Red Planet Pictures Inks Deals for The Harpy & The Exphoria Code

Red Planet Pictures has bolstered its 2021 slate with TV rights acquisitions for Megan Hunter’s The Harpy and Antony Johnston’s The Exphoria Code.

Telling a tale of love, betrayal and revenge, The Harpy centers on Lucy and Jake, who live with their children in a house by a field. After Lucy learns that her husband has been having an affair, they stay together—but in an arrangement that lets Lucy hurt Jake three times. Hunter is set to adapt the book for Red Planet Pictures.

Hunter said: “It’s wonderful to have the chance to bring The Harpy to life in another form, and an honor to collaborate with someone as passionate and experienced as Belinda Campbell on my first adaptation. Her enthusiasm for the book and vision for its on-screen potential captured my imagination right from the start; I’m very excited to be working together on what comes next.”

Johnson’s The Exphoria Code is the first book in a new techno-thriller series featuring cyber-espionage specialist Brigitte Sharp, a brilliant but haunted young MI6 hacker. When she decodes encrypted online messages that she believes are connected to her best friend’s murder, she uncovers evidence of a mole inside a top-secret Anglo-French military drone project. After three years deskbound and in therapy, she is sent back into the field by MI6 and discovers that the truth behind the Exphoria code is worse than she could have imagined.

Johnston said: “I couldn’t be more excited to see Brigitte brought to life on screen. She’s a complex, unique character, and Red Planet Pictures is the perfect custodian to do her justice, with a track record that speaks for itself. Bridge is as smart as she is strong, and I can’t wait for viewers to see her in action.”

Belinda Campbell, joint managing director of Red Planet Pictures, added: “I was bowled over by The Harpy, a beautifully written novel of extraordinary insight, emotion and drama. The Exphoria Code is similarly thrilling, with a brilliant new take on the world of high-stakes espionage. With unique female protagonists, these two books, whilst very different, share a boldness of proposition, compelling characterization and storytelling that I can’t wait to bring to the screen.”