Predicting Netflix's Next 10 Smash Hit Shows
7. Shadow And Bone
Released: Late 2020
With The Witcher becoming the biggest thing on Netflix, pseudo-Slavic fantasy could be the genre to watch out for from now on. Enter Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, which combines the Eastern European folklore and fantasy magic of The Witcher with the teen girl rebel heroine of The Hunger Games and its young adult ilk.
Shadow And Bone is the story of Alina Starkov (British newcomer Jessie Mei Li), a teenage orphan in the Kingdom of Ravka, a fantasy version of the Russian Empire in the 1800s surrounded by a barrier of darkness full of ravenous monsters. Alina has the power to summon light, something that makes her hugely valuable to the villainous Darkling (former Prince Caspian Ben Barnes, making a return to young adult fantasy on the darker side).
The Shadow And Bone series comes from executive producer Shawn Levy, who, as producer and regular director on Stranger Things, has enough history of young adult fantasy success with Netflix to have a regular deal to produce more content for the service. His latest, I Am Not Okay With This, recently launched to positive reviews.
Eric Heisserer, who wrote Bird Box (at the time Netflix's biggest movie hit) as well as the Levy-produced Arrival, is on board as showrunner, which suggests the potential for something a little smarter than your average Shadowhunters-style YA fantasy show.