Oct 3 2011 01:00 PM ET

Lionsgate scores 'Chaos Walking' trilogy, hopes for next 'Hunger Games'

EW has confirmed that Lionsgate has obtained worldwide rights to develop, produce and distribute films based on Patrick Ness’s hit Young Adult trilogy “Chaos Walking.” Like Lionsgate’s other hot property, The Hunger Games, the “Chaos Walking” books (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men) are set in a dystopian future, feature a young savior, and are marked by dark tone and thrilling action. Taking place in a settlement called Prentisstown on a planet like Earth, an infection known as the Noise renders all thoughts audible and destroys all privacy. War wages between a corrupt government and the planet’s native population, and tween Todd Hewitt discovers he holds the key to his planet’s existence.

Alli Shearmur, Lionsgate’s president of production and development who will be overseeing the books’ transition to film, said, “Although these stories are set in a critical time in the future, they speak volumes about what is happening all over the world today, and about the power of young people to challenge the status quo and change the course of our future.” Added Lionsgate’s co-COO and president Joe Drake, “These are books, much like The Hunger Games, that we feel truly beg to be brought to life on film. ” The Departed producer Doug Davison will take on the project through his company Quadrant Pictures.

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Comments (25 total) Add your comment
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  • Ruby

    I love The Hunger Games, but find it a bit amusing that studios are already looking for the next hit when the films haven’t even proven successful in theaters yet!

    • Larissa

      It’s because Hunger Games is such a popular book series.

  • Jennifer

    Never heard of these books…. it is ridiculous how they do this

    • Jennifer

      Never heard of the Chaos Walking

    • Alice

      It’s a shame the Chaos Walking series isn’t as well-known in the states– and it’s definitely no Hunger Games knock-off. (Personally, I think it’s in an entirely different league ;D)

      The series recently won the Carnegie Medal, if you don’t trust the opinion of a very biased fan. Everyone I’ve introduced it to has fallen in love with the books, although nearly all of them had never even heard of the series before. The characters and conflicts are gut-wrenching and three-dimensional, especially the antagonists, the Mayor in particular. Snow is just plain evil, but Prentiss has so many complex motives that range from horrid to seemingly well-intentioned extremes… I could go on and on about how amazing this series is. And you can’t forget Todd, who is forced to make terrible choices but isn’t a terrible person because of it…. and each book just gets better and better. Please read them.

      • Dawn

        Don’t you know the way the world work? If something in entertainment is not popular in the U.S it is automatically rated as crap.

  • Jennifer

    I love the hunger games but I’ve never heard of the Chaos Walking

    • Victoria

      Read the Chaos Walking series. It’s practically one of the best ones yet

  • LOL

    America loves crap.

  • Laura

    OMG, you guys, you need to read this series ASAP! They are so flipping good. Huge books, but they need to be. Todd and Viola are amazing characters and you’ll find yourself crying, laughing and just hoping that these two make it alive!

    I read these books a few months back in a row and just sat after I finished the last book saying, “Wow! just Wow”. It’s dystopian, but takes place on another planet that mimics Earth. There are no women in Prentisstown and that seems to be where the story starts. Todd is 13 (although, his age seems to be a bone of contention in the story) and he lives with two men who have adopted him after his mom and dad died (mysteriously). People in Prentisstown seem to think Todd is the way to the future and when Todd goes running away on his foster parents warning, the whole town comes chasing.

    And the dog. You will fall in love with Manchee. He talks!

    • Sabella

      Laura is totally right, everyone should read these books! I read all of them last year and while i was at first skeptical of the idea of the book, i could not get enough of it. It was amazing and the story is not based on love like twilight is, its about more pressing matters and its topic is so interesting. I mean, who hasnt wondered what a person is thinking about them??

      These books are just amazing and patrick ness is a genius for coming up with this idea

      • Laura

        Sabella, I struggled with The Knife of Letting Go because it was so much setup. But it really does pick up with The Ask and The Answer. Mayor Prentiss is really right up there with President Snow in Hunger Games. I love the dynamic of Prentiss’ son with Todd. So evil!

  • Heidi

    As much as I love the Hunger Games, I think Chaos Walking is even better. I am very happy for Mr. Ness. He is an excellent writer. I think everyone should give the series a read because it gets better with each book.

    p.s. the only reason this is even compared with the HG is because they are both dystopian YA novels.

  • Kay

    CHAOS WALKING is way more gripping than the Hunger Games. Sure, it isn’t as popular in the US. SO WHAT?
    Although it looks like it will have to rise on the HG back to make it to the states…

  • Jess

    Chaos Walking is literally the best book series I have ever read! Brilliantly crafted, with a beautiful, moving story and some of the most 3D, amazing characters. For me, it beats Harry Potter hand down. Please everyone read the original before it gets made into a film!

  • Sara

    I don’t know how this series is going to translate onto screen. The entire series is based on the characters hearing every thought, the “noise”. I don’t know how it would translate. Although not having to read the bad accent spelling is a plus.

    • oli

      I personally love how the accents are written. Although I also am worried as to how the noise will be shown. Hopefully not just random words flying out of people’s ears

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  • oli

    Chaos Walking is in a completely different league to the Hunger Games. Seriously, I have really no idea as to how people can even compare them. The hunger games are thoroughly average, without any real meaning or depth, whereas Chaos Walking has some real, dark messages about war, terrorism and a host of other subjects. Hunger Games has nothing on them.

    • Connor

      The hunger games are thoroughly average, without any real meaning or depth, whereas Chaos Walking has some real, dark messages about war, terrorism and a host of other subjects.

      Are you serious? You seem like a huge fan of Chaos Walking, but don’t bring down The Hunger Games with some sort of opinion that you try to pass on as fact. It’s insulting and childish.

      • HMaya

        In my opinion, his opinion is not fact, and compared to Chaos walking, the HG is hardly compelling, not even enough for me to finish reading the second book.

        Chaos walking is just… breathtaking. The characters are so real and even the dog. every time something bad happened to them I wanted to scream. Not so much for HG, some characters were boring, and none of them evoked any empathy from me. When I heard they were making a movie, my heart literally skipped a beat. People definitely need to put these books on their to-read lists.

  • lian92

    I love Chaoc Walking but HG is dark and does have deep and scary messages that sad i like CW a bit more and the main charecters seemed more realistic.I wonder how will they translate Munchee in to the screen he was my favorit charecter Sob.

  • Chris

    I just came upon this article. I read The Hunger Games series before the Chaos Walking Series. I prefer Chaos Walking. An amazing, incredible series. And unlike The Hunger Games, all three books are incredibly strong. I felt that Mocking Jay was rather weak in comparison to the other two. I highly recommend Chaos Walking. So good!

  • Trey

    Some of these people are REALLY starting to annoy me. The one group of people that annoy me more than anyone are the one’s who take their opinions and make it sound like solid facts. It’s not true.

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