Netflix has won the rights to develop American Royals, a YA drama based on Katharine McGee’s best-selling book series, according to an exclusive report by Deadline. The package was secured in a competitive situation, which points to multiple buyers seeing value in the alternate-history premise before it ever reached a green light.
The books imagine a United States where George Washington is crowned king rather than elected president. The story follows his young dependents and the dynastic contest around them: two princesses competing for the crown and two girls competing for a prince’s attention. It is a premise built on recognition, romance and royalty, the elements that have become reliable hooks in the streaming YA market.
McGee’s series, published by Ember, includes American Royals (2019), Majesty (2020), Rivals (2022), Reign (2023) and the prequel novella Inheritance (2022). That gives the streamer four full books plus a novella to mine if the first season works.
The creative package
Ted Malawer will write the adaptation. He co-penned the film version of Red, White & Royal Blue, another contemporary young-royals property, and previously wrote on Netflix’s limited series Halston. Malawer executive produces with Leslie Morgenstein, President and Chief Creative Officer of Alloy Entertainment. Warner Bros. Television, which owns Alloy, is the studio.
Alloy brings a track record in YA television through Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and You, so the development team combines known IP with producers who have converted book properties into long-running screen brands before.
Why the YA lane matters now
YA is no longer a fringe bet. Deadline’s report points to the category’s recent wins: Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and Off Campus, and Netflix’s Wednesday, Outer Banks and Ginny & Georgia. On the film side, Netflix’s To All the Boys I Loved Before trilogy and Prime Video’s Red, White & Royal Blue have sustained the pattern, with a Red, White & Royal Blue sequel still to come.
- Built-in IP: four books plus a prequel give the show a known world and a readers-turned-viewers base.
- Proven creative pairing: a writer and producers with direct YA-to-screen experience lower the execution risk.
- Platform fit: Netflix already has several YA audience anchors, so American Royals can be scheduled against an existing interest graph.
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the takeaway is less about one title and more about the shape of the market. Streamers are still competing for book-to-screen packages in the YA category because the audience is reliable and the marketing hooks are easy to communicate: an alternate royal family, a love triangle, and a series of books already searchable on shelves.
What happens before it reaches the screen
Development is the earliest stage, so there is no series order, cast, or release date yet. Alloy also has The Probability of Miracles in production for Prime Video and the Netflix holiday film In a Holidaze due later this year, which means the company is filling the YA pipeline across more than one platform.
The next signal to watch is whether Netflix moves American Royals from development to a formal series order. If it does, a casting announcement becomes the first measurable audience test, especially for the princess and prince roles that drive the books’ central romances.
Source: Deadline
