Principal photography has begun in Ireland on Fate: The Winx Saga. Based on the popular Italian animated franchise Winx Club, this Netflix live action, young adult adaptation features Brian Young (Vampire Diaries, Kyle XY) as showrunner and Judy Counihan and Kris Thykier from Archery Pictures (Riviera, The State) as executive producers. Iginio Straffi, CEO of Rainbow Group (Winx Club, 44 Cats, Gladiator Of Rome) also acts as executive producer.
Inspired by the Italian cartoon format, the 6 episode series follows the coming-of-age journey of five unlikely friends attending Alfea, a magical boarding school in the Otherworld where they must learn to master their magical powers while navigating love, rivalries and the monsters that threaten their very existence.
Casting includes Abigail Cowen as Bloom (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Fosters), Hannah van der Westhuysen as Stella (The Fugitives, Frankenstein), Precious Mustapha as Aisha (Endeavour), Eliot Salt as Terra (Gameface), Elisha Applebaum as Musa (Undercover Hooligan, No Reasons), Sadie Soverall as Beatrix (Rose Plays Julie), Freddie Thorp as Riven (The Discovery of Witches, Safe, Overdrive), Danny Griffin as Sky (So Awkward, The Gentlemen), Theo Graham as Dane (Clink, Hollyoaks, Brief Encounters) and Jacob Dudman as Sam (The Stranger, Medici, The A List). Eve Best (Nurse Jackie), Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey), Josh Cowdery (Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them) Alex Macqueen (The Thick of It, Sally 4Ever) and Eva Birthistle (Brooklyn, The Last Kingdom) also star.
We are extremely proud to bring this iconic set of strong female characters to life. We are committed to delivering a live action series that honors the original animated series, but also allows new fans to come along for the ride. Brian Young has done an incredible job with the adaptation and found a way to create a wildly entertaining and addictive genre series.
Jennifer Breslow, Content Executive – Netflix
I know I’m a writer, but words truly cannot describe how excited we are to be bringing Fate: The Winx Saga to life with these incredible actors. I can’t wait for Winx fans all over the world to see what we have in store for them, and for an entirely new audience to discover what we love so much about this world and these characters.
Brian Young , Showrunner
Fate: The Winx Saga (6×60) is directed by Lisa James Larsson, cast by Kate Ringsell and series produced by Jon Finn. Executive producers are Judy Counihan and Kris Thykier of Archery Pictures and Iginio Straffi from Rainbow Group. Irish-based Wild Atlantic are co-producers.