CBS Films Acquires YA Assassin Novel ‘Children of Paranoia’

CBS Film has picked up the screen rights to Children of Paranoia, the debut novel by Trevor Shane.

Mark Verheiden, known for his TV work such as Battlestar Galactica and Smallville, is writing the screenplay with Akiva Goldsman on board to produce via his Weed Road production shingle.

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Paranoia tells of a secret war that’s been waged for centuries via assassinations passed off as accidents or acts of random violence. A young assassin is fighting for one side when he falls in love with a woman who makes him questions the world as he knows it, including if he’s on the right side or not.

The book, the first of a YA trilogy, came out in August of 2012.

Vice president of production Mark Ross and creative executive Alex Ginno are overseeing the project for CBS Films. 

Verheiden and Shane are repped by CAA. Verheiden is additionally repped by Untitled and Shane by Janklow & Nesbit.