Netflix Quietly Scraps TV and Film Adaptation of Popular Book Series

Over five years on from Netflix's announcement that a Redwall adaptation was in the works, the planned TV and movie adaptation has been officially scrapped by the streamer.

According to a report by Broadcast Now, a planned on-screen television series and movie based on all 22 books of the cult children's fantasy series have been dropped altogether. The novels, which followed the adventures of anthropomorphic animals living in the fictional land of Redwall Abbey, were written by English author Brian Jacques between 1986 and 2011, upon the writer's death the same year.

Fans will likely be disappointed by this news, but likely not surprised — the adaptations were announced back in February 2021, and little to no news regarding their development has surfaced since. Some early concept art for a film was released in 2025 (per What's on Netflix), but the progression of the project has been slow at best. The deal between Netflix and Penguin Random House was a major one, giving the streamer complete access to adapt the entire series for both film and television.

 Patrick McHale, the famed animator and co-creator of the cult Cartoon Network series Over the Garden Wall, was attached to the adaptation when it was announced back in 2021, and was touted to write the script for a film focused on the first Redwall book. However, McHale is said to have exited the project the following year, according to What's on Netflix.

As for the series, said to be an animated adaptation following the adventures of Martin the Warrior, co-founder of Redwall Abbey, it also appears to have been dropped by the streamer, if reports are anything to go by. Unlike the planned film, however, no concept art or news regarding a filmmaker or writer was released to the public for the limited series.