‘Vampire Academy’ goes to Peacock: Can a new show redeem the books?
Vampire Diaries fans, rejoice! Julie Plec, writer, director, and producer of the beloved 2000s TV show The Vampire Diaries, is back on board with another TV series filled with drama, romance, and of course, blood-sucking creatures, with Vampire Academy. Want to know what the new show is going to be all about? Let’s look at all the exciting details we know about it so far here.
All the exciting deets
Julie Plec is ready to show the world again that her true forte is telling fantastical stories about vampires, and we’re all here for it. The Vampire Diaries co-creator has just hopped onboard to a new project with NBC-owned streaming service Peacock, who announced on Wednesday that they have ordered a Vampire Academy show from executive producer Plec.
Plec will be working alongside Marguerite MacIntyre on the new show, who is also using their talents to work as executive producer as well as the co-showrunner. MacIntyre is also proving to be a triple threat, as true Vampire Diaries may have remembered MacIntyre as the character of Sheriff Forbes from the 2000s show. However, she has also written and produced other shows such as The Originals and Legacies.
“Julie Plec created one of the biggest fan-favorite universes with The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off series The Originals and Legacies, and we are excited to deliver this passionate audience a brand new story on Peacock”, Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said.
Katz also added that “Julie is known for binge-able, enthralling dramas and we know Vampire Academy will keep Peacock viewers right on the edge of their seats”. Of course, considering just how obsessed folks were with The Vampire Diaries, we couldn’t be any more excited to binge the upcoming Vampire Academy series. We already trust that Plec’s new show will be nothing short of another classic and well-loved TV series.
What is Vampire Academy going to be about?
Now, you may be wondering just what Vampire Academy is going to be all about. Well, according to a recent press release of the show, Vampire Academy will be based on a book series written by Richelle Mead that follows the lives of two young women as their strong bond and friendship “transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society”.
The book series had actually already been adapted into a film that was released back in 2014 under the same name. The movie was directed by Mark Waters, who helped produce indie-classic 500 Days of Summer and directed the fantastical rom-com Ghost of Girlfriend’s Past. 2014’s Vampire Academy also starred notable talents such as Zoey Deutch, Danila Kozlovsky, Lucy Fry, Dominic Sherwood, and more.
Unfortunately, the film didn’t do so well at the box office and was met with pretty low reviews from critics, with the movie currently holding a lowly disappointing sixteen percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, we’re confident that this new TV show on Peacock will revamp the Vampire Academy reputation and give it the rightful adaptation the book series deserves.
I think one day I'll do a Flowers In the Attic mini and a Vampire Academy TV series and all will be right in the world.
— Julie Plec (@julieplec) March 20, 2015
Plec had already even mentioned all the way back in 2015 that she had wanted to take part in this project, writing “When I signed my new deal with Universal Television, they asked what project I had always been dying to make and my immediate answer was Vampire Academy”. Well, we truly can’t wait! You already know we’ll be bingeing the ten-episode first season as soon as it’s released.
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What are your thoughts on the TV show? Are you also looking forward to Vampire Academy, and how do you think it will compare to Plec’s previous work on The Vampire Diaries? Let us know your opinions in the comments.
