Looking for Alaska (miniseries)
Looking for Alaska is an American teen drama streaming television miniseries created by Josh Schwartz. It is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by John Green. After a film adaptation was repeatedly delayed at Paramount Pictures, Hulu finalized a deal and ordered an eight-episode limited series. The series premiered on Hulu on October 18, 2019. The mini-series received critical acclaim from critics and fans of the book with praises going toward its writing, acting and faithfulness to the original source material. Production. Development. The film rights to the novel were acquired  by Paramount Pictures in 2005 shortly before the novel was published. The screenplay was potentially going to be written and directed by Josh Schwartz (creator of "The O.C.") but, due to a lack of interest by Paramount, the production had been shelved indefinitely. It had been reported that Paramount was putting the screenplay in review due to the success of the film adaptation of John Green's breakout novel, "The Fault in Our Stars". On February 27, 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" announced that Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, screenwriters for Temple Hill Entertainment who had worked on adaptations for  The Fault in Our Stars and "Paper Towns", would be writing and executive producing for the film. Paramount was actively casting the latest version of the screenplay, which was written by Sarah Polley. Rebecca Thomas was set to direct. Green also confirmed that Neustadter and Weber were still involved with the film. In August 2015, it was announced filming would begin in the fall in Michigan. It was later announced that filming would begin in early 2016 because of lack of casting decisions. Later in 2016, Green announced in a Vlogbrothers video and on social media that the film adaptation  had once again been shelved indefinitely. Green has voiced his frustration of the development process of the film adaptation over the years. He quoted, "It has always fallen apart for one reason or another." In May 2018, Hulu finalized a deal with Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and proceeded to order an eight-episode limited series based on the book. Schwartz served as executive producer and showrunner, while Savage served as executive producer alongside John Green, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Marty Bowen, and Isaac Klausner. Casting. In October 2018, Charlie Plummer and Kristine Froseth were cast as the lead roles  of the series, portraying Miles "Pudge" Halter and Alaska Young, respectively. In March 2019, Hulu announced six new cast members had joined the limited series; Denny Love, Jay Lee, Sofia Vassilieva, Landry Bender, Uriah Shelton, and Jordan Connor. The following month, Timothy Simons and Ron Cephas Jones were announced to join the cast as The Eagle and Dr. Hyde, respectively. In May 2019, it was reported that Rachel Matthews and Henry Zaga had been cast in recurring roles. Distribution. In April 2020, "Looking for Alaska" was released in Canada on CBC Gem. Reception. "Looking For Alaska" has received critical acclaim  from critics and readers of the book. With praise going towards its writing, performances (particularly that of Plummer, Froseth and Love), visuals, its soundtrack (with critics favorably comparing it to Schwartz's other series "The O.C."), directing, and improvements upon its sources material. Critics also called the series Schwartz's finest series to date. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the miniseries holds a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 91% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bittersweet and beautifully performed, "Looking for Alaska" is the rare adaptation that deviates from its  source material only to find something even better." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."