Gossip Girl is back — with a newer, edgier generation of teens in the first trailer for HBO Max’s reboot. Drama never ages, and with the boom of social media, there’s a whole lot more that can go wrong for the ultrarich Upper Easters. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who created and ran the original series for the CW, are back as executive producers. The showrunner for the reboot is Joshua Safran, who served as an executive producer for the last two seasons of the original Gossip Girl.
The reboot follows a new cast of private high schoolers a decade after the end of the CW’s Gossip Girl, and the infamous blogger of the same name is back with a move to Instagram. Safran has made it clear that this is a continuation, meaning that the original cast members like Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and Penn Badgley could appear at some point in the show (it’d be a little creepy if Dan was still spying on teens in his 30s though). The new cast is composed of fresher faces, bringing a little diversity through the likes of Emily Alyn Lind, Eli Brown, Whitney Peak, Thomas Doherty, Jordan Alexander, Evan Mock, Zión Moreno, Savannah Smith, and Tavi Gevenson. And, of course, they couldn’t have another Gossip Girl without the iconic voice of the blogger, Kristen Bell.
HBO Max has stated that this series will contain more adult content than the original, as cable television has yet to catch up to the cursing and nudity offered by premium options. However, the original series was already pretty steamy and shocking (especially to 12-year-old me), so I’m interested to see how much more adult it can get! The trailer does give us hints at what is in store for us, featuring plenty of threesomes, trysts, and other liaisons. This reboot is certainly striving for a darker edge to the series, which is certainly shown through its significantly larger budget.
The trailer offers us a chance to see some comparisons between the two shows, which certainly capture the melodrama and buzz of the original while updating the premise for modern audiences. Alexander’s Julien Calloway seems to be our new Blair, as she dominates the trailer’s screen time and seems to be the “Queen B” of Constance Billard. Peak stars as Zoya Lott, a newcomer to the Big Apple who is sure to stir up some entertaining drama. There’s still more of the same iconic imagery as well, including high fashion shows, intense parties and, of course, our crew sitting on the steps of the Met.
Gossip Girl premieres on HBO Max on July 8. Check out the official trailer below.