The driving force behind The Vampire Diaries franchise is taking on a new vampire project, this time at Peacock.
Peacock announced today that they have given a 10-episode straight to series order for Vampire Academy from Julie Plec and her longtime collaborator Marguerite MacIntyre (Liz Forbes herself!)
They describe the project – which comes from Universal Television – as “a story of romance, friendship, death, sex, and scandal” based on a series of young adult paranormal romance novels by international bestselling author Richelle Mead. In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society. This “serialized and sexy” drama combines the elegance of aristocratic romance and the supernatural thrills of the vampire genre.
“Julie Plec created one of the biggest fan-favorite universes with The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off series The Originals and Legacies, and we are excited to deliver this passionate audience a brand new story on Peacock,” said Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “Julie is known for binge-able, enthralling dramas and we know Vampire Academy will keep Peacock viewers right on the edge of their seats.”
The book series is a personal favorite of Plec’s, who read them in the early 2000’s well before her time on Vampire Diaries. “When I signed my new deal with Universal Television, they asked what project I had always been dying to make and my immediate answer was Vampire Academy,” said Plec.
Vampire Academy is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group. Julie Plec will serve as showrunner, writer and executive producer for the series. Marguerite MacIntyre will serve along with Plec as writer, executive producer and co-showrunner. Emily Cummins, Don Murphy, Susan Montford, Deepak Nayer, and Jillian DeFrehn also serve as executive producers. It is part of Plec’s large overall deal with Universal Television, where she is developing projects across all platforms for the studio, including those she will create and write, and those for which she will supervise writers under her banner, My So-Called Company.
