After Paramount’s hold on Rebecca Ross’s bestselling fantasy romance lapsed, Disney is restarting the screenplay from scratch.
BURBANK, California (Screenplay Biz) – Disney has acquired the film rights to Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross’s bestselling fantasy romance, and it is looking for a new screenwriter. The adaptation had been in development at Paramount, where Sofia Alvarez was attached to write, but the reports on the deal say that earlier development work will not carry over. For anyone who writes adaptations for a living, it is a useful case study in how fragile an attachment can be when rights change hands.
A rights lapse at one studio becomes a deal at another
The news was first reported by Deadline, and coverage elsewhere describes the sequence the same way. GeekTyrant says the project landed at Paramount in June 2025 after a bidding war, that Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount changed its path, and that the rights eventually lapsed, which allowed Disney to step in. A Brazilian summary at Legiao dos Herois also says Paramount’s agreement expired. A third write-up, from Books of Brilliance, is more cautious: it notes that the reports do not establish why Paramount let the rights go, so the link to the merger should be read as one outlet’s framing rather than a confirmed cause. You can find the original Deadline report by its headline on the Disney acquisition.
Disney has not announced a release date, cast or director. One summary describes the project as a live-action feature, while the Brazilian report says Disney has not said whether it will be a film or a series. The Books of Brilliance summary relays Filmofilia’s view that the rights deal is not a production greenlight, a distinction worth keeping in mind whenever a studio announces an acquisition.
What happens to the existing screenplay
The writer-facing detail is the clearest. According to GeekTyrant, Alvarez had been attached, but Disney is seeking a new screenwriter because the previous development work is not carrying over. Legiao dos Herois notes that Alvarez is known for writing the film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and that she was developing the Paramount version. No replacement has been named.
Nothing in the reports suggests anything about the quality of that earlier draft, and it would be wrong to read the change as a judgment on Alvarez. What it shows is structural. A writer hired under one studio’s option is working inside that studio’s development, and when the option ends, the draft stays on the other side of the line.
Producers and executives on the project
Producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Pouya Shahbazian remain attached, according to GeekTyrant. Ross is an executive producer alongside Stephen Shafer. At Disney, Allison Erlikhman, senior vice president of production, oversees the film and reports to Daria Cercek, president of Disney Live Action. The continuity of the producers while the writer changes is typical of how a project survives a rights transfer, and it gives the new screenwriter a team that already knows the material.
Why the source material attracts studios
GeekTyrant reports that Ross has sold more than 3 million books worldwide, with a combined 128 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and translations into 27 languages. It says Divine Rivals, published in April 2023, has sold over a million copies, and that her next novel, A Bittersweet Spell, is due on April 6, 2027. Per Legiao dos Herois, the story follows two rival young journalists, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, who exchange anonymous letters through a magical link during a war between gods in a world inspired by the early twentieth century. The Books of Brilliance summary, citing Reactor, says the sequel Ruthless Vows does not appear to be part of the Disney deal.
A second rights deal from the same fortnight
A different kind of adaptation sale was reported at the same time. JoBlo says Sony Pictures has acquired the live-action rights to the Image Comics series D’orc from its creator, Brett Bean, who is attached to bring the concept to the screen, while Gizmodo notes that no director has been attached. Neither report names a screenwriter. The contrast is instructive: in one case a prose author takes an executive producer role and a new writer is brought in, and in the other the creator of the comic is positioned as a creative partner from the start.
Lessons for adapting writers (analysis)
The following points are analysis based on the facts above, not statements from the parties.
- An attachment is not ownership. If you are hired on a property you do not control, your draft belongs to the deal that paid for it, and the deal can end.
- Track the option clock. Writers and their representatives should know when rights expire and what happens to the material if they do.
- Studio mergers shift priorities. If GeekTyrant’s account is right that the Skydance takeover changed the project’s path, projects can stall for reasons unrelated to the script.
- Show the new studio what is different. A fresh pitch for a lapsed property should explain how your take serves the buyer’s slate, not the previous one.
The hunt for a new writer is also an opening. Disney will meet writers who can show they can compress a long, interior, letter-driven romance into a screenplay, and a strong sample that proves it could put a name on the shortlist.
Bohiney Magazine covers Hollywood and the entertainment business from the comedy side, and its home page is at Bohiney.com.
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