Meet the new Sabrina Spellman! Kiernan Shipka, who most recently starred as B.D. in Feud: Bette and Joan, will take on the lead role as Sabrina in the upcoming drama based on Archie Comics’ The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Netflix announced on Friday, January 5. However, it won’t be the Sabrina audiences may expect — a.k.a. this isn’t Melissa Joan Hart’s version.
“An empowered young woman, half-human, half-witch, Sabrina is just beginning her dark education as a sorceress, even as she tries to maintain a normal life as a sophomore at Baxter High,” Netflix said in the press release. “She is smart, compassionate and brave and helps keep the darkness out of the every day world. The network also revealed that this show will be “in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist.”
“We’re all such huge fans of Kiernan’s work that when we started talking about who this new incarnation of Sabrina could be, her name was on everyone’s wish list,” executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said. “This is a darker, more macabre version of Sabrina, and we’re incredibly excited for people to see Kiernan make this iconic character her own.”
Currently, Aguirre-Sacasa is producing The CW’s Riverdale, which is also part of the Archie Comics’ universe. Sabrina’s hometown is just a few towns over from that of Riverdale and the producer has teased that it’s possible a crossover will happen.
Melissa Joan Hart, who played the lead in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch 14 years ago, admitted that this show will be completely separate from the more lighthearted sitcom she starred on.
“I think our show was about magic and family, and I think the new one — it sounds like, I have no idea — but the new one is going to be more about witchcraft, dark stuff,” she said at a reunion panel in October. “I think it sounds more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than it does Sabrina, so I think it will appeal to a different kind of audience and be a totally different show.”
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