It’s been seven long years since we heard the soothing sound of Kristen Bell’s iconic sign-off, “XOXO, Gossip Girl.” The good news is, Bell’s devious tone will be returning when she reprises her role for the upcoming Gossip Girl reboot.
According to TV Line, HBO Max ordered the reboot in July this year, which is set to introduce “a fresh crop of gorgeous Manhattan private-schoolers to Gossip Girl’s all-seeing eye.”
HBO states that the reboot “will address just how much social media – and the landscape of social media itself – has changed in the intervening years.”
There are a few concerns about the Gossip Girl reboot – namely the fact that none of the OG cast have been confirmed to return and reprise their roles, except for narrator Bell. Can Gossip Girl really be the same without Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Penn Badgely, Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick?
Speaking to press at the Televsision Critics Association summer tour, executive producer Josh Schwartz said, “There aren’t, like, new actors playing Serena and Blair. It’s not a remake. [It’s] a continuation of that world.”
“We’ve reached out to all of them to let them know it was happening, and we would love for them to be involved if they want to be involved. But [we] certainly didn’t want to make it contingent upon their [participation].”
“They played those characters for six years, and if they felt like they were good and that, we wanted to respect that. But obviously, it would be great to see them again.”
Sadly, it doesn’t sound like there’s any chance Gossip Girl star Blake Lively will be returning to the show with the news she’s already working on another NYC-based TV show.
There’s also the concern that if Bell is reprising her role as the voice of the OG Gossip Girl, roasting a fresh batch of millennials a decade later – does that mean she’s a character in their 30s spying on the lives of a bunch of teens?
Will Kristen Bell’s iconic voice save Gossip Girl round two from being an epic fail?
It’s all a bit confusing, but it sounds like we’re just going to have to wait and see how the Gossip Girl reboot pans out when it drops on HBO Max next year.
XOXO, Gossip Girl.