True Blood: “Multiple Versions” of Reboot Have Been Worked on at HBO

In December 2020 it was announced that HBO was in development on a True Blood reboot with Riverdale‘s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa set to executive produce as well as write the pilot with AMC’s NOS4A2 series creator Jami O’Brien. There has been little news on the project since and according to HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys, there isn’t much of an update to give. According to Bloys, there have been “multiple” versions of the reboot—and they aren’t close to green lighting it.

“There’s been multiple versions of it,” Bloys told TV Line. “I don’t know that we’ve landed on the one. I don’t want to give you the impression that it’s anything close to [getting a green light].”

The original True Blood centered around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress living in rural Bon Temps, Louisiana in the years after a synthetic blood— “Tru Blood”—is developed that allows vampires to reveal their presence to mankind. Sookie ends up falling in love with 174-year-old vampire Bill Compton, something that turns her life upside down.

As for the development of the reboot, Bloys had similar comments when speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, noting that “nothing has really come to the fore” with the ideas in development.  In his comments to that outlet, he also noted that a revival of Six Feet Under is something personally doesn’t think is a good idea and that he’s more focused on original projects as opposed to reboots and revivals.

For True Blood fans, this probably isn’t the update they were hoping for. Created by Alan Ball and based on Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Mystery novel series, True Blood debuted in 2008 and ran for seven seasons on HBO before concluding in 2014. The popular series starred Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse and Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton and helped propel the careers of several actors, including Alexander Skarsgard, Deborah Ann Woll, Ryan Kwanten, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Carrie Preston, Rutina Wesley, and Joe Manganiello. The series also starred Nelsan Ellis, who sadly passed away in 2017.  Paquin previously wished the reboot project the best when it was announced in 2020.

“We do live in an era of entertainment where the reboot and the sequel have become a currency. So, is it the time? I don’t know,” Paquin said at the time. “That’s not really my department. It was some of the best years of my life, but I don’t think them continuing to tell those stories or continuing in that world really has anything to do with the thing we created. That’s its own special little entity that was ours and came with a whole family of cast and crew who are still in touch. We had a Cinco de Mayo lockdown Zoom with our cast and crew, and there were 75 people. We actually all are a family who has stayed in touch, and not just the actors. These are our people. So, I wish them well. I don’t know if they need us for anything. Aren’t we all too old now? But it’s a fun world. It’s a supernatural world with endless possibilities. Of course, there’s room to do more and to tell more stories within that universe. We don’t own it.”

All seven season of True Blood are streaming on HBO Max.