The Disney villains-fronted series “Book of Enchantment” is no longer in development at Disney+, an individual with knowledge of the project tells TheWrap.
The project was based on Serena Valentino’s “Villains” series of books. It was set to tell the origin stories of Disney characters like Ursula from “The Little Mermaid,” The Beast from “Beauty and the Beast,” Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” and the Wicked Queen from “Snow White.” Valentino’s book series also features “Mother Knows Best” about Mother Gothel, the villain from the 2010 film “Tangled.”
Michael Seitzman was on board to write and produce the series, from ABC Signature Studios. Seitzman previously created the CBS medical drama “Code Black” and worked on the ABC series “Quantico.”
Disney will tout its upcoming streaming service Friday at its bi-annual D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. Disney+, which launches Nov. 12, will feature original productions from Marvel Studios, Pixar, LucasFilm and its own studio. These include Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian,” the first live-action series set in the “Star Wars” universe, a prequel to “Rogue One” starring Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk reprising their roles from the film. Ewan McGregor is also in talks to return as Obi-Wan Kenobi for his own series.
Marvel Studios is developing five TV shows, four of which will be set inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe and star characters from the hugely-successful film franchise: “The Falcon and Winter Soldier,” “WandaVision,” “Loki” and “Hawkeye.” The animated “What If…” will star Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, which tells non-canon stories that follow major MCU events as if they played out differently.
Additionally, a “High School Musical” TV adaptation and a live-action version of “Lady and the Tramp” are also coming to the service.
Deadline was first to report the news of the project no longer going forward.