Watson will play 19-year-old idealistic princess Kelsea Glynn, created by Erika Johansen.
Johansen signed a seven-book deal in February and the first novel in the series is due next year. It is set three centuries after an environmental catastrophe, when a malevolent Red Queen reigns over the kingdom of the Tearling.
Glynn must defeat the monarch to reclaim her deceased mother's crown, and publishers have compared the tone of the series with that of George RR Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire saga'.
The British actor recently appeared in teen drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower and has a supporting role in Sofia Coppola's much-hyped The Bling Ring.