The vampire genre just won’t die, thanks in part to a certain someone named Julie Plec, the fan-beloved creator of The Vampire Diaries and its spinoffs, The Originals and Legacies, with the latter still airing on The CW. Clearly not done within the world of bloodsucking drama, Plec is now heading to NBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock to start up a new vampire franchise.
Julie Plec is set to adapt the Vampire Academy young adult book series, as written by Richelle Mead, for a scripted live-action drama for Peacock. The Vampire Diaries franchise co-creator and her longtime collaborator Marguerite MacIntyre will serve as co-showrunners on the series, and according to THR, the new project has already received a straight-to-series order.
Vampire Academy follows the story of two young women and the friendship they share that goes beyond social classes and other distinctions. The friends are in the process of wrapping up their Academy education and prepping themselves for the privilege of royal vampire society. The six novels in Richelle Mead's series were published between 2007-2010, and they sparked the spinoff Bloodlines, which follows several characters from the series. (Bloodlines also comprised six books, with these being published between 2011-2015.) Fans no doubt remember the first book in the Vampire Academy series was adapted into a film in 2014 starring Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, and Dominic Sherwood. The film's success was such that sequels were never birthed, which brings us to now.
The new Peacock announcement comes after Julie Plec signed an overall deal with NBCUniversal Television in 2020, so we can probably expect even more supernatural mischief to come out of that deal. For now, though Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre will adapt the Vampire Academy novels together, with both serving as executive producers and co-showrunners on the 10-episode series. A premiere date is not yet known.
Julie Plec has surely made a name for herself over the last nearly 25 years in both features and television. Her first step into the industry was serving as co-producer on Scream 2 in 1997, followed by 2000’s Scream 3. Throughout the run of ABC Family’s Kyle XY, Plec served as a writer, and a producer with many hats. And then outside of The Vampire Diaries franchise, Plec has had a creative hand in the short-lived CW series The Tomorrow People and Containment, and also serves as executive producer on Roswell, New Mexico. Plec also co-created Netflix series The Girls On the Bus, which has yet to have a premiere date.
Vampire Academy will join other Peacock scripted originals that include Girls5eva, A.P. Bio, Bel-Air, and Joe Exotic, along with revivals of classic shows like Saved by the Bell, Punky Brewster, Battlestar Galactica, and Queer as Folk, among other titles. There isn’t any word yet on who will be in the new drama, or whether it will be anything like the movie, but considering the movie’s producers, Susan Montford and Don Murphy will be executive producing alongside Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre, it will be interesting to see what aspects they bring to the series that weren't included in the movie, which recognizable film elements will be absent from the new version.
Despite Julie Plec’s deal with NBCUniversal and her growing roster of shows, don’t expect her to neglect Legacies. The drama is still airing its third season and will be coming back for Season 4, likely later this year on The CW.
