Disney's A Court of Thorns and Roses TV show on Hulu isn't dead (yet), but will it live up to expectations?
The fantasy series written by Sarah J. Maas is still in development
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So what’s going on with the A Court of Thorns and Roses TV Series?
To catch you up, earlier this week TV Line reported that the previously announced A Court of Thorns and Roses TV adaptation had been scrapped at Hulu and that the series wouldn’t be shopped around to other potential studios.
And then in just a matter of minutes, Variety released a conflicting article saying the series is still in development, but that the fate of the series "appears to be extremely murky." The second Hollywood trade reports, “technically the show is still in development at Hulu. But that’s semantics, as it is believed to no longer be in active development.” Since this news broke, other media outlets have reported the TV adaptation of Sarah J. Maas’s popular fantasy series is continuing at the Disney-owned streaming service.
News of the adaptation originally debuted in 2021, but details about the series have been minimal. Additionally, the fan response to the series announcement has been a mixed bag. As a reader and fan of the ACOTAR series myself, I have been curious to see the response from other fans. Some fans of the series are very excited to see a visual adaptation of one of their favorite series, and yes, it is exciting to hear that you will get to experience something you really enjoy in a whole new light. That being said, there is a lot of uncertainty and nervous feelings when it comes to this adaptation.
For one, Hulu doesn’t seem like it’s the right fit for this series in terms of its current slate of content. This piece of fantasy adaptation history may be a bit niche but, this situation feels reminiscent of the time The Shannara Chronicles, another high fantasy book series turned TV show, aired on MTV, a platform well known for its reality television. Despite the series looking really good, it only lasted for two seasons. Would an ACOTAR series be able to last on Hulu? Would we get more than one or two seasons? Would we get to see the masterpiece that is A Court of Mist and Fury adapted? Maybe if the series was at HBO with a Game of Thrones budget, the nervous feelings would ease a little, but for now, there’s uncertainty.
Part of the series' mixed reactions also comes from the fact that the adaptation will take the form of a TV show. The A Court of Thorns and Roses universe feels like it’d do well as a series of movies, and the chances of us getting a complete series might be better. There’s also uncertainty if a live-action TV adaptation is the correct route for this beloved series. I’ve seen commentary saying the show should be animated rather than live-action, and I can just imagine how beautiful that could look given the what can be done with animation.
At this time, the future of the ACOTAR series seems unclear, but at the end of the day, I would hope the visual adaptation gets the chance to tell the story the books did oh so well.
For more works by Sarah J. Maas, you can check out our panel from New York Comic Con featuring the author here.
