Work is underway to bring teen sleuth Nancy Drew back to the small screen, with Gossip Girl masterminds, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz overseeing a new series for The CW.
Multiple attempts have been made in the last few years to transfer Drew’s adventures from Carolyn Keene’s novels to a live-action TV show but none have launched successfully.
Drew, a CBS mystery series starring Sarah Shahi as a grown-up Nancy Drew made it to the pilot stage but wasn’t picked for series. Following this, writers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater attempted to retool it for NBC, a project which also ultimately failed.
Given the success Gossip Girl had for The CW and how well teen dramas like Riverdale are doing, we’d imagine this is a priority for the channel. Schwartz and Savage are also responsible for the Dynasty reboot, which has also been a hit for The CW.
Written by The Magicians‘ Noga Landau, Nancy Drew pilot is set to take the character back to her roots as it’ll feature an 18-year-old Nancy in the summer after her high school graduation. After a family tragedy prevents her from going straight to college, Nancy unsurprisingly becomes entangled in a murder investigation and uncovers a web of secrets in her town.
It’s not the only active Nancy Drew project at the moment. After 2007’s Nancy Drew, which starred Emma Roberts as the girl detective, Warner Bros. are releasing a big screen reboot next year featuring It‘s Sophia Lillis entitled Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.
We’ll pass on news about this new Nancy Drew series and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase as and when we receive it.