The highly-anticipated HBO Max revival of Degrassi has officially been cancelled.
Back in January, WarnerMedia Kids & Family greenlit a new iteration of the long-running Canadian teen drama.
Like its predecessors, the 10-episode series was set to be a “character-driven” story that would follow a new set of students on their “thrilling, often painful journey of self-discovery.”
Lara Azzopardi (The Bold Type, Mary Kills People) and Julia Cohen (Riverdale) were also announced as showrunners – with the series set to film in the summer (per The Hollywood Reporter).
“What excites us maybe the most about reviving this beloved franchise is turning it into a truly serialized one-hour drama,” Azzopardi and Cohen said in a joint statement.
“We’re honored to be given the opportunity to lead this evolution and bring this iconic series back into people’s homes.”
Amy Friedman, head of kids and family programming at Warner Bros. added: “Series after series, the Degrassi franchise continues to make an indelible impact on young viewers looking for trustworthy and authentic storytelling.
“WildBrain continues to artfully capture high school life in a compelling format that can be experienced seamlessly on HBO Max.”
However after months of silence, HBO Max announced that the highly anticipated show would no longer happen.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the decision stemmed from the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery – which has been spearheaded by CEO David Zaslav.
In addition to Degrassi, an array of projects including Batgirl, Scoob! Holiday Hunt, Charlotte’s Web and a handful of DC projects have also been scrapped from the streamer’s lineup.
Shortly after the news made headlines, fans flocked to social media to express their disappointment in the cancellation.
One person tweeted: “Every generation of teens deserves their iteration of Degrassi. This is so sad.”
Another user wrote: “NOOOO, why are all the good things getting either cancelled or scrapped lately.”
The cancellation of the Degrassi revival came a couple of hours after Zaslav announced that Warner Discovery would be shifting its focus to franchises like Superman and Harry Potter.
“The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of profits to Warner Bros motion pictures over the last 25 years,” he said during a 3 November Q3 earnings call (per Deadline).
“You focus on the big movies, the tentpoles that people are going to leave home, leave early from dinner to see.”
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