Sarah J. Maas Wants to Make an ACOTAR TV Show on Her Own Terms
The megapopular romantasy author has a very specific vision when it comes to any adaptation of her A Court of Thorns and Roses series.
High fantasy television is everywhere right now, from HBO’s Game of Thrones universe and Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And even more heavy hitters are waiting in the wings, with big-budget adaptations of everything from Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing saga to Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe in the works. But, despite the genre’s massive popularity, somehow we’re still waiting for a take on the most popular romantasy title of them all: Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses.
This isn’t for lack of trying. Tempo optioned the film rights in 2015, and the project progressed to the point where Maas herself teased an early look at the script, but it sputtered out soon thereafter. In 2021, a TV version was in the works at Hulu, with no less than Ronald D. Moore (of Battlestar Galactica and Outlander fame) attached. But it, too, was ultimately scrapped. Now, the project is back in limbo, but hopefully not shelved forever, at least if f the author herself has anything to say about it.
During an interview on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, in which Maas announced the release dates for the next two books in her megapopular ACOTAR series (arriving in October 2026 and January 2027, respectively), she also addressed the question of the television series we’re all still waiting to see.
Like Taylor Swift before her, Maas has reclaimed the rights to her works and, though she says she’s focusing on the books for the foreseeable future, she is also clearly thinking about what onscreen versions of those stories might look like one day.
“I have the rights back to everything now,” she told host Alex Cooper. “Getting the rights back to all my things has been a big part of my journey in recent years that maybe at some point soon I will talk more about, but right now my focus is on books, and it’s been a little while since you guys have had something, so I’m focusing on that.”
A Court of Thorns and Roses ostensibly follows the story of Feyre Archeron, who finds herself journeying to the magical world of Prythian after she accidentally kills a fairy wolf to feed her family. What follows is a sprawling tale of magic, royal fae courts, bonded mates, ancient curses, and complex political intrigue. And Maas apparently has a very specific idea about how it should be brought to life.
“Any TV movie adaptation is kind of like another facet of the worlds that I’ve created, and it’s something that I want to be in charge of—I want to be figuring out,” Maas said. “I want to be learning everything that I can. I’m a type A, like, control freak a little bit. I want to know everything about how it gets made—not because of that control but just because I love movies. I love TV. I want to be a part of that, and I want to see everything adapted the way I envision it and the way I know fans want it.”
While that insistence may (and likely has) hindered development on any onscreen projects connected to her work, it’s comforting for fans to know that Maas is so determined to adapt her works on her own terms.
“I don’t ever want to hear like, ‘Oh, we need to change this to appeal to XYZ’s demographic’,” she said. “I’m like, ‘No, that’s not how you make art. That’s not how I create my stories.’ So when I do it, it’s gonna be me, and I will dedicate everything that I have to making it right.”
Maas is also the author of two other popular romantasy series — Throne of Glass and Crescent City — which could also theoretically get live adaptations someday. And she’s as fiercely protective of those stories as she is of ACOTAR.
“I view it as my legacy in a way where I’m like, I put my books out into the world. That’s one way that the fans are interacting and seeing these characters, but the physical version of that needs to be aligned,” she noted. “It can’t just be someone’s take on that.”