Gossip Girl Reboot Release Delayed Until 2021 Because of Coronavirus
The release of the Gossip Girl reboot has been delayed because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The highly anticipated reboot of the beloved teen soap was supposed to come out on HBO Max this fall, but won't arrive on the streaming service until 2021, Vulture reported Thursday.
"They hadn’t even started production yet; they were in pre-production and ready to roll," HBO Max chief content officer Kevin Reilly told the outlet. The COVID-19 pandemic has left Hollywood at a stand still, putting a question mark over several projects that had previously been scheduled to air later this year, on HBO Max and elsewhere.
"Things that would have been really meaningful and high profile have gotten pushed back," Reilly added to Vulture, adding that it is "really disappointing" that not all of the content meant to be included with HBO Max's upcoming release will be ready in time.
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Back in January, HBO Max’s Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey told reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that "early casting conversations" were underway.
"We have gotten the first script and I think we all breathed a big sigh of relief because it’s quite good," Aubrey said at the time, PEOPLE previously reported.
Since then, 17-year-old Emily Alyn Lind was cast in a lead role, and in March news broke that Scream Queens star Tavi Gevinson, Legacies star Thomas Doherty, Adam Chanler-Berat and Zion Moreno would all be joining the cast. Kristen Bell is also set to reprise her role as the drama's narrator.
The original series, which aired from 2007 to 2012 on The CW, starred Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick.
HBO Max will officially launch on May 27, costing viewers $14.99 per month. Eventually, the streaming service will offer 10,000 hours of content, including the entire HBO service and beloved franchises like Friends and The Big Bang Theory.
Other original projects have also been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Friends unscripted cast reunion special and The Flight Attendant starring Kaley Cuoco.
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