Mona Awad’s Latest Novel ‘Rouge’ to be Adapted for Film by Fremantle, ‘Chernobyl’ Director Johan Renck’s Production Banner Sinestra (Exclusive)

Sinestra, the production banner launched by Chernobyl director Johan Renck and producer Michael Parets, has teamed with entertainment giant Fremantle to option Rouge, the upcoming novel from bestselling Canadian author Mona Awad, for film following a competitive auction.

Described as “Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut,” Rouge is a horror-tinted gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Set in California, the story explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry — as well as “the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze.”

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Set to be published in September this year by Simon & Schuster/Marysue Rucci Books, Rouge is the latest novel from Awad, behind All’s Well, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and Bunny, which was listed among the best book of 2019 by Time, Vogue and the New York Public Library.

The project marks the latest addition to a growing slate of projects being developed by Fremantle and Sinestra following the first-look deal they signed in 2022. Last month, the two announced the feature film The Prisoner in His Palace, based on Will Bardenwerper’s book, an account of the 12 U.S. soldiers who guarded Saddam Hussein in the months before his execution. Renck is set to direct.

Awad is represented by The Clegg Agency and CAA.

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