Rebecca Schriesheim May 25th, 2021 - 1:24 PM
The Best-selling YA Fantasy series Red Queen written by Victoria Aveyard (Cruel Crown) has found a home at Peacock. The streamer is set to adapt the beloved book series into the potential show, with Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfeect, The Hunger Games) set to play a major supporting character and direct, as reported by Vulture.
Banks and her husband Max Handelman (Pitch Perfect) will also co-executive produce Red Queen through their production company Brownstone Productions. The series is co-written by the authors Aveyard and Beth Schwartz (Arrow), who will also serve as the series showrunner and co-executive produce alongside Aveyard and Dannah Shinder (Shrill). Warner Brothers Television will co-produce with Universal Television.
Reporting on the news of Red Queen coming to Peacock, Deadline picked up the official synopsis: “Red Queen is set in an alternate near-future America where democracy is replaced by a monarchy led by a group of humans with superpowers who rule with an iron fist over those without powers. Mare, a fiery young woman born to poverty without powers, is doing the best she can to survive and protect her family when she discovers the unthinkable: She somehow has powers too! This shocking discovery turns our world upside down and catapults our unlikely hero to become the face of a revolution for the oppressed while searching for the truth behind the greatest mystery of all…how she became so powerful in the first place.”
Published in 2015, Red Queen quickly became number one on the New York Times Bestseller list. Aveyard followed the novel’s success with three sequels, including Glass Sword, King’s Cage and War Storm.
After news of the series development, Banks shared a cryptic tweet on twitter, responding to a fan’s theory on which character she will be playing. See her tweet below:
— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) May 25, 2021
Banks is known for her decades spanning work as an actress primarily in comedy. Her most notable roles include playing Lindsay in the cult classic film Wet Hot American Summer, Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series, and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the Pitch Perfect series. In more recent years, Banks has also begun work as a director, making her debut with the 2015 film Pitch Perfect 2. She also directed, wrote, and starred in the 2019 film remake of Charlie’s Angels.
