Netflix has found their Sabrina Spellman.
Kiernan Shipka, who recently appeared opposite Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange in FX’s Feud: Bette and Joan, has been set as the lead in the streaming service’s as yet untitled Sabrina The Teenage With Series, which was picked up with a twenty episode order last month.
Originally developed at The CW as a potential companion to Riverdale, the untitled series imagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft and finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit.
Kiernan Shipka’s Sabrina Spellman is described as an empowered young woman, half-human, half-witch, who is just beginning her dark education as a sorceress, even as she tries to maintain a normal life as a sophomore at Baxter High. Intelligent, compassionate and brave to the point of recklessness, Sabrina is all that stands between us and the forces of darkness that threaten our world.
The hour-long series is based on the Archie Comics characters and is being penned by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. It is being produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Lee Toland Krieger is attached to direct. Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter serve as executive producers for Berlanti Productions, while Jon Goldwater executive produces for Archie Comics. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lee Toland Krieger will also serve as executive producers.
The Untitled Sabrina Project marks the second Archie Comics series for Netflix. The streaming service is also the global first-run home (outside of the United States) to Riverdale, making episodes available less than 24 hours after they initially air state-side on The CW. Netflix also holds US SVOD rights to Riverdale.
