Hulu has taken in Everflame for development, putting Penn Cole’s bestselling romantasy series The Kindred’s Curse Saga on a path toward the screen. The drama is based on Spark of the Everflame, the first book in the series, with Heidi Cole McAdams, Cole and 20th Television attached.
McAdams will write and executive produce the project. Cole is on board as producer, while 20th Television is the studio behind the adaptation. Everflame follows Diem Bellator, a healer whose search for her missing mother pulls her into a mortal rebellion against the Descended, an elite race that rules a world where mortals live in poverty and under subjugation.
The development comes as Cole’s books have already built a large audience. The Kindred’s Curse Saga, her debut series, has sold more than three million copies worldwide in 18 languages, while Spark of the Everflame has sold more than one million copies. The first novel was originally self-published in 2023 before Atria Books acquired it and republished it in 2024.
The material has also been moving toward a final chapter even as Hollywood circles it. The last book in the series, Burn of the Everflame, is scheduled for release on September 8, 2026. That gives the adaptation a built-in endpoint and a still-active fan base already invested in Diem’s story.
McAdams brings recent Hulu experience to the project after co-creating the mystery series Death and Other Details, which aired on the platform in 2024. Cole said she was thrilled to be working with McAdams on the adaptation, adding that McAdams understands the core messages of the series, has a strong eye for reimagining the story for a visual medium and is an author’s dream to work with. Cole also said she believes the adaptation can resonate with new audiences and the series’ passionate fan base alike.
The question now is execution, not interest. Everflame has a popular hook, a completed publishing run on the way and a studio team already in place. If Hulu moves ahead, the task will be translating the books’ mix of romance, rebellion and world-building without losing the details that helped turn a self-published novel into a multimillion-copy franchise.
