Mechas? Cyborg-pilot academies? Vengeful teens named after gods of chaos? Sign us the hell up. Deadline reports that Gearbreakers, author Zoe Hana Mikuta’s upcoming YA sci-fi debut, already has a movie adaptation in the works.
According to Deadline, the film will be developed by producer Aaron Magnani (executive producer of The Last Word) through his company Aaron Magnani Productions, and he’s put out a search for a screenwriter to take on the project.
Here’s the novel’s full synopsis, from Mikuta’s website:
In an age of mechanical deities puppeteered by a power-hungry nation, the sole defense against the onslaught of false Gods is a ragtag group of renegades known as the Gearbreakers, and seventeen-year-old Eris “The Frostbringer” Shindanai takes pride in being one of the most infamous of the lot. Her mission is simple: infiltrate any Windups—a charming nickname for these hundred-foot-tall bionic nightmares—that dare to cross her path, and take the atrocities apart from the inside.
As a top student of Godolia’s famed Windup Academy, Sona Steelcrest is expected to be grateful for the wires shoved through her veins, the microchips implanted along her brain stem, and the cable sockets puckering the skin of her forearms. These Mods mark Sona as a full-fledged Pilot, giving her the ability to synch with the Windups and use their arsenal of detrimental skills to ensure that the nation of Godolia remains sealed to its place of power.
But Sona’s true loyalties lie far outside of Godolia’s grasp, and when she learns of a new model of Windups that could mean the end of the Gearbreakers, she seeks out the Frostbringer’s help. While Eris struggles with putting her desire for Godolia’s peril over her distrust of the wires running beneath Sona’s skin, she finds that Sona’s hatred of the Windups surpasses even her own, and her wariness is soon replaced with feelings far distant from the revulsion that Pilots have always conjured. And, for the first time, Sona has found someone to fight for.
Or more likely, after stumbling across a dangerous opportunity to destroy Godolia once and for all, someone to die for.
This will be the first book by the author, who’s currently studying English at the University of Washington. Gearbreakers (the novel) comes out spring 2021 from Macmillan imprint Feiwel & Friends, with a sequel to be released in spring 2022.
