If you’ve heard of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses book series, then you are possibly (likely?) a rabid fan. Frequently abbreviated to ACOTAR, the fantasy series tells the story of Feyre Archeron, a young mortal huntress who gets swept into a journey in the faerie lands of Prythian. With a sprawling world, deeply flawed and intriguing characters, and a whole lot of steamy love scenes, the ACOTAR series has attracted legions of fans since Maas published the first book in 2015. And now the beloved book series is becoming a TV series for Hulu.
In 2021, Maas first shared the news via a now-deleted Instagram post. But that post let us know she was working with Ron Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander) to adapt A Court of Thorns and Roses for Hulu. Since then, we haven’t heard any updates for a while, but recently, Moore shared with TVLine that Hulu is still game for the ACOTAR series. He noted, “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.” Hey, we’ll take it.
If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that Moore has plenty of material to work with. The first book, which carries the title of the whole series, is a loose adaptation of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. As punishment for killing a faerie, a faerie leader, Tamlin, imprisons Feyre in Prythian. He and everyone else in his court wear face-obscuring masks; a curse affixed the masks to their faces. Things just get progressively wilder from there in each of the 600-plus-page books.
Bloomsbury Publishing
A Court of Thorns and Roses TV series would have a vast playground to explore. And given Moore’s experience in telling epic stories, he seems like an excellent choice to work with Maas. Especially given his role in bringing Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander to the screen. Given the rise of fantasy books coming to the screen, with series such as Shadow and Bone delighting viewers on Netflix, it’s no surprise to see that it’s ACOTAR‘s turn.
Maas is also known for her Throne of Glass series (which Nerdist Book Club read a portion of). But just anecdotally, I feel like folks get most excited about A Court of Thorns and Roses. By folks, I mean myself. I definitely named my Animal Crossing: New Horizons character Feyre. I’ll just be over here daydreaming about who will play Rhysand.
Originally published on March 26, 2021.