A True Blood reboot is in the works at HBO with Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa at the helm. True Blood aired for seven seasons on HBO from 2008 to 2014. Starring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård, and Deborah Ann Woll, the show was a runaway success for HBO. In the years between hits like The Sopranos and The Wire, HBO was searching for their next big thing, and they found it in the southern gothic vampire drama that blended horror, sex, and comedy to great effect for the majority of its seasons.
Aguirre-Sacasa has treaded mainly in shows geared towards teens in recent years. The Riverdale showrunner has also worked on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for Netflix and Katy Keene, another CW show. HBO has also tapped him reboot. Adding to all of these projects in the works is the True Blood adaptation, for which he'll have a formidable collaborator.
TVLine reports that, in addition to Aguirre-Sacasa, Alan Ball will be returning for the reboot, as well. Aguirre-Sacasa will help write the pilot and serve as executive producer on the show. Ball will also serve as an executive producer. Details are scarce as to the reboot, with an HBO spokesperson declining to comment for the story.
What's left unsaid is whether the show meant for HBO or as an HBO Max exclusive. Odds are it's the latter. Even with 4 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, and attractive properties like a True Blood reboot would only bring more viewers to the platform.
With Ball set to return and Aguirre-Sacasa at the helm, the reboot will likely be just as weird and wild as the first. Riverdale has become increasingly outlandish during its run, and a True Blood reboot would give Aguirre-Sacasa the freedom to go even further, especially without the restrictions of network television. Another big question is whether or not the show will be another adaptation of the books by Charlaine Harris or if it will veer off the beaten path and develop new stories. The books themselves were extremely popular, and Ball did the source material justice for a time, but even the original series eventually veered off the source material. The show will likely retain some of the novel's foundational elements while updating the story and characters for a new audience.
Source: TVLine