress is set to play a major role and direct the potential series, which will be written by Aveyard and former Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Banks will also serve as executive producer alongside her husband Max Handelman (producer on Charlie’s Angels 2019 and Pitch Perfect 2).
Red Queen is set in a world where democracy has fallen by the wayside as a monarchy led by a group of humans with superpowers rule with an iron fist over those without powers. In the middle of all this is Mare, a young woman born into poverty who suddenly discovers she has powers, leading to her becoming an unlikely hero as the face of the revolution.
Banks and Handelman’s Brownstone Productions, which will produce the show under the Warner Bros. TV banner, have been working on a number of projects in recent years. They are the team behind the Hulu comedy series Shrill and the TV adaptation of the Wondery podcast Over My Dead Body, which is in development at HBO Max. Brownstone is also developing the Flintstones sequel Bedrock at Fox, with Banks set to voice Pebbles.
Red Queen marks the latest series in development at Peacock, which recently announced a slate of upcoming productions. This includes a 10-episode order of adaptation Vampire Academy from Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries), romantic-comedy Wolf Like Me starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher, and a reimagining of 90s British classic Queer as Folk from director Stephen Dunn (Closet Monster).
Aveyard’s Red Queen novel was first published in 2015, and she has since released three sequels, Glass Sword, King’s Cage and War Storm.
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