'Gossip Girl' reboot: Show will amp diversity with non-white characters and lots of LGBT content, say showrunners
There's exciting news for all Upper East Siders. 'The Gossip Girl' reboot, which has been in talks at HBO Max for several months now finally has a cast. The Warner Media streaming platform revealed that five actors have been cast, including Kristen Bell who will reprise her iconic role as the narrator from the original CW series.
Whitney Peak (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Eli Brown (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists), Emily Alyn Lind (Code Balck, CBS), Johnathan Fernandez (Lethal Weapon), and Jason Gotay (Bring it On, Broadway) form the quintet that will play crucial roles in the reboot.
The plot for the new 10-episode series will pick up from eight years after where it left off. Per the official synopsis, it follows "a new generation of New York private-school teens who are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip girl. The series will address just how much social media — and the landscape of New York itself — has changed in the intervening years."
The reboot will be produced by the showrunners of the original series including Joshua Safran, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage via Fake Empire and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros Television and CBS Television Studios. Just like the original series, the screenplay will be written by Safran, based on Cecily Von Ziegesar's best sellers.
Details about the characters have been kept discrete for the time being, although Lind's role has been confirmed. She will portray Aubrey, who is in a long-term relationship and begins to wonder what lies beyond. Furthermore, the series will follow a similar character dynamic to the original, with Lind, Peak and Brown front lining. Fernandez and Gotay will form the core ensemble with the trio.
Safran has disclosed that the show features 'non-white leads' and 'a lot of queer content'.
"It is very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that", he added.
Safran has described the reboot in terms of a 'continuation' rather than a 'remake'. The stage is also set for Leighton Meester and Blake Lively to make possible appearances as their iconic characters, along the way.
Fans of the original 'Gossip Girl' series have been raving about the reboot in excitement and displeasure. The mixed opinions and tweets surrounding the unnamed revival have flooded social media feeds.
Rumors about there being more than one 'Gossip Girl' in the show has dismayed fans.
"Also they're making the gossip girl character be more than one person. How does that make sense? Two people know they're gossip girl and play dumb for 1 season until it gets cancelled??" one fan tweeted.
"Gossip Girl reboot?! Are they really doing this?! GG isn't even that old. Why can't people watch the original?! Why don't they stop rebooting everything?!" another quipped.
While most are overjoyed at their favourite prime-time filthy-rich drama making a comeback.
"Tell you now if the Gossip Girl reboot isn’t everything I’ve hoped for and dreamed of for the past 8 years I will NEVER get over this," one commented.
Another said, "Listen gossip girl has always been a guilty pleasure so I’m not really mad about the reboot but please do it good like I beg you we don’t need another riverdale".
HBO Max is slated to launch in May and will bring to the viewers 31 original series and other content from the Warner Media library, with its release.
