It may well be called Let The Right One In, but the planned television adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s popular novel of the same name is apparently no longer welcome at TNT. Though the project had been picked up to pilot by the network in August, it has now been cancelled before ever making it to production. Despite its origin as the work of popular television writer Jeff Davis (Criminal Minds, Teen Wolf), it seems that the project was, in the final analysis, just not what TNT was looking for.
The story was to be set in Vermont, and centred upon a young boy suffering at the hands of relentless bullies. In the midst of this emotional turmoil, he befriends a young female vampire, until strange occurrences begin to be reported in their town. Let The Right One In – which was already adapted for cinema in 2008 – was developed by Tomorrow Studios, which also has a television adaptation of the film Snowpiercer in the works. While there’s currently no explanation as to the sudden change of heart on the part of TNT, it does seem to be the case that Tomorrow Studios is now shopping the project around to other networks in the hopes of drumming up some interest.
Perhaps the people behind TNT realized that, much like the Young-Adult-dystopian-future trope, the vampire narrative has largely run its course in mainstream media for the time being, after the dominant nature of the coverage of the Twilight series. Certainly, a television series adaptation of Let The Right One In, in this current landscape, would face little competition – since True Blood and The Vampire Diaries have already ended their respective runs – but does the world really need another vampire-based TV show? TNT doesn’t seem to think so. Only time will tell if any other network disagrees.