YA novel Aurora Rising lands at MGM

MGM Television has optioned a bestselling young-adult sci-fi thriller written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

Aurora Rising was published on May 7 and follows a group of cadets who rescue a girl from hundreds of years of cryo-sleep before realising she could be the catalyst for a huge war.

The book, the first in the Aurora Cycle, is from Random House imprint Alfred A Knopf Books for Young Readers, and is slated for publication in 10 foreign territories.

Bill Todman Jr and Edward Milstein (Married to the Mob) will executive produce with Limor Hakim coproducing for US-based Level 1 Entertainment. Kaufman and Kristoff will serve as consulting producers.

Steve Stark, MGM’s president of television production and development, said the novel “blends comedy, action and heart seamlessly.” Todman and Milstein said they intended to work with the authors “to make this epic space opera into a fantastic television series.”

MGM Television is also developing Kaufman’s bestselling Starbound Trilogy, co-written by Meagan Spooner. Eric Balfour, Stephanie Varella, Martin Berneman and Warren Littlefield are executive producing.