What's Going On With The A Court Of Thorns And Roses TV Show? Here's What We Know

Alright….we must talk about A Court of Thorns and Roses and its hellish TV adaptation as part of the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations, because things have changed.

If that series name sounds familiar, then I have met my true people. If not, let me introduce you to the world of ACOTAR, otherwise known as A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, the first in a series of books that has become extremely popular worldwide – and happens to be a part of Sarah J. Maas’ upcoming books.

And now, the idea of a TV adaptation happening is less so, but there’s plenty to talk about with it. Here is what we know about A Court of Thorns and Roses and what you can expect.

A Court Of Thorns And Roses Is The First Book In The ACOTAR Series

As mentioned above, A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first in the novel series called ACOTAR. This series involves three other books and one novella: A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Frost and Starlight, and A Court of Silver Flames.

The first book in the series follows a young woman named Feyre who kills a wolf in a forest while hunting for food for her family, only to discover that it was actually a Fae from across the border, from a land known as Prythian. She is then brought back to live in Prythian in the Spring Court forever as punishment and to keep her family safe, and it follows her time there.

Just rewriting that premise makes me want to go back and read the first book and think of all the book moments I want to see happen in the TV series, too.

All five books are written by Sarah J. Maas, a known fantasy author who has written one complete series so far, Throne of Glass, and released a third book in the Crescent City series in January 2024. But aside from all this, what does that mean for a TV show?

Talks of an Adaptation Go Back To 2018, However, The Show Has Since Been Shelved

I know, this isn’t the news you want to hear, but it’s the news we must talk about.

The first ACOTAR novel, A Court of Thorns and Roses, was released in 2015, and then Sarah J. Maas posted on Instagram in 2018 that she was delivered a script for a possible movie written by Rachel Hirons:

At the time, Maas was finishing up releasing the novella in the franchise, A Court of Frost and Starlight. But then, eventually, that movie idea fell off the map only a short time after, and we didn't hear anything else on the subject for a while.

That was until March 2021, when it was confirmed by Deadline that Hulu would be developing the first book in the ACOTAR franchise into a TV series.

At the time, Maas took to Instagram (via fellow fantasy author's Facebook page, Jennifer L. Armentrout) at the time to celebrate the news that the show was coming from Hulu:

However that post was deleted, which only signalled the beginning of many other problems.

As stated above, Ronald D. Moore was originally the showrunner, and insisted for a few years he was sticking with the show, but then, in July 2024, it was officially confirmed that Moore had left the project due to his returning to working with Sony, according to Entertainment Weekly:

And now, in February 2024, Variety confirmed that the TV series at Hulu was “dead.”

Not All Hope Is Lost – Maas Is Looking For Other Channels For The Show

Even if the show is “dead” at Hulu, that doesn’t mean the series as a whole is, because it’s not like Maas doesn’t have the rights. In the Variety article, it’s stated that the author is looking to take the TV adaptation rights to a different studio and platform “once the option has expired at Disney” (which Hulu is a subsidiary of now).

That means that while we’re probably not going to get the series at Hulu, we could get it at another – personally, I’d be down to see it at HBO, but only time will tell.

And it’s not like the series is losing any steam at all while she looks. It’s still wildly popular online, and there's another ACOTAR book in the works, with many fans theorizing that it’s going to be released in the next couple of years, so there’s plenty of time for them to find a good streamer.

Aside from that, there are even other people within Hollywood that have shared their interest in the series – namely, Margot Robbie, who went viral in September 2024 for having a coffee date with Sarah J. Maas that a fan caught a picture of.

In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Robbie said that she’s a huge fan of the books and has been for years, and said she’d “see what she could do” with Maas to make the series come to life after all this drama:

Granted, nothing’s been announced about her becoming a producer on any version of this series, but it’s fun to see that she’s excited about the series – and who knows? She might have a credit on the show if it happens.

At this point, we're all just waiting for this adaptation to actually happen somewhere, and if it’ll become part of our list of the best fantasy shows. Hopefully, we'll get more concrete updates soon on what to expect – and where this show will even be – with this highly anticipated adaptation.