The glee club is fast turning into the drama club. Earlier this month, Glee creator Ryan Murphy revealed that Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, and Cory Monteith would be leaving Glee after season 3 — only to have fellow exec producer Brad Falchuk state at Comic-Con that those actors were not leaving the show after all. The latest development: Murphy revealed late Thursday that he and his fellow Glee producers were exploring a spin-off featuring the three actors, but have put that project on hold, possibly permanently.
Murphy also notes in an interview with Deadline that Colfer, Michele and Monteith — whose characters are set to graduate in May — were not fired from the hit Fox dramedy; moreover, they were brought into preliminary discussions about the spin-off, but were asked not to talk about it while the viability of the project was explored. (An insider told EW that while Murphy’s idea had been discussed at the highest levels at 20th Century Fox TV, which produces Glee for Fox, no script deal had been made.)
The spin-off would have taken place in New York, and Murphy reached out to The Juilliard School about using the institution as a backdrop. While the actors expressed initial interest in a spin-off, some supposedly had reservations about relocating to New York, among other issues, prompting Murphy to put the brakes on the project.
Fox declined to comment on the situation.
Read more: ‘Glee’: Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, and Cory Monteith NOT leaving show after third season Emmys: Chris Colfer on his nod and leaving ‘Glee’ Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, and Cory Monteith to depart ‘Glee’ after season 3 — and Michele responds