The CW is developing a new take on Nancy Drew from Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
Set in the summer after her high school graduation, 18 year-old Nancy Drew thought she’d be leaving her hometown for college, but when a family tragedy holds her back another year, she finds herself embroiled in a ghostly murder investigation — and along the way, uncovers secrets that run deeper than she ever imagined.
The project is set up at CBS Television Studios in association with Schwartz and Savage’s Fake Empire. Noga Landau penned the script and is an executive producer, alongside Schwartz, Savage and Lis Rowinski.
This is the third time that CBS TV Studios has attempted to adapt Nancy Drew in the past three years. CBS ordered a pilot starring Sarah Shahi during the 2015-16 development cycle. It was also part of NBC’s development slate this past season. Both of those versions were developed as sequels to the books, while The CW project adheres closer to the source material.
The character of Nancy Drew was first crated by publisher Edward Stratemeyer in 1930 to be the female counterpart to his Hardy Boys series. Since then, the character has been adapted frequently in both films and TV. The most recent adaptation came in 2007, with Emma Roberts playing the fictional amateur sleuth. In 2002, ABC aired a TV movie that starred Maggie Lawson.
The most successful attempt at bringing Nancy Drew to the small screen was “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries” TV series that ran on ABC from 1977 to 1979.