Daniel Peddle, the documentary filmmaker known for The Aggressives, is set to adapt the Southern crime thriller Cold Moon Rising for the screen. The project marks a notable pivot for Peddle from acclaimed non-fiction work into scripted crime drama, and sees him collaborating closely with the book's debut author, North Carolina writer Michael Sledge, on the adaptation.

Cold Moon Rising follows a violent home invasion that unravels into kidnapping, deception, corruption and murder across the contemporary American South. Peddle said he was drawn to the emotional depth beneath the crime narrative rather than its violence, and wants audiences to uncover the mystery alongside the detectives rather than watching from the outside. He is best known for 2005's The Aggressives and its 2023 follow-up Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later, both recently added to the Criterion Channel, and is also attached to direct his own Southern Gothic script Rose Moon, starring Gabourey Sidibe.