HBO Max Working On ‘Gossip Girl’ Reboot
This just in from HBO Max — a Gossip Girl reboot is in the works.
According to Entertainment News, the new streaming service announced today they’re putting together an updated version of the CW teen drama. The series will have 10 hour-long episodes and will follow a new group of elite private school students in Manhattan.
Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the original series creators, will both executive produce, while Joshua Safran (Quantico) will write.
The new cast hasn’t been announced yet, and there’s no word if any of the original actors — including Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley and Kristen Bell (who was the original show’s narrator) — will participate.
Leighton, who played Blair Waldorf for all six of the show’s seasons, said earlier this year that she had no knowledge of a reboot.
“No one’s ever asked me,” the Single Parents actress said. “No one’s ever talked to me about it except for in interviews and I always say the same: I never say never, so I don’t know. No one’s sent me that information, it’s coming from you.”
According to Deadline, the new show will also be based on the Gossip Girl book series by Cecily von Ziegesar.
The series will take place eight years after the original Gossip Girl went offline, with a new group of teens interacting with it. The show will address how social media and New York City has changed over the years.
Good morning Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here. And we have the biggest news ever. One of our many sources says Gossip Girl is coming back. Looks like dreams really do come true.
—XOXO. Gossip Girl. https://t.co/Ncfk9zreV1 pic.twitter.com/SqraUtpxyl— E! News (@enews) July 17, 2019
The original show became a cultural icon and influenced everything from fashion to cosmetics. In 2008 the New York Times called the series “one of the biggest influences on how young women spend.”
The drama went on to inspire a fashion line by Anna Sui in 2009 and another clothing line with Romeo & Juliet Couture in 2011. And, Birchbox had a makeup line where products were curated by the show’s makeup and hair department heads.
Last week, Chace Crawford, who played Nate Archibald, spoke with Digital Spy about appearing in a then-rumored reboot.
“I don’t know what it would look like with us being in our 30s now, but I always say, because it was such a big part of my life, I’m open to anything,” The Boys actor said. “It would have to be really right, and really specific.”
HBO Max will launch in early 2020 with shows like Friends and Pretty Little Liars. It will also have new projects from Kaley Cuoco, Reese Witherspoon, and Anna Kendrick.
There’s no set release for the show yet. Stay tuned.
