The critically acclaimed opening entry to the Arc of a Scythe series—is officially heading to television. After a long journey through film development with Universal and Amblin Entertainment, the project made the jump to streaming, with Peacock developing the story as a full series.

What Is Scythe About?

Set in a distant "post-mortal" future, Scythe envisions a world where humanity has conquered hunger, disease, war, and even natural death. Society is governed peacefully by an all-knowing, benevolent artificial intelligence called the Thunderhead.

However, to keep the global population from spiraling out of control, humanity must rely on Scythes—an elite, independent order of humans tasked with "gleaning" (permanently ending) a set quota of lives each year.

"We must, by law, keep record of the minds we end. We must record their names, their ages, their accomplishments, and their final words."

The story follows two teenagers, Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch, who are chosen to apprentice under the honorable Scythe Faraday. Neither teen wants the role, but both are thrust into a morally fraught political battlefield within the Scythedom—where rival factions clash over how death should be dealt, and failure in their training carries deadly stakes.

From Feature Film to Television Series

The screen adaptation of Scythe spent several years in feature-film development, with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment shepherding early drafts. However, adapting the intricate world-building, political intrigue, and philosophy of the trilogy into a two-hour movie proved restrictive.

Format Shift: Production pivoted to a television series format under Universal and Peacock to give the multi-book narrative room to breathe.

Author Involvement: Author Neal Shusterman serves as an executive producer on the project and has remained actively engaged with the writing team and showrunners during the script phase.

While casting announcements and a release date are still under wraps as scripts are finalized, the transition to a high-budget episodic format promises a faithful, atmospheric adaptation of one of the most original sci-fi worlds in modern YA literature.