The CW has ordered four new pilots including spin-offs of Jane the Virgin and Riverdale and adaptations of Nancy Drew and The Lost Boys.
The Jane the Virgin spin-off, Jane the Novela, which was announced sans title in December, will be written by Valentina Garza, and is described as a “telenovela anthology series” featuring stories based on Jane Villanueva’s novels. The first season will be set in the “Napa Valley Vineyard, where family secrets (and family members) don’t stay buried for long.”
Rodriguez will executive produce the project alongside Jennie Snyder Urman and Joanna Klein of Sutton Street Productions; Emily Gipson of Rodriguez’s I Can and I will banner; Ben Silverman of Proagate Content; Jorge Granier; and Gary Pearl. Brad Silberling will direct and executive produce the CBS Television Studios pilot.
The Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene is a musical dramedy that follows four of Archie’s Iconic characters as they aspire to be artists and Broadway stars in New York City. Riverdale showrunner Robert Aguirre-Sacasa will co-write the pilot with Michael Grassi. Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions will executive produce alongside Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater. Warner Bros. Television is the studio.
The Lost Boys adaptation, first announced in August, will follow the lead of the 1987 movie and focus on two brothers who find themselves engulfed in vampire mayhem after moving with their mother to Santa Carla. The series is written by Heather Mitchell (Scandal). The Lost Boys series will be executive produced by Rob Thomas through his Spondoolie Productions. Other executive producers include Dan Etheridge and Danielle Stokdyk as well as Gulfstream Television’s Bill Bindley and Mike Karz. Gulfstream’s Juliana Janes will oversee for Warner Bros. Television.
Finally, the Nancy Drew miniseries surfaced back in September when it was reported that the studio was looking to adapt the mystery novels for the small screen in a project written by Noga Landau (The Magicians). The untitled project centers on an 18-year-old Nancy Drew and is described as follows: “Nancy thought she’d be leaving her hometown for college, but when a family tragedy holds her back another year, she finds herself embroiled in a ghostly murder investigation — and along the way, she uncovers secrets that run deeper than she ever imagined.”
Tthe Nancy Drew project will be spearheaded by The OC and Runaway duo Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
