We must talk about A Court of Thorns and Roses and its upcoming TV adaptation as part of the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations because I am so excited.
If that series name sounds familiar, then I have met my true people. If not, let me introduce you to the world of ACOTAR, otherwise known as A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, the first in a series of books that has become extremely popular worldwide – and happens to be a part of Sarah J. Maas’ upcoming books.
And now a TV adaptation is in the works that we really want to know more about, especially with recent 2024 reports. Here is what we know about A Court of Thorns and Roses and what you can expect.
A Court Of Thorns And Roses Is The First Book In The ACOTAR Series
As mentioned above, A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first in the novel series called ACOTAR. This series involves three other books and one novella: A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Frost and Starlight, and A Court of Silver Flames.
The first book in the series follows a young woman named Feyre who kills a wolf in a forest while hunting for food for her family, only to discover that it was actually a Fae from across the border, from a land known as Prythian. She is then brought back to live in Prythian in the Spring Court forever as punishment and to keep her family safe, and it follows her time there.
Just rewriting that premise makes me want to go back and read the first book and think of all the book moments I want to see happen in the TV series, too.
All five books are written by Sarah J. Maas, a known fantasy author who has written one complete series so far, Throne of Glass, and released a third book in the Crescent City series in January 2024.
While both Crescent City and Throne of Glass are well known and beloved, nothing compares as much to A Court of Thorns and Roses in popularity. The series has only blown up more over the last few years thanks to the popularity of BookTok (a reading-focused corner of TikTok), and since there's another ACOTAR book in the works, more and more people have been reading them.
A TV show adaptation for ACOTAR has been announced, but what is its most recent update?
Talks Of An Adaptation Go Back To 2018
The first ACOTAR novel, A Court of Thorns and Roses, was released in 2015, and then Sarah J. Maas posted on Instagram in 2018 that she was delivered a script for a possible movie written by Rachel Hirons:
At the time, Maas was finishing up releasing the novella in the franchise, A Court of Frost and Starlight. But then, eventually, that movie idea fell off the map only a short time after, and we didn't hear anything else on the subject for a while.
That was until March 2021, when it was confirmed from Deadline that Hulu would be developing the first book in the ACOTAR franchise into a TV series.
This is some of the best news that many fans could have hoped for at the time. There are some great shows on Hulu, from The Handmaid's Tale, which is receiving a sixth and final season (and is also a book adaptation), to Only Murders in the Building, which is getting a fourth installment.
I could see Hulu knocking it out of the park with this, but the fate of the adaptation has has gotten confusing recently...
Sarah J. Mass Confirmed The Show In 2021, But The Instagram Post Has Since Been Deleted
Deadline announced the show in March 2021, so of course, Maas took to Instagram (via fellow fantasy author's Facebook page, Jennifer L. Armentrout) at the time to celebrate the news that the show was coming from Hulu:
So, it's official (and thank you, Josh, for accidentally spilling the beans! 😂): Ron Moore (creator of Outlander and one of my creative idols) and I will co-adapt ACOTAR as a tv show for Hulu! I'm currently hard at work writing the pilot with Ron (!!!!!), and while there is SO much more news to share with you guys about bringing this series to life, it just feels so great to finally be able to talk about this! Stay tuned for more details!!
And then, in August 2022, in an interview with the New York Times, Maas said they were working on the show's pilot.
However, at an undisclosed point in 2023, fans on Reddit began to notice that Sarah J. Maas had deleted the Instagram post that celebrated the announcement of the Hulu adaptation. And it lined up with the fact that there had been a few updates for the show since.
Ronald D. Moore Was The Showrunner, But Has Since Left The Project
And now, it makes even more sense that the post was deleted, because Moore is not connected with the adaptation anymore.
Originally, Ronald D. Moore, the TV writer/producer who was announced to be developing the show with Maas in the Deadline article, told TV Line in November 2023 that the show is still "in development":
It's still in development. We've written some scripts, and we're just sort of waiting. I think the whole town is kind of waiting to see if we have actors before things really move forward, but it's still in development.
Things begin to take a turn in 2024. On February 12 (2024), TV Line reported that the series was scrapped at Hulu, and Variety also confirmed the news not that long later. However, Variety followed that report with their own article, which said that the series was still in development.
However, the news outlet said that it's just "semantics," and that the series is believed to "no longer be in active development," meaning that the future of the series is up in the air. According to Variety, the show is not being shopped to other markets in its "current form."
And then, in July 2024, it was officially confirmed that Moore had left the project due to him returning to working with Sony, according to Entertainment Weekly:
I can tell you I am no longer working on it because I left Disney and I've returned to Sony. And ACOTAR was a project that was at 20th Century Television and Disney… I had worked on it for a while but it was still in development, as they say, when I left, so I don't know what the status is anymore.
So with that in mind, this is a bit of a sticky situation.
There Has Been Interest From Others – Including Actress Margot Robbie
While the showrunner is gone from the series, other people within Hollywood have shared their interest in the series – namely, Margot Robbie, who went viral earlier in the year for having a coffee date with Sarah J. Maas that a fan caught a picture of.
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, in September 2024, Robbie said that she’s a huge fan of the books and has been for years, and said she’d “see what she could do” with Maas to make the series come to life after all this drama:
We all need that—the world needs that. I’ll see what I can do.
Granted, she’s not confirmed as a producer on the show yet or anything, but it’s fun to see that she’s excited about the series – and who knows? She might have a credit on the show if it happens.
The Future For The Series Is "Murky," According To Variety
So while we did get that update in 2023 that the ACOTAR show was in development, February 2024 sort of turned that around and upside down for a bit.
On February 12 (2024), TV Line reported that the series was scrapped at Hulu, and Variety also confirmed the news not that long later. However, Variety followed that report with their own article, which said that the series was still in development.
However, the news outlet said that it's just "semantics," and that the series is believed to "no longer be in active development," meaning that the future of the series is up in the air.
According to Variety, the show is not being shopped to other markets in its "current form."
So while it doesn't sound like the project is cancelled, this information doesn't make it sound like things are moving forward anytime in the near future.
No One’s Been Cast Yet
Obviously, with a show that's really up in the air right now, there haven't been cast announcements yet.
Some actors have petitioned themselves for roles in the show, namely Brec Bassinger of Stargirl on the CW. She spoke with TV Line in July 2023 about her interest in being involved, saying she didn't care if she just spoke "one line" in the new show – only that she had to be in it after reading the first book:
Literally, after I finished the first one, I emailed my team and I was like, 'Listen, I don't care if I have one line. I have to be a part of this," she shares… I'm not fiery enough for Nesta. I don't present old enough for Feyre. I feel like I'd make a good Elain, but I'll be whoever.
Besides that one comment, we don't know who will star in the upcoming series, and we can only speculate.
Another thing that some fans have brought up is that if Hulu drops the series, many book lovers have aspired for the ACOTAR show to be picked up by Max (or HBO as a whole).
At this point, we're all just waiting for this adaptation to actually happen, and if it’ll become part of our list of the best fantasy shows. Hopefully, we'll get more concrete updates soon on what to expect with this highly anticipated fantasy TV show.
