YouTube has given a pilot order to The Edge of Seventeen, based on the 2016 film of the same name, per Deadline. Atypical producer Annabel Oakes will write and direct the pilot, which will be executive produced by Kelly Fremont Craig, the original film’s writer-director.
The series will not be a direct remake or sequel to the film, but will instead tell new stories inspired by the original’s tone and commitment to the teen experience. The adaptation is described as a witty coming-of-age series following a high-school student and her best friend navigating relationships, feelings and the realities of being a teenage girl.
2016’s The Edge of Seventeen marked Craig’s directorial debut and was produced by James L. Brooks, and took an unexpectedly nuanced approach to a high-concept premise. The film follows caustic high school junior Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) as she deals with her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) dating her brother Darian (Blake Jenner), but more importantly, as she grapples with the long-term impact of her late father’s death.
With Craig and Brooks set to join forces once again to adapt Judy Blume’s 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, a seminal work of teen literature, it seems that their last collaboration will also have a long shelf life.
Filming is slated to begin on YouTube’s The Edge of Seventeen in January 2019.