Oscar-winning writer Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, I Am Legend, Doctor Sleep) will be penning the adaptations of Marcus Sakey’s bestselling Brilliance trilogy books, Deadline has confirmed.
The Brilliance trilogy is set in a future world where “brilliants” — the rare 1% born gifted with superior mental abilities — are carefully tracked by the government. Federal agent Nick Cooper, himself a “brilliant,’ is tasked with using his own gifts to infiltrate a radical group and hunt down another ‘brilliant’ who could plunge the entire country into a devastating civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in — and betray his own kind.
“It’s rare to find complex characters and deep world-building in the same literary work,” Goldsman said. “Marcus Sakey’s Brilliance trilogy does just that. I’m excited to dig in with Story Factory to help generate the movies these wonderful novels deserve.”
“Akiva Goldsman has a remarkable history of creating worlds that are rich both in ideas and in pure entertainment. He writes deeply compelling films that leave you talking afterward. I’m thrilled he’s writing Brilliance,” Sakey added.
Goldsman will also be producing the project alongside Shane Salerno and The Story Factory. The producers are planning to shop the book series. Sakey’s trilogy has sold two million copies worldwide, and the books were originally sold to Legendary with Will Smith set to potentially star. The author regained the rights and wrote two sequels, A Better World and Written in Fire, before Goldsman and The Story Factory signed onto the potential movie franchise.
