YouTube Red sets a new series spinoff from 2016's coming-of-age, 'The Edge of Seventeen'

Image from Slate

By Darian Scalamoni

            YouTube Red is off to a great start with their new series, “Cobra Kai,” a spinoff on the 80s classic, “The Karate Kid” doing big numbers leading to a Season 2 renewal; now they’re heading towards development of another spinoff series. According to a report from Slash Film, YouTube Red will develop a TV spinoff of the 2016 movie, “The Edge of Seventeen.”

            The coming-of-age flick followed Hailee Steinfeld as a high school outcast whose only friend starts to date her popular older brother leading her to a downward spiral, depression and trying to find herself. Steinfeld earned a Golden Globe nomination for the film which also starred Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Woody Harrelson and Kyra Sedgwick.

            The series will not follow any of the original cast members but instead, an all-new cast. It’s set to be written by Annabel Oakes, who previously wrote Amazon’s “Transparent” and Netflix’s “Atypical” and executively produced by Kelly Fremon Craig, who wrote and directed the 2016 movie. The show will “follow a high school student and her best friend as they navigate the relationships, feelings and realities of being a teenage girl,” THR reports. YouTube says the series will “subvert standard teen show tropes.”

            I was a big fan of “Cobra Kai” and though I’m not as excited for this announcement, I’m interested to see what YouTube Red can cook up. This movie was beloved by many people so they’ll have to do it right but bringing on Craig to executive produce is a great step in the right direction.