Co-Creator Almost Killed The Vampire Diaries After First Pitch

Even the greatest ideas sometimes fail to reach the production stage because some team members don't see their full potential. The entertainment industry is full of stories of actors dropping out of projects that ended up becoming classics, or producers taking a risk and creating a masterpiece.

It's hard to imagine now that The Vampire Diaries could have been rejected by anyone in their right mind. But back in 2008, the idea wasn't as flawless as it seems now. Moreover, the creators were quite afraid of falling into the trap of a popular hate-watching theme.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Williamson, one of the co-creators and the executive producer of the iconic series, recalled the moment he was first approached with the idea.

As shocking as it may seem now, he wasn't too keen on the idea of playing into the vampire obsession that the world was in after the success of Twilight:

“A long, long, long time ago, Alloy had brought the books to my office, saying, “What about a movie?” I basically didn’t read the books. I said no on the premise and the idea. It just seemed, in the wake of Twilight, that it shouldn’t be the direction I take. Then, years later, The CW came to me with it,” Williamson explained.

All L.J. Smith's book series needed to be adapted was a second chance, which Kevin Williamson was willing to give this time around.

The CW's representatives must have been more persuasive than Alloy Entertainment's, and Williamson agreed to take a crack at the material. The rest is history, as the production resulted in one of The CW's most successful titles of all time and two spin-offs to expand the universe.

The original The Vampire Diaries, as well as Legacies and The Originals, are available to stream on Netflix. So grab your blanket and buckle up for a nostalgic adventure through the supernatural universe that begins in the fictional town of Mystic Falls.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter