An assortment of franchise rights held by Paramount have expired during its merger with Skydance last year, including Divine Rivals, the first book of the Letters of Enchantment series by author Rebecca Ross. The novel was #1 New York Times bestseller in 2023. After the rights to the novel expire at Paramount, Disney Live Action has acquired it and is now working on a project.
The story has been in development at Paramount, set with writer Sofia Alvarez, known for her share of ink in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. She will be replaced Deadline reports on Oct. 27, and no new writer has been announced. Some other key personnel stay despite the relocation: Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Pouya Shahbazian are producing, with Ross and Stephen Shafer executive producing. No production start date has been announced.
Other personnel involved include Disney SVP of production Allison Erlikhman, who reports to Disney Live Action president Daria Cercek. Clare Reeth and Emily Dayton from Disney’s Literary Affairs, with Katherine Curtis at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. and Steve Younger at Myman Greenspan brokering the deal for Ross. All other rights for Ross are handled by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.
Divine Rivals tells the story of two journalists, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt. Set during a fantasy world of war between rival gods, akin to WWI, the two were first rivals from the same newspapers whose magical letter correspondence outlines their relationship from enemies to lovers, shadowed by Iris’s dire hope to maintain her falling-apart family.
Rebecca Ross is an established author with 9 novels under her name. Her books have been translated into 31 languages, totaling 3 million sales worldwide and 128 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Since its release, Divine Rivals has sold more than a million copies, its sequel Ruthless Vows more than half a million, and the prequel, Wild Reverence, was released Sept 2nd, 2025, according to Rebecca Ross’s website.
Di Bonaventura Pictures, which will be involved in the adaptation, has produced over 50 movies in its 23 years, grossing over $7 billion, and is now working with Paramount Skydance on new G.I. Joe and Transformers films.
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