In June 2025, we found out that Paramount had picked up the rights to adapt the young adult novel Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross in a competitive bidding situation. Writer Sofia Alvarez (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Man Seeking Woman) was attached to pen the script, and the project seemed on its way to development.
Fast forward to October 2026, however, and Paramount’s rights to the book had lapsed after the company’s merger with Skydance. Today, Deadline reports that Disney has entered the picture and picked up the rights. The status of the adaptation, however, is back to square one: Alvarez and her script have reportedly not come over with the new deal, so Disney needs to bring on a new writer to tackle the source material.
Speaking of the source material, here’s Divine Rivals’ blurb, per Goodreads (you can also read an excerpt on Reactor here):
All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’ best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. But when Iris’ letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands—that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper—an unlikely magical connection forms. Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?
Divine Rivals came out in 2023 and has sold over one million copies worldwide. It already has a sequel out, Ruthless Vows, though that book doesn’t appear to be part of this deal (yet).
No news on if/when Disney will move the project into production.
