The Next Chapter series has been ordered for two seasons at TNT.

Librarians“The Last Day,” which began as a series of three TV movies starring Noah Wyle on TNT in 2004, returns home after twenty years.

Earlier this morning, it was revealed that Librarians: The Next Chaptera spin-off of the series that ran for four seasons until 2018, will air on TNT, not The CW, which originally greenlit the show around May 2023.

Deadline can reveal that the series has also been ordered for two seasons, including a 12-episode first season that has already been filmed and is now in post-production, as well as a second season. The first season is slated to premiere in 2025.

The move came as a surprise for a number of reasons, most notably Warner Bros. Discovery’s return to original scripted series, after a few years away from the game.

“It all started with a phone call I had with Sam Lynskey at TNT. He’s been with the show since the beginning in 2004 and I said it was so weird that I was working on Librarians “It was really hard to imagine that this would happen, but I didn’t know if it was possible or not. They were all really jealous about the show,” executive producer Dean Devlin, who also runs Electric Entertainment, which makes the series, told Deadline. “Then about five or six weeks ago, he called me and said, ‘Do you think there’s any chance of bringing the show from The CW to us,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know but that sounds amazing if it was possible.’ I had a tremendous conversation with the people at The CW. It took some gymnastics, but they were really supportive. They understood that the idea of ​​bringing the show home was an amazing opportunity.”

Librarians: The Next Chapter The film revolves around the adventures of the guardians of a magical repository containing the world’s most powerful and dangerous supernatural artifacts. The film revolves around a librarian from the past, played by Callum McGowan, who travels back in time to the present and now finds himself trapped here. When he returns to his castle, now a museum, he inadvertently unleashes magic across the continent. He is given a new team to help him clean up the mess he has made, forming a new team of librarians.

The film also stars Jessica Green, Olivia Morris, and Bluey Robinson, along with guest star Caroline Lunke and Christian Kane, who will reprise his role as Jacob Stone.

It’s an unusual arrangement; networks including The CW are typically reluctant to give up the rights to a show they’ve greenlit and paid for, especially if it goes to a rival broadcaster.

Devlin called the deal “fantastic.” “The CW has been a really great partner. [had] “We did our best to find a way to offset the costs, how they could enjoy a part of the success. They took care of us. We tried to take care of them. I think everyone is happy with the deal,” he added.

The move puts The CW in the studio space for the first time. Since Nexstar acquired majority ownership of the company from Warner Bros. and CBS, it has been aggressively looking for new business models, and this deal sees it launch The CW Studios, an umbrella that can now house its co-productions, such as its partnerships with Canadian broadcasters on shows like Wild cards.

While the CW had not previously considered selling, Librarians: The Next Chapter This allows them to move to a new stage of work.

“The CW is incredibly proud to be working alongside Dean Devlin and the entire team at Electric Entertainment to create an extraordinary continuation of Librarians “We are thrilled that TNT Original Network loves the series as much as we do and has found great value in bringing it to its audience,” said Brad Schwartz, President, Entertainment, The CW. “It’s a first for The CW Studios and we can’t wait for fans to experience this amazing next chapter.”

TNT’s early renewal is also a boon for Electric Entertainment. “Contracts expire at a certain point. I think it was one of those things where they love the show, they want the show, so [said] “We know you need to get back to production soon,” Devlin added.

The next step for Devlin and his team is to find a broadcast partner for the show.

“We’re going to start shopping now. Obviously this move was so huge that it took up all our minds, so even when we talked about what we should do with live streaming and on-demand content, it was like, ‘Shut up.’ But that’s the next thing we’re doing, starting to talk to streamers,” he added.

Devlin, whose company Electric Entertainment is also behind series like Amazon’s Freevee’s impact: Salvationa spin-off of another show that aired on TNT, where its third season is currently in production, The ship Which ran for two seasons on Syfy.

“There’s a very interesting window right now for linear TV,” he said.

“We’re seeing such chaos in the streaming world. I think there’s a big part of the audience that says, ‘I just want to turn on the TV when I get home. I don’t want to argue with my wife for 40 minutes about what we’re going to watch,’” he said. “I know cable subscriptions are generally down, and there’s always this doom and gloom prediction, but I have a slightly different perspective. I think there’s been so much focus on streaming that we haven’t supported linear the way we should have. I think we’re starting to do that now, and I think people are going to be very surprised by the results.”

Devlin is executive producing the project in collaboration with Mark Ruskin and Rachel Olshan Wilson of Electric Entertainment and Noah Wyle.