It’s the fantasy novel series that had all the #BookTok girlies blushing, and news of a possible TV show sent fans into a frenzy creating dream ACOTAR cast lists.
Sarah J. Maas’ five-book series A Court Of Thorns And Roses (ACOTAR) took the world by storm, telling the story of a once-rich, now poor huntress, Feyre, who shoots a wolf to feed her family in an alternate, magical universe.
Living in the ‘human quarters’ of her continent, we find out that the wolf was actually a faerie from the northern lands in disguise. So Feyre’s actions set in motion a long line of complications that sees her kidnapped to the ‘Summer Court’ by High Fae and High Lord Tamlin, in a Beauty And The Beast style story with a terrifying villain and ginormous twist.
Filled with emotion, the spiciest of romance, drama and betrayal, the books offer a number of plot whiplash moments, which make you want to turn the next page again and again. Perfect fodder for a binge-worthy TV show, we think.
Now, there are rumours Margot Robbie will produce the series. The Barbie actress was photographed getting coffee with someone who appeared to be Sarah J. Maas in late February, 2024. While only Margot Robbie is facing the camera, it has led many to think she’s lining up a project with the in-demand author.
One thing is for sure, if Margot throws her star power behind A Court Of Thorns And Roses, there will be no stopping this adaptation from the reaching new heights of success.
Will There Be A Court Of Thorns And Roses TV Series?
It’s still unclear if or when a series of ACOTAR will be made.
But given the novel has been around for a while (and is enjoying a TikTok renaissance) it’s not surprising that the A Court Of Thorns And Roses (ACOTAR) series has been put up for adaptation a number of times.
Back in 2015, the production company Tempo tried to move forward with it. In 2018, Maas posted the front page of a script to her Instagram page, written by Rachel Hirons. But then…nothing happened.
In the coming years everything stalled, until 2021, when we learnt that Maas was working with Outlander creator Ronald D. Moore on an adaptation.
Hulu president Craig Erwich told a 2022 conference that he hadn’t seen any scripts, but felt that the books would make a good roadmap for a series.
Maas confirmed she was still working with Moore in a New York Times interview in August 2022, but later deleted a post on her Instagram where she confirmed the news of an ACOTAR adaptation. The moves had fans very confused about where we are in the adaptation process.
It’s believed that any writing and progress on the ACOTAR series would have stalled during the SAG-AFTRA strikes.
During this time, Ronald D. Moore did confirm that some scripts had been written, according to TVLine, which also speculated that the series wouldn’t go ahead at Hulu. However, when Variety followed up on the news, it reported that the show was “technically still in development at Hulu” but may not be in active development at the moment.
Sarah J. Maas has also remained quiet about the series on social media over the past few months. (But then, she does have a new book out).
However, that’s not to say that there haven’t also been rumours and blind items about planning and plotting happening in the background: more on that later.
How Many Seasons Will ACOTAR’s TV Adaptation Be?
If Moore’s treatment of Outlander was repeated, it would make sense to do ACOTAR as a five series run, with one series per book – and then the potential for spin offs from there.
That would mean that we would get:
- Season 1: A Court Of Thorns And Roses
- Season 2: A Court Of Mist And Fury
- Season 3: A Court Of Wings And Ruin
- Season 4: A Court Of Frost And Starlight
- Season 5: A Court Of Silver Flames
Of course, this is all to be confirmed.
When Will A Court Of Thorns And Roses Be Released On TV?
Given that fantasy books of this calibre generally take a long time to film and in post-production, it’s likely to take around two years to put a season together, which could mean we’re not going to see it until 2025 at the earliest.
It also depends on whether Hulu decides to progress with development of the series, or if ACOTAR would need to find a new network home. This would need to happen before any casting or release dates.
Who Is In The ACOTAR Cast?
Given that news on the ACOTAR adaptation is blurry at best, we do not know yet who will be cast in the series. However, DeuxMoi did release a blind item on a “fantasy series people have been dying to get an adaptation of” that will have “at least five seasons” of “15-20 episodes” with “45 minute episodes”.
One of the considerations in this blind item was “finding a cast who won’t be drastically aging over those five+ years.” That note does scream ‘immortals’ like the High Fae from the series.
Of course, whether or not that directly relates to ACOTAR casting remains to be seen. Some fans think it could have referred to the adaptation of Fourth Wing with Amazon, another #BookTok famous series that has one book with a second on the way, but the author has said there will be five in the series.
Regardless, ACOTAR fans have tried to tie the DeuxMoi clues to the ACOTAR series. See the most popular comments below:
“For our moody male lead”: Fans are not sure if this means Tamlin or Rhysand.
- “A former Disney star who paired well with this Broadway star and monogamously struggling pop star”: Fans think this could be Thomas Doherty as he dated Dove Cameron
- “A lying star who was meant to have a spin-off show that didn’t do well”: Fans think this could be Tyler Blackburn due to ‘Ravenswood’ the ‘Pretty Little Liars’ spin off.
- “A floral hotel stayer”: Fans think this could be Theo James due to ‘The White Lotus’.
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“For our leading lady, who potentially will have a double cast for her before and after”.
- “An Aussie who is often known for being American, she has her reasons why”: Fans think Katherine Langford due to “13 Reasons Why”. However, since news that Margot has caught up with Maas for coffee, could she be the ‘Aussie’ in the mix?
- “A singing darling who’s done this all before”: This one stumped fans who are trying to figure out who could be in the ACOTAR cast.
- “And potentially, a TikTok star who acts up a storm on her own”: Fans think this could be Addison Rae due to her recent acting credits.
Is Margot Robbie Producing A Court Of Thorns And Roses?
We don’t know yet, however, fans believe Margot is linked to the project after she appeared to have a casual coffee with author Sarah J Maas.
Fans snapped a pic of Margot and (what is believed to be) Maas having a cuppa on February 27, 2024.
While some are hoping Margot will join the ACOTAR cast, others believe a potential meeting could have been related to Margot’s production company, Lucky Chap.
Lucky Chap was, of course, the producer behind the box office smash Barbie, as well as I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman and Saltburn.
What Is A Court Of Thorns And Roses About?
A Court Of Thorns And Roses kicks off with main character Feyre, living in the cordoned off southern human worlds in a continent that looks very much like the UK. The north is inhabited by lesser faeries and High Fae (more powerful faeries), some of which rule the courts, called High Lords. The north is divided into courts: The Summer, Spring, Autumn, Winter, Dawn, Day and Night Court.
When Feyre, a poor huntress, shoots a wolf to feed her family (that is actually a faerie in disguise), she kicks off a series of events that see her kidnapped and taken north to the faerie lands by the High Lord of the Spring Court Tamlin. She soon learns that the faeries are impacted by a ‘blight’ and that the land north of the wall is extremely dangerous, not only to her as a human, but due to a villainous force.
She meets the seemingly duplicitous High Lord of the Night Court, Rhysand, and finds herself in a battle between good and evil. As the series moves on, we get to see more of the other courts, see the Fae and humans we trusted turncoat, and, of course, get a whole lot of explicit romance too.
Safe to say, we’d recommend getting your hands on these books before the series (or any ACOTAR cast announcement) comes out.
