BWW News: DISNEY+ Cancels its First Series, BOOK OF ENCHANTMENT, Based on the Best-Selling Novels by Serena Valentino

Bad news for Disney Villains fans ahead of the release of Disney's new streaming service Disney Plus. One of the most intriguing shows in development, Book of Enchantment, has been cancelled because its tone is too "dark" for the Disney brand.

The series was to be based on Serena Valentino's best-selling YA novels that focus on the villains, each book tied together with the meddling Odd Sisters, who finally received their own book in the series earlier this year. In all, there have been six books published in the series: THE FAIREST OF ALL: A Tale of the Wicked Queen (Published August 18, 2009), THE BEAST WITHIN: A Tale of Beauty's Prince (Published July 22, 2014), POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL: A Tale of the Sea Witch (Published July 26, 2016), MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL: A Tale of the Dark Fairy (Published October 3, 2017), MOTHER KNOWS BEST: A Tale of the Old Witch (Published August 7, 2018), and THE ODD SISTERS: A Villains Novel (Published July 2, 2019).

Production was tentatively set to begin in England come May 2020 and already well into pre-production, having already spent an estimated four million on development. The show had been announced in several press releases revolving around the Disney Plus launch to get viewers interested in the upcoming service. Show runner Michael Seitzman's working script for the series, however, was darker in tone than expected. The writers had been working on it for thirteen weeks trying to lighten it in a way that worked for the Disney brand and keep it viable for all ages. The production would have been costly, and Disney was nervous it wouldn't do well with its core audience due to its darker tones. Producer Jason Reed was brought on board to turn the show around, and unable to do so, it was announced earlier this week that the production would be cancelled. This is the first cancellation for the Disney Plus service, which launches on November 12, 2019.

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