It has been a rough few years for anyone hoping to see the world of Prythian come to life on screen. The Hulu adaptation of A Court of Thorns and Roses collapsed after nearly four years in development hell and fans were left wondering if it would ever actually happen.
But turns out, the dream of an adaptation isn't over. Not even close.
According to a fresh report by Puck News, cited by Screen Rant on May 20, author Sarah J. Maas is now actively shopping the ACOTAR adaptation to a new studio now that Hulu's rights to the franchise have officially expired.
Author Sarah J. Maas is reportedly shopping ‘A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES’ to studios after rights lapsed at Hulu.
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) May 20, 2026
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No specific studio has been named yet but the fact that Maas is out there making moves is the most encouraging sign fans have had in years.
Hulu dropped the ball, but ACOTAR isn't dead
Back in March 2021, Maas announced via Instagram that she and Outlander creator Ronald D. Moore would be co-adapting ACOTAR as a Hulu series, produced by Disney's 20th Television. At the time, it felt like a dream setup.
Then the delays started. The 2023 Hollywood strikes froze nearly all production and development across the industry. By February 2024, the show was no longer in active development at Hulu. In July 2024, Moore quietly departed the project after signing a new deal with Sony, which made his continued involvement impossible. And in February 2025, Hulu had cancelled the adaptation entirely. Reports at the time suggested Hulu was simply not prepared for the budget the project required.
ACOTAR is set almost entirely in a fantasy realm demanding serious CGI investment. For a streamer that has never landed a major fantasy franchise the way HBO did with Game of Thrones or Prime Video did with The Rings of Power, that was apparently a bridge too far.
Disney's option on the rights officially lapsed in the summer of 2025. But rather than let the project quietly die, Maas fought to get her IP back and she succeeded.
Maas has the rights back and she has conditions
In March 2026, Maas appeared on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast and confirmed what fans had been hoping to hear: she has the rights to everything back. She hinted the original deal fell apart due to creative differences, saying, "I want to know everything about how it gets made. I want to see everything adapted the way I envision it and the way I know fans want it."
Her core condition for any future deal is full creative control. Maas described the adaptation as part of her legacy, something she wants to be "in charge of."
That might have sounded like a tall order a few years ago. But the industry has changed much since. In January 2026, Apple TV+ signed fantasy author Brandon Sanderson to an deal giving him the right to write, produce, consult and approve creative decisions across his entire Cosmere universe. Not even Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin or Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling ever had that level of control over their adaptations. The benchmark has been reset and Maas is in a strong position to ask for something similar.
The timing is actually great
The timing for a new ACOTAR deal might be better now than it ever was. The romantasy genre has only gotten bigger since 2021. Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing is moving ahead as a series at Amazon Prime Video with Michael B. Jordan attached to produce and its success in development is a direct signal to every other major streamer that there is enormous appetite for this kind of content.
Meanwhile, Maas's own universe is about to become even more massive. She confirmed on Call Her Daddy that ACOTAR Book 6 drops October 27, 2026, and Book 7 follows on January 12, 2027, both part of a single sprawling story that also has a Book 8 on the way.
That means any studio that picks this up is securing a content pipeline that will keep expanding well into the decade.
Studios that could pick up ACOTAR
Amazon Prime Video is already the most logical home. It has the fantasy appetite (The Rings of Power, the incoming Fourth Wing), the global reach and the budget to handle a world as visually ambitious as Prythian. Prime Video is the streamer that has shown the clearest interest in expanding its foothold in the romantasy space.
Apple TV is the wildcard worth watching. After landing Sanderson's entire Cosmere with unprecedented author control, Apple has announced itself as the destination for authors who want a true creative partnership. That is perhaps exactly the deal Maas is asking for. The Sanderson precedent actually makes Apple a much more realistic suitor for Maas than it might have seemed even a year ago.
Netflix is always in the mix for something this big, and it is already in the romantasy adaptation space with its planned Quicksilver film. But Netflix's track record with book adaptations (cancelling beloved series like Shadow & Bone after two seasons) may give Maas pause when it comes to trusting the streamer with her legacy project.
The case for going animated
One angle that deserves a serious look, and that fans have been raising louder since the Hulu collapse is what if ACOTAR went animated?
The casting debate alone is a nightmare in live-action. The Bat Boys with Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel are described in the books as physically extraordinary Fae, and no live-action cast will probably ever fully satisfy every reader. Animation sidesteps that entirely. It also unlocks the full visual potential of the Night Court and the sweeping magic of Prythian without being constrained by CGI budgets and practical limitations.
The model is already proven. Prime Video’s The Legend of Vox Machina showed that adult animated fantasy, when made with real care and real money, is deeply beloved by an invested fandom. Netflix's Arcane proved the same at an even higher level. And animation keeps the author more deeply involved in the storytelling pipeline, which, given Maas's stated desire for creative control, could actually be the format that finally makes a deal work.
With ACOTAR Books 6 and 7 arriving in rapid succession and the fandom showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, any studio paying attention right now has an obvious opportunity in front of them.
The stars may finally be listening.
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