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Higher education professional by day, writer and pop culture enthusiast by night. When he isn't writing for The Cinema Spot, Tristian can be found creating content for his YouTube and TikTok pages, or working on the young adult novel he has been trying to finish for the last three years.
The hit novel, Iron Widow, is headed to the big screen.
Variety reported last week that Erik Feig’s Picturestart has optioned the rights to Xiran Jay Zhao’s New York Times bestselling novel and plans to launch a franchise around the YA hit. Writer J.C. Lee has been hired to write the script.
Described as a cross between The Hunger Games and Pacific Rim, the Iron Widow novel is set in the fictional world of Huaxia, where humanity’s last hope against an alien invasion are giant robots known as Chrysalises that require boy and girl pair to pilot them. Unfortunately for the female pilots, they tend to die in battle more often. When teenage Zetian offers herself up as a sacrificial female pilot, it’s the first step in her plan to avenge the death of her sister. To her great surprise, and those of her enemies, she might in fact be humanity’s last hope against the relenting alien onslaught.
Background on Iron Widow and the Film’s Producers and Writer
Jessica Switch and Julia Hammer of Picturestart will produce alongside Feig. Sammie Kim Falvey will executive produce the film.
In addition to being one of the first authors to become TikTok famous, Zhao is a popular YouTuber and content creator. Zhao is represented by BookEnds Literary. CAA brokered the deal on behalf of Rachel Brooks of BookEnds Literary; Christian Tajalli brokered the deal on behalf of Picturestart; and Erik Hyman on behalf of UTA.
Irow Widow spent 41 weeks on the bestseller list and has been translated into 14 languages to date. The novel has been awarded the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and has been a recipient of the Barnes & Noble Children’s & YA Book Awards.
Lee’s writing credits include Luce, Looking, The Morning Show, and the Hulu series, Love, Victor.
Higher education professional by day, writer and pop culture enthusiast by night. When he isn't writing for The Cinema Spot, Tristian can be found creating content for his YouTube and TikTok pages, or working on the young adult novel he has been trying to finish for the last three years.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.