When The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones came out in 2013, I remember watching it in slight befuddlement. It was competently directed by Harald Zwart with a good performance from Lily Collins, but it just wasn't my thing at all. And, if I remember correctly, it ended with a weird sort of agreement between the two leads that they might be brother and sister, but they also might not be... and they just kind of decided to go with the latter assumption instead of really finding out lest they ruin their romance (if I'm wrong, feel free to tell me in the comments).

If I'm right on that last point, it makes the franchise's move to ABC Family a tad ironic. But after City of Bones underperformed at the box office and a sequel in pre-production was scuttled, here we go. The Mortal Instruments will now take on a new life as Shadowhunters at the network, a new show based on the books by Cassandra Clare.

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Image via ScreenGems

Per THR the show will be a 13 episode drama under the tutelage of showrunner Ed Decter and will be produced by Constantin Film. Here's the official synopsis for Shadowhunters:

Based on the six best-selling young adult fantasy book series, Shadowhunters follows 18-year-old Clary Fray, who finds out on her birthday that she is not who she thinks she is but rather comes from a long line of Shadowhunters — human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons. When her mother Jocelyn is kidnapped, Clary is thrown into the world of demon hunting with mysterious Shadowhunter Jace and her best friend, Simon. Now living among faeries, warlocks, vampires and werewolves, Clary begins a journey of self-discovery as she learns more about her past and what her future may hold.

Confusingly, THR also describes The Mortal Instruments as "the third series of a proposed five in The Shadowhunter Chronicles that includes City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and May's City of Heavenly Fire." I'm not saying they're wrong, I'm just saying I have no idea what that really means.

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Image via Screen Gems.