‘The Roundup’s Don Lee To Star In & Produce Feature Adaptation Of Sci-Fi Novels ‘Hell Divers’ With Arad Productions

EXCLUSIVE: Korean multi-hyphenate powerhouse Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) is set to star in and produce an English-language feature adaptation of New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s dystopian sci-fi novel series Hell Divers. The film will draw from the first three books in the series whose first installment was published by Blackstone in 2016; there are 10 books in total. 

Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu of Arad Productions are producing alongside Oscar nominated VFX supervisor and animation director Jerome Chen. Lee and Chris S Lee of B&C Content are producing under their U.S. banner, Gorilla 8 Productions. The adaptation will be penned by J.P. Davis (Plane, The Contractor). There is currently no director attached.

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Lee, who is known for his performances in such Korean hits as Train to Busan; The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil; and The Roundup movies, including recent smash The Roundup: No Way Out, will play the lead role of Xavier.

Hell Divers takes place two centuries after World War III has poisoned the planet. The final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the globe in search of a habitable area to call home. Aging and outdated, most of the ships plummeted back to Earth long ago. The only thing keeping the two surviving lifeboats in the sky are Hell Divers — men and women who risk their lives by skydiving to the hostile surface to scavenge for parts the ships desperately need. They dive, so humanity survives. Xavier, or X, is a legendary Hell Diver at the center of the action.

“As a longstanding fan of the books, I’m beyond excited to shepherd this adrenaline-filled story forth together with this great team of storytellers and see Don breathe his special brand of grit and emotion into the character of X,” said Chen.

Lee told Deadline, “We are thrilled to be joining Arad Productions and Jerome Chen as producers to adapt this iconic sci-fi novel, and I am honored and excited to bring the hardened but nuanced character of Xavier to life.”

Ari Arad added, “I couldn’t be more excited to have Don Lee join our Hell Divers team. His talent and charisma are undeniable, and I know that he will embody Xavier’s bravery and spirit in a way that will thrill audiences around the world.”

Said Chris S Lee, “With the combined talents of this great team, and leveraging Don’s unique stature and brand of action, we can’t wait to deliver a gritty, action-packed update on the post-apocalyptic genre for a new generation of audiences.”

As Deadline reported last summer, Lee is due to star in a U.S. remake of crime thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil at Paramount. Lee is also producing that project under Gorilla 8 and alongside Chris S Lee; Billy Acumen, CEO of BA Entertainment; and Sylvester Stallone and Braden Aftergood under their Balboa Productions. 

The Roundup: No Way Out has led the Korean box office for the past three weekends, having grossed $70.2M through today. It is the No. 1 movie of 2023 in the market; its predecessor, 2022’s The Roundup, was the biggest movie of the year.

Don Lee is represented by B&C Content, The Gersh Agency and attorney Stuart Rosenthal of GGSSC. 

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