TAGGED AS: Adaptations, Books, streaming, television, TV
(Photo by Tina Rowden/FX)
The new Hulu series Kindred is an an adaptation of the hugely popular Octavia E. Butler book about a young woman who learns she has the ability to travel back in time (but doesn’t necessarily know how to control it).
This is on the heels of other recent TV series that are adaptations of, or inspired by, beloved literature: Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Peripheral, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, AMC/AMC+’s Interview with the Vampire and the Starz series Dangerous Liaisons.
You may have noticed a pattern: Some of the most talked-about TV series of the past few years are all based on novels and other published works. So what will the next hit be? We’ve rounded up a list of books, comic books, and graphic novels currently set to premiere or are in development as TV or streaming series that have the potential to become the next big Certified Fresh thing.
We’ll update our list as new information becomes available on new titles, premiere dates and stars that have been attached. As with all good reading material, make sure to bookmark it.
Did your favorite book that is becoming a TV series not make our list? Is there a book you’d like to see made into a show? Tell us about it in the comments!
COMING SOON
61%
Kindred: Season 1
(2022)
Premiere Date: December 13, 2022
Network: Hulu
Based On: Octavia E. Butler’s 1979 novel.
The Fanbase: People who appreciate how different genres can be used to discuss historical fiction, à la shows like Amazon’s Them or HBO’s Watchmen.
What We Know So Far: The show follows Dana, a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that — for once — feels all her own. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a nineteenth-century plantation with which she and her family are most surprisingly and intimately linked. An interracial romance threads through her past and present, and the clock is ticking as she struggles to confront the secrets she never knew ran through her blood.” Watchmen’s Branden Jacobs-Jenkins serves as showrunner and Janicza Bravo directed the pilot. Other executive producers include The Americans co-creators Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields. Mallori Johnson is starring with other cast members including Micah Stock, Ryan Kwanten, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and David Alexander Kaplan.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: With that pedigree, the show could easily find some kindred spirits among critics.
Premiere Date: January 4, 2023
Network: Netflix
Based On: Elena Ferrate’s 2019 novel
The Fanbase: Ferrate adaptations are having a moment, so chances are anyone who loved the HBO series My Brilliant Friend or the Netflix movie The Lost Daughter will be into this YA-tinged series.
Everything We Know So Far: The six-episode Italian-language series stars Giordana Marengo as Giovanna, who is quickly going from childhood to adolescence against the backdrop of 1990s Naples.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Buono
(Photo by AMC+)
Network: AMC/AMC+
Premiere Date: January 5, 2023
Based On: Anne Rice’s book series.
The Fanbase: Horror and suspense novelist Rice was more known for her work in the vampire genre (and AMC developed a series based on her Interview with the Vampire because of it), but her fanbase also knows her history with witches as well.
Everything We Know So Far: In August 2021, AMC announced that it had opened a writers’ room to explore developing Rice’s book series, which follows a neurosurgeon who discovers she’s an unlikely heiress to a family of witches. Masters of Sex’s Esta Spaulding and Michelle Ashford are writing and executive producing. The cast includes Alexandra Daddario, Harry Hamlin, Tongayi Chirisa and Jack Huston.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The witches and vampire craze had a resurgence in the mid-aughts thanks to shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. But they were mostly thought to be campy or for teens. Can prestige television change that?
Network: Netflix
Premiere Date: January 27, 2023
Based On: Jonathan Stroud’s book series.
The Fanbase: Could it be a show with kids that’s not actually a kids’ show like Stranger Things? Or a silly comedy about spooky creatures like What We Do in the Shadows or Ghosts?
What We Know So Far: Edgar Wright’s production company has teamed with Attack the Block’s Joe Cornish and others on an adaptation of the book series about a group of kids who fight spirits and other villains.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This clearly has the power to be very, very funny.
Network: Netflix
Premiere Date: January 27, 2023
Based On: Javier Castillo’s best-selling crime mystery, La Chica de Nieve.
The Fanbase: Anyone who tries to solve true-crime dramas or high-brow scripted mysteries like HBO’s Mare of Easttown before the detectives working the case can crack it. Also, those who understand Spanish and/or don’t mind subtitles.
Everything We Know So Far: A little girl named Amaya goes missing during a parade in Málaga, Spain. When she’s never recovered, her parents fear the worst. Then they receive a mysterious message. That’s when a young journalist gets involved. Milena Smit, Jose Coronado and Aixa Villagrán star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Netflix has had success with foreign-language thrillers like the Israeli drama Fauda and the Spanish YA mystery Elite. If this is marketed well enough, it could magnífico.
Network: ABC
Premiere Date: February 8, 2023
Based On: Alexandra Potter’s 2020 novel, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up
The Fanbase: Despite the harshness of Potter’s book’s title, the series seems a little lighter. It stars Jane the Virgin alum Gina Rodriguez and is created by This Is Us producers David Windsor and Casey Johnson.
Everything We Know So Far: Rodriguez plays Nell Serrano, a newly-singled self-described disaster who wants to start her life over. The only job she can get? Writing obituaries. Hannah Simone, Joshua Banday and Angela Gibbs also star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could be your new cathartic weeknight cry-session.
(Photo by Lacey Terrell/Prime Video)
Network: Prime Video
Premiere Date: March 3, 2023
Based On: Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2019 novel.
The Fanbase: Rock fans who like to go behind the music.
What We Know So Far: Partly inspired by Fleetwood Mac, Daisy Jones stars Riley Keough (Elvis’ granddaughter!) as the face of a 1970s rock band that exploded out of the L.A. music scene — and then broke up at the height of their fame. It’s told in documentary style with “interviews” with the band. Other stars include Camila Morrone, Sam Claflin and Suki Waterhouse. Timothy Olyphant also makes a guest appearance as band manager Rod Reyes.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The show is on many outlets’ most anticipated new releases lists. Plus, the recent passing of Fleetwood’s Christine McVie might garner it more attention.
Network: HBO
Premiere Date: March 2023
Based On: Egil “Bud” Krogh and Matthew Krogh’s 2009 book, Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House
The Fanbase: History buffs who still enjoy kicking around Nixon.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reports that this five-part limited series, which is based on public records as well as the Krough’ book, will look at Howard Dean (Domhnall Gleeson), E. Howard Hunt (Woody Harrelson) G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) and the men behind the Watergate break-in that led to the end of Richard Nixon’s presidency. Veep executive producers Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck are writing the script with that show’s showrunner, David Mandel, directing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: With these guys involved, it sounds a lot more enjoyable than Showtime’s The Comey Rule.
(Photo by Josh Stringer/AMC)
Network: AMC
Premiere Date: April 2023
Based On: Characters from Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s The Walking Dead comic series.
The Fanbase: Those who kept with the original The Walking Dead mega hit long enough to understand the complicated dynamic between Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan and Lauren Cohan’s Maggie (remember that time he killed her husband?).
Everything We Know So Far: Making sure to eat every last bite of this zombie apocalypse franchise, this is just one of several upcoming spin-offs of TWD (which itself ends with its 11th season). One other one is focused on Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon and another is about Andrew Lincoln’s Rick and Danai Gurira’s Michonne.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: While TWD has been a huge it, it’s unclear if that virus can infect other versions (see also: Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: The World Beyond).
Network: Disney+
Premiere Date: 2023
Based On: Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel
The Fanbase: Mixing in several genres, the action-comedy is about a teen-aged child of immigrant parents who becomes entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods after he meets a new foreign exchange student has a lot going for it.
Everything We Know So Far: Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers) and Charles Yu (Legion, Westworld), are writing and executive producing with the former serving as showrunner. I Know What You Did Last Summer’s Lana Cho is also working on the project, as a co-executive producer. Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton is also involved. The cast includes Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Daniel Wu and Poppy Liu playing characters of Chinese folk tradition.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Comparisons will likely be made to Amazon’s Invincible (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the series is Certified Fresh).
Network: Peacock
Premiere Date: 2023
Based On: Jennifer Hillier’s 2020 novel
The Fanbase: It’s a revenge fantasy-come true mixed with a story of scorned women and has a tone reminiscent of the erotic thrillers of the late 20th century.
What We Know So Far: Per Deadline, the thriller “follows a desperate mother’s mission for revenge against her husband’s [paramour] after her child goes missing. Told in alternating perspectives between the mother and the [other woman], the story dissects themes of lust, obsession, grief and loss.” Tish Cyrus’ HopeTown Entertainment is producing it with Universal Television and Melissa Scrivner Love is writing it.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Books like Gone Girl and Luckiest Girl Alive had plenty of success with the alternate-storyline take. But their cinematic adaptations didn’t nail that tone. Perhaps a series adaptation would allow that writing style to blossom.
(Photo by HBO Max)
Network: HBO Max
Premiere Date: 2023
Based On: Jim Atkinson and Joe Bob Briggs’ true-crime story, Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, as well as other reporting.
The Fanbase: Those who know that salacious gossip isn’t just limited to the church potluck.
Everything We Know So Far: Elizabeth Olsen stars in the series about Candy Montgomery, the Texas housewife who took an axe to her church friend, Betty Gore, in 1980. David E. Kelley is writing the project and is re-teaming with his Big Little Lies friend, Nicole Kidman, who is producing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It has all the allure and sensationalism that made projects like Richard Linklater’s Bernie, a film about a bizarre crime in a small Texas town, a Certified Fresh hit.
(Photo by Netflix)
Network: Netflix
Premiere Date: 2023
Based On: Liu Cixin’s book trilogy.
The Fanbase: Those searching for extraterrestrial life — and wondering what we do when we find it.
What We Know So Far: Netflix announced in 2020 that it was adapting the comprehensive texts as a series through a partnership with Game of Thrones‘ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and The Terror: Infamy’s Alexander Woo.* Casting includes Jovan Adepo, Tsai Chin and Marlo Kelly.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Netflix knows the stakes are high to get this one right. Plus, Benioff, Weiss, and Woo have a lot of Certified Fresh seasons between them.
Network: PBS Masterpiece
Premiere Date: 2023
Based On: Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
The Fanbase: Anglophiles already obsessed with Fielding’s 1749 novel, a sexy and sassy read that influenced the will they/won’t they of today’s serialized television rom-coms.
Everything We Know So Far: Solly McLeod and Sophie Wilde star as hero and heroine Tom and Sophia; young lovers who keep finding — or whose families keep finding — ways to not be together. Because this is a period story, there’s commentary on aristocracy, religion and noble births. So is what would now be considered a shaming of sex shaming. Casting also includes Ted Lasso favorite Hannah Waddingham as the devious Lady Bellaston and James Wilbraham as Tom’s bitter cousin Blifil.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: There’s a reason this book is still remembered nearly 275 years after its publication. And the modern-day popularity of color-blind casting will gain it some interest. But will audiences be sick of these well-known British TV tropes after Downton Abbey, Bridgerton and so many other shows involving corsets and birth rights?
*Full disclosure: The writer of this article is married to Woo. They have two cute children and miss their very extremely photogenic cat.
AWAITING PREMIERE DATES
(Photo by JA/Everett Collection)
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Lisa Lutz’s 2022 psychological thriller
The Fanbase: Those who like murder mysteries; especially ones about secrets that can never stay buried.
Everything We Know So Far: There’s always a good reason someone ends up friend-zoned. In this case, Luna Grey and Owen Mann never got together because they were best friends in college when a friend dies unexpectedly. Now they come together again when Owen’s wife is murdered. Variety reported in 2022 that Lily Collins was attached to play Luna and that Olivia Milch (Ocean’s Eight) was adapting the book to TV.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: You can almost see the detailed Reddit fan theories now.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Characters from author James Patterson’s books.
The Fanbase: Fans of Patterson’s novels and their adaptations, as well as works by similar authors like Jeffery Deaver (The Bone Collector).
What We Know So Far: Variety broke the news in 2020 that Prime Video was developing the series. In 2022, City on a Hill actor Aldis Hodge was cast in the lead role.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Morgan Freeman has starred as Alex Cross in two film adaptations — Kiss The Girls and Along Came a Spider — of Patterson’s works, and Tyler Perry played him in one Alex Cross. All are very much not Certified Fresh. TV adaptations of Patterson’s work have fared somewhat better.
Network: Showtime
Based On: Wanda M. Morris’ 2021 novel
The Fanbase: A story of race relations and corporate legal dramas, it could have the sudsy factor of the Shondaland programs on ABC.
Everything We Know So Far: Uzo Aduba stars as Ellice Littlejohn, who according to Deadline, is “a Black female lawyer rising to the top of the corporate ladder. When she gets caught up in an affair and a mysterious conspiracy that puts her at risk of being the primary suspect and the next target, Ellice’s perfect façade starts to crumble as she scrambles to hold onto all she has earned, protect her family and stay alive.” Evil’s Aurin Squire wrote the pilot.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s a sexy caper with a political message that also could make audiences want to know about each and every one of those secrets.
Network: TBD
Based On: Kennedy Ryan’s book series.
The Fanbase: The three-book series, which includes the best-seller Queen Move, follows best friends who dedicate their lives to electing leaders who support their visions. Topics like Native rights, missing and murdered indigenous women, climate change, pay equity, and voter suppression make the book series incredibly relevant right now.
What We Know So Far: The Traveling Picture Show Company is producing the limited series. More details are forthcoming.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s a topical piece and with the right backing (say, a plug from Stacey Abrams or Michelle Obama), it could win in a landslide.
Network: Netflix
Based On: Anthony Doerr’s 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
The Fanbase: Although this limited series will be executive produced, and directed, by Stranger Things’ Shawn Levy and written by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, this is more of a war story with mixes of star-crossed love and something that may be the answer to immortality.
Everything We Know So Far: Netflix conducted a worldwide search of blind and low-vision actresses for the female lead, Marie-Laure, finally casting actress Aria Mia Loberti. The character is a French teenager who is blind and who is caught with her father in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Through her dad, a master locksmith at Paris’ Museum of Natural History, she hears stories of the Sea of Flames, which will grant immortality. Her path collides with Werner, a German soldier who becomes smitten with her.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s a great move in favor of representation that Netflix cast such a wide net to find Marie-Laure. But there also needs to be a way to make Werner sympathetic. And then there’s the risk of making this story appear more than just a hokey take on a Dan Brown novel or an Indiana Jones movie.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Neil Gaiman’s 2005 novel.
The Fanbase: Gaiman’s fans are already fierce devotees, as evident by Amazon’s second-season order of the adaptation of his and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. This six-part limited series has some character overlap with Gaiman’s American Gods (which had its own Starz adaptation) but is not considered a spin-off or sequel.
Everything We Know So Far: The story focuses on Charlie Nancy, a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father (that would be Mr. Nancy from the Gods universe). When his father dies, Charlie learns that he was Anansi: the trickster god of stories — and that Charlie has a brother named Spider. Now the boys are together, with one determined to make the other’s life more interesting (i.e. more dangerous). Gaiman serves as co-showrunner with Douglas Mackinnon and Hanelle M. Culpepper will direct the pilot. Malachi Kirby will star as both Charlie and Spider and other cast members include CCH Pounder, Whoopi Goldberg and Fiona Shaw.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: We probably should take Good Omens’ 84% Tomatometer rating as a sign that Amazon knows how to handle Gaiman’s work.
Network: Netflix
Based On: Indian author Anand Neelakantan’s trilogy.
The Fanbase: Fans of Neelakantan’s novels, but also those who enjoy shows about strong female heroines. And maybe also fans of The Crown, Netflix’s hit series about the ascention and reign of a female monarch.
What We Know So Far: Meant to run six seasons (two seasons per title), the story follows Sivagami, a character who rises from a defiant girl to a not-to-be-messed-with queen. Set in Mahishmati, the story coincides with a time when that ancient Indian kingdom becomes powerful. Indian actress Mrunal Thakur stars.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Netflix’s original Indian programming like Sacred Games and Leila have gotten fairly strong reviews. There’s a chance for this to do better if it finds an international audience. But it has also already had one do-over with a new creative team after the first iteration wasn’t to the streamer’s liking.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel.
The Fanbase: The show is created by Bill Lawrence, who is riding high after the success of his Ted Lasso, and stars Vince Vaughn, who has his own fan base. There’s also a monkey.
Everything We Know So Far: Maybe this is the consolation prize for Fletch devotee Lawrence? According to the logline, Vaughn plays a “one-time detective demoted to restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist out fishing pulls Yancy into the world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in both Florida and the Bahamas.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: it’s a quirky, dark comedy that could be a great bookend to Ted Lasso’s quirky optimism.
Network: AMC
Based On: Victor LaValle’s 2016 horror novella based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, “The Horror at Red Hook.”
The Fanbase: Those who enjoyed Amazon’s Them, HBO’s Lovecraft Country, and WGN’s Underground.
What We Know So Far: This is a retelling of a story by noted racist H.P. Lovecraft from the point-of-view of a young Black man from Harlem. AMC announced in 2017 that it was developing the project and then things went quiet, but in February 2021, the cable channel announced that it was partnering with sister channel Shudder on a yet-to-be-titled horror anthology series that would focus on “stories of Black horror from Black directors and screenwriters” — LaValle being one of them. Perhaps his Black Tom adaptation will be part of this?
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Pretty good if it secures the pedigree of those shows that appeal to the same fanbase — or juggernauts like HBO’s Watchmen or FX’s American Horror Story.
(Photo by Danny Moloshok /Shutterstock)
Network: AMC and Spectrum
Based On: Hugh Howey’s 2015 novel.
The Fanbase: Howey already has a huge fanbase and AMC is also adapting his Wool (see below). But the story, which is a sci-fi thriller about two people trapped together at the end of the known universe, could bring in an audience similar to The Expanse or other popular properties.
What We Know So Far: Ready Player One’s Zak Penn is creating and adapting the series with Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey (pictured) executive producing and starring as Aster, a woman who mysteriously finds her way to a lighthouse in the darkest recesses of the universe. Homecoming star Stephan James will also star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Headey’s fanbase coupled with the love of the books could make this a beacon of light for the networks. The series also already has a season 2 renewal with Glen Mazzara and Joy Blake with new executive producers and co-showrunners.
Network: FX
Based On: Gerald Seymour’s 1997 novel Killing Ground
The Fanbase: Those who want to see a take-down of the one-percent (so, maybe, most everyone?). There are also hints of spy thriller The Americans and the TV adaptation of The Little Drummer Girl.
Everything We Know So Far: In 2022, FX gave a pilot order to a script written by Homicide: Life on the Street creator Paul Attanasio and directed by The Handmaid’s Tale’s Mike Barker. According to Deadline, it will focus on “a seemingly perfect American family in Berlin whose secrets come to light when they hire a new nanny, unaware that she is trying to expose the parents’ corrupt financial and familial ties.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: In addition to Homicide, Attanasio write the screenplays for gritty thrillers like Donnie Brasco and Disclosure. So this could be a high-stakes, adrenaline-rush of a thriller.
Network: Hulu
Based On: Charmaine Wilkerson’s 2022 novel.
The Fanbase: Those interested in a globe-trotting adventure story that’s got more twists than an episode of Finding Your Roots.
Everything We Know So Far: Women of the Movement creator Marissa Jo Cerar is adapting the story with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment also executive producing. Mia Isaac will star. According to Deadline, the plot follows “a runaway bride named Covey [who] disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. Fifty years later in California, Eleanor Bennett, a widow in her 60s, loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children a flash drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Despite inevitable comparisons to the movie Titanic this cake sounds delicious.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel.
The Fanbase: If done well, prestige TV and literary snobs who flock to elite Emmy darlings like AMC’s Mad Men.
What We Know So Far: Wolfe’s novel was a scathing attack at the classism and racism of 1980s New York. This project, which was announced in 2016, comes from Chuck Lorre with Boardwalk Empire’s Margaret Nagle writing. While it may seem odd that the guy known for middle-of-the-road multi-camera work like Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory is involved with something like this, remember that he also did critical darling The Kominsky Method for Netflix.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It can’t be any worse than Brian De Palma’s 2008 movie version. With the right casting and prestige-TV production value and storytelling, the novel’s themes may strike a cord with modern audiences.
Network: FX
Based On: The third book in Don Winslow’s Cartel trilogy.
The Fanbase: Audiences who like gritty, topical dramas that depict different perspectives of a complicated issue.
Everything We Know So Far: Per Deadline, “The Border is an epic saga that reveals the dark truths about America’s failed 50-year war on drugs. Taking us from the streets of New York to the poppy fields of Mexico, the jungles of Central America, and The White House, The Border explodes the myths of the drug war through the intertwining narratives of characters on both sides of the Mexican-American border: an obsessive Mexican-American DEA agent, a young boxing promoter who inherits a drug empire, a jaded teenager who rises to power in the world of high class escorts, and an Irish kid from the streets of Hell’s kitchen who becomes a ruthless, international hitman.” FX ordered a pilot for the series, which will shoot in 2023 in Mexico. Damages and Bloodline’s Daniel Zelman will serve as showrunner and E.J. Bonilla (The Old Man, The Long Way Home) will star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: FX’s The Bridge looked at Mexican and U.S. police attempting to track a serial killer. It was a critical hit and is Certified Fresh with a 91% Tomatometer. Series like Netflix’s Narcos and Narcos: Mexico were also well received. The Border seems like a cross between them.
Network: HBO or Netflix?
Based On: Marlon James’ Man Booker Prize–winning 2014 novel.
The Fanbase: Jamaican author James’ book follows the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley through the 1980s crack wars in New York and beyond. Fans who are interested in social justice and those who were drawn to films like Judas and the Black Messiah might come out for this.
What We Know So Far: THR reported in 2017 that HBO was adapting the novel as a limited series with Insecure’s Melina Matsoukas on board to direct and James writing the script while Empire’s Malcolm Spellman would executive produce and serve as showrunner. Other reports suggested a move to Netflix.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: With that pedigree, pretty good.
Network: Starz
Based On: Cyntoia Brown-Long’s 2019 memoir, Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System.
The Fanbase: The limited series is inspired by Brown-Long, who served 15 years of a life sentence for killing a man when she was 16 (something she has maintained was an act of self-defense). The fanbase could bring in true-crime fanatics like those who campaigned for the release of Making a Murderer’s Steven Avery, as well as prison reform advocates like those who watched director Ava DuVernay’s documentary film, 13th.
Everything We Know So Far: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and La La Anthony are executive producing while Power Book III: Raising Kanan’s Santa Sierra is writing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Given the current political landscape and the focus on police and prison reforms, this could be a major cultural talking point.
Network: TBD
Based On: Kirsten Miller’s 2022 novel.
The Fanbase: The Hollywood Reporter, which announced the deal, describes the book as a “feel-good feminist revenge fantasy” that centers on 40-something women who find that they have unexpected powers — powers they use to hunt down serial killers and settle old scores.
Everything We Know So Far: Bruna Papandrea’s production company, Made Up Stories, is adapting the novel with True Blood and Supernatural alum Raelle Tucker writing the script.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This Change could be good.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Victor LaValle’s 2017 horror-fantasy novel.
The Fanbase: The book, which depicts a woman seemingly going through postpartum depression before she commits a heinous act and then disappears into an enchanted world, has won many awards in the horror and fantasy genres. It also could appeal to new parents; both those suffering from postpartum depression and their partners and loved ones who are watching them do so.
Everything We Know So Far: After being in development at FX, Apple TV+ ordered it to series in August 2021 with LaKeith Stanfield set to executive produce and star. Cruella’s Kelly Marcel is writing and executive producing and Insecure’s Melina Matsoukas is directing and executive producing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This could be a change, both for how we perceive horror series and for how we perceive depression.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Jo Piazza’s 2018 novel about a cutthroat and politically ambitious heroine.
The Fanbase: People who enjoyed shows like HBO’s Veep, the 1999 movie Election or other sardonic stories about determined people who must weight the consequences of success.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2019 that Julia Roberts — then just coming off of Amazon’s Homecoming — was in discussions to star and executive produce this limited series. It was going to be adapted by playwright and creator of ABC’s Brothers & Sisters, Jon Robin Baitz.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: On the one hand, people may revel in watching Julia Roberts get her hands dirty in a political romp. On the other, we may all be too burned out with actual political mudslinging to invest interest.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Garth Risk Hallberg’s 2015 novel.
The Fanbase: It’s a period-set whodunnit (and by “period,” we mean the early aughts) written and executive produced by some folks who know that era better than anyone: The OC and Gossip Girl’s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
Everything We Know So Far: Set in 2003 New York, the story follows what happens when an NYU student is shot and killed when she’s alone in Central Park. According to the lonline, “her friends’ band is playing her favorite downtown club but she leaves to meet someone, promising to return. She never does. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she’s revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious city-wide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.” Wyatt Oleff is one of the stars and Jesse Peretz will direct, according to Deadline.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Stories told in reverse and with surprise reveals about who people really are have worked wonders for recent dramas like Freeform’s Cruel Summer and HBO’s Mare of Easttown …
Network: Prime Video
Based On: The Ken Liu short story that appeared in the 2020 fairy tale-themed anthology Faraway.
The Fanbase: Although it’s loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea, it will most likely attract sci-fi fans of shows like Amazon’s The Expanse than those who enjoy battling princesses and witches in ABC’s Once Upon a Time.
What We Know So Far: In 2020, Deadline reported that The OA writer Dominic Orlando and Carnival Row star Orlando Bloom were involved in adapting Liu’s near-future set story about inanimate objects that carry their owners’ experiences with them so that they can be re-lived through touch. The eponymous “cleaners” are charged with sanitizing these pieces so as to relieve their own emotional burdens.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It sounds more like Black Mirror meets Beauty and the Beast — both of which have high Tomatometer scores.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Bentley Little’s 2015 novel, Basgallop.
The Fanbase: Audiences who understood the brilliance of the Comedy Central series Corporate and the Apple TV+ series Severance as well as anyone part of 2021’s Great Resignation (or who wished that they could be).
Everything We Know So Far: Christoph Waltz stars in this dark comedy that, according its logline is a “workplace thriller that explores the sinister relationship between boss and employee, asking how far we will go to get ahead, and to survive.” Servant’s Tony Basgallop is the creator and showrunner while WandaVision’s Matt Shakman is the director.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Provided it doesn’t bring about too much repressed memories of bad employment, it couldn’t hurt to visit for at least one consultation.
Network: TBD
Based On: Don Winslow’s mystery, the first in his five-book series.
The Fanbase: Mystery buffs who also enjoy stories of London’s punk scene with maybe a sort-of wink-wink, nudge-nudge to the genre because …
Everything We Know So Far: … Knives Out’s Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman are two of the producers of the series, according to Deadline. Bad Education’s Cory Finley will write, direct and executive produce the story of a young private investigator hired to find a prominent senator’s daughter who has gotten involved in London’s violent, drug-fueled punk scene.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: A Cool Breeze could easily be a hot watch with a killer soundtrack.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Jonathan Parks-Ramage’s 2021 novel, Yes, Daddy.
The Fanbase: People who enjoy dark psycho-thrillers like Netflix’s You or Elite.
What We Know So Far: The series’ lead character is Jonah Keller, a recent New York transplant with dreams of becoming a famous playwright. Until then, he starts dating an older, successful one. Things go awry when Jonah goes to the Hamptons with his beau.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could easily become a cultural talking point about consent and abuse, à la FX on Hulu’s A Teacher.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Octavia Butler’s 1987 science-fiction novel.
The Fanbase: Sci-fi fans who’d like to see more stories of women of color in that space.
What We Know So Far: From IndieWire: Heroine Lilith Iyapo was rescued by aliens after a nuclear war wiped out most of the human race, including her husband and son. Now, two centuries later, she must help her saviors resurrect our species.” Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY production company is producing and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s Victoria Mahoney will write and direct.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Butler’s books are beloved and this is the first book in a trilogy, so it’s a good bet that this series could be around for a while.
Network: Peacock
Based On: Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 political thriller and the 1973 Fred Zinnemann-directed film adaptation.
The Fanbase: The book is historical fiction and set around a failed assassination attempt of French president Charles de Gaulle. This take will be, according to the release, a “bold, contemporary reimagining” of that story. This could cause some backlash from devotees of Forsyth’s work.
Everything We Know So Far: Ronan Bennett (Top Boy, Public Enemies) is the showrunner and Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones, Luther) will direct the limited series. The official press release is full of buzz words like that it will “delve deeper into the chameleon-like ‘anti-hero’ at the heart of the story” and that it’s “set amidst the turbulent geo-political landscape of our time.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: History can’t stop repeating itself. So why shouldn’t a known IP capitalize on that?
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Catherynne M. Valente’s 2017 novella, The Refrigerator Monologues.
The Fanbase: People who like wry takes on the superhero genre, like Amazon’s The Boys, as well as people who like wry takes on female assassins, like AMC and BBC America’s Killing Eve.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2018 that Whip It’s Shauna Cross was developing the story about five women who meet in purgatory and discover that their entire lives were spent in service to various male superheroes — and died because of it. Now they are discovering their own powers.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It would make a nice companion piece to The Boys, which has two Certified Fresh seasons.
Network: Hulu
Based On: Erik Larson’s 2003 historical non-fiction about the 1893 Chicago world’s fair and H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who was lurking around the city at the same time.
The Fanbase: People who enjoy historical drama and true crime.
What We Know So Far: Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company bought the film rights in 2010, but it was announced as a limited series for Hulu in 2019. Martin Scorsese is also an executive producer. However, the show has been mired in casting (Keanu Reeves was set to star and then dropped out) and directing (Todd Field was hired to direct the pilot and then left the project) controversies.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Once things get situated, it could make a killing.
(Photo by courtesy of the author; Penquin Books)
Network: TBD
Based On: Stacey Lee’s 2019 young-adult historical fiction.
The Fanbase: Those who loved Netflix’s Bridgerton and The CW and HBO Max’s Gossip Girl series as well as period-set stories of race with an upstairs-downstairs dynamic like Apple TV+’s Dickinson.
What We Know So Far: Aminta Goyel is adapting the half-hour series about a Korean teen secretly living in a basement with her guardian in 1890 Atlanta. By day, she’s a maid to one of the city’s wealthiest families. By night, she pens an anonymous newspaper column that discusses race, gender bias and the women’ movement. Bound Entertainment is producing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: An American Bridgerton? The scandal!
(Photo by ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett C)
Network: HBO Max
Based On: Frank Herbert’s book series.
The Fanbase: Fans of Dune in all its iterations.
What We Know So Far: HBO Max gave a straight-to-series order for the TV series, meant to accompany the 2021 film starring Timothée Chalamet. Showrunner Jon Spaihts left the project in 2019. Then, of course, the coronavirus hit and release dates and schedules shifted. In 2021, <Variety reported that Diane Ademu-John was named showrunner and that it will be a prequel series “told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit.” However, Ademu-John stepped down as co-showrunner before the series started production. Travis Fimmel joined the cast in November 2022 while the series stars Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Too early to tell. But it sounds like this story is Dune-d.
Network: TBD
Based On: James Overmyer’s book, Queen of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles.
The Fanbase: Sports fans, activists and anyone who likes a limited series that (according to the press release) “chronicles the dramatic efforts by tenacious civil rights activist Effa Manley and her husband Abe as they embark upon a risky business venture – starting their own ball club in the raucous world of the Negro Baseball Leagues.” (Manley was the first, and, so far, only woman to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame).
Everything We Know So Far: Alcon Television Group has acquired the rights to the book, and to the limited series adaptation written by Byron Motley and Jeffrey Miiller. Anya Adams is directing the pilot.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Very good. But it may have competition. Prime Video had a series version of A League of Their Own, which talked about the sport’s history or racism and sexism, and Apple TV+ is adapting the baseball biography, If You Were Only White: The Life of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige.
Network: TBD
Based On: Ursula K. Le Guin’s book series.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy the dense and immersive book series, which includes an array of interesting characters — many people of color.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2019 that film producer Jennifer Fox was working with studio A24 to develop the series.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Fans will be expecting greatness, having been burned before by not-so-great 2004 miniseries that aired on what was then called the Sci Fi Channel.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Janice Y. K. Lee’s 2016 novel.
The Fanbase: Centered on the close-knit expatriate community in Hong Kong, the series could draw an interest in travelers or even those who relate to series about deep female friendships like HBO’s Sex and the City.
What We Know So Far: Nicole Kidman’s production company optioned the book and, in 2019, The Farewell’s Lulu Wang signed on as an executive producer. It’s also been reported that Big Love’s Melanie Marnich and Australian writer Alice Bell will serve as co-showrunners.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: If the series can capture the book’s social satire, it should score with both viewers and critics.
Network: Netflix
Based On: Edgar Allan Poe’s stories.
The Fanbase: It’s a Mike Flanagan-created limited series based on America’s most notoriously creepy writer. In short: the fanbase is horror nuts.
Everything We Know So Far: Midnight Mass’ Flanagan created the series and will direct four episodes (Michael Fimognari will direct the other four). Stars include Mark Hamill, Bruce Greenwood and Carla Gugino.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s based on multiple works from Edgar Allan Poe — but how, and what, that means could be tell-taling. (Is it an anthology? Is it several stories woven together?).
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Kacen Callender’s 2020 YA novel.
The Fanbase: Trans people, their families and others interested in seeing a love story centered on a Black, queer teen.
What We Know So Far: Amazon announced it had bought the rights to the book in August 2020 — just a few months after it was released.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: If done well, it could find a comfortable place in Amazon’s library comparable to the one Love, Victor has at Hulu.
Network: HBO Max
Based On: Grady Hendrix’s 2021 novel.
The Fanbase: Horror fans who enjoy tongue-in-cheek references to the genre.
Everything We Know So Far: Charlize Theron and It’s Barbara and Andy Muschietti are developing the book as a TV series. According to Deadline, it focuses on a “Los Angeles–based therapeutic support group for six ‘final girls’— survivors of mass-murderer rampages whose experiences inspired the slasher franchises that saturated horror cinema in the 1980s and ’90s, earning them minor celebrity.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It certainly has the right pedigree taking a stab at it.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Network: Netflix
Based On: Angeline Boulley’s 2021 novel.
The Fanbase: Anyone interested in a teen-age (reluctant) super sleuth who takes down authority and who also happens to draw upon her knowledge of chemistry and the Ojibwe traditional medicine to crack the case.
What We Know So Far: Barack and Michelle Obama optioned the novel for a TV adaptation before its debut as part of their Netflix-based production company, Higher Ground. The press release notes that “Mickey Fisher (Reverie, Extant) will serve as showrunner, and will co-write with Wenonah Wilms (Horsehead Girls) who will also serve as an executive producer” and that “like author Boulley, Wilms is from the Ojibwe tribe (Sault Ste. Marie and Red Cliff bands, respectively) and will bring her lived experiences to this series.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Hoping it will be more like Veronica Mars than Nancy Drew.
Network: HBO
Based On: Octavia Butler’s 2005 sci-fi novel.
The Fanbase: Butler’s fanbase is a devout one (see other titles on this list). But this project also comes with big-named executive producers like Issa Rae and J.J. Abrams attached. Oh, and this story is about vampires — a genre that just won’t die.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Sonya Winton-Odamtten and Jonathan I. Kidd had a pilot script deal with HBO for an adaptation of the book, with both Rae and Abrams serving as EPs. The story follows a young amnesiac who realizes she’s actually a genetically modified, middle-aged vampire.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Abrams was an executive producer on Lovecraft Country for HBO, which employed both Kidd and Winton-Odamtten and was a hit even if its run was cut short. Rae has also had tremendous success at HBO. This, plus the sci-fi vampire angle could make it a huge draw.
(Photo by )
Network: Netflix
Based On: Judy Blume’s 1975 novel.
The Fanbase: Blume’s books notoriously have a knack for explaining puberty to those who don’t want to suffer the embarrassment of talking with their parents. Forever was different. It’s about older teens and has frank discussions about sex and intimacy. It’s been banned by schools and libraries, which only makes it more enticing to readers.
Everything We Know So Far: Mara Brock Akil (Black Lightning; Girlfriends) is offering a reimagining for a new audience; one that Netflix PR said will offer “an epic love story of two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Netflix has shepherded in great adaptations of beloved YA books (The Baby-Sitters Club; Shadow & Bone). It's also been great at canceling them (again, The Baby-Sitters Club).
Network: TBD
Based On: Kimberly McCreight’s 2021 literary thriller
The Fanbase: Those enjoy the “people locked in a house” trope — especially if those people have lots of dirty secrets about one another.
Everything We Know So Far: Amblin TV is developing the series with McCreight. According to Deadline, the plot follows “five friends who gather at a picture perfect country house in the Catskills for a co-ed bachelor weekend.” Except these friends are also bound together by the mysterious death of another member of their circle and they’re also there to stage an intervention for one friend’s opioid addiction.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This is one of many series that could be part of the trend of bottle TV series (i.e. shows filmed in one location due to COVID and/or costs). It could be a fascinating hit like the film Knives Out. But it’s hard to say how campy and fun a show could be if it’s also discussion serious topics like opioid addiction.
Network: AMC
Based On: Sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh’s memoir of the same name.
The Fanbase: People interested in what it means to be Black and poor in notoriously racially-divided Chicago.
What We Know So Far: Venkatesh’s bestseller chronicles what happened when he, a wide-eyed sociology student, planned to interview members of the nation’s largest public housing project. A gang leader told him that, if he really wants answers, he needs to experience it first-hand. AMC announced in 2017 that it was developing the project with Hand of God’s Ben Watkins writing and serving as an executive producer with others like actor-producer Ed Burns.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Too early to tell.
(Photo by WireImage)
Network: Showtime
Based On: Amor Towles’ 2016 novel
The Fanbase: It’s a political drama with a commentary on changing times from the point of view of a man who has nothing to do but spend his life as a Boo Radley stuck inside a hotel.
Everything We Know So Far: Per Showtime, Ewan McGregor will star as “Count Alexander Rostov who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol, threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.” Surface and I May Destroy You director Sam Miller is directing the series with Ben Vanstone (All Creatures Great and Small, The Last Kingdom) serving as showrunner and executive producer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: TK
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Amy Stewart’s 2015 novel.
The Fanbase: Fans of The Alienist, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Enola Holmes, Godless, and similar historical fiction featuring fearless, crime-fighting women.
What We Know So Far: The book is inspired by Constance Kopp, one of the United States’ first female deputy sheriffs — a title she earned in 1914. If that premise isn’t enticing enough, Deadline reported in 2018 that it will be written by Veep’s Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan and produced by Elizabeth Banks and her husband, Max Handelman, who were producers on the Pitch Perfect films and Hulu series Shrill.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: We’ll have to wait and see if it comes in dead or alive, but stories of early gun-toting female law enforcement types seem to be a hit with critics and earn Fresh Tomatometer scores.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Stieg Larsson’s Millenium book series.
The Fanbase: Variety reported in 2020 that this series would concentrate on hacker-with-anger-issues, Lisbeth Salander (sorry to fans of the books’ other protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist).
What We Know So Far: No writer or cast has been announced, but attached producers include Rob Bullock (The Night Manager) and Andy Harries (The Crown). Variety also noted that this “will not be a sequel or continuation of the story from the books or the films into which they were adapted. It will instead take Salander and place her in today’s world with a wholly new setting, new characters, and a new story.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Two of the five films based on the series earned Certified Fresh badges, one was Fresh, and two were Rotten. It’s hard to say without actors, writers, or directors attached, but if we trust in trust in the producers’ previous work and Amazon Studios productions based on books like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Alex Rider, and The Boys, it looks promising.
(Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
Network: Netflix
Based On: A chapter of Amy Chozick’s 2018 book, Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns and One Intact Glass Ceiling.
The Fanbase: People interested in the unglamorous world of political reporters who spend years on the campaign trail — and the sometimes unlikely allies they make along the way.
What We Know So Far: Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) and Arrowverse creator Greg Berlanti (both pictured) are executive producing the series with Plec writing along with Chozick. With a title meant to subvert Timothy Crouse’s 1973 book The Boys on the Bus, this story will concentrate on four female reporters. Do note, however: Deadline reported in 2019 that the series will feature fictional candidates. The cast includes Carla Gugino, Melissa Benoist, Natasha Behnam and Christina Elmore.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Could it end up like HBO’s The Newsroom? Or Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt, which fared better, but was (infamously) canceled anyway. Or maybe, with the right cast, it will soar like feature film A Private War, which starred Rosamund Pike as a war correspondent. Plec and Berlanti both have fairly good Tomatometer track records, though this series most likely has no vampires or superheroes.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Anne Camlin’s graphic novel, Mismatched (which, in itself, is based on Jane Austen’s Emma).
The Fanbase: Not to be confused with the movie Clueless, this modernist retelling of Emma is a queer-friendly half-hour adult animation musical. Most Austen fans would probably be down for this interpretation.
Everything We Know So Far: According to Deadline, the story focuses on “Evan Horowitz, an out and proud Latino/Jew amateur matchmaker and wannabe makeup influencer. Evan is an old-school romantic who dedicates himself to getting true love to trend at his high school in Queens — through singing, dancing, and contoured cheekbones.” Gloria Calderón Kellett executive produces through her overall deal with Amazon along with Will Graham and writer-executive producers are Debby Wolfe and Marcos Luevanos.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could have the appeal of Hulu’s warm teen dramedy, Love, Victor, and teen-set musical movies and plays like Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
Network: TBD
Based On: Maggie Shipstead’s 2021 novel.
The Fanbase: Those fascinated with alternate timelines as well as early 20th Century news stories like aviation, Prohibition and war.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Erik Feig’s Picturestart had optioned the novel, which takes place over two timelines and follows “Marian … an Amelia Earhart-like female pilot whose audacious dream is to circumnavigate the globe north-south over the poles and whose storyline spans from the 1930s to the 1950s” and “Hadley … a present-day disgraced actress offered to play Marian in a biopic to revitalize her career.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The book has a huge — and growing –fanbase of literati, which means that this could be the dinner party show for the prestige TV set.
Network: HBO Max
Based On: The DC Comics character
The Fanbase: Shocking no one, the 10-episode series counts Greg Berlanti as a co-writer and executive producer. But the streaming service option means that things can get more creative than they might have been able to on broadcast TV.
Everything We Know So Far: According to Variety, Finn Wittrock stars as Guy Gardner, “a hulking mass of masculinity” and “embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism.” But, you know, likable. The article also reports that the “story spans decades and galaxies, beginning on Earth in 1941 with the very first Green Lantern, secretly gay FBI agent Alan Scott, and 1984, with cocky alpha male Gardner and half-alien Bree Jarta. They’ll be joined by a multitude of other Lanterns — from comic book favorites to never-before-seen heroes.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The mere fact that this show survived the Warner Bro. Discovery blood-letting (er, merger) had to be a good sign. Right? But then shworunner Seth Grahame-Smith left the project.
Network: TBD
Based On: Cole Brown’s 2020 book, Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World
The Fanbase: Those who understand the struggles and stereotypes that face mixed-raced people. According to Deadline, “through a series of personal anecdotes and interviews with his peers, [Brown] transports us to his adolescence and explores what it’s like to be young and in search of identity. He digs into the places where, in youth, a greyboy’s difference is most acutely felt: parenting, police brutality, depression, and dating, to name a few.”
Everything We Know So Far: Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi and her mother/business partner, Keri Shahidi, are developing the book as part of their deal with ABC Signature.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It will be interesting to see how this show compares to what has already been covered in Grown-ish as well its sister shows Black-ish and Mixed-ish.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Wolfgang Hohlbein’s 2000 novel.
The Fanbase: German author Hohlbein brings with him a huge audience already. But fans of Stephen King’s work will also appreciate it …
What We Know So Far: … Because, according to a 2021 Variety article, the plot revolves around three outsiders who deal with a monster. Showrunners Erol Yesilkaya and Sebastian Marka are turning the book into six, 45-minute episodes.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Too early to tell. But executive producers Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann were producers on 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner The Lives of Others, and the series is being made by W&B Television — which produced three-Certifed Fresh-seasons sci-fi hit Dark for Netflix — in cooperation with DogHaus Film for Amazon Studios.
(Photo by Warner Bros./Everett Collection)
Network: HBO Max
Based On: J.K. Rowling’s book series.
The Fanbase: Fans of the beloved books and movies (although there still may be some backlash to Rowling from members of the trans community regarding prior comments).
What We Know So Far: The Hollywood Reporter broke the news in early 2021 that a live-action TV series based on the Harry Potter series was in extremely early talks and that no writer or cast had been set. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in 2022 that he planned to make more Potter-themed content for the streaming service.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Every property in the filmed Harry Potter universe, save the most recent, has been Certified Fresh. Protego!
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Sara Holland’s 2020 novel.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy stories of teens who discover they have access to hidden powers or other dimensions, such as Freeform’s Shadowhunters or HBO’s His Dark Materials.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2020 that Amazon was developing the series with Divergent writer Evan Daugherty. The story follows a teenager who discovers the Colorado hotel she’s staying in for the summer has portals to other realms.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s too early to tell. But with the right star-powered casting …
Network: Netflix
Based On: Alka Joshi’s 2020 novel
The Fanbase: Bridgerton buffs who’d also be interested in period pieces that are not set in England.
Everything We Know So Far: Freida Pinto stars as Lakshmi, the most in-demand henna artist of 1950s Jaipur. She’s got all the tea on the city’s wealthiest women but she also has some secrets of her own. According to Deadline, Sri Rao is producing the project through his Sri & Company, which has a mission “to tell stories that center on South Asian characters and artists, with a particular focus on women and the LGBT community.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Period-centric soap fans will want to have the details of this story tattooed all over them.
Network: Paramount+
Based On: Eoin Colfer’s 2020 novel.
The Fanbase: Entertainment Weekly described it as “Pete’s Dragon, but, like, an adult thriller version of that.”
What We Know So Far: The animated fantasy series from Artemis Fowl’s Colfer was in early development at Prime Video as of 2020, but it reportedly moved to Paramount+ in 2022. Nicolas Cage voices a dragon with interesting tastes in pop culture and a love of vodka. He used to be great, but now lives in a shack in the Louisiana swamp. It’s there that he strikes up a friendship with a young boy from a local moonshine mob.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Hopefully for Cage and his fans, this adaptation will fare better than Artemis Fowl.
(Photo by Touchstone/courtesy Everett Collection)
Network: Hulu
Based On: Douglas Adams’ radio series and reading material.
The Fanbase: The cult around this sci-fi story is strong.
What We Know So Far: Deadline broke the news in 2019 that Carlton Cuse and Jason Fuchs were adapting the series about Arthur Dent, a Brit and the last surviving human after aliens destroy Earth.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Good, although it would be fitting if it got a Tomatometer score of 42.
Network: TBD
Based On: Kennedy Ryan’s book series.
The Fanbase: Set in the world of the NBA, this romance series about three different couples with connections to the sport could bring in fans of series like BET’s The Game.
What We Know So Far: News of the rights aquisition only recently hit, with The Traveling Picture Show Company producing the limited series. No development team has been announced yet.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could be a slam-dunk for romance fans, but it’s still early in the game.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Donald Spivey’s 2012 biography
The Fanbase: It’s a story not just about the famed baseball player who didn’t get enough mainstream credit, but also about the Negro League Baseball and inherent racism in the sport. This means it could attract history buffs, sports fans and anyone else who wants to learn something.
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reports that Apple has acquired the rights to the book and that Earvin “Magic” Johnson is producing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: When done right (i.e. without relying on tropes like white saviors), projects like this can do very well. The film 42, which is about Jackie Robinson, is Certified Fresh.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ 2020 novel.
The Fanbase: Secret passages, puzzles, a surprise fortune and a squabbling rich family? Think: the movies Knives Out and Clue or Peacock’s adaptation of Karen M. McManus’ One of Us Is Lying.
What We Know So Far: Deadline broke the news in 2020 that the book had been optioned ahead of its release and that Notorious co-creator Josh Berman was executive producing.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: May the series be the surprise windfall that we all deserve.
Network: TBD
Based On: N.K. Jemisin’s popular sci-fi book series.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy stories of gods battling mortals and the fight to save humanity from a corrupt family that dominates it all.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Searchlight TV had optioned the series and that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios would also be producing with the aim of turning the source material into an “epic, live-action ongoing fantasy series.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Think: HBO’s Game of Thrones meets Starz’s American Gods — between them lies a Certified Fresh score.
Network: TBD
Based On: Stephen King’s 2019 novel.
The Fanbase: It might sound like an ouroboros given how often this show pays homage to King, but fans of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
What We Know So Far: In 2019, writer David E. Kelley and director Jack Bender, who have already worked together on an adaptation of King’s Bill Hodges Trilogy to make Mr. Mercedes, announced plans to adapt the book as a limited series. It follows a boy with special powers who is kidnapped and sent to live in an institute where a staff perform various experiments on him and other students. He escapes and a small-town sheriff is on the case.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Mr. Mercedes has one Certified Fresh season and an overall 91% score. How special are these powers?
Network: Hulu
Based On: Charles Yu’s National Book Award–winning novel.
The Fanbase: It’s a story of assimilation, typecasting, and career versus family — one or all which are relatable to most everyone.
What We Know So Far: Variety broke the news in 2020 that Hulu was developing a series based on the novel with Yu, who has written for shows like HBO’s Westworld and Facebook Watch’s Sorry For Your Loss. It got a series order in October 2022 with Jimmy O. Yang set to star and Taika Waititi to direct the pilot.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Part of the creativeness of the book is that it’s written like a film script. Half the work is already done! Now it’s just a matter of casting.
Network: Freeform
Based On: Stephen King’s 2013 novel.
The Fanbase: Given the network, expect PG-13 spooks like Apple TV+’s Home Before Dark.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2018 that Chris Peña (Jane the Virgin) and Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Stoning of Soraya M.) were writing the pilot and that the plot centers on “a college student who takes a summer job at an amusement park in a North Carolina tourist town, confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child and the way both will change his life forever.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could bring in the YA crowd à la the network’s smash, Pretty Little Liars.
Network: TBD
Based On: Patricia Cornwell’s character from her crime book series.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy the best-selling franchise as well as crime buffs and people who enjoy lady crime-solvers like TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles or NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Everything We Know So Far: Jamie Lee Curtis, who is a friend of the author, is working with Blumhouse TV to develop a one-hour series based on the books that follow a a forensic pathologist who — as Variety points — has been at the “center of 24 crime thrillers.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This is one of a handful of projects about female detectives that are in the works. It could easily make a killing with the same demographic who came for Rizzoli & Isles.
Network: TBD
Based On: Sue Grafton’s murder series, also known as the Alphabet series.
The Fanbase: Grafton, who died in 2017, was a best-selling novelist and her fans will want to find a way to stay connected with her.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that A+E Studios had landed the rights to adapt the books, which focus on dogged private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Each book was known for starting with a letter from the alphabet, with “Y” is for Yesterday being the final installment.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: H is for hit?
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Laura Lippman’s 2019 novel
The Fanbase: True-crime fanatics who enjoy period dramas and vigilante heroines.
What We Know So Far: Set in 1960s Baltimore, Natalie Portman plays Maddie Schwartz, a housewife and mother who becomes an investigative journalist after a murder goes unsolved. Her actions put her in contact with Lupita Nyong’o’s Cleo Sherwood, a hard-working mother who is also trying to advance Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda. Honey Boy’s Alma Har’el is directing and co-wrote the limited series.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Pretty good. It has the star power to be Apple TV+’s answer to Hulu’s Certified Fresh limited series Little Fires Everywhere.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Laura Dave’s 2021 suspense novel.
The Fanbase: Jennifer Garner fans who miss Alias.
What We Know So Far: Jennifer Garner will star, replacing Julia Roberts, in this limited series about a woman whose husband unexpectedly vanishes. Other cast members include Angourie Rice, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Aisha Tyler. Dave is co-creating the series with Spotlight writer Josh Singer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It has a thriller element that could make the Twitterverse — and critics — very happy.
Network: Fox
Based On: Sarah Penner’s 2021 historical novel.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy a period drama with a feminist bent.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Fox is adapting the book, which “is centered around a secret apothecary shop that caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.” Deadline also reported that the hunt was on for a writer and executive producer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could end up like HBO’s The Nevers, which got mixed reviews, or Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, which got a better reception. But it’s hard to know how much edge a show like this could have on broadcast TV.
Network: TBD
Based On: Alex Michaelides’ 2021 novel.
The Fanbase: It’s a Cambridge-set whodunnit that could appeal to Anglophiles and mystery lovers.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Miramax Television and Scott Steindorff and Dylan Russell’s Stone Village were adapting the book, which follows “a brilliant, but troubled, therapist [who] travels to Cambridge to comfort her” niece after the girl’s best friend is murdered. But, the article continues, the therapist’s “alma mater has changed, and a cult like group of students led by a new professor has overtaken the culture.” British writer Morwenna Banks is adapting the book.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The deal was done ever before the book came out, so it will depend a lot on how much buzz the source material can build before the adaptation airs.
Network: Hulu
Based On: Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2021 novel, her follow-up to her best-selling novel Daisy Jones & the Six (which is also being adapted).
The Fanbase: The books have a devoted following already and Amazon’s adaptation of Daisy Jones is already highly adaptation.
Everything We Know So Far: The Hollywood Reporter broke the news in 2021 that Little Fires Everywhere’s Liz Tigelaar would be adapting the book, which is set in 1983 and follows the four children of famed rocker Mick Riva as they throw their annual end-of-summer party and begin to confront family secrets.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Tigelaar already had success adapting LFE, which is also a period project about a family of four children.
Network: Netflix
Based On: Tom Wolfe’s 1998 novel.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy the writings of the man in white who don’t know if that Bonfires of the Vanities TV adaptation will ever see the light of day (see above).
Everything We Know So Far: The Hollywood Reporter wrote in 2021 that Regina King and David E. Kelley were working on a six-episode adaptation of Wolfe’s second novel. He’ll write and serve as showrunner and she’ll direct the first three episodes. The limited series follows an Atlanta real estate mogul facing sudden bankruptcy. According to THR, “political and business interests collide when he defends his empire from those trying to capitalize on his fall from grace.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Kelley has called this adaptation “a passion project for me” and King clearly has had success in front of, and behind, the camera. But given the amount of projects Kelley has in the works (gestures at this list), can he have time to do Wolfe’s story justice?
Network: TBD
Based On: Melissa Broder’s 2021 novel.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy their meet-cutes with a touch of irony.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2020 that Little Fires Everywhere’s Liz Tigelaar had bought the rights to the book and would write the series. According to the article, the plot is about a “love affair between an ambivalently Jewish woman with an eating disorder and the zaftig Orthodox woman who works at her local LA frozen yogurt shop.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Rom-com enthusiasts could lap this up.
Network: TBD
Based On: Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi’s sensational best-selling crime book, The Monster Of Florence: A True Story.
The Fanbase: True-crime obsessives who also happen to be interested in governmental surveillance.
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reports that Antonio Banderas will star in the six-part limited series that is being produced by Studiocanal. The article says the story follows what happens when “the investigators become the subject of investigation by the Italian police.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It will depend on the network and marketing campaign, but this one could see a scary high Tomatometer score.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Samanta Schweblin’s Spanish-language short story collection, which was published in 2008 and translated into English in 2019 by Megan McDowell.
The Fanbase: Horror, traumatic childhood, violence, madness — if it leans into the absurd, it could be a good fit for fans of Noah Hawley’s Legion or maybe Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. But if drama is more the focus, it might be better suited to fans of Haven or Castle Rock.
What We Know So Far: Hala writer-director Minhal Baig is adapting the horror drama, which Deadline describes as one that “circles madness, trauma, and violence in a darkly absurd, profoundly eerie, and ultimately human way, as our protagonist attempts to come to terms with a traumatic event from her childhood that she cannot remember.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Done right, it could easily be a buzzed-about show of the moment.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: one of the three books in coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows’ YA series.
The Fanbase: It’s YA meets historical fiction, which means it’s cat-nip for fans of Reign or Becoming Elizabeth (even if some of those viewers watched “ironically”).
Everything We Know So Far: Emily Bader (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) stars as Jane Grey, the British monarch who only ruled for nine days and was subsequently beheaded. But this fantastical, comedic drama gives the teen monarch another ending, one where — according to the logline — “true love is real, people are not always what they seem and even doomed heroines can save themselves.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Rosaline, a similarly toned alternate history story of the other woman in the Romeo and Juliet story, has a positive Tomatometer score since its 2022 release on Hulu. Shouldn’t Jane Grey deserve the same respect?
Network: Netflix
Based On: Ali Novak’s 2014 coming-of-age story.
The Fanbase: The young-adult novel follows an orphaned, teen-aged New Yorker who finds herself suddenly living in rural Colorado with a new guardian and a dozen rowdy kids. It could relate to anyone who always felt they were the Stacy of their Baby-Sitters Club group.
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reports that Melanie Halsall will adapt the book and serve as showrunner and that “the streamer has given the drama series a 10-episode order, with episodes set to be approximately 50 minutes each.” Nikki Rodriguez and Sarah Rafferty star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Netflix’s track record with YA has been hit-or-miss. For every BSC or Never Have I Ever, there’s been a Grand Army …
Network: Hulu
Based On: Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 sci-fi story of star-crossed lovers.
The Fanbase: A film adaptation of the book was released in 2010, causing many an audience member to shed tears over Andrew Garfield’s Tommy and Carey Mulligan’s Kathy — friends from a boarding school who, along with Keira Knightley’s Ruth, are actually clones being raised for organ harvesting.
Everything We Know So Far: Per the press release, this one-hour drama is “inspired” by the book and isn’t a direct adaptation. Viola Prettejohn plays Thora, a rebellious teen clone who escapes from the boarding school. As she starts living undercover in the outside world, she unwittingly sets in motion events that will spark a revolution and test the boundaries of what it means to be human. Tracey Ullman, Kelly Macdonald, Aiysha Hart, Spike Fearn, Shaniqua Okwok, Gary Beadle, Kwami Odoom, Susan Brown, Keira Chanse and Edward Holcroft also star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s unclear if this version will pull in the YA-tinged romance of the source material, a factor that contributed to the book and movie’s success. But it could also be a series that audiences will never want to let go.
Network: Fox
Based On: Robert C. O’Brien’s Rats of NIMH book series.
The Fanbase: Those who grew up with the children’s book series as well as devotees to Fox’s already strong animated slate.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Fox had given a script commitment to the animated drama and was searching for a writer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Who doesn’t want to see a story about a mouse who takes her family on a crazy journey that includes discovering a colony of escaped super-intelligent lab rats? (OK, maybe cats won’t like it).
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Shadow and Bone young-adult author Leigh Bardugo’s 2019 novel.
The Fanbase: Ninth House was Bardugo’s first in the adult space. But she already has a loyal fanbase.
What We Know So Far: Deadline announced the news of the deal in 2019 and explains that it is “set at an alternate Yale, Bardugo’s real-life alma mater, where the secret societies guard dangerous, magical secrets, and ghosts haunt the campus.” Bardugo will executive produce the series with her frequent collaborator Pouya Shahbazian (the Divergent film series), who is head of film and TV at New Leaf.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Netflix’s Shadow and Bone adaptation was well received, and Shahbazian most recently produced Certified Fresh films Love, Simon and American Honey. In any case, it’d be nice to confirm many assumptions about what Ivy League colleges’ secret societies are really about.
Network: Hulu
Based On: Xochitl Gonzalez’s novel.
The Fanbase: It’s about siblings in a gentrifying neighborhood who have issues with their politically absent and distant mother. So, anyone who has ever had an awkward night at the dinner table.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reports that Hulu has ordered a pilot based on the book, which Gonzalez is writing and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’s Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is directing. Wanda De Jesús and Jesse Williams star.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Feuding families are always interesting to watch, but this one sounds like it could bring in those who enjoyed the conflicts in series like Starz’s Vida.
Network: Netflix
Based On: David Nicholls’ 2009 romantic drama.
The Fanbase: Those who can’t quit their first loves (and who also haven’t seen — of who want a redo of — the 2011 cinematic adaptation of the book starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess).
Everything We Know So Far: Per Deadline: This is Going to Hurt’s Ambika Mod stars with The White Lotus season two actor Leo Woodall as Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. Each chapter of the book (and presumably each episode?) checks in with the couple on July 15, starting with that date in 1988.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Maybe one day serialized dramas can make this kind of idea work. But the failure of similar series like HBO’s The Time Traveler’s Wife as well as the flop of the first film suggest some retooling is in order.
Network: Netflix
Based On: Eiichiro Oda’s popular manga series.
The Fanbase: Those already devoted to the extensive and elaborate world of the long-running series plus those new to the franchise who are interested in a story of a kid made of rubber who hires a band of pirates known as the Straw Hat Pirates to find a mythical treasure.
Everything We Know So Far: The international cast of this live-action series includes Iñaki Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar. Steven Maeda serves as showrunner and executive producer and Matt Owens serves as writer and executive producer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This expensive and elaborate production is one long in the making. It’s also being made for a very niche audience. Here’s hoping that Netflix finds the treasure for which it’s so clearly looking.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Margarita Montimore’s 2020 novel.
The Fanbase: People who are still talking about Sliding Doors or who question whether they’re doing life right.
What We Know So Far: Deadline broke the news of the adaptation in 2021, describing the premise as “as a sophisticated love story that chronicles a romance interrupted and a lifetime rearranged” and that “it revolves around Oona Lockhart, who at the strike of midnight on her nineteenth birthday wakes to find she is the surprise new inhabitant of her 55-year-old body.” The Expatriates’ Alice Bell is adapting.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Could be quirky enough to work.
Network: Disney+
Based On: Rick Riordan’s young-adult fantasy novels
The Fanbase: Those who loved/love the books as well as anyone who has a connection to the huge cast of famous and funny people (Lin-Manuel Miranda as Greek god Hermes! Jay Duplass as Hades, the god of the Underworld! Megan Mullally as Percy’s strict math teacher/Hades servant, Mrs. Dodds!).
Everything We Know So Far: Walker Scobell plays Percy Jackson, the son of the human Sally Jackson and the Greek god Poseidon. His adventures include modern-day run-ins with some of mythology’s most well-known gods and goddesses.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: A movie version of the Percy Jackson universe failed spectacularly. Fans will riot if this one isn’t better.
Network: TBD
Based On: Alfred A. Knopf executive editor Jenny Jackson’s debut novel.
The Fanbase: It’s a tale about generational wealth and privilege, which are hot topics right now anyway. But it should be noted that one of Jackson’s writers at her day job is Crazy Rich Asians’ Kevin Kwan.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Picturestart had acquired the rights to the book.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Topics like this can be seen in high-brow programming like Succession to teen dramas like the new version of Gossip Girl. It could easily draw in a fascinated audience who want to enjoy hate-watching the rich.
Network: HBO Max
Based On: Jessica Goodman’s 2020 novel, They Wish They Were Us.
The Fanbase: Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars fans, but also those who like actress Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) and/or musician Halsey.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that HBO Max was developing the series. It would star the women (the latter in her TV acting debut) as characters from an affluent Long Island community who are attempting to solve their friend’s murder — which means also questioning what happened to them. Sweeney said in 2022 that they were in the process of writing the scripts.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The odds seem in its favor: Sweeney has appeared in a good bit of Fresh/Certified Fresh fare, and Annabelle Attanasio (writer-director of 100% Certified Fresh film Mickey and the Bear) is attached to write, direct, and executive produce the series.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Naomi Alderman’s 2016 sci-fi novel.
The Fanbase: The women’s empowerment story you may not have been expecting.
What We Know So Far: According to Elle magazine, the story “takes place in an era where women develop an electrical current within their bodies, aiding their rise to power across the globe.” Pre-pandemic, the show was set to star Leslie Mann and Rainn Wilson. New leads are Toni Collette and Josh Charles, according to Deadline. Raelle Tucker serves as showrunner and executive producer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: People will like a story about women rising to power. But will they like that these characters have to adapt to do so?
Network: TBD
Based On: Pierce Brown’s sci-fi novel series.
The Fanbase: Reviews for the books include comparisons to Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, so people who’d like to see movies like that in TV series form.
What We Know So Far: The project, reportedly, has had a lot of stops and starts. Brown told the Orlando Sentinel in 2019 that “I put together a pretty good team” and that “we’ve been developing it in private so that when we take it out, it fully reflects the vision.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Pretty good if it can ever get made.
Network: TBD
Based On: Guillaume Musso’s 2018 novel, La Jeune Fille et la Nuit.
The Fanbase: Those who like their sexy whodunnits about not-so-well-kept secrets to be filmed in the south of France.
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reported in 2021 that Ioan Gruffudd, Ivanna Sakhno, and Grégory Fitoussi are among the stars in the English-language series about three friends “bound by a tragic secret tied to the disappearance of a high school girl who went missing 25 years ago in the region” who reconnect at a high school reunion. Bill Eagles is directing for MGM International TV Productions.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could be a grown-up I Know What You Did Last Summer — in either a good or a bad way.
Network: The CW
Based On: Stephen King’s short story, “The Revelations of ‘Becka Paulson.”
The Fanbase: A jaded audience who appreciates the dark humor of series like The CW’s Reaper or TBS’s
Miracle Workers.
What We Know So Far: The CW confirmed it was developing the series in 2020, with Last Man Standing’s Maise Culver serving a writer. The story follows a wide-eyed young woman who accidentally shoots herself in the head with a nail gun, causing an over-it Jesus to force her to be the one to stop the apocalypse by showing why Earth is worth redeeming.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could work as a snarky take on a procedural, similar to The CW’s iZombie, which has a 90% series score and a Certified Fresh first season.
Network: Disney+
Based On: Melissa de la Cruz’s YA novel
The Fanbase: It’s about a princess. But not a stereotypical Disney princess. This one isn’t looking for love or escape; just power — and lots of it. It’s also set in the world of King Arthur and the princess’s best friend and coconspirator is the illegitimate daughter of the wizard Merlin. So there’s a lot happening there in regards to feminism, mythology and teen angst.
What We Know So Far: Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg are adapting the book, which Deadline reports is in series development.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s tough. Netflix couldn’t work much magic with Cursed, which lasted for a season and dealt with the Merlin of it all. But people are very much talking about HBO’s House of the Dragon, which also starts out as being about a teen-ager, her rise to power, issues with her father, and her relationship with a friend who is an interloper.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Larry Niven’s sci-fi series.
The Fanbase: Devotees of these books have seen many attempted adaptations explode. They want this one to work.
What We Know So Far: Prolific writer-director-producer Akiva Goldsman is working on the series, telling Collider in 2020 that Game of Thrones’ Alan Taylor would direct the pilot. Set in the future, the story focuses on Louis Gridley Wu — a bored genius who joins a young woman and a couple of aliens on an adventure to explore, and uncover, the mysterious of an area beyond their world.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It had better be (see “the fanbase” above).
Network: Netflix
Based On: The children’s book author’s collection of works
The Fanbase: Those who grew up with Dahl’s works like James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who can also ignore his problematic legacy.
Everything We Know So Far: In 2021, Netflix acquired The Roald Dahl Story Co., which manages the late British novelist’s catalogue of work. How this materializes on screen is yet to be seen.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Did Netflix win the golden ticket or will it end up drowning itself in a chocolate river? It’s still too early to tell.
Network: HBO Max
Based On: Colson Whitehead’s 2009 novel.
The Fanbase: Fans of Whitehead’s work, as well as others interested in depictions of race and class divides in wealthy suburban America.
Everything We Know So Far: Set in 1985, the series is told from the perspective of a Black teen who is spending his summer away from his Manhattan prep school and in an enclave of the Hamptons that’s populated by affluent Black families. Deadline reported in 2021 that Laurence Fishburne and producing partner Helen Sugland were executive producing and that Daniel “Koa” Beaty is writing the pilot.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Fox’s Our Kind of People has a similar setting and comparisons will be drawn, but others might look to the long-running ABC comedy Black-ish (on which Fisburne appears and where he and Sugland serve as executive producers).
Network: TBD
Based On: Laura Zigman’s 2020 novel.
The Fanbase: The short answer could easily be “moms.” But there’s also something there for dog lovers, people going through a mid-life crisis or who are simply anxious (so, everyone).
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Mare of Easttown‘s Julianne Nicholson will executive produce and star in the series about a middle-aged woman going through marriage trouble and empty nest syndrome who decides to wear her dog in a baby sling. Gillian Robespierre and Mathilde Dratwa were brought on as writers and executive producers in 2022. Studio Wiip is developing, but no network or streamer has been announced.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The book is awkward and darkly funny, but also can be very sad. It could bring in people who enjoyed similarly unique works like Showtime’s Work in Progress or Netflix’s Lady Dynamite.
Network: TBD
Based On: Tia Williams’ 2021 romance novel.
The Fanbase: Romance lovers, especially those who enjoy steamy sex scenes more than meet-cutes.
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reported in 2021 that Will Packer’s production company partnered with Red Arrow Studios’ Kinetic Content to secure the film and television rights to the story about a successful erotica author and single mother who learns her former flame has returned to town. Packer is quoted in the article as saying “the sexiness, the intensity, the unashamed Blackness makes this an ideal project for us at Team Packer. Tia is so incredibly talented and Kinetic Content are such perfect partners, this is the right project for the right team at the right time!”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The story of mixed connections and honest portrayals of love scenes could bring in audiences who were drawn to Hulu’s Normal People.
Network: Netflix
Based On: Stuart Turton’s 2018 novel.
The Fanbase: A whodunnit that mixes Knives Out with a sort of Freaky Friday–like twist.
What We Know So Far: Sophie Petzal is adapting the story of a murder mystery at a country estate that would be a lot easier to solve if you didn’t keep waking up in someone else’s body.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The plot is intriguing, but will the streamer’s binge-watch release schedule ruin the surprise?
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Ben Mezrich’s 2005 novel
The Fanbase: There are definitely parallels to Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon books.
Everything We Know So Far: According to Deadline, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu will executive produce and star as botanist Dr. Nate Grady who “teams up with the slippery international fixer Sloane Seydoux on a breathless race to solve an ancient mystery tied to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.” Adam Cozad is writing the action-adventure series, which is still in development, and Justin Lin would direct.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: This is a streaming service that went to the extremes to give us a show about seven rings. So why not one about seven wonders too?
Network: Prime Video
Based On: The books in Harlan Coben’s young adult series.
The Fanbase: Coben’s library of books are beloved (as evident by other entries on this list), but this story of an orphaned teen who discovers his new girlfriend — and late dad — may not be who he thought they were, could bring in a captive younger audience.
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reported in 2021 that Amazon Studios was making a pilot based on the first book in Coben’s Mickey Bolitar book series. It was later reported that Colin in Black & White star Jaden Michael will lead this cast and the show got a series order in 2022.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The show could find an audience akin to other programs that are ostensibly about young adults but also entice people old enough to vote and rent cars (see also: Shadowhunters, His Dark Materials).
Network: HBO Max
Based On: Pamela Ribon and Veronica Fish’s graphic novels
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy female-centric adult animated series like Harley Quinn.
What We Know So Far: Ribon is adapting the half-hour series that Deadline reports is “set in the fast-paced, hard-hitting, super-cheeky, all-female world of banked track roller derby, follows two young women who will have to decide if their budding friendship is stronger than the pull of a team when a win is on the line.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Too early to tell how long this bout will go.
(Photo by Scribner)
Network: AMC
Based On: The 2017 novel co-written by Stephen and Owen King.
The Fanbase: Exhausted women everywhere.
What We Know So Far: While no casting news has been announced, the logline is an understandable one: “In a small Appalachian town, there’s a strange mystical occurrence that causes all the women to fall asleep, leaving the men to try and rescue them. But do the women want to be rescued?”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: TV adaptations of King’s projects have been hit or miss, and AMC also couldn’t get a strong audience for the adaptation of his other son, Joe Hill’s, NOS4A2.
Read Also: “Every Upcoming Stephen King Movie and TV Adaptation”
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)
Network: FX
Based On: Sam Greenlee’s 1969 novel.
The Fanbase: Although this is a work of fiction, audiences who appreciate stories of government corruption and civil rights like BlackKklansman may relate.
What We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that FX had ordered a pilot of the adaptation of this novel about the CIA’s first Black member with Lee Daniels (pictured) producing. In 2022, Deadline reported that the show was getting redeveloped.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Good, given the success of BlackKklansman and similar recent projects like Judas and the Black Messiah.
Network: MGM+
Based On: Ben Macintyre’s 2014 novel.
The Fanbase: Spy seekers, especially those who want Cold War-era clearance.
Everything We Know So Far: Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce star in the story written by Alexander Cary about two spies who were friends — one of whom was deceiving the other the whole time.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The Americans and Homeland fans will definitely be running surveillance on this show.
Network: AMC
Based On: John le Carré’s 1963 novel.
The Fanbase: AMC is hoping to draw an audience similar to those who came out for the Tom Hiddleston–Hugh Laurie adaptation of le Carre’s The Night Manager.
What We Know So Far: The project was announced in 2017 with Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy set to write.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Depends. Night Manager got a ton of buzz. The adaptation of le Carre’s The Little Drummer Girl got good reviews — and a 95% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score — but not as much attention. Also, a German-language adaptation of the late novelist’s A Most Wanted Man is in the works. If that is done first and finds a U.S. distributor …
Network: HBO
Based On: Marjan Kamali’s 2019 novel.
The Fanbase: It’s a story of star-crossed lovers in 1950s Tehran who reconnect as adults, meaning it could bring in romance die-hards who still cry if they catch The Notebook while cruising through channels but also those who are politically savvy and care about historical cultural affairs.
Everything We Know So Far: Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny and writer-actress Mozhan Marnò are working with author Kamali on the adaptation.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s too early too tell. We’ll know more provided the project doesn’t stay, well, stationary.
Network: TBD
Based On: Jim Dodge’s 1998 novel.
The Fanbase: Set in 1980s California with a sci-fi twist, it clearly draws influence from George Lucas’ work.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Game of Thrones’ Alan Taylor was directing the pilot that “depicts the fantastical childhood and adolescence of Daniel Pearse and culminates with his battle for life against oblivion” that is also “a tall tale of rebellion, romance, revenge, and magic, woven into an American coming-of-age story.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It really depends on the casting and the channel it’s on, but the same kind of audience that came out for the film adaptation of Ender’s Game could enjoy this.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Nathan Pyle’s webcomic and graphic novels.
The Fanbase: The animated series is based on a beloved comic and is co-created by Rick and Morty’s Dan Harmon. The fanbase is plenty there.
Everything We Know So Far: The press release’s logline keeps it simple by stating that Strange Planet “tells profound and heartfelt stories about beings on a distant planet not unlike our own.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It may not be a huge windfall for Apple TV+, but it could definitely bring in the cult audience the already obsesses over other projects in its orbit like Rick and Morty.
Network: TBD
Based On: Rebecca Carroll’s 2021 memoir
The Fanbase: Writer and cultural critic Carroll has cultivated a fanbase though these endeavors as well as through her Tweets and her podcast, Come Through. The memoir is also a story of trans-racial adoption and a search for racial identity — topics that are just beginning to receive mainstream attention.
Everything We Know So Far: Carroll is adapting her work as a limited series and MGM/UA Television have acquired the rights.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s a very delicate topic that may not find as widespread appeal as some of the other titles on this list. But it could certainly find an audience of those curious to know more about the subjects.
Network: HBO
Based On: Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize–winning 2015 novel.
The Fanbase: The book tells the story of a half-Vietnamese, half-French undercover communist agent who was held as a political prisoner during the Vietnam conflict and was forced into a confession. He then lived in exile in the United States.
What We Know So Far: It was reported in 2021 that Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Little Drummer Girl) was directing and that A24 and Rhombus Media were producing. Late that year, it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr. would star and that HBO had ordered the project to series.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s a hot-blooded topic that could garner quite an audience with the prestige-drama set.
(Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images)
Network: Netflix
Based On: Stephen King and Peter Straub’s 1984 fantasy horror novel.
The Fanbase: King fans have been waiting for this one for decades. But its premise could also draw in fans of other series about kids who straddle different worlds, like HBO Max’s Harry Potter series or HBO’s His Dark Materials.
What We Know So Far: With producers including Steven Spielberg (pictured) and Stranger Things’ Matt and Ross Duffer, the plot follows a 12-year-old boy who goes on a quest to find someone who could help his dying mother. The journey takes him to another, much more sinister, version of our world. Stranger Things’ Curtis Gwinn would serve as showrunner.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: According to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news, this has been a passion project of Spielberg’s even before the book was published. But it also may have competition from a film version of the novel, but all signs point to a winner.
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Network: Hulu
Based On: Margaret Atwood’s sequel to her potentially prophetic work, The Handmaid’s Tale
The Fanbase: Anyone who wore a pussyhat and marched in 2017 and/or enjoys watching Handmaid’s star Elisabeth Moss eat a lot of pancakes.
Everything We Know So Far: This was inevitable after the Emmy-winning success of creator Bruce Miller’s adaptation of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale — a story about a tyrannical empire that rose up from a dismantled United States to force women into sexual servitude (among other atrocities). The series hit the zeitgeist at exactly the right time when it premiered in 2017. However, some have argued that later seasons have outstayed their welcome as they become more illogical and focused on torture-porn. The book The Testaments looks at three characters who made it out of the shambles of the new world order. Theoretically, the series will also focus on them.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: The final seasons of Handmaid’s appear to be setting up for The Testaments. But will audiences be able to stomach another go-around?
Network: HBO
Based On: John Grisham’s 2020 novel, a follow up to his A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row.
The Fanbase: Those who relate to Grisham’s Jake Brigance character, a modern-day Atticus Finch who defends the downtrodden in often racially-charged cases.
What We Know So Far: Variety reports that Matthew McConaughey, who played the character in the 1996 movie adaptation of A Time to Kill will star in this series, reporting that his hero’s latest case is “a young man who killed his mother’s boyfriend, a deputy sheriff, with the boy claiming the man was abusive toward his mother, himself, and his little sister.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s certainly topical, A Time to Kill was Fresh, and the McConaughey’s True Detective season 1 performance earned that multiple-Emmy-winning season its 87% Certified Fresh score.
(Photo by HBO)
Network: HBO
Based On: Author Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series (also known as the Sookie Stackhouse Novels).
The Fanbase: Fan(g)s who want a re-do of the original series’ final season.
What We Know So Far: TVLine reported in 2020 that HBO was in extremely early stages of developing a reboot of the popular drama series with NOS4A2 creator Jami O’Brien co-writing the pilot with Riverdale’s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It depends on how enthusiastic HBO is to sink its teeth into more of the edgy soap. Aguirre-Sacasa has a great Tomatometer record.
Network: Hulu
Based On: Rebecca Godfrey’s 2005 story.
The Fanbase: True-crime aficionados, especially those who followed Adnan Syed’s case post-Serial and who also turned out for scripted takes inspired by true events like Peacock’s A Friend of the Family.
What We Know So Far: Per Hulu’s logline, the plot revolves around “the 1997 true story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk, who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Godfrey takes us into the hidden world of the seven teenage girls and a boy accused of the savage murder, revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer.” Variety reported in 2022 that Quinn Shephard was adapting the book into an eight-episode limited series while Samir Mehta and Liz Tigelaar will serve as co-showrunners. Deadline reported later that year that Riley Keough was set to star and executive produce. Unfortunately, Godfrey will not get to see the TV adaptation of her work. She died of lung cancer a week after Hulu first announced the deal.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It’s a fascinating story. But will the true-crime trend be dead by the time this makes it to air?
Network: TBD
Based On: Mercedes Lackey’s fantasy book series.
The Fanbase: It’s an LGBTQ-positive story of a persecuted and abused son of a noble person who finds himself, and love, in an unexpected place. This could strike a cord with many.
Everything We Know So Far: Deadline reported in 2021 that Jumanji producer Radar Pictures was adapting the series and that EastSiders creator Kit Williamson was adapting it with author Brittany Cavallaro. According to Deadline, “the first season will be adapted from the Last Herald-Mage trilogy, comprising of Magic’s Pawn, which was first published in 1989, Magic’s Price and Magic’s Promise.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Inclusivity and fantasy are two big issues right now …
Network: HBO
Based On: Brit Bennett’s 2020 novel of historical fiction.
The Fanbase: It’s a story of race and family and knowing your ancestry that would interest anyone who ever took a DNA test.
What We Know So Far: Aziza Barnes and Jeremy O. Harris were adapting and executive producing the book adaptation. However, Harris parted ways with the project in 2022. The story follows light-skin Black twins from a small Southern town. After they escape to New Orleans, they go their separate ways — one deciding to live her life as a white woman. No casting has been announced, but other executive producers include Issa Rae.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Casting will play a major part in its success, but Barnes, Harris, and Rae all have good Tomatometer track records.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: William Shakespeare’s plays
The Fanbase: Those who want to brush up their Shakespeare as well as fans of teen dramas.
Everything We Know So Far: Part of Gloria Calderón Kellett’s development deal with Amazon, she created the show with Roja Gashtili, Julia Lerman and Kelly Younger and, according to Deadline, “takes the classic Shakespearean stories you know and love out of the renaissance and into present-day high school” and follows “the Del Castillo sisters Nico, Delilah, and Inez as they play out familiar stories interweaved together in fair Verona where we lay our scene.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Hopefully it will be more comedy than tragedy.
Network: Hulu
Based On: Esi Edugyan’s 2018 novel.
The Fanbase: Those who enjoy period-set event series, particularly ones with Emmy-winning leads.
Everything We Know So Far: The story is centered on the titular 11-year-old boy, who must flee his life on a Barbados sugar plantation after a shocking death. Sterling K. Brown, who is also executive producing the project, stars as Medwin Harris, Wash’s mentor who is known for the larger-than-life persona he gained while traveling the world after a traumatic childhood as a Black refugee in Nova Scotia. Twilight Zone’s Selwyn Seyfu Hinds is adapting the story. The cast includes Ernest Kingsley Jr. as Wash as well as Lola Evans, Billy Boyd, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Provided fans don’t get too distracted by seeing Brown in a more ostentatious part that the TV work he’s known for on This Is Us and American Crime Story, this seems like a safe bet.
(Photo by )
Network: HBO Max
Based On: Characters from Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel It
The Fanbase: Horror fans willing to pay a pretty penny to be wise to the backstories of some of Derry, Maine’s most infamous residents.
Everything We Know So Far: Although plot details are being kept under wraps, Variety reported in 2022 that Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane will serve as co-showrunners.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Too early to see if this red balloon will burst.
Network: TBD
Based On: Georgia politician Stacey Abrams’ 2021 novel.
The Fanbase: The fanbase for Abrams herself, who is worshipped among progressives for her help in recent elections, might be stronger for that of the book — her first to be published under her real name (she published other titles under the pseudonym Selena Montgomery).
Everything We Know So Far: Variety reported in 2021 that studio Working Title Television, which is part of NBCUniversal International Studios, won the rights to the novel in a bidding war. The article includes the following synopsis: “Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Wynn, whose descent into a coma plunges the court, and the country, into turmoil and turns Avery’s life upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery discovers not only that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court — a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field, but also that Justice Wynn suspected a dangerous conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington.”
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: While it would be great if Abrams and her brilliant legal mind became the next John Grisham, her supporters would hope that a successful TV show would not mean she’d leave politics.
Network: Prime Video
Based On: Tarryn Fisher’s 2019 novel.
The Fanbase: People who enjoy saucy thrillers that not only ask how well you know your spouse — but how well do you want to know your spouse.
What We Know So Far: Kayla Alpert is adapting this book about a woman who knows her husband is married to two other women (he only sees her on Thursdays). But her curiosity gets the best of her and she befriends one of them — making her ask a lot more questions about her partner.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Alpert is also an executive producer of Netflix’s Wednesday, which is about the Addams Family heroine. This might suggest that she knows how to fill this with dark comedy and tantalizing scenarios.
Network: Apple TV+
Based On: Hugh Howey’s story as part of his post-apocalyptic Silo series.
The Fanbase: It’s a show about a man who lost his wife after a post-apocalyptic event (no, not that show).
What We Know So Far: Variety reported in 2018 that Into the Badlands’ LaToya Morgan was adapting the series for AMC. Howey may have been getting impatient. In 2019, he tweeted a request for AMC to cast Sam Elliot as one of the leads. The project now has a series order at Apple TV+ with Justified’s Graham Yost writing and Defending Jacob’s Morten Tyldum directing. Dune’s Rebecca Ferguson will play the female lead, Juliette, who is described as “an independent and hardworking engineer” who lives in “a ruined and toxic future where a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep.” Tim Robbins plays Bernard, the head of IT for the Silo.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: Yost has spun stories out of novels before. And he’s got plenty of material to work with for Wool. But can it find an audience among the myriad of other post-apocalyptic programming?
Network: Paramount+
Based On: Sierra Crane Murdoch’s 2020 true-crime story, Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country.
The Fanbase: Deadline, which broke the news of the series development, says it’s “described as a true crime show, a family drama and an immersive look at modern Native American life.” According to the article, it follows a woman who was recently released from jail and returns to her life on a North Dakota reservation — where she becomes an amateur sleuth and “ultimately expos[es] a sweeping criminal conspiracy of murder and corruption.”
Everything We Know So Far: Reservation Dogs co-creator Sterlin Harjo and writer-director Erica Tremblay would co-create and executive produce the potential series. Other executive producers include Beau Willimon and Jordan Tappis’ Westward Productions and Michael London’s Groundswell Productions. Lissa Yellowbird, who is the subject of the book, is also on executive producer.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: There’s a lot of never-underestimate-the-underdog energy to this story that could definitely make it a hit. And Harjo’s Reservation Dogs was extremely well received.
Network: TBD
Based On: Graeme Armstrong’s 2020 novel.
The Fanbase: People who know (or need to know) that Scotland is about more than what they see on Outlander.
Everything We Know So Far: According to Variety, Synchronicity Films has optioned the rights to the story. It’s about teen gang members in Scotland’s former industrial heartland of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.
Chances It Will Be a Certified Fresh Hit: It could be the gritty, honest look at institutional failures and teen (boys) with no other way out a la HBO’s The Wire.