The upcoming series The Mysterious Benedict Society, which was initially supposed to premiere on Hulu, is now scheduled to stream on Disney+. The TV show is an adaptation of a young adult book series of the same name. Each novel, the first of which was published in 2007, follows a group of four gifted children that gather under the leadership of the kooky Mr. Benedict. In total, the series has five books, including a prequel as well as a sequel that was published 10 years after the original three stories.
Hulu previously announced that the beloved book series would be turned into a show for the streaming service. Now, the show will instead premiere on Disney+, reports TV Line. The show will star Tony Hale, best known for his roles on Arrested Development and Veep. Hale is also an alum of children’s content, having been a part of Toy Story 4, Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Angry Birds Movie.
The show was created by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who will both serve as writers, with Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer as showrunners. The four kids will be played by Seth Carr, Emmy DeOliveira, Mystic Inscho, and Marta Timofeeva. The adult cast is rounded out by Kristen Schaal, MaameYaa Boafo, Gia Sandhu, and Ryan Hurst. Hale will play both Mr. Benedict as well as Benedict’s evil twin, Mr. Curtain.
This is not the first time Disney, which owns both Disney+ and Hulu, has decided to swap shows and movies between the two streaming services. Love, Victor was initially intended for Disney+ but was moved to Hulu, with the company citing mature themes as the reason behind the switch. High Fidelity was also originally slated for Disney+. With The Mysterious Benedict Society featuring younger characters, it will likely find a much better home on Disney+.
Source: TV Line