A couple of weeks ago, we used the slow slide of Lionsgate’s Divergent franchise from flagship film to TV movie to note that the world of young adult dystopian film might soon be as dead as vampires, zombies, or movies where vampires and zombies want to be your boyfriend. But—like the sinister First Order before us—we hadn’t counted on the actions of actress Daisy Ridley. Now, Variety is reporting that the Star Wars: The Force Awakens star is lining up for a YA film franchise of her own, attaching herself to star in an adaptation of Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking books.
Centering on a post-apocalyptic world in which every living thing is telepathic, and women are apparently extinct, the books center on a young man who—shockingly—finds out that everything he’s been told about the world is a lie. (At this point, we’re kind of waiting to have our minds blown by the teen-focused novel in which everything is exactly what it seems.) All three of Ness’ books have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal celebrating excellence in youth-oriented fiction, with the trilogy’s finale, Monsters Of Men, winning the award in 2011.
Edge Of Tomorrow and Jumper director Doug Liman is set to direct the adaptation, which will start filming next year. Ridley will presumably play Viola, the silent young woman who kicks off protagonist Todd’s journey to self-discovery. The actress (and her clandestine hair) recently wrapped filming on Star Wars: Episode VIII, and are currently set to star in a number of projects, including a Holocaust drama and Kolma, a new project from her Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams.