‘Love, Simon’ TV series in the works at Disney
The show will launch on Disney's new streaming service Disney+.
By Will Stroude
Words: Will Stroude
It marked a watershed moment for depictions of gay teen romance on the big screen, and it looks like Love, Simon, train is set to keep on rolling with the news that an official TV show is in the works at Disney.
The upcoming series is being produced for the corporation’s new streaming service Disney+ and will be adapted from Becky Albetalli’s 2018 novel Leah on the Offbeat, the sequel to 2015’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda upon which Love, Simon is based.
The book picks up the story of Simon’s best friend Leah as she navigates her senior year at high school, tackling issues like friendship, sexuality and body image.
Leah was played in the movie by 13 Reasons Why star Katherine Langford, though the TV adaptation will feature a new cast, TV Line reports.
Reassuringly, Love, Simon screenwriters Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker will serve as co-showrunners on the series – though the film’s director Greg Berlanti will not be involved.
Starring Jurassic World’s Nick Robinson as Simon, Love, Simon told the story of a closeted high school senior whose life is turned upside down when he beings emailing a mystery online suitor, Blue, and a classmate threatens to out him.
The first teen film by a major Hollywood studio to feature an LGBTQ lead, Love, Simon put paid to the idea that straight audiences won’t engage with queer stories after becoming 20th Century Fox’s third highest grossing teen romance film ever, behind only The Fault in Our Stars and Romeo + Juliet.
While there’s no word on when the Love, Simon TV series will be with us, Disney’s Netflix-rvialling streaming service Disney+ is set to launch in the US on November 12, 2019.