Netflix Orders ‘Calabasas’ YA Drama From Chris Van Dusen; Kim Kardashian & Emma Roberts Among EPs

Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen is bringing some forbidden romance to Calabasas. Netflix has greenlighted Calabasas, a YA drama series from executive producer/showrunner Van Dusen and executive producers Kim Kardashian, Alexandra Milchan and Emma Roberts.

The series falls under an overall deal Van Dusen signed with Netflix at the end of last year, shortly after he joined Calabasas — then in development — as new showrunner.

The project, inspired by the bookIf You Lived Here You’d Be Famous By Now by Via Bleidner, has undergone complete transformation with Van Dusen at the helm, adopting a sweeping, high-stakes YA love story Bridgerton fans would approve of.

In Calabasas, at an elite private school in the country’s most exclusive town, the headmaster’s ambitious daughter is destined to have it all – until she’s swept into a forbidden romance with the one boy determined to burn down her glittering world instead of play by its rules. In Calabasas, where desires are never as clean as appearances suggest, falling in love might be the most dangerous rebellion of all.

Van Dusen executive produces through his CVD Productions. Also executive producing are Kardashian; Milchan and Martin Salgo of Crescent Line Productions; Roberts, Karah Preiss, and Matt Matruski of Belletrist; David Sweeney and Bleidner.

Netflix originally landed Calabasas for development in April 2024 after a bidding war with a different showrunner, I. Marlene King, and a different premise, about a 16-year-old sheltered Midwestern Catholic school girl who transfers to the fast world of Calabasas High.

Kardashian, who, along with her family, made the affluent Los Angeles area enclave of Calabasas world famous, has been a driving force behind the project, working alongside fellow producers Roberts, with whom she starred on American Horror Story: Delicate, and Milchan.

This is Van Dusen’s second Netflix series after Bridgerton, which he created and served as showrunner on for the first two seasons. Bridgerton‘s first season was one of the first shows Jinny Howe, Netflix’s Head of Scripted Series, U.S. and Canada, worked on after she joined the streamer.

“It’s exciting to reunite with Chris Van Dusen and bring his distinct voice to Calabasas, alongside the powerhouse team of Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts, and Alexandra Milchan,” Howe said. “Full of romance and complicated relationships, this coming-of-age story is as emotionally sharp as it is grounded in the complex reality of finding your authentic self. We’re excited for this new creative chapter with Chris, and to work closely with him to bring this vibrant world to life.”

Calabasas is the first series under Van Dusen’s Netflix overall deal. As part of the pact, he will develop and executive produce new scripted shows, exclusively for the streamer.

“I’ll forever be trying to wrap my head around being lucky enough to get to work with creative partners this smart, supportive, and ambitious — from Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and the whole producing team, to Bela Bajaria, Jinny Howe and everyone at Netflix,” Van Dusen said. “Calabasas is the kind of series I’ve always dreamed of making. It’s the kind of glamorous, bold, addictive and emotionally-charged show I grew up obsessed with. The great teen dramas of that era proved TV could be escapist, provocative, and deeply personal all at once. To get to bring that type of wild ride to today’s audiences is incredibly exciting. And more obviously I’ll take all the free or heavily-discounted smoothies from Erewhon I can get. That part too.”

Calabasas joins Netflix’s current YA roster that includes popular current series such as Ginny & Georgia, Outer Banks, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Forever, My Life With the Walter Boys and XO, Kitty as well as upcoming titles The Body, Poser, Little House on the Prairie, and the Victorious reboot, Hollywood Arts.

The Bridgerton universe has featured on Netflix’s Global Top 10 over 60 times, reaching the local Top 10 in all countries tracked. Seasons 1 and 3 are on Netflix’s Most Popular TV List of all time, each one exceeding 100M views in their first 91 days.

Van Dusen is repped by WME, Literate and The Nord Group. Kardashian is repped by WME. Roberts is repped by manager David Sweeney and attorney JR McGinnis.

Via: Deadline