Freeform Developing TV Series Reimagining of Dante’s Inferno

In recent years, the Disney-owned Freeform has become home to a number of unconventional TV series, with the latest news from Deadline repvealing that the network would be home to a TV series reimagining of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem Inferno. This poem is the first of the three-part Divine Comedy from the 14th century, a series which also includes Purgatorio and Paradiso. Rather than chronicling a soul’s journey towards heaven, the new series is set to explore the “demonic underworld” of Los Angeles as navigated by a woman with a troubled life. The series comes from Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris (Knightfall), Nina Fiore & John Herrera (The Handmaids Tale), and Danielle Claman Gelber (One Chicago).

Deadline describes the series, “Described as a contemporary reimagining of the 14th-century epic poem set against the demonic underworld of present-day Los Angeles, Dante’s Inferno follows Grace Dante, who thought her life sucked. Between parenting her drug addict mother and her troubled brother, our 20-something hero has had to give up all her dreams. Then one day everything changes and her dreams start magically coming true, school, career, love… but the godfather of all this good fortune is the Devil himself. And to outwit him, she’ll have to journey through Dante’s Inferno.”

This is only the latest Freeform series to blend contemporary settings with macabre themes, as Motherland: Fort Salem wrapped production in August and will likely premiere in the near future. That series is “set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country, Motherland: Fort Salem follows three young women — two of them played by Taylor Hickson and Jessica Sutton — from basic training in combat magic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with the more dominant women on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world — but with supernatural tactics and weapons.”

The network has also found success recently with their mermaid-themed series Siren, which was renewed for a third season earlier this year.

Blending the worlds of supernatural horror with younger-skewing narratives have long been a success, with Netflix recently finding a hit with their Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, exploring the teen witch and her many run-ins with Satan himself, all while trying to navigate the daily troubles of a high schooler.

Stay tuned for details on the development of Dante’s Inferno.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

Image courtesy of DEA / BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA /Getty Images