Disney+ announced it has optioned a series based on Melissa De La Cruz’s “The Ring & The Crown” YA book that is published by Disney Publishing Worldwide.
About the Book
The Young Adult fantasy book centers on best friends Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, illegitimate daughter of Merlin, the Mage of England, who grew up together.
Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second. With the help of her Merlin, Eleanor has maintained a stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic, creating the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.
But she’s nearing the end of her reign and has decreed the princess must marry and produce an heir, or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia.
The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne.
But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard.
Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of…the chance to rule.
However Ronan Astor, a social-climbing American, and Isabelle of Orleans, daughter of a displaced French royal family who is in love with Prince Leopold, may throw a wrench in the plans.
About the Author
Melissa de la Cruz is the #1 New York Times, #1 Publisher’s Weekly, and #1 IndieBound bestselling author of over 50 critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for readers of all ages.
One of them is the bestselling “The Isle of the Lost” novel, the prequel to the Disney Channel blockbuster original movie “Descendants,” which has over a million copies in print.
She is also the founder of Melissa de la Cruz Studio at Disney Publishing. It will create and package books in every genre and age range but with a focus on middle grade and young adult, from a diverse group of new and established writers that will appeal to all the platforms across the Disney company for a global audience.
About the Series
The Disney+ series will be written by veteran showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg (“Our Kind of People”), and is now in development.
Harberts and Berg will also executive produce with de la Cruz, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith Vein, Jeremy Bell and DJ Goldberg; and 3 Arts’ Richard Abate.
The series is a collaboration between 20th Television, The Gotham Group and 3 Arts Entertainment, and Disney Branded Television.
We’ll let you know as soon as we hear news of casting or a release date.