Disney Live Action picked up Rebecca Ross’s bestselling fantasy romance Divine Rivals after Paramount’s rights lapsed. The producers stay on, and Disney is hunting for a new screenwriter.
BookTok, this one’s for you. Disney has picked up the film rights to “Divine Rivals,” Rebecca Ross’s bestselling fantasy romance, Deadline reported Oct. 27.
Disney Live Action is making it as a theatrical movie. Deadline called the deal part of Disney’s “further commitment to original franchise IP.”
The book had a movie deal before, at Paramount. That version stalled, the rights lapsed, and now the Mouse has them.
What is Divine Rivals about?
“Divine Rivals” came out in 2023. It’s the first book in Ross’s Letters of Enchantment series, followed by “Ruthless Vows” the same year.
The story follows two rival young journalists, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, who compete for the same newspaper job. A war between gods is tearing their world apart. Iris starts typing letters to her brother on the front lines, and the letters slip through a magical connection to Roman instead.
Deadline’s short version is two rival journalists who find love through a magical connection and face the depths of hell during a war among gods. Enemies to lovers, plus typewriters, plus a war. You can see why readers went for it.
How popular is the Divine Rivals book?
Very. According to Deadline, “Divine Rivals” has sold more than 1 million copies and spent 104 weeks on The New York Times young adult bestseller list.
The sequel, “Ruthless Vows,” spent 42 weeks on the list and sold more than 500,000 copies, Deadline reported. Ross has racked up 128 weeks on the Times list in all.
A lot of that came from BookTok, where enemies-to-lovers fantasy has been one of the hottest corners of the internet for years.
Hollywood has noticed. Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing” is being developed at Amazon MGM Studios, and studios have been chasing romantasy hits ever since. Disney grabbing “Divine Rivals” puts the Mouse squarely in that race.
It also fits Disney’s taste for stories with a strong heroine and a lot of heart. Iris is a writer first and a fighter second, which is a little different from the usual sword-swinging lead.
What happened to the Paramount Divine Rivals movie?
Paramount won the rights in a bidding war in June 2025, with Sofia Alvarez set to write the script, Deadline reported at the time. Alvarez wrote the “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” movies for Netflix.
Then Skydance’s purchase of Paramount closed in August 2025, and a lot of projects got shuffled. The “Divine Rivals” rights eventually lapsed, and Disney picked them up.
There’s no screenwriter attached at Disney yet. The studio is looking for a new one, per Deadline.
Who is producing Disney’s Divine Rivals?
Two producers came over from the Paramount version. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who produced the “Transformers” movies, and Pouya Shahbazian are still on board, Deadline reported.
Ross and Stephen Shafer are executive producers. At Disney, Allison Erlikhman, senior vice president of production, is overseeing it and reports to Disney Live Action President Daria Cercek.
Disney hasn’t announced a director, a cast or a release date. This is the very start of the process.
The deal itself was worked out by Clare Reeth and Emily Dayton for Disney, Deadline reported. Ross is represented by Katherine Curtis of New Leaf Literary and Media, with Steve Younger of Myman Greenspan handling the film rights.
Is Divine Rivals coming to Disney+?
Deadline doesn’t say so. The report describes it as a feature for Disney Live Action, the same division behind the studio’s live-action theatrical releases. Disney+ isn’t mentioned.
Of course, most Disney movies end up on Disney+ after their theater run. So if it gets made, it’ll probably land there eventually.
When could the Divine Rivals movie come out?
Nobody knows yet, and it’ll be a while. With no writer, director or cast, a release date is probably years away.
Fans have waited this long, though. The book has been a bestseller for about three years now, and its movie has already survived one studio. Now it’s at the biggest studio in town.
If you haven’t read it, you’ve got time. Both books are out, and the duology is complete. That’s more than most fantasy fans can say about their favorite series.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Deadline (Oct. 27), the Disney deal, producers, sales and list figures
Deadline (June 2025), the Paramount deal and Sofia Alvarez
MickeyBlog (Oct. 28), summary of the Deadline report
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