Disney+ and Hulu have officially greenlit a revival of Glee, Ryan Murphy's hit musical dramedy, with 20th Television returning to produce, according to Variety. The news, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, lands more than a decade after the original series wrapped its six-season run in 2015.
Murphy recently told Entertainment Tonight that he had just finished a script for the reboot with co-creators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. "I've been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members," he said. "They all had a lot of questions, but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea." No cast, producers or premiere date have been confirmed, and deals for the creative team are still being negotiated. Murphy had been hinting at the project for months, telling THR in August he was "kicking around" a revival.
The original Glee, which premiered on Fox in 2009, followed the show choir at William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, and became a defining pop-culture phenomenon of the late 2000s and early 2010s — blending high-school soap opera with song covers and Broadway-style showmanship. The series was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards (winning two) and 10 Golden Globes (winning four), The Hollywood Reporter noted.
The greenlight continues Hollywood's revival wave. It arrives the same week FX renewed American Horror Story, another Murphy creation, for a 14th season, and days after the industry digested HBO's five-episode Girls revival order with Lena Dunham. Murphy suggested at the American Horror Story season 13 premiere that a Glee return was imminent — and the A.V. Club noted the announcement validates "the threats that Ryan Murphy issued" at that event.
Whether any original cast members return remains the central question. Jane Lynch, who played Sue Sylvester, indicated last month that no one had reached out but that she would be on board. Chris Colfer said earlier this month he had "heard absolutely nothing" but would be interested. For Disney, the revival is a bet that the generation that grew up on Glee — now in their 20s and 30s — will show up for an encore.