Gina Torres cast in The Brides
Credit: Image: Jill Johnson/JPI

Riverdale team’s vampire soap opera The Brides gets pilot order.

Updated March 4: Soaps.com can share that Gina Torres has been cast in The Brides as one of the three titular characters. Per TVLine, she will play Cleo Phillips, a former Queen who was turned into a vampire by Dracula. In present day, Cleo is a New York City real estate tycoon and the leader of the brides. Torres adds the upcoming ABC series to her lengthy resume which includes playing Jessica Pearson on the USA series Suits and its spinoff Pearson. She also played Magdalena/Nell on One Life to Live in the mid 90s.

On January 8, it was reported the ABC network had given the go-ahead for a pilot for a new primetime series entitled, The Brides, which Soaps.com learned is being touted as a vampire soap opera. The contemporary reimagining of Dracula will surround three female lead characters and the things they do to continue their legacy and will follow the immortal women as they pursue wealth and prestige and work to preserve their family traditions. Variety reports that the team attached to CW Network’s series Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Katy Keene are behind the pilot. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who now has two supernatural drama series in the works as he is also developing The Shelley Society for HBO Max, has been tapped to write and executive produce, while Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions also acting as executive producers. Maggie Kiley will be directing The Brides pilot in addition to executive producing.

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The team’s existing series are proving exceedingly popular on the CW Network, with Riverdale recently receiving a renewal for its fifth season, while the current fourth season is set to return from winter hiatus on Wednesday January 22, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina gearing up for a second season beginning Friday January 24, and Katy Keene, which stars Pretty Little Liars actress, Lucy Hale, is set to debut on Thursday February 6, and already received a 13-script order from the network ahead of the premiere. Technically a Riverdale spinoff, Katy Keene is not expected to feature crossovers initially, but characters from the series and Archie comics, such as Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) and Alexander (Lucien Laviscount) and Alexandra Cabot (Camille Hyde) will be featured.

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This upcoming ABC pilot for The Brides is a new version of a 2015 pilot of the series previously put into development at NBC which did not progress. The order for The Brides pilot at ABC is reportedly part of an effort by ABC Entertainment head Karey Burke aimed at bringing female audiences back to the network following the past success of such series as Dynasty, Revenge, and Desperate Housewives.