Breaking news for all you Upper East Siders: a Gossip Girl reboot is making its way over to WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, HBO Max.
10 hour-long episodes have been ordered. The logline reads: “Eight years after the original website went dark, a new generation of New York private school teens are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl. The prestige series will address just how much social media — and the landscape of New York itself — has changed in the intervening years.”
Joshua Safran, who was the showrunner for the original Gossip Girl series that ran from 2007-2012, is set to write and serve as executive producer for the reboot. Safran joins Gossip Girls co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage for this exciting new venture.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about — Josh, Stephanie and I — for a little bit, just in terms of, ‘Is this something we want to explore?’ We’re all so in love with the original and had such an incredible time working on it, and it’s such a big part of our lives,” Safran told The Hollywood Reporter. “Then the stars aligned and we had availability to jump, and Warners, obviously, it’s something they’re very passionate about. It seemed like the best time and also the best way to do it.”
Fans of the original might argue that the drama series should not be touched. Safran agrees with this sentiment.
“It’s just a new look at this particular society in New York, the idea being that society changes constantly,” Safran said. “So how has this world changed, how has social media and its effect changed? All of those things allow us to look at the world 12 years on as opposed to just redoing the story. None of us are interested in just redoing a story.”
There is no word on whether the original cast members will return or swing by for a cameo.
HBO Max will launch in spring 2020.