Peacock has opted not to move forward with creators Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson’s planned adaptation of the comic book series “Dead Day,” exactly one year to the day after the streaming service announced the project.
Variety reports that despite the streamer’s straight-to-series order last January, Peacock is no longer moving forward with the adaptation.
The outlet revealed that “the studio is planning to shop ‘Dead Day’ to other outlets. Peacock had bought the series preemptively, so this will mark the first time it has been shown to other buyers.”
Based on the bestselling AfterShock comic-book series created by Ryan Parrott, the comic book adaptation would’ve seen creators Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Legacies) and Kevin Williamson (Scream, The Vampire Diaries, Dawson’s Creek, The Following) serving as co-showrunners, writers and executive producers.
Per the series’ official plot, it “follows an ensemble of characters as they navigate the annual “dead day,” when for one night the dead come back to complete unfinished business — be that to celebrate a night back on earth or to torment the living.”
The news comes hot on the heels of Peacock’s cancellation of “Vampire Diaries” after its inaugural season run, which hailed from Plec along with Marguerite MacIntyre as showrunners, writers, and executive producers.
Williamson recently produced and co-wrote the screenplay for the recently released slasher Sick on Peacock and is an executive producer on last year’s Scream and the upcoming Scream VI.
“Dead Day” would’ve marked a reunion for Plec and Williamson, who previously collaborated on the long-running, fan-favorite hit TV series The Vampire Diaries.
“We have been looking for a project to do together, and Dead Day has all the ingredients we love as storytellers. Love, death, thrills and tears — and we know Susan Rovner and her team at Peacock is the perfect fit for this project,” Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson previously said of the project.
The original “Dead Day” comics were published in 2020 by Aftershock Comics.