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Warner Bros. may have just acquired the next Hunger Games. On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Pictures confirmed that it had acquired the rights to create movies based on the bestselling Shatter Me series of dystopian YA thrillers by author Tahereh Mafi.
The deal comes as Shatter Me celebrates its 15th anniversary. Elevated by BookTok buzz, Shatter Me has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.
What Is Shatter Me About?
According to the series’ synopsis, Shatter Me follows Juliette Ferrars, a teenage girl whose touch is lethal, as she battles the oppressive reign of a totalitarian government called The Reestablishment. Along the way, Juliette “discovers her power, finds strength and navigates a dystopian world of romance and rebellion.”
“I’ve been tremendously lucky to have a devoted fanbase over the last fifteen years, and I’m excited for the chance to bring the Shatter Me world and characters to life in a way that will honor the fans and their love for these books,” Mafi said of the deal in a statement. “Warner Bros. has been a great partner so far, and I’m looking forward to creating a memorable cinematic experience that elevates the series to new heights.”
The Shatter Me Series Is a Global Hit
The Shatter Me series has reached 38 territories and been translated into 34 languages, and it’s still going strong. In 2025, Mafi released Watch Me, the first installment of a new series in the Shatter Me universe, called The New Republic. The book takes place a decade after the end of the previous series, and became an instant No. 1 bestseller on the New York Times list.
Book 2 of The New Republic series, Release Me, arrived in April and also shot immediately to No. 1 on the bestseller list. Book 3, Escape Me, is set to follow in September.
Dystopian YA was once one of the hottest genres in Hollywood, with The Hunger Games series being the most popular example, turning Jennifer Lawrence into a star and becoming a staple franchise that continues today with prequels like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping. Altogether, the movies have earned $3.3 billion worldwide for Lionsgate.
However, the dystopian YA genre cooled around the mid-2010s. The Divergent series, movies clearly built on The Hunger Games model and produced by the same studio, marked the end of that era. The final Divergent movie was never even made as Lionsgate instead chose to cut its losses.
But now, given the time and distance since the YA movie boom, it could be the right moment to bring a new dystopian YA franchise to the screen. The sale of Mafi’s The New Republic proves there’s certainly still an audience for Shatter Me. Time will tell whether that translates into box office success.