Disney Live Action acquires film rights to Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals

Centre · 1Disney Live Action has acquired the rights to Rebecca Ross's fantasy romance novel Divine Rivals, Deadline reported in an exclusive. 1 Centre · 1Screen Rant, citing Deadline, also reported that Disney had secured the rights to the book. 2 Centre · 1Paramount had won the rights in June 2025 after a bidding war, with Sofia Alvarez attached to adapt; according to Deadline, that development predated Skydance's acquisition of Paramount, which became official in August 2025, and the rights later lapsed before Disney acquired them. 1

Centre · 1Because Disney did not inherit the earlier development, a new screenwriter is being sought, while the original producers, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Pouya Shahbazian, remain on the project and Ross will executive produce with Stephen Shafer. 1 Centre · 1Disney SVP of Production Allison Erlikhman is overseeing the project, reporting to Disney Live Action President Daria Cercek. 1 Centre · 1Divine Rivals, the first book in the Letters of Enchantment series, was published in April 2023 and followed by Ruthless Vows in December that year; Deadline says Divine Rivals has sold over 1 million copies and spent 104 weeks on the NYT Young Adult Bestseller List. 1

Centre · 1Deadline describes the story as one in which two rival journalists find love through a magical connection and must face hell in a war among gods, and notes the book's large following on TikTok's BookTok community. 1 Centre · 1Ross's next novel, A Bittersweet Spell, is due on 6 April 2027, and Katherine Curtis of New Leaf Literary & Media brokered the film rights deal on her behalf. 1