Netflix Orders Pilot for 'Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging'

Netflix has given a pilot order to "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging," a series adaptation of Louise Rennison's young adult novels. Fifth Season and Rise Films are producing the project, which is shooting in the U.K. Netflix declined to comment on the pilot order.

The pilot marks the second screen adaptation of Rennison's books. Paramount released the first in 2008 under a slightly different title, "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging," drawing on the first two books in Rennison's "Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" series: 1999's "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" and 2000's "It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers." Gurinder Chadha ("Bend It Like Beckham") wrote and directed the film, which starred Georgia Groome and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Who is making the Netflix version?

Monica Heisey is writing the pilot, with Jim O'Hanlon directing. Sam Leifer serves as executive producer on behalf of Rise Films, and Jon Jennings produces. Rachel Sheridan is the casting director. Production is under way in the U.K.

A greenlight to series would give Rennison's comic diaries their first extended television treatment, more than a quarter-century after the debut novel appeared and 17 years after Chadha's film reached cinemas.

What is the story about?

Both the books and the 2008 film follow a British teenager named Georgia. The official description of the movie reads: "On the verge of turning 15, grown-up-to-be Georgia sets her sights on the new guy at school, 'gorgeous sex-god' Robbie, band member of the Stiff Dylans. Unfortunately, Robbie happens to already be dating Georgia's evil archrival: blonde and perfect Lindsay. With the help of her well-meaning but clueless parents, her flamboyantly dressed cat Angus and her girl posse, the Ace Gang, Georgia sets her mad schemes in motion to nab a snogtastic boyfriend and have the best birthday ever."

The source material spans a series that sold widely to teenage readers in Britain and beyond, and Rennison's slang-heavy voice — "snogging," the "Ace Gang," a cat named Angus — remains the franchise's signature.

Why does the pilot matter?

The order signals Netflix's continued investment in British YA comedy, and a full series pickup would reunite a screenwriting team with a property that last reached audiences in 2008. Whether Heisey and O'Hanlon's version retains the film's characters or extends deeper into the later Nicolson books will become clear if the project moves beyond the pilot stage.