Disney Live Action Takes On Rebecca Ross's <em>Divine Rivals</em> Film

Disney Live Action has acquired the film rights to Divine Rivals, the fantasy romance novel by Rebecca Ross, according to Deadline, which published the news on 27 October 2026.

The book has already had a busy life on the screen-rights market. Paramount won the rights in June 2025 after a bidding war, and Sofia Alvarez was set to write the adaptation for the studio. Skydance's takeover of Paramount became official in August 2025. The rights then lapsed before Disney acquired them, so Disney is bringing in a new screenwriter. Development done under Paramount was not carried over.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Pouya Shahbazian remain attached as producers. Ross will executive produce alongside Stephen Shafer. Allison Erlikhman, a senior vice president of production at Disney, is overseeing the project and reports to Daria Cercek, president of Disney Live Action.

A rights deal is the first step in turning a book into a film. A studio buys the option to make the movie, then pays writers and producers to develop a script. Only after that does it decide whether to shoot. None of those later steps have been given dates in this announcement.

Katherine Curtis of New Leaf Literary & Media negotiated the deal for Ross, according to Deadline. Clare Reeth and Emily Dayton had facilitated an earlier book rights deal for Disney Live Action, the same report says.

The book has a strong track record. Divine Rivals, the first novel in the Letters of Enchantment series, came out in April 2023. It has sold more than one million copies and spent 104 weeks on the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller List. Its sequel, Ruthless Vows, arrived in December 2023. It debuted at number one on the same list in January 2024, stayed there for 42 weeks in total, and has sold more than 500,000 copies.

Ross's wider count is larger still. Her books have sold three million copies worldwide, spent 128 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and been translated into 27 languages. Her next novel, A Bittersweet Spell, is set for publication on 6 April 2027.

Di Bonaventura Pictures, one of the producers, has a long run of box-office hits behind it. Deadline reports that the company has made more than 50 films in its 23 years, which have grossed more than $7 billion worldwide.

For readers, the practical news is simple. The series has a new home at a major studio, and the film is now in development with Disney. Any release date, cast or director would be a separate announcement, and none has been made.