Despite several years of development, it seems the television adaptation of American author Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses, will have to search the ley lines for a new home.
Plans for a television adaptation were first announced in 2017, with Tempo Production optioning the rights. In 2021, Hulu and Disney's 20th Television boarded the project as a streaming home.
Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, For All Mankind) was originally attached to develop and co-write the series alongside Maas but late last-year, Moor departed 20th Century to return to Sony.
However, earlier this week, it was revealed that Disney and Hulu have decided not to move forward with the project.
The novel is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast and follows a young female monster huntress who agrees to travel to faery lands after an accidental encounter in the woods.
The novel gained prominence worldwide thanks to the BookTok trend on TikTok, which also helped Fourth Wing rise to prominence.
Sources close to Maas have reportedly revealed that Disney's rights to the series expires in Summer 2025, at which point, the rights revert back to Maas, who will then shop the series to a new streamer/network.
Published in 2015, A Court of Thorns and Roses kickstarted a fantasy series of the same name, with a follow-up released in 2016 titled, Court of Mist and Fury. Three more titles have followed since, including A Court of Wings and Ruin (2017), A Court of Frost and Starlight (2018), and A Court of Silver Flames (2021).
Despite releasing over a decade ago, the novel regularly ranks on Amazon's weekly Most Read Fiction chart.
About A Court of Thorns and Roses
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he's not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.