Fangs for nothing! ABC has scrapped its pilot for ‘The Brides’ based on the legendary vampiric brides of Dracula, from creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the hit-maker behind The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ and ‘Katy Keene’, and Netflix’s ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’. ABC also passed on a revival of ’80s drama ‘Thirtysomething’, even though before the COVID-19 pandemic, both shows looked like frontrunners for pick-ups. Reportedly, both shows were a little too expensive for the Disney-owned network.
‘The Brides’ was female-driven and would have been marketed to the adult female audience. Gina Torres (‘Westworld’) headed up the cast as Cleo, a queen in her past life, who is now a real estate mogul in New York. The other two brides would have been played by Katherine Reis (‘Claws’)– as Lily, a former prostitute during the time of Jack the Ripper– and Erin Richards (‘Gotham’)– as Renée Pélagie, the former wife of the Marquis de Sade, now a leading model agent who has a history for having “torrid affairs” with her female clients. Goran Višnjić portrayed this show’s version of Dracula. The cast also included Sophia Tatum as young aspiring model Justine Strang, and Chris Mason as Roland Grant, a real estate mogul, and rival to Cleo.
Maggie Kiley (‘Riverdale’) directed the pilot.
With strong horror elements, The Brides is a vampire soap about empowered, immortal women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy — and their non-traditional family.
In this version of the story, Dracula, the powerful, ageless and iconic King of Night who turned each of his three brides, is left for dead at his destroyed castle in the Carpathian mountains while his three wives, Cleo, Renee and Lily, flee to start a new life together.
Aguirre-Sacasa and Berlanti Productions previously developed this concept for ABC during the 2015-16 pilot season. Could this be shopped around to another outlet? Check back for any updates!
Source: Variety
