The CW has lost one of its Powerpuff Girls. Chloe Bennet, who was set to star as the grown-up version of Blossom, is leaving the project, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.
Bennet’s exit is due to scheduling conflicts when the studio, Warner Bros. TV, tried to extend her option. The pilot was surprisingly passed on during this past season’s development cycle and is currently undergoing a redo. Casting for a new Blossom will begin in the fall.
The live-action adaptation of “The Powerpuff Girls,” which would have centered on the trio as adults, was one of the most anticipated pilots this year, with Diablo Cody co-writing and Greg Berlanti on board as executive producer.
“The reason we do pilots is sometimes things miss,” The CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz explained on a call with reporters back in May. “This was just a miss. We believe in the cast completely. We believe in Diablo and Heather [Regnier], who are writing, and we believe in the auspices of Greg Berlanti and Warner Studios. In this case, the pilot didn’t work.”
He went on to explain that the version of the pilot that was shot earlier this year “felt a little too campy.”
The series follows heroines Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup as “disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting.” Dove Cameron and Yana Perrault, who played Bubbles and Buttercup in the pilot, and Donald Faison (who was Professor Utonium) remain attached to star in the project.
Variety was first to report on Bennet.