Gal Gadot Producing With Eye To Star In Adaptation Of Bianna Golodryga & Yonit Levi’s Book ‘Don’t Feed The Lion’ In Works At Fox Entertainment Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, Red Notice) and Jaron Varsano’s Pilot Wave Motion Pictures have teamed with Fox Entertainment Studios and Moriah Media, the storytelling arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, for a screen adaptation of Don’t Feed the Lion, the 2025 middle-grade novel by former CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga and Israeli Channel 12 news anchor Yonit Levi. Fox Entertainment Studios and Moriah Media have optioned the book to develop and produce as a film, with Gadot and Varsano serving as executive producers and Gadot possibly starring.

The announcement comes as Golodrya is set to receive the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Jewish Heritage Award at its 2026 Humanitarian Award Dinner tonight in Los Angeles.

Published by Arcadia Children’s Books, Don’t Feed the Lion is set against the backdrop of Friday night Shabbat dinners with Theo and Annie’s immigrant grandparents and explores cultural identity, moral courage, and the importance of standing up for oneself and others. The story follows Theo Kaplan, a 13-year-old soccer co-captain, his younger sister Annie and their classmate Gabe as their lives are upended when Theo’s soccer hero posts an antisemitic message online that goes viral. As the hatred spreads into their Chicago middle school, the young friends must navigate prejudice and peer pressure, seek out allies, and find the courage to speak up.

“This is a story that feels especially personal to us, both as parents and as a family,” said husband and wife Gadot and Varsano, who are parents to four daughters. “We want our children to grow up in a world where differences are respected, where hatred is challenged and where no one feels alone in standing up for what is right. Don’t Feed the Lion opens the door to conversations that matter, and we are grateful to be part of bringing it to life.”

Golodryga and Levi wrote Don’t Feed the Lion in response to questions from their own children about rising antisemitism and the lack of middle-grade fiction addressing the subject.

“Don’t Feed the Lion brings a difficult subject into focus through characters young audiences can see themselves in and choices they recognize from their own lives,” said Fernando Szew, President and Head of Studio, FOX Entertainment Studios. “Bianna and Yonit have written a powerful, deeply human story, and Gal and Jaron bring tremendous creative vision and passion to the project.”

Fox Entertainment and Moriah Media, along with Israel’s Yes TV, recently co-produced together scripted anthology series One Day in October for HBO Max.

“Stories can reach young people in ways that arguments and headlines often can’t,” said Jim Berk, CEO of Moriah Media. “Bianna and Yonit have put readers inside the everyday choices that determine whether hate spreads or someone stands up to it.”

Golodryga is an Emmy-winning journalist and former CNN anchor and Senior Global Affairs Analyst who anchored One World with Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga on CNN International. Levi has anchored Israel’s top-rated primetime news program on Channel 12 for more than two decades and is also the co-host of the international podcast Unholy: Two Jews on the News.

Founded by Gadot and Varsano, Pilot Wave Motion Pictures’ slate includes Netflix’s Heart of Stone, a global espionage action thriller starring Gadot alongside Jamie Dornan and Alia Bhatt; and National Geographic’s Impact with Gal Gadot, a documentary series highlighting extraordinary women making a difference in their communities around the world.