It’s been 20 years since Meg Cabot debuted the first book of The Mediator series titled Shadowland, a book about a 16 year old girl named Suze Simon who can see and talk to ghosts, her main job being to help them resolve any unfinished business so they can cross the bridge to…wherever souls go next. The only catch is that some ghosts are angry and wish to avenge their own death, and if it weren’t for Suze’s interesting methods (or as she says, “kicking some serious ghost butt.”) they certainly would have their way wreaking havoc. Suze is a strong female protagonist with just one weakness: the ghost who’s been living in her bedroom for the past 150 years named Jesse. He’s, well, hot, and not too interested in moving on.
You may know Cabot as the writer of The Princess Diaries series, and while it’s her most read series (thanks to the hit movies), the Mediator fans are far more vocal about their love for the books than for any other book of hers, according to her. The fandom was resurrected when Cabot released two new pieces of work for The Mediator series: Proposal and Remembrance (books 6.5 and 7 respectively) in 2016 after an astounding 12 years since the 6th book titled Twilight. There have been many talks over the years about the possibility to make these books into movies, but Cabot writes on her blog that after so many unsuccessful talks with producers who didn’t respect her wishes about the book, she told her agent:
“…that The Mediator was off limits – I didn’t want to option it to anyone. I needed a break.”
https://www.megcabot.com/2020/09/mediator-movie-news/
It’s completely understandable why Cabot would decide to keep the film rights to herself because an artist can’t just give up a project that they’ve worked immensely hard on. We know book to movie adaptations can be a hit or miss. You can either be successful with bringing a series to the big screen like Harry Potter, or fail to bring that same excitement through like The Mortal Instruments. Even though these upcoming movies are a product of 20 years of history for this series, Cabot has taken the possibility of The Mediator books coming to our screens very seriously. There’s no rush. If she’s gonna do it, she’s gonna do it right.
Cabot writes on her website that there will be 7 movies being released (one for each book) and while this may change, she’s very excited to be working with Australian writer/director Sarah Spillane and producer Debra Martin Chase. They have also offered it to Netflix to distribute the movies. Casting is underway already, and the first script’s draft has been approved by Cabot. She describes it as being very close to the storyline, which we appreciate. The first movie was supposed to be filmed in Northern California, however the pandemic led to this being delayed, but we know that all masterpieces take time and we’re more than willing to give the creative directors and writers all the time they need to make some amazing movies for us.
While we’re waiting for the movies, take some time to read or — if you’re like me — reread The Mediator series to get yourself excited!
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