Disney will not produce an adaptation of Serena Valentino’s Book of Enchantment book series for its streaming platform, Disney+, reports Variety. The news comes ahead of Disney’s D23 convention, which kicked off today in Anaheim, California.
Word broke earlier this year that the company was developing the series with producer Michael Seitzman (Code Black, Intelligence, and Quantico), designed as an “epic universe that weaves classic Disney tales told in a brand new way.”
The show would have been based on Valentino’s YA novel series, each of which contains an origin story for some of Disney’s most iconic villains from its animated films.
Over the course of the series (which includes Fairest of All, The Beast Within, Poor Unfortunate Soul, Mistress of All Evil, Mother Knows Best, and The Odd Sisters) Valentino provides some additional motivation for characters like the Wicked Queen from Snow White, the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, Ursula from Little Mermaid, and others. A seventh book is on the way.
Lovelies. I can’t comment on the news today. But I can say thank you, and that I feel so lucky to have such supportive readers. ♥️ love you all! Xoxoxo
— Serena Valentino (@SerenaValentino) August 23, 2019
On Twitter, Valentino thanked her readers for their support, but noted that she couldn’t talk about the reported halt to the series.
Word of the cancellation comes as Disney prepares to launch its forthcoming streaming service on November 12th. Designed as a competitor to other major streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, the platform already has a packed selection of original content, along with the contents of the company massive back catalog of films and TV shows. When it launches, Disney+ will come with a live-action Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian (we’ll be getting a good look at that later today), as well as shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye, and What If…?
