A week after its debut on Hulu, The Handmaid’s Tale has been renewed for its second season, Variety has confirmed. The news was announced today at Hulu’s upfront presentation.
“The response we’ve seen to The Handmaid’s Tale in just one week since its premiere has been absolutely incredible. It has been an honor to work with this talented team of cast and creators to develop a series that has struck such a chord with audiences across the country. As we continue to expand our strong slate of original programming, The Handmaid’s Tale is exactly the type of gripping and thought-provoking storytelling we want to bring to viewers. We can’t wait to explore the world of Gilead and continue Margaret’s vision with another season on Hulu,” Senior Vice President and Head of Content Craig Erwich said at the upfront presentation.
Though Hulu doesn’t release ratings and viewership numbers like broadcast and cable networks do, they did say that The Handmaid’s Tale has been watched by more people on Hulu than any original or acquired programming.
The Handmaid’s Tale is based off Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, which was released in 1985. The show takes place in the dystopian society called Gilead. Fertility rates for women have fallen drastically and there’s only a select number of women, called handmaids, who are able to have children. Elisabeth Moss stars as Offred and her name comes from her being the handmaid of Fred (Joseph Fiennes).
Other stars include Alexis Bledel, who plays handmaid Ofglen, and Samira Wiley, who plays Moira, a friend of Offred’s from college.
The show was created by Bruce Miller, who also serves as an executive producer and writer of the show. Warren Littlefield also serves as an executive and Atwood serves as a consulting producer of the show.
The first four episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale are currently available for streaming with a Hulu subscription. Unlike Netflix, Hulu rolls out episodes of shows weekly instead of releasing them all at once.