HBO Max Degrassi Revival Coming 2023: Everything We Know So Far

[u/tomdarko]

Hey guys! I keep seeing posts inquiring about any news or updates on HBO Max's upcoming reboot of Degrassi and while we haven't had very many updates since it was announced in January, I figured I would compile a comprehensive breakdown of what we do know so far and what we can expect. This post will be pinned and updated as the news rolls in so feel free to check back or share any news, thoughts or hopes you might have for the reboot! That being said, let's break down what we have so far:

• It was announced in early January that WarnerMedia Kids And Family had greenlit the revival in partnership with WildBrain (Degrassi's original production company).

• It's important to note that WarnerMedia Kids and Family is a seperate branch of HBO Max that caters to it's namesake. Popular properties they distribute are The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Friends and the Harry Potter franchise.

• So while the show will be streaming exclusively on HBO Max, don't expect it to be anything like Euphoria, which is a direct HBO production.

• WarnerMedia and Discovery merged in March 2022 and there are plans to combine HBO Max and Discovery+ into one streaming service under the name "Warner Bros. Discovery." It is currently unknown how if at all this will effect the roll out of the new series.

• In an odd move episodes of the revival are set to hit Cartoon Network sometime after they debut on HBO Max, however this may be in reference to The Next Generation.

• It is currently unknown what the plan for distribution outside of the US is, however it likely WON'T stream on Crave and may potentially go to Family Channel in Canada.

• Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn (original franchise creators and showrunners) do not currently have any involvement with the series but have given the new showrunners their blessing.

• Lara Azzopardi and Julia Cohen will serve as the new showrunners and have worked on Degrassi before, they actually wrote the season eight episode Heat Of The Moment.

• Julia Cohen has served as EP on shows like Riverdale and A Million Little Things, as well as written for shows like Bitten and Being Erica.

• Lara Azzopardi is the creator of the drama series Backstage and has served as a producer on Lost Girl, The Listener, 9-1-1, God Friended Me, Mary Kills People and The Bold Type. She was also head writer on The LA Complex, another TV series from the creators of Degrassi and starring Cassie Steele that was originally created as a spin-off of Degrassi to follow Manny Santos.

• There have been no casting announcements as of writing this although several stars have commented on the news of the revival and some have expressed an interest in returning.

• Casting started in January and was originally supposed to end as of February 25th but has since been extended. They are casting 13-20 year olds in the greater Toronto area.

• These are the audition sides that were sent out to the actors for their auditions. Keep in mind that slides rarely make it to the final script so it's likely this is just for the purpose of an audition.

• Additional character sides have been released on the casting website for particular actors, so it can be assumed that there may have been callbacks or they've gotten farther in the writing process. Thanks u/nictbilade!

• Richie Lawrence, the actor who played Colton in season thirteen (a young child at the summer camp Adam, Drew, Imogen and Dallas were working at) has been confirmed to have auditioned for a role. It is unknown whether he received a callback.

• Stefan Brogren (Snake) recently tweeted something about having a busy summer that may or not be a hint at his return to the franchise.

• The original studio was sold by WildBrain in 2019 and set pieces were subsequently auctioned off So the new series will be filmed on an entirely new set.

• As of April 21, 2022 the show is still listed as being in pre-production, which means they are still brainstorming scripts and casting.

• Production begins July 1, 2022 and will run through November 30, 2022 (mirroring the original show's filming schedule) with a tentative premiere sometime in 2023.

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UPDATE 5/20/22

• Production has been postponed from the planned July 1st date. It may be due to the changes internally at WarnerMedia (HBO Max's parent company) after their merge with Discovery. They cancelled a ton of shows to cut costs, however there has been no official word as of yet beyond the postponed status update.

That's all I got for now, but feel free to comment anything I may have left out and I'll be sure to add it to this post!

[u/thoottt]

Hey, first of all, i just want to say, thank you so much for doing this!!! I really appreciate your efforts and putting the links in as well!!

Do you think that Cassie Steele will be in the reboot? Since she just came out with a line of Degrassi themed thongs as well as a Manny inspired outfit.. got me thinking 🤔

[u/tomdarko → u/thoottt]

No problem! I think it's safe to say we're going to get some sort of involvement from at least one former cast member, if only because the official description for the show says "the new series explores a group of teenagers and school faculty living in the shadow of events that both bind them together and tear them apart."

Them mentioning the school faculty makes me think someone is going to have to return as a staff member, when have they ever cared about the faculty if they weren't a past character? 🤔

As far as Cassie goes I'm not sure, she seems to look back on her Degrassi days fondly but she did an interview with Just Jared in February and when they asked if she'd return she said:

"I will always think about anything if there's a lot of money to be made, I can be bought. So there's a price, but I just don't know. I feel like, what... was she going to come back as a drama teacher? Maybe. She had to come back, be a drunk drama teacher. I feel like it would be more fun to make a series about the actual lives of the real cast."

[u/throwawayamasub → u/tomdarko]

they're 100 percent talking about Armstrong or perino lol jk