Genera+ion Creators and Blink49 Studios Team Up to Bring M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains to Television

Adaptation of Bestselling Thriller ‘If We Were Villains’ in Development for Television

The creative team of Zelda, Daniel, and Ben Barnz, known for their work on the HBO Max series Genera+ion, is set to adapt M.L. Rio’s bestselling literary thriller, If We Were Villains, for television. Blink49 Studios will produce the project.

The Barnz siblings will develop the series and serve as executive producers as they prepare it for market. The adaptation represents a renewed effort to bring the popular novel to the screen, following previous iterations that involved Sex Education producer Eleven and writer Kristina Lauren Anderson. A source associated with the project noted that the Barnz’s involvement is “the strongest creative momentum for the project to date.”

Originally published in 2017, If We Were Villains has reached audiences in 20 countries and is available in 18 languages. The story centers on seven young Shakespearean actors at an elite college where intense competition and personal rivalries blur the lines between art and reality. When one of the actors is murdered, the remaining six must convince authorities—and themselves—of their innocence.

Blink49 Studios will manage production, with the Barnz serving as executive producers alongside Pancho Mansfield and Carolyn Newman for Blink49, as well as M.L. Rio, Tony Award-nominated producer Christopher Maring, Andrew Williamson, Henrik Meyer, and Enuka Okuma.

Blink49, based in Canada and the U.S., recently announced its role as co-producer on Yaga, a series for Crave inspired by the myth of Baba Yaga. Additionally, the company acquired Lighthearted Entertainment in January, known for producing Are You the One?.

This adaptation marks a shift for the Barnz, transitioning from the high school settings of Genera+ion to the collegiate landscape of If We Were Villains. Zelda Barnz, who co-created Genera+ion as a teenager, and her father, Daniel, alongside her brother Ben, have moved away from their exclusive overall deal at Amazon, which focused on young adult programming, to pursue this new project.

The Barnz family is represented by TFC Management and attorney Jamie Feldman.