Bestselling romantasy author, Sarah J Maas, has shared a long-awaited update on whether her beloved stories will hit the small screen.
The prolific US writer, 40, behind the popular A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series has amassed a loyal fanbase across five books (with two more on the way) as well as her two other series, Throne of Glass and Crescent City.
She has 2.6 million followers on Instagram alone and is, without a doubt, one of the most popular figures on BookTok – the large bookish community on popular social media app TikTok.
The tale that has captured millions follows human huntress Feyre, who is sent on an adventure through the faerie land known as Prythian.
In 2021, Sarah announced she had entrusted her beloved novel for TV adaptation to Hulu with Outlander creator, Ronald D. Moore, on board.
Last year, however, Variety confirmed the deal had been officially scrapped with no explanation, and fans have been on tenterhooks ever since to see if we will ever get that all-important TV adaptation.
Now, in a new interview on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Sarah has spoken about the future of the TV show after parting ways with Hulu over creative differences.
The topic was raised shortly after she confirmed that numbers six and seven in the Acotar series were on the way, with novel writing a priority for the author right now.
The latest book in the ACOTAR series, A Court of Silver Flames, was published in 2021.
‘I have the rights back to everything now, and getting the rights back to all my things has been a big part of my journey in recent years that maybe, at some point soon, I will talk more about,’ she said.
Then continued: ‘Any TV [or] movie adaptation is like another facet of the worlds that I’ve created, and it’s something that I want to be in charge of – I want to be figuring out.
‘I want to be learning everything that I can. I’m a type A control freak, a little bit. I want to know everything about how it gets made – not because of that control but just because I love movies. I love TV.’
Most importantly, however, she wants ‘to see everything adapted the way I envision it, and the way I know fans want it’ and is uninterested in being told she has to appeal to certain demographics.
Are you an ACOTAR fan?
-
Yes, I love them and can't wait for more!
-
Not my thing
-
I've never read them but I'm intrigued!
‘I’m like: “No that’s not how you make art. That’s not how I create my stories,’ she added, confirming that whenever the TV show does happen, she will ‘dedicate everything to making it right’ because it is ‘her legacy’.
Of course, part of the process of bringing it to life is casting the perfect people for the role, and Sarah confirmed she’s ‘not going to settle for someone because I’m being pushed’
‘I need to find the perfect person and take however long it takes to find them,’ she said, saying she has ‘yet to find the perfect Rhys’.
‘It needs to be organic, it needs to be something that comes from me and [be] something that I’m proud of,’ she concluded.
So there we have it, sorry to say Acotar fans that it seems as though there is still a long wait ahead, with the process very much back at square one.
But, hey, you may want to take inspiration from fellow bestselling sci-fi fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, who recently announced his books would be adapted for TV and film by Apple TV, a decade after his previous deal fell through.
Meanwhile, NYT bestseller Rebecca Yaros’ Fourth Wing is getting a buzzy Amazon Prime Video adaptation with Michael B. Jordan as a producer and Anne with an E creator Moira Walley-Beckett as the showrunner.
Of course, the silver lining is that Sarah has made clear she is passionate about maintaining creative control to conjure up the perfect adaptation for fans, so it should be worth the wait when it does eventually arrive.
In the meantime, you have the next two books in the series to dig your teeth into, with Sarah confirming they will come out in October and next January, respectively.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.