“One Tree Hill” revival getting closer to reality
Netflix is reportedly developing the sequel series, with Hilarie Burton Morgan, Sophia Bush, and Danneel Ackles slated to return.
Dust off your Gavin DeGraw CD, folks, because it's time to head back to One Tree Hill.
Entertainment Weekly can confirm that a sequel series to the teen drama — which ran for nine seasons, first on the WB and then the CW — is in development, with original stars Hilarie Burton Morgan, Sophia Bush, and Danneel Ackles slated to reprise their roles. The new series has reportedly found a home at Netflix, according to multiple trade publications, and will be produced by Warner Bros. Television.
Netflix declined to comment to EW on the reports, while a representative for Ackles said it was "all too premature to discuss." EW has also reached out to representatives for WBTV, Burton Morgan, and Bush.
Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett
Sophia Bush, Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie Burton, James Lafferty, and Bethany Joy Lenz on 'One Tree Hill'Related: One Tree Hill actress Sophia Bush comes out as queer: 'Can't say it without smiling'
Bush and Burton Morgan seemed to address the sequel series on Friday, Aug. 30, saying it would offer them a chance to honor fans and "reclaim our turf' on Instagram.
"What if you really can go back home?" the actresses wrote in a joint message in separate posts. "If there's an opportunity to team with brilliant creatives and build a space where all our friends can show off their talents? Own our history? Reclaim our turf? Honor our fans? Sign us up."
They continued, "There's only one Tree Hill, after all. And you — the #OTHfam — have shown us that it's not just an idea. It really is the place where "everything's better and everything's safe."
Along with their message, they posted what looks like a recent photo of them with Ackles and Bevin Prince (who played Bevin Mirskey in the original show) posing in front of a wall covered in flyers, some of which read "Tree Hill's Local Showcase" and "Ravens Cheerleader tryouts," referring to One Tree Hill school and hinting that they were shooting a new scene for a project.
Burton Morgan also posted a gif of her One Tree Hill character, Peyton, with the teasing caption, "I guess I'm just a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside a bitch."
Set in the fictional town of Tree Hill, N.C., One Tree Hill began as a relatively straightforward teen drama about feuding brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty), and best friends Peyton Sawyer (Burton Morgan) and Brooke Davis (Bush). Ackles joined in season 4 as Rachel, who was introduced as a rival to Brooke — though they ultimately became friends.
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Early seasons focused on love triangles, peer pressure, parental drama, and other high school fare — but in season 5, OTH jumped ahead four and a half years to pick up with the characters after college. According to a Deadline Hollywood report, the sequel series would take place 20 years after the original series finale.
No word yet whether the new series will address what was perhaps OTH's most cuckoo-banana-pants storyline of all time, in which Lucas and Nathan's father, Dan (Paul Johansson), needed a heart transplant — but the operation was thwarted when the heart fell out of the transport cooler and a dog ate it.
One Tree Hill would be the second WB/CW series revived by Netflix, after Gilmore Girls, which returned with a sequel series, A Year in the Life, in 2016.
[This article has been updated with comment from a rep for Danneel Ackles.]
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
