Exclusive Interview
Ronald D. Moore Reveals New Details About Why His ‘ACOTAR’ Adaptation Never Happened
The A Court of Thorns and Roses TV adaptation remains in limbo. Hulu announced in 2021 that it would bring Sarah J. Maas’ best-selling novels to life in a TV series, with Outlander boss Ronald D. Moore serving as showrunner. However, years went by without any updates about the highly sought-after romantasy book adaptation.
In 2024, Moore revealed that he was no longer involved in the ACOTAR adaptation. In a new interview, which took place at TV Guide Magazine and TV Insider’s San Diego Comic-Con suite, Moore opened up about why the ACOTAR series never came to fruition.
“It wasn’t really my decision,” he told Swooon. “I mean, I was at Disney. I was in development. It was a chaotic period. The thing about it was [going] from COVID to the strikes to a lot of shakeup in terms of Bob Iger leaves, Bob Iger comes back, and as a result, that piece of development just never got traction, and eventually I left, and the last I heard it was still in development, so I don’t know what happened to it.”
When asked if he’d ever want to try and adapt ACOTAR again in the future, Moore stated, “No, probably not. I spent a lot of time working on it and then it didn’t happen, so okay, I just move on.”
Moore has plenty of other projects keeping him busy. In addition to the last season of Outlander and the upcoming fifth season of For All Mankind, the veteran showrunner is working on Star City, a For All Mankind spinoff, and God of War, an adaptation of the popular computer game.
As of February 2025, the ACOTAR adaptation is no longer moving forward at Hulu, per TVLine. It’s unclear if a TV adaptation is still a priority, but ACOTAR’s global popularity has made it one of the most coveted pieces of romantasy IP. A Fourth Wing TV adaptation is currently in the works at Prime Video with Michael B. Jordan‘s Outlier Society producing.
Where do you hope the ACOTAR adaptation lands next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Reporting by Kate Hahn
